(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION ANTIGUA) Articles of a Friendly Soci

Sale 2239 - Lot 32

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Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500

AN UNRECORDED ANTIGUA IMPRINT (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION--ANTIGUA.) Articles of a Friendly Society, established in the Town of St John, Antigua, May 15th, 1828, and remodeled September 15th, 1829 (caption title). 16 pages. 8vo, removed from a larger volume; ink number above the title. St John, Antigua, 1829

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first edition, unrecorded. The first known West Indian Friendly Society was established in Jamaica in 1828, and the second was this Antigua organization, in 1829. Planters and clergy worked together to establish these mutual benefit clubs for free colored and slaves alike. (Leonard B. Fletcher. The Friendly Societies in St Lucia and St Vincent, [in] Caribbean Studies, Vol. 18, No 3/4 (October, 1978-January 1979, pages 89-114). Open to men & women between the ages of 18 and 30, the Society's object was to raise money by subscriptions for the members "for their mutual benefit in sickness, infirmity, old age and interment." Behavior was stressed and strict punishment was imposed for: "Any member [that] shall come to the meeting intoxicated in liquor, or shall curse, swear, or take God's name in vain, give challenge for fighting, lay wagers, promote gaming, smoking, or used debauched discourse, harsh or angry language." There is a lengthy contemporary description of this Society in Armstrong and Kimball's Emancipation in the West Indies ( New York, 1838, page 28).