# Anthony Benezet, Father of Atlantic Abolitionism

Anthony Benezet is recognized as the founder of the antislavery movement in America in the mid-1700s. Benezet believed the British ban on slavery should have been extended to the colonies, and worked to convince his Quaker brethren that slave-owning was not consistent with Christian doctrine. Benezet and his fight against slavery was the topic of a lecture by Maurice Jackson, an assistant professor in the history department at Georgetown University. Jackson discussed his recently published book "Let This Voice Be Heard: Anthony Benezet, Father of Atlantic Abolitionism." Benezet transformed Quaker anti-slavery sentiment into a broad-based transatlantic movement. According to Jackson, Benezet translated ideas from diverse sources -- Enlightenment philosophy, African travel narratives, Quakerism, practical life and the Bible -- into concrete action. He founded the African Free School in Philadelphia, where future abolitionist leaders Absalom Jones and James Forten studied.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2009
- By: Library Of Congress
- Genres: History
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688054/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021688054?play=1)