Fact: The slave trade was banned in England in 1102, 674 years before the American Revolution!
A recent claim by Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida at a “Stop Woke Act’ event, stating that prior to the American Revolution no one questioned slavery, is shocking and has absolutely zero factual basis. This is alarming, especially when one considers the governor has his thumb on the education of Florida’s children; of all ethnic origins. When it comes to such reasoning that seeps of ignorance, and in this case, baseless rhetoric that ignores factual history in favor of ‘sound bites’ to appease a political faction, an early American colloquialism comes to mind; a turd is a turd and no matter how it is disguised, it still stinks.
As for no one questioning slavery prior to 1775: The slave trade was banned in England in 1102, 674 years before the American Revolution! In 1569, England’s courts ruled that English law could not recognize slavery, 38 years before the first American colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, and 207 years before the first shots of the Revolutionary War! In England in 1705, 71 years before the American Revolution, Chief Justice Holt ruled against the legal basis for slavery writing, “As soon as a Negro comes into England, he becomes free.” In 1772, four years before America claimed independence, Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the Court of the King’s Bench, ruled that slavery is so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it. As a result, slavery was banned entirely from England’s shores.
So too in America, from 1652 onward, beginning 124 years prior to the American Revolution, thousands upon thousands questioned slavery; all this has been well documented. Not just Quakers rose against the inhumane institution, but so too state and colonial governmental legislatures. These were people in all lines of work and varied among all religions. The legislatures included both northern and southern colonies, in particular Georgia (which had outlawed slavery since its original charter in 1732), South Carolina, and Virginia. The statutes were eventually overruled by England’s political factions, whose powerful merchants, and the crown, profited from the colonial slave trade.
But most importantly, what of the over million enslaved Americans since 1619 until the Revolution? At any one time – twenty percent of the American colonies’ population! We would imagine every single one of those souls who were forced to kneel before their master and who, by law since 1705, were allowed to be murdered at will by their masters, would question the institution of slavery. Hundreds of black slaves rose in revolt, many suffering horrendous deaths, including in New York City where dozens were publicly hanged and burned at the stake.
Most importantly, why does Governor DeSantis dismiss over a million black enslaved Americans in his baseless statement that ‘no one’ questioned slavery? One must ask, is it simply because they were black? That only white opinions mattered? A quick check of Woke in the Merriam Webster dictionary seems appropriate: a condition of systemic racism. Again, a turd will always be a turd.
Perhaps Governor DeSantis should be sent a middle school social studies text book that includes an historical account of the abolition movement, both abroad and in the American colonies. But sadly, stating the reality of cynicism, he would have to read it — this before his party recommended it be banned from schools.
For Governor DeSantis’ benefit and his followers, here is a partial list of the countless ‘no ones’ in America who he stated never questioned slavery prior to the American Revolution:
- 1652: The Pennsylvania Colony prohibited enslavement for more than 10 years or after the age of 24. The Rhode Island Colonial Assembly, led by Roger Williams and Samuel Gorton, declared slavery illegal because it contradicted Protestant beliefs of anti-slavery. The law floundered fifty years later when the colony became involved (later to lead) the slave trade.
- 1676: Quaker William Edmondson, in Newport, Rhode Island, wrote an anti-slavery letter to fellow Quakers in America.
- 1688: German Quakers and Mennonites issued the Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery. The first major petition against slavery in the colonies. Written by Francis Daniel Pastorius, Philadelphia statesman considered among the most important poets of early America, and Garret Hendricks. It declared slavery to be inconsistent with Christian principles.
- 1693: George Keith published An Exhortation and Caution to Friends Concerning Buying or Keeping of Negroes. He asked Quakers to free their slaves.
- 1696: At the Society of Friends (Quaker) Yearly Meeting, they declared their adamant opposition to the importation of slaves.
- 1700: Chief Justice Samuel Sewall, a prominent Bostonian, wrote The Selling of Joseph; A Memorial, in protest of the widening practice of outright slavery. He organized an anti-slavery group called the Boston Committee of 1700.
- 1702: A slave, Abda Jennings, petitioned for freedom in a Hartford, Connecticut, court.
- 1703: The first slave narrative, John Saffin’s Tryall, is published in Boston.
- 1711: Society of Friends (Quakers) and Mennonites successfully lobbied the Pennsylvania colonial legislature to ban slavery, filing their protest during The Quaker Quarterly Meeting. Within a few decades the entire slave trade was under perpetual attack.
- 1712: Anti-slavery activist William Southby successfully lobbied the Pennsylvania colonial legislature to ban the importation of slaves. The law made Pennsylvania the first colony to abolish slavery.
- 1715: Anti-slavery pamphlets, “The American Defense of the Christian Golden Rule,” by John Hepburn, and “A Testimony against that Anti-Christian Practice of Making Slaves of Men,” by Elihu Coleman, were published.
- 1717: Cotton Mather established a school for Native American and enslaved People.
- 1726: Benjamin Franklin founded an association called the “Junto.” Members were asked to work against and oppose slavery.
- 1729: Ralph Sandiford published anti-slavery book, A Brief Examination of the Practices of the Times.
- 1732: James Oglethorpe, former British soldier and member of Parliament, founded the colony of Georgia. Slavery was not allowed in the colony.
- 1733: Elihu Coleman, from Nantucket, published A Testimony against That Anti-Christian Practice of Making Slaves of Men.
- 1735: English law prohibited the importation and use of African slaves in the colony of Georgia.
- 1739: An enslaved person, Jeremy, lead 20 slaves in a rebellion at Stono Bridge, south of Charleston. Most slaves were captured. Many were brutally killed.
- 1740: A planned revolt of Blacks was discovered in Charleston, South Carolina. Fifty were hanged.
- 1741: Slave rebellion in Manhattan, New York City. During a protest against slavery, enslaved men and women were accused of setting fire to buildings, including the governor’s house. Thirty-one Blacks and four Whites are caught and executed – many publicly burned alive at the stake. It was labeled the “Plot of 1741.”
- 1741-1742: One Hundred and Sixty slaves were arrested, accused of conspiring against New York. Only seventeen were acquitted. The presiding Judge, Daniel Horsmanden, in a report, recommended ending slavery in the City.
- 1743: Clergyman John Woolman began anti-slavery sermons in the New Jersey Crown Colony. He became one of the most important anti-slavery activists in the Colonies.
- 1745: Thomas Ashley published A New General Collection of Voyages and Travels. It opposed slavery.
- 1750: Abolitionist Anthony Benezet founded a school for Blacks in Philadelphia. Another was opened in 1771.
- 1751: Benjamin Franklin wrote Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, which criticized slavery.
- 1754: John Woolman published the anti-slavery Considerations on Keeping of Negroes, Recommended to the Professors of Christianity of Every Denomination. He added to it in 1762.
- 1756: John Woolman of Philadelphia, gave up most of his business to devote himself fully to campaigning against slavery. His works are considered American classics including his Journal, which has been continuously in print since 1774, published in numerous editions; the most recent scholarly edition published in 1989.
- 1758: Quakers in Philadelphia ceased buying and selling slaves. Anthony Benezet and fellow anti-slavery Quakers began annual meetings to help end slavery in the Colonies.
- 1760: The South Carolina legislature ended slavery in the colony. The British government overruled this law.
- 1761: Quakers attempted to exclude members who were active in the slave trade.
- 1762: Anthony Benezet published his anti-slavery tract, A Short Account of That Part of Africa Inhabited by Negroes.
- 1764: James Otis of Boston published, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, which criticized slavery. From this year and the next ten years, Boston lawyer Benjamin Kent represented seventeen enslaved African-Americans who appeared before the Massachusetts courts in freedom suits.
- 1766: Anthony Benezet published anti-slavery work, A Caution and Warning to Great Britain and her Colonies, in a Short Representation of the Calamitous State of the Enslaved Negroes in the British Dominions. Boston Lawyer Benjamin Kent won a case (Slew v. Whipple) to liberate Jenny Slew, an African-American who had been kidnapped in Massachusetts and handled as a slave.
- 1767: Individuals in the Virginia House of Burgesses began a boycott of the British slave trade.
- 1768: Quakers in Maryland no longer bought or sold slaves.
- 1770: The Rhode Island colonial assembly passed a statute ending the continued importation of slaves into the colony. Samuel Hopkins, a Congregational minister in Newport, Rhode Island, preached on the evils of slavery. Quakers in New England no longer bought or sold slaves.
- 1771: Massachusetts colonial assembly passed a resolution ending the importation of slaves into the colony. It was overruled by the Colonial Governor. Connecticut colonial assembly successfully passed a law prohibiting the slave trading in the colony.
- 1772: The Virginia House of Burgesses wrote of King George II of England that “the importation of slaves into the colonies from the coast of Africa hath long been considered a trade of great inhumanity, and under its present encouragement, we have too much reason to fear will endanger the very existence of your Majesty’s American dominions.” The Virginia House enacted a high tariff on slaves imported into the Colony, to limit slavery. John Allen published anti-slavery tract, Oration Upon the Beauties of Liberty. He advocated for an immediate end of slavery.
- 1773: Founding father Benjamin Rush published an anti-slavery statement, An Address to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements in America, upon Slavekeeping. It was considered a landmark document. Ezra Stiles, the President of Yale College, and Samuel Hopkins, a clergyman, were both outspoken, strong opponents of slavery. They called on churches in New England to oppose the importation and trading of slaves. A group of slaves petitioned the Massachusetts colonial legislature for their freedom.
- 1774: First Continental Congress is held. Delegates Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin called for action of the delegates to end the importation of slaves by December 1, 1776. This provision was put in the Articles of Association of the Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson penned A Summary View of the Rights of British America. He wrotee that “the abolition of slavery is the great object of desire in the colonies where it was unhappily introduced.” In London, John Wesley published the anti-slavery pamphlet, Thoughts Upon Slavery. George Mason authored The Fairfax Resolves, a blueprint for independence, in which resolution seventeen condemned slavery. Importantly, this document was also approved by delegates from Virginia.
- 1774: The Continental Congress adopted the clause, “We will neither import nor purchase, any slave imported after the first day of December next.”
- 1775: Thomas Paine wrote his anti-slavery work, “Slavery in America.” It was published in The Pennsylvania Journal.
- April 14, 1775: Pennsylvania Abolition Society (PAS), also known as the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- April 19, 1775: Battle between colonists and British soldiers broke out in Concord, Massachusetts. It is considered the start of the American Revolution.
RESOURCE
Dumond, Dwight Lowell. Antislavery: The Crusade for Freedom in America. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1961.
Miller, Randall M., and John D. Smith, Eds., Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery, New York: Greenwood Press, 1988.
Rodriguez, Junius P., ed. Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2007.
United States Abolition and Anti-Slavery Timeline http://www.americanabolitionists.com/us-abolition-and-anti-slavery-timeline.html