1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery

The 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery was the first protest against African-American slavery made by a religious body in the English colonies. It was drafted by Francis Daniel Pastorius and signed by him and three other Quakers living in Germantown, Pennsylvania (now part of Philadelphia) on behalf of the Germantown Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. It was forwarded to the monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings without any action being taken on it. According to John Greenleaf Whittier, the original document was discovered in 1844 by the Philadelphia antiquarian Nathan Kite and published in The Friend (Vol. XVIII, No. 16).

Read more about 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery:  Historical Background, The German Settlement, The Issue of Slavery, About The Contents of The Petition, The Effect of The Document, Historical and Social Importance, References

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