Anthony Benezet

Anthony Benezet, or Antoine Bénézet (1713-1784) American educator and abolitionist.

Benezet was from a French family from Saint-Quentin. As a member of the Religious Society of Friends in Philadelphia, he worked to convince his Quaker brethren that slave-owning was not consistent with Christian doctrine.

He was the author of Some Historical Account of Guinea, Its Situation, Produce, and the General Disposition of Its Inhabitants: An Inquiry into the Rise and Progress of the Slave Trade, Its Nature and Lamentable Effects, which was influential in Britain and the United States during the height of the abolitionism movement.

He taught slave children and help set up the Negro School at Philadelphia.

In 1775, Benezet founded the world's first abolitionist society. Benjamin Franklin becomes its president in 1787.

Reference

• Anthony Benezet: biography and bibliography from Slavery, Emancipation, and Abolition

External link

• Some Historical Account of Guinea full text from Project Gutenberg
• Works by Anthony Benezet at Project Gutenberg