Richard Allen was an important Black religious leader during the 17 hundreds. He carved the way for the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Free African Society. He was and still is an influential figure to all African Americans today.
Richard Allen was born in Philadelphia on February 14, 1760. He was born as a slave under the ownership of Benjamin Chew, a prominent lawyer and Chief Justice of the Commonwealth from 1774-1777. When Richard was a boy, his parents and his three siblings were sold to Stokeley Sturgis, a Delaware planter. He described Stokeley Surgis as "unconverted" but basically "a good master." He also described his master to be "tenderhearted", but Richard longed for him and his family to be free. When Stokeley got into financial trouble, Richard's mother and three of his five siblings were sold.
During his childhood, Richard and his brothers were highly encouraged to participate in church activities. He attended Methodist meetings and classes every Thursday evening, even though the white neighbors in his community complained about any African American participating in church services, and looked down apon Richard's master for allowing Richard and his brothers to participate in the Methodist Faith. Unlike the other members of the community, Richard's master Stokeley boasted that religion made slaves better and not worse, and therefore granted Richard permission to ask the preachers to come and preach at his home. Freeborn Garretson, a powerful, charismatic white preacher, preached that owning slaves was unjust and did not abide by the rules of the bible, and persuaded Richard's master to feel the same way about owning slaves. In January of 1780, after five long years of saving every penny, Richard took up his master's suggestion that he purchase his freedom for two thousand dollars. He sets out to earn the money by working for the Revolutionary forces, eventually taking the surname "Allen" to signify his free status.
