Anti-Slavery Petition from the Women of Philadelphia

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Description

Sixty-five Philadelphia women signed and presented this petition to Congress in 1844, urging the abolition of slavery. At that time, women in the United States were unable to vote. To make their voices heard on important social issues of their day—slavery and drunkenness—women organized themselves and used petitions to influence Congress. Collectively, the signatures of approximately 3 million women abolitionists, including these petitioners from Pennsylvania, sent a powerful antislavery statement to Congress.

Transcript

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
The undersigned, women of Pennsylvania, respectively ask, that you will abolish every thing in the constitution or laws of the United States, which in any manner sanctions or sustains slavery.

[signatures]

28 th Cong
7 Sep

Petition of a number of women of Pennsylvania, praying the abolition of slavery in the United States

1844 March 21 Motion to receive, laid on the table.

Citation

This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Senate.

National Archives Identifier: 595408

Full Citation: Anti-Slavery Petition from the Women of Philadelphia; 1844; Petitions, Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures which were Presented, Read, or Tabled during the 28th Congress; (SEN28A-H4); Petitions and Related Documents That Were Presented, Read, or Tabled, 1789 – 1966; Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/document/antislavery-petition-women-philadelphia/, May 1, 2026]

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