Born into slavery in Philadelphia, Richard Allen (1760-1831) was soon sold with his parents and siblings to a Delaware planter. When he was about seventeen years old, Allen converted to Methodism and later purchased his freedom with money he earned working for the Revolutionary forces. Once free, the young man became an itinerant Methodist preacher, traveling many states and working as a sawyer, wagon driver, and shoemaker. In 1787, with three friends, including the Reverend Absalom Jones, he established the Free African Society, a nondenominational mutual aid society in Philadelphia. Allen had always been disturbed by the segregation that prevailed at St. George's Church, and in 1792, he decided to sit in the "white section." He was immediately expelled and his calls for the establishment of a black church finally caught the attention of other free men and women. On August 12, 1794, Allen and members of the Free African Society founded the African Church of Philadelphia, which became the Bethel African Church. In 1816 leaders of African-American Methodist churches united their efforts and launched the Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the country, with Allen as its bishop. Allen was staunchly opposed to the American Colonization Society. His autobiography, The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen, was published in 1833.