In 1789 he wrote and published several essays supporting the abolition of slavery and his last public act was to send to Congress a petition on behalf of the Pennsylvania Society asking for the abolition of slavery and an end to the slave trade. The petition, was signed on February 3, 1790, and it asked the first US Bicameral Congress to "devise means for removing the Inconsistency from the Character of the American People," and to "promote mercy and justice toward this distressed Race." "
Read Sen. Mike Lee’s book to see what some of the other Founders thought. A very good read and some surprises. Also touches on why the EC came to be.
“Benjamin Franklin, as a young man, , owned slaves, and his newspapers carried slave sale and auction advertisements. At the same time, however, he published numerous Quaker pamphlets against slavery and condemned the hideous practice in his private correspondence”
Sounds a lot like a liberal.
Interesting that Franklin’s Petition to the Senate is handwritten.
What book is page 388 & 389 from. Thanks
My family writing to relatives in Ireland right after the Revolution, predicted that slavery would and must end, but observed that no one had been able to come up with a way to make it happen. The problem was that almost all of family wealth was found in real estate and property (including slaves) holdings. Many people believed that slavery was immoral, but also was a failure to pass on their estates to their children.
There was lots of rationalizing to justify the institution, especially in the South. The common excuse was patronizing, believing that the poor darkies couldn’t take care of themselves and therefore needed their white masters. The Blacks didn’t not agree with this sentiment.
In the end, the Union Army settled the issue and freed the slaves, and the Reconstruction governments confiscated most of the land for failure to pay property taxes. The South was left in poverty. My family and their neighbors should have thought harder about how to come up with a plan that would work. Of course, it’s easy for me to say.
When Franklin did own slaves he likely treated them more like family or trusted employees than property.
Only two slaves...
Ben Franklin was a sanctimonious kook.
There, I said it...
Were Franklin to visit the here and now, I would hope he would admit that the best thing the USA could have done for the freed slaves was to transport them back to the lands from which they came.
