) ▁proposal ▁of ▁a ▁college ▁for ▁African ▁Americans ▁in ▁that ▁city . ▁( See ▁S ime on ▁J oc ely n .) ▁ ▁Both ▁men ▁suffered ▁in ▁the ▁anti - abol ition ist ▁ri ots ▁of ▁ 1 8 3 4 , ▁in ▁which ▁mob s ▁attacked ▁their ▁property . ▁Arthur ▁T app an ▁was ▁one ▁of ▁two ▁sign ator ies ▁who ▁issued ▁a ▁disc la imer ▁on ▁beh alf ▁of ▁the ▁American ▁Anti - S la very ▁Society , ▁of ▁which ▁he ▁was ▁president , ▁in ▁the ▁after math ▁of ▁the ▁ri ots , ▁emphas ising ▁its ▁dedic ation ▁to ▁abol ishing ▁sla very ▁within ▁the ▁existing ▁laws ▁of ▁the ▁United ▁States . ▁ ▁" In ▁the ▁great ▁commercial ▁crisis ▁of ▁ 1 8 3 7 ▁he ▁suffered ▁immense ▁losses ; ▁and ▁not ▁long ▁after ▁turned ▁his ▁attention ▁to ▁other ▁and ▁more ▁retired ▁occup ations , ▁by ▁which ▁he ▁obtained ▁a ▁comfortable ▁subs istence ▁for ▁his ▁family , ▁and ▁the ▁ability ▁still ▁to ▁contribute , ▁though ▁on ▁a ▁greatly ▁dimin ished ▁scale , ▁throughout ▁his ▁prot ract ed ▁life ." ▁Their ▁phil anth rop ic ▁efforts ▁cri pp led ▁and ▁p led ges ▁not ▁met , ▁the ▁T app ans ▁were ▁forced ▁to ▁close ▁their ▁sil k - import ing ▁business , ▁and ▁almost ▁their ▁paper , ▁but ▁the ▁brothers ▁per se ver ed . ▁In ▁the ▁ 1 8 4 0 s , ▁they ▁founded ▁another ▁luc r ative ▁business ▁enter prise ▁when ▁they ▁opened ▁the ▁first ▁commercial ▁credit - rating