Ben Franklin Slave Owner...

[5fish]

We are informed Ben Franklin was against slavery but in truth he was a slave owner, as well. I found this article that follows Ben Franklin's growth from slave owner to abolitionist...

Benjamin Franklin and Slavery – Benjamin Franklin House

benjaminfranklinhouse.org

Like many other American Founders, Benjamin Franklin was an active participant in the slave trade and is known to have benefited financially from it for much of his early life. However, it was during his time in London that Franklin’s views changed significantly. By the 1780s he was a vocal abolitionist writing a famous public address condemning slavery and urging Congress to act.

The Franklin household owned slaves as early as 1735 until 1790, and was reported to have purchased at least seven slaves: Joseph, Jemima, Peter, King, Othello, George & Bob

 

[5fish]

Here this link is the slaves themselves...

Franklin and Slavery: The Philadelphia Household 1735-1790 – Benjamin Franklin House

benjaminfranklinhouse.org

As far as we know, Franklin first purchased a slave in 1735. Throughout his lifetime there were up to 7 named slaves in the Franklin household. By the late 1780s, Franklin had become a staunch abolitionist and as part of his will, all remaining slaves were freed upon his death in 1790.

 

[5fish]

Ben Franklin lived in London for many years and brought two slaves with him. One of them named King ran away and it's a good story...

Benjamin Franklin stayed in Liverpool (with one of his slaves)

Chances are most people know Benjamin Franklin either as a Founding Father of the United States or a discoverer of Electricity (with a key connected to a kite). Less known was that he travelled to …

bygoneliverpool.wordpress.com

 

[5fish]

Here is a man that stood up to slavery and bent Ben Franklin's will .. stabbing Bibles dropping blood... He was a hunchback...

The "Quaker Comet" Was the Greatest Abolitionist You've Never Heard Of

Overlooked by historians, Benjamin Lay was one of the nation's first radicals to argue for an end to slavery

www.smithsonianmag.com

Benjamin Lay said he was “illiterate,” but his antislavery arguments were erudite. This portrait, commissioned by Lay’s friend Benjamin Franklin, shows him with a book.

 

[5fish]

More on Benjamin Kay...

Benjamin Lay (1682–1759) was a radical Quaker abolitionist who relentlessly pressured fellow Quakers and Benjamin Franklin to end slavery. Living in a cave, he used theatrical protests, such as stabbing a Bible filled with fake blood, to condemn slavery. He persuaded his friend, Benjamin Franklin, to publish his 1737 anti-slavery book.

Key Aspects of the Benjamin Lay and Benjamin

Franklin Relationship:
The Publication: Benjamin Franklin, a well-known printer and later a slaveholder himself, published Lay’s, All Slave-Keepers That Keep the Innocent in Bondage, Apostates (1737), which is considered one of the earliest, most forceful anti-slavery tracts in America.

Pressure on Franklin: Lay, who lived in a cave near Philadelphia, held strong abolitionist views and pressured his friend Franklin to free his enslaved individuals, as described in.

Mutual Respect: Despite their vastly different lifestyles—Lay was a radical, nomadic ascetic, and Franklin was a civic leader—they were friends, and Franklin admired him, note.

Lay’s Quaker Debates and Protests:
Theatrical Tactics: Lay, standing barely four feet tall, often disrupted Quaker meetings, shouting "How can a people who profess the golden rule keep slaves?".

Fake Blood Protest: He famously staged a demonstration where he stuck a sword through a book (a Bible) that had a hidden bladder of red pokeberry juice inside, which splattered onto surprised attendees, symbolizing the blood of slaves.

Symbolic Acts: He once stood barefoot in the snow to highlight his own discomfort compared to the, "poor slaves in your fields, who go all winter half clad".

Lay’s extreme, highly visible, and disruptive actions initially led to his disownment by the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, but his long-term campaign was credited with shifting the Quaker community's stance toward abolition. The Swarthmore College bulletin provides more in-depth insights into his life.

Benjamin Lay - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Benjamin Lay died in Abington, Pennsylvania, in 1759. His legacy continued to inspire the abolitionist movement for generations; throughout the early and mid-19th century, it was common for abolitionist Quakers to keep pictures of Lay in their homes. Benjamin Lay was buried in Abington Friends Meeting's burial ground in a grave whose exact location is unknown, but next to the meeting house and adjacent to Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. In 2012, during the brief Occupy Jenkintown encampment, protesters symbolically rechristened the Jenkintown Town Square as "Benjamin Lay Plaza

 

[LJMYERS]

Allan Pinkerton had a friend named Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. From the records of William Starr Myers.