Cuban Anti-Slavery Committee
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As a result of the emancipation of slavery in the United States, African Americans sought to challenge slavery in other parts of the hemisphere notably Cuba, and were frustrated by the decision of President Ulysses S. Grant to take a neutral approach towards the ongoing revolution in Cuba that was fought to overthrow slavery in the Spanish territory. Aware of the multiple Cuban exile revolutionary and political clubs organized by Cubans in New York during the nineteenth century, in 1872 African American men organized a club in support of ending slavery in Cuba [1] and gain official recognition from the United States that the insurgents were legitimate belligerents.[2] As a result, the Cuban Anti-Slavery Committee,[3] first convened in December 1872 at the Cooper Institute in New York City.Samuel R. Scottron led the Committee and organized the event, while the Reverend Henry Highland Garnet served as the Committee's secretary and keynote speaker.[4]