Although New York passed a law to establish gradual abolition, there were still numerous slaves being held in the early post-Revolutionary War decades.
In 1808, Hamilton co-founded the New York African Society for Mutual Relief, which provided financial support for sick members as well as for their widows and children.
In 1820, Hamilton became a founding member of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, another independent black denomination, in New York City.
Hamilton strongly opposed slavery, the Atlantic slave trade, and racial prejudice in the United States, delivering numerous speeches in defense of the rights of enslaved people, and African Americans more broadly.
[7][5] Hamilton was also an early champion of Pan-Africanism, arguing for the inter-connectedness and shared heritage of African peoples, regardless of their nationality or geographic location.