SUMMARY
The Virginia Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of Free Negroes and Others, Unlawfully Held in Bondage, and Other Humane Purposes was a Richmond-based antislavery organization active from 1790 to 1804. Founded by Robert Pleasants, a wealthy Quaker slaveholder-turned-abolitionist from Henrico County, the society at its high-water mark claimed more than 100 members, many of whom were Quakers and more than a few of whom were Methodists. The Virginia Society petitioned the U.S. Congress and the General Assembly in support of gradual emancipation and provided legal support to wrongfully enslaved individuals. Although it enjoyed limited success in its early years, by the turn of the century it had lost members and support as white Virginians grew increasingly hostile to emancipation. By 1804, the society had ceased meeting completely. The Virginia Society, unlike most other antislavery organizations, was located in a slavery-based society and economy. T