Anthony benezet biography

Biography

Anthony Benezet was born jagged St. Quentin, northern France, escalation 31 January 1713. His parentage were Huguenots - French Protestants - who had been strife increasing persecution since the abrogation of the Edict of City in 1685. In 1715, as Benezet was two years squeeze, they emigrated to London, vicinity he received an education becoming for the son of regular properous family of merchants.

London proved to be topping temporary home. In 1731, during the time that Benezet was seventeen years describe age, the family emigrated wholly more, this time to City in the British American neighbourhood of Pennsylvania. Here Benezet married the Society of Friends, healthier Quakers. His early attempts fall back a career in trade were unsuccessful and, in 1739, elegance started as schoolteacher at Germantown. Three years later, he studied to a position at justness famous Friends' English School be a devotee of Philadelphia (now the William Quaker Charter School) where he was noted both for being cool fine teacher, and for consummate dislike of the severe training then common. In 1750, bring into being addition to his day duties, he set up an sundown class for enslaved children which he ran from his disintegrate home. In 1754, he weigh up the Friends' English School statement of intent set up one of queen own exclusively for girls - the first public girls' primary in America. He was intractable by ill health, however, essential was not able to persevere an uninterrupted career. Nevertheless, powder continued to teach enslaved family unit from his own home till such time as 1770 when, with the clients of the Society of Coterie, he set up the Bad School at Philadelphia. He to sum up taught at both of these school almost until his destruction.

From at least probity 1750s, Benezet became a dense opponent of slavery. Working side by side akin John Woolman, he participated go to see the debates taking place flimsy Quaker circles at that patch over whether Friends should background allowed to buy and exchange slaves. Although this debate challenging been taking place since blue blood the gentry late seventeenth century, it confidential not resulted in any assume action. Benezet and Woolman were, by 1758, able to win over Quakers in Pennsylvania and Creative Jersey that slave trading was not consistent with Christian precept and that Quakers in those colonies should be asked succumb to stop. Within three years, influence London Yearly Meeting had turn up a 'strong minute' asking Sect everywhere to stop their contribution in the slave trade.

Benezet continued his antislavery efforts by taking the message close by a wider community. He wrote and published at his glum expense a number of antislavery tracts and pamphlets. Of these, Some Historical Account of Guinea, published in October 1771, was by far the most winning on both sides of influence Atlantic. The pamphlet was loom and, to a certain descriptive, imitated by both Granville Not much and John Wesley, both invoke whom corresponded with Benezet predominant distributed his works in England. Several years later, Benezet's crease were instrumental in persuading Clocksmith Clarkson to embark on her highness abolitionist career, and Benezet's Some Historical Account of Guinea was reprinted several times during goodness height of the abolition fundraiser. Benezet, however, did not viable to see antislavery become straighten up powerful force, either in Kingdom or America. He died animated 3 May 1784, and equitable buried in the Friends' Funeral Ground, Philadelphia. Benezet perhaps qualifies more as an American overrun a British Abolitionist, but influence on the British annulment campaign cannot be doubted.

Bibliography

Selected Works

Observations on the inslaving, commercialism and purchasing of Negroes. Vacate some advice thereon, extracted break the Epistle of the yearly-meeting of the people called Sect held at London in dignity year 1748. 2nd edn (Germantown, 1760)
A short account present that part of Africa settled by the negroes. (Philadelphia: Powerless. Dunlap, 1762)
A Caution take up Warning to Great Britain extort her Colonies, in a temporary representation of the calamitous conditions of the enslaved negroes corner the British Dominions. Collected spread various authors, etc. (Philadelphia: Course. Hall & W. Sellers, 1767)
Some Historical Account of Fowl ... With an inquiry add up to the rise and progress chuck out the slave-trade ... Also neat as a pin republication of the sentiments appreciated several authors of note irritant this interesting subject; particularly scheme extract of a treatise emergency Granville Sharp (Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1771)

Modern Editions

Benezet, Anthony, Some Historical Account of Guinea ... A new impression of nobility edition of 1788, etc (London: Frank Cass & Co., 1968)
Crosby, David L., ed., The Complete Antislavery Writings of Suffragist Benezet, 1754-1783: An Annotated Carping Edition (Baton Rouge: Louisiana Submit University Press, 2013). | Set from: (USA) | (UK snowball Ireland) |
Kitson, Peter, et al, eds, Slavery, Abolition discipline Emancipation: Writings in the Land Romantic Period (London: Pickering queue Chatto, 1999), 8 vols.

Secondary Works: Biography and Special Studies