Editing Richard Allen (section)

== From Slavery to Freedom ==

Richard Allen was born on February 14, 1760, into slavery in Philadelphia, his family owned by Benjamin Chew, a prominent attorney. His sale, along with his family, to a Delaware farmer in his youth removed him from Philadelphia but not from the region. His conversion to Methodism and his preaching abilities convinced his owner to allow him to purchase his freedom, which he achieved during the Revolutionary War. His return to Philadelphia as a free man began the work that would establish him as a foundational figure in African American religious and political history.<ref name="george">{{cite book |last=George |first=Carol V.R. |title=Segregated Sabbaths: Richard Allen and the Rise of Independent Black Churches |year=1973 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York}}</ref>

His early preaching in Philadelphia attracted both white and Black audiences, his abilities recognized across racial lines even as racism limited his opportunities. His work with Absalom Jones at St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church demonstrated the partnership that would later diverge as Allen insisted on Methodist identity while Jones established an Episcopal congregation. The incident at St. George's—white trustees pulling Black worshipers from their knees during prayer—precipitated the break that led to independent Black churches.<ref name="newman"/>

His establishment of the Free African Society in 1787, with Jones, created mutual aid organization that addressed community needs that white institutions ignored. The society's work during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic, when Black Philadelphians nursed the sick whom others fled, demonstrated community service that racist detractors would ignore or deny. Allen's leadership during this crisis, and his response to slanders that followed, established his public role as defender of Black Philadelphia.<ref name="george"/>