Lewis Tappan and William Lloyd Garrison founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. The society gave former slaves such as Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown a chance to tell their stories. The society was very popular and spread to 1,350 local chapters with nearly 250,000 members. To further their cause, the American Anti-Slavery society published a newspaper called the National Anti-Slavery Standard. Many famous abolitionists belonged to the American Anti-Slavery Society. Even though the Society was quite popular in certain circles, it often met harsh resistance for its beliefs and practices.