[1] One hundred and seventy-five women, from ten different states and representing twenty female antislavery groups, gathered to discuss their role in the American abolition movement.
They "organized committees that created documents such as an address to free Black people, communications to other female anti-slavery societies that weren't present, and appeals to all American women.
[1] It was a correspondence between Mary Grew and Maria Weston Chapman concerning a women's anti-slavery committee that is credited with the idea of this convention.
[3] Even though the members of the convention were able to successfully devise up multiple resolutions regarding their anti-slavery activism, they still faced fierce public opposition.
[5] The women of the convention believed that using products created through the exploitation of slaves maintained the system of slavery and was a sin against God.
[5] Another important resolution reached during this convention was that abolitionists would work to improve the lot of free blacks by providing education and instruction.
[3] Although public opinion was steadily becoming more in support of abolitionism there were still many people who fiercely despised it and wanted to stop the progress of the convention.
[5] Convention records indicate that attendees were from the following states: New Hampshire (2), Massachusetts (26), Rhode Island (5), New York (109), New Jersey (1), Pennsylvania (25), Maine (1), Connecticut (2), Ohio (2), and South Carolina (2).
Sarah Grimké wrote to the Boston and Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Societies, requesting that they send African-American delegates.
The limited attendance is explained partly by the relatively low number of African-American women that were enrolled in anti-slavery groups at this time.
The reason that a relatively low number of black American women were present is because most did not have access to wealth or resources that would have provided them the ability to focus on the conventions goals.
[citation needed] She was often forced to eat meals separately from her party and was required to stay in a segregated boarding house.
[citation needed] The very first resolution was to agree the convention's purpose, which was to interest women in the subject of anti-slavery, and establish a system of operations throughout every town and village in the free States, that would exert a powerful influence in the abolition of American slavery.
[3] This resolution failed, as some attendees believed that a female-headed committee would segregate men from their efforts and limit any potential merger with the male-dominated American Anti-Slavery Society.
First, it provided a means for women from different states and backgrounds to meet in person and fostered a strong sense of community within the movement.