To manumit is to release from slavery. Founded in 1785, the NYMS worked to end slavery in New York State. Composed of leading white citizens, it included some who held slaves. The NYMS established New York City's African Free School in 1785, the first formal educational institution for blacks in North America. The Society sponsored legislation to encourage emancipation and to improve living conditions. By the 1820s, black leaders assumed for themselves the major responsibility for the abolition cause and for establishing black churches and schools.
John Burns, The New York African Free School, ca., 1816, from African Free School Records, Vol. IV, 1816-1826, Collection New-York Historical Society Close