5fish
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2019
- Messages
- 10,699
- Reaction score
- 4,551
Peter Faneuil lived a short life but donated Faneuil Hall to Boston in death. The place went on to earn the nickname "The Cradle of Liberty". Peter Faneuil was a slave trader...
“With the net proceeds of the same purchase for me, for the use of my house, as likely a strait negro lad as possibly you can, about the age from twelve to fifteen years.”[1] This letter, written in February of 1738, was not written by a wealthy Virginia planter, but by Peter Faneuil, one of the wealthiest merchants in 18th century Boston. The man responsible for gifting Faneuil Hall, the location of Boston’s town meeting and a building nicknamed “The Cradle of Liberty”, enslaved people.
snip...
Enslaving people in 17th/18th century Boston was not unusual, in fact as a French protestant visiting Boston stated in a 1678 report “You may own Negroes and Negresses; there is not a House in Boston, however small may be its means, that has not one or two.”[2]
snip... his last slave deal...
An example of Faneuil’s involvement in the slave trade is the voyage he planned to Guinea in 1742 with his ship the Jolly Batchelor. In 1743 the ship returned from the Guinea coast with “twenty negroes” amongst its cargo, but Faneuil, who died in 1742, did not live to see the completion of the journey.
The hall...
snip...
In 1740 Peter Faneuil approached the town's government—the town meeting—with a proposal that a permanent central marketplace should be established in the heart of Boston. Faneuil himself would personally fund the construction of the building. Yet despite such a generous offer, the proposal proved to be a very contentious issue. Many opponents were concerned that by centralizing the market, sellers would raise prices and hurt competition. When it finally came to a vote, Faneuil's proposal ultimately carried. It passed by a slim margin: 367 to 360.
Almost as an afterthought, Peter Faneuil decided to add a meeting hall over the market floor in the building proposal. After two years of construction the building was completed in 1742. Though the original intention was a market, the meeting hall above became the valuable legacy. The town voted to name the hall in Faneuil's honor. It became home to the town government and a public hall for concerts, banquets, and ceremonies.
snip...
In the 19th century the Hall's memory as the "Cradle of Liberty" of the Revolution drew political and social activists both locally and nationally to continue what the founding generation started. Abolitionists, suffragists, labor unionists—and their respective opposition movements—all held conventions, banquets, and orations in the Great Hall. In the 20th century, the hall was televised for John F. Kennedy's last campaign speech during the 1960 presidential race. To this day the remains a continuously used meeting place for political and civic events.
“With the net proceeds of the same purchase for me, for the use of my house, as likely a strait negro lad as possibly you can, about the age from twelve to fifteen years.”[1] This letter, written in February of 1738, was not written by a wealthy Virginia planter, but by Peter Faneuil, one of the wealthiest merchants in 18th century Boston. The man responsible for gifting Faneuil Hall, the location of Boston’s town meeting and a building nicknamed “The Cradle of Liberty”, enslaved people.
snip...
Enslaving people in 17th/18th century Boston was not unusual, in fact as a French protestant visiting Boston stated in a 1678 report “You may own Negroes and Negresses; there is not a House in Boston, however small may be its means, that has not one or two.”[2]
snip... his last slave deal...
An example of Faneuil’s involvement in the slave trade is the voyage he planned to Guinea in 1742 with his ship the Jolly Batchelor. In 1743 the ship returned from the Guinea coast with “twenty negroes” amongst its cargo, but Faneuil, who died in 1742, did not live to see the completion of the journey.
The hall...
snip...
In 1740 Peter Faneuil approached the town's government—the town meeting—with a proposal that a permanent central marketplace should be established in the heart of Boston. Faneuil himself would personally fund the construction of the building. Yet despite such a generous offer, the proposal proved to be a very contentious issue. Many opponents were concerned that by centralizing the market, sellers would raise prices and hurt competition. When it finally came to a vote, Faneuil's proposal ultimately carried. It passed by a slim margin: 367 to 360.
Almost as an afterthought, Peter Faneuil decided to add a meeting hall over the market floor in the building proposal. After two years of construction the building was completed in 1742. Though the original intention was a market, the meeting hall above became the valuable legacy. The town voted to name the hall in Faneuil's honor. It became home to the town government and a public hall for concerts, banquets, and ceremonies.
snip...
In the 19th century the Hall's memory as the "Cradle of Liberty" of the Revolution drew political and social activists both locally and nationally to continue what the founding generation started. Abolitionists, suffragists, labor unionists—and their respective opposition movements—all held conventions, banquets, and orations in the Great Hall. In the 20th century, the hall was televised for John F. Kennedy's last campaign speech during the 1960 presidential race. To this day the remains a continuously used meeting place for political and civic events.