The story of Benjamin Franklin’s life concerning racism is the story of America itself. In the last years of his long and illustrious career, Franklin, one of America’s greatest Founders, set out to correct, “one of the few blemishes on a life spent fighting for freedom.” As a young Philadelphia newspaper printer, Franklin, at times “had a slave as a personal servant,” and occasionally participated in the buying and selling of slaves through ads in his newspaper. At as early age, Franklin wrote an article attacking slavery, mainly “focused on the ill effects to the owners rather than the immortality done to the slaves.” He urged, “the desirability of keeping America mainly white.” In “Observations on the Increase of Mankind,” Benjamin attacked slavery on economic ground, but not its immortality. With the passing years, Franklin’s view slowly evolved about blacks, their liberty, equality, proper place in America and the “pernicious” institution of slavery. He became active in an organization that established schools for black children throughout America. After carefully observing black children at their studies, Franklin wrote a reflective letter about his previous prejudices:
“It was on the whole much please, and from what I then saw have conceived a higher opinion of the natural capacities of the black race, than I had ever before entertained. Their apprehension seems as quick, their memory as strong, and their docility in every respect equal to that of white children. You will wonder perhaps that I should ever doubt it, and I will not undertake to justify all my prejudices.”
Franklin had spent a significant time in England. In 1772 the Somerset case decided the fate of slaves in England. James Somerset, a runaway slave had been living in London when his former master found him and attempted to send him to Jamaica. The court ruled in Somerset’s favor and in doing so, in favor of thousands of slaves throughout Britain by establishing that any slave, once on British soil, was free. Franklin was moved by the decision and wrote a piece for the London Chronicle in which he condemned both slavery and the slave trade. In 1787, at age 81, Franklin became president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and dedicated his remaining days to ending slavery in America. He presented a formal abolition petition to Congress in February 1790, urging the blessings of liberty should be done “without distinction of color,” and granting “liberty to those unhappy men (and women) who alone in this land of freedom are degraded into perpetual bondage.” Franklin stated the hypocrisy of a country fighting a revolution to establish that all men are created equal while legally sanctioning slavery. His petition was roundly denounced, however, he gave credence to the world that slavery should end and that freed slaves would make a valuable contribution to mankind. It has been said by many historians that Franklin was way ahead of his peers on the future of America. If Congress had followed Franklin’s lead on ending slavery, some 600,000 lives would have been saved in our later Civil War.
Source: Walter Isaacson, “Benjamin Franklin, An American Life”: Frank Cronin, “Benjamin Franklin and Slavery: A Man Ahead of His Times”: “Benjamin Franklin and Slavery,” by Marvee S. Shah.
