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 Anthony Benezet was one of the shining lights that upheld the biblical principle of equality in colonial America. He actively evangelized the slaves, and worked tirelessly for their freedom.
The first slaves came to the new world on August 20, 1619, when John Rolfe of Jamestown recorded in his diary, “There came a Dutch man-of-war that sold us 20 Negroes.” (Quoted in, Paul Johnson, A History of the American People, p. 27)
Religious instruction to the growing slave population was resisted by the plantation owners who refused their slaves time off, feared that baptism would change their civil status, and argued that blacks had no souls. (Gaustad & Schmidt, The Religious History of America, p. 45)
“The English planters permitted some sort of religious instruction for their slaves after providing by royal decrees and special statutes in the colonies that conversion to Christianity would not free the slaves. Feeling, however, that the nearer the blacks were kept to the state of brutes that the more useful they would be as laborers, the masters generally neglected them.” (Carter G. Woodson, The History of the Negro Church, p. 6)
However, increasing numbers of slaves converted to evangelical religions such as the Methodist and Baptist faiths. Many clergy within these denominations promoted the idea that all Christians were equal in God’s eyes. They also encouraged worship that many Africans found to be similar, or at least adaptable, to African worship patterns, with enthusiastic singing, clapping, and dancing. (Laurie Maffly-Kipp, African American Religion, www.nhc.rtp.nc.us)
Anthony Benezet (1713-1784) was born to Huguenot parents in northern France. He came to America in 1731 and joined the Society of Friends (Quakers).
He was one of the few white men of his era who did not subscribe to the theory of black inferiority, nor to the idea that Africa was a barbaric continent, citing a variety of sources to document the notable cultures that it had produced. He wrote, “As a teacher I have had for many years opportunity of knowing the temper and genius of the Africans and could with truth and sincerity declare among them as great a variety of talents and equally capable of improvement, as among the same number of whites.” (Africans in America: Anthony Benezet, www.pbs.org)
In 1750, he began teaching slave children in the evening from his home. Twenty years later, he established the first black school in America.
His anti-slavery writings, published at his own expense, influenced abolitionists on both side of the Atlantic.
Some Historical Account of Guinea, written in 1772, was the most influential anti-slavery tract written on either side of the Atlantic. The pamphlet was read and imitated by both Granville Sharp and John Wesley, both of whom distributed it in England. (Brycchan Carey, Anthony Benezet, www.brycchancarey.com)
“Anthony Benezet was the single most prolific antislavery writer and the most influential advocate of the Negro’s rights on either side of the Atlantic.” (Africans in America: Anthony Benezet, www.pbs.org)
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