The Colored American (New York City)

This article is about the 1836-1842 New York City newspaper. For the 1893-1904 Washington D.C. newspaper, see The Colored American (Washington, D.C.).

This article is about the newspaper. For the magazine that started publication in 1900, see The Colored American Magazine.

The Colored American

Issue of March 4, 1837
Type	Weekly newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Owner(s)	Phillip Bell Samuel Cornish Charles Bennett Ray
Publisher	Charles Bennett Ray
Founded	1837
Language	English
Ceased publication	1842
Headquarters	New York City
OCLC number	9858717

The Colored American was an African-American newspaper published in New York City from 1837 to 1842 by Samuel Cornish, Phillip A. Bell, and Charles Bennett Ray.

This is an announcement published in the newspaper

Initially published under the name The Weekly Advocate, New York's Colored American was a weekly newspaper of four to six pages. It circulated in free black communities in the Northeastern United States.

The Colored American focused on the moral, social, and political elevation of free colored people and the peaceful emancipation of slaves. The newspaper had a wide spread of subscribers, and employed agents in various cities, as well as abolitionists, for its marketing needs. The paper also received help from African-American churches and local abolition societies by way of fund drives and donations. Occasionally, the newspaper received cash infusions from prominent white allies. All of the donations, fund drives and supplements helped the paper to publish 38 articles and survive through 1841. Thanks to the subscribers, the interesting articles and the extra funding sources, The Colored American became an important paper of its time.

Timeline

• January 7, 1837 - Samuel Cornish, Phillip A. Bell, and Charles Bennett Ray launched The Weekly Advocate.
• March 4, 1837 - Publisher Robert Sears changes the name to The Colored American.
• 1839 - Charles Bennett Ray became the sole owner of The Colored American.
• 1840 - The Colored American declared in favor of Liberty Party candidate James G. Birney.
• December 25, 1841 - The last edition of the paper was published.

See also

• The Rights of All
• Freedom's Journal

Further reading

• Mystic Seaport - The Colored American
• Spartacus Educational
• The full run of The Colored American - January 7, 1837 through December 25, 1841 - is available online at accessible-archives.com (subscription required)
• Selected articles from 1837-1838 are shown at the National Humanities Center Resource Toolbox