Maurice Jackson on Anthony Benezet: The founding father of Atlantic emancipation, on Mar 7.
The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress presents Kluge Fellow, Maurice Jackson, in a talk titled "Anthony Benezet: The founding father of Atlantic emancipation" on Wednesday, March 7, 2007 at 12:00 p.m., in Room #119, Thomas Jefferson Building. This event is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are required. Request ASL and ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202.707-6362 or <ADA@loc.gov>
Anthony Benezet (1713-1784), educator and abolitionist, was a Huguenot who, facing persecution in his native France, settled in Philadelphia with his family in 1731. There, he founded the African Free School and counted among his students the future Black Abolitionist leaders, Absalom Jones and James Forten. Benezet’s many letters and pamphlets framed anti slavery arguments that influenced men such as Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush and Patrick Henry, in America and in England, John Wesley, Granville Sharpe, Thomas Clarkson and Lord Wilberforce. In France, his writings translated by the Société des Amis des Noirs, had a profound effect on Mirabeau, Condorcet, and the Abbé Raynal. The African abolitionists, Olaudah Equiano, Ottobah Cugoano, both quoted from and praised his works highly. In his talk, Jackson will demonstrate how Benezet’s ideas and tactics proved pivotal in igniting the Atlantic anti slavery crusade of the 18th century.
