More importantly, however, is that in his second argument Keith went well beyond a simple reliance on the “Golden Rule” to make his case against African slavery. In doing so, he went one step beyond the Germantown petitioners. According to Keith, slavery was wrong, First, Because it is contrary to the Principles and Practice of the Christian Quakers to buy Prize or stolen Goods, which we bore a faithful Testimony against in our Native Country; and therefore it is our Duty to come forth in a Testimony against stolen Slaves, it being accounted a far greater Crime under Moses’s Law than the stealing of Goods: for such were only to restore four fold, but he that stealeth a Man and selleth him, if he be found in his hand, he shall surely
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This is because Africans had been taken unwillingly and sold into slavery. Therefore, in Keith’s mind the purchase of Africans to serve as slaves was a crime against God made clear in Mosaic Law. Keith’s arguments had a profound effect on the evolution of Quaker views concerning slavery.
For example, in 1693 the yearly meeting of Quakers in Philadelphia discouraged the importation of Africans into the colony. Furthermore, they advised against purchasing Africans for slaves unless the purchases were made with the intention of setting them free. In addition to discouraging the practice of slavery amongst the Quakers, Keith’s publication also contributed significantly to the American slavery debate by setting into motion the use of Biblical law to argue against African slavery. In fact, Keith’s argument against man-stealing would reappear in less than a …show more content…
Sewall was a judge in Massachusetts and spoke out against slavery as an institution. He was a well-known lawyer and jurist as well as a successful merchant and politician. Sewall’s voice became the first anti-slavery voice in America outside of the Quakers when he published The Selling of Joseph and his efforts sparked the first slavery debate in America. Sewall’s publication mimicked the format of Puritan sermons that were common in Sewall’s time and that Sewall had read and heard throughout his life. The Selling of Joseph opened with a statement of the text followed by an explication of the text. Objections to the text are also acknowledged and subsequently rebutted. Throughout the text, Sewall made numerous appeals to biblical authority in order to provide credibility to his anti-slavery position. Within the text, Sewall enhanced the biblical argument that had been put forth by Quaker George Keith just seven years earlier as he compared the slave trade to the biblical crime of man stealing that is prohibited in Exodus
This is because Africans had been taken unwillingly and sold into slavery. Therefore, in Keith’s mind the purchase of Africans to serve as slaves was a crime against God made clear in Mosaic Law. Keith’s arguments had a profound effect on the evolution of Quaker views concerning slavery.
For example, in 1693 the yearly meeting of Quakers in Philadelphia discouraged the importation of Africans into the colony. Furthermore, they advised against purchasing Africans for slaves unless the purchases were made with the intention of setting them free. In addition to discouraging the practice of slavery amongst the Quakers, Keith’s publication also contributed significantly to the American slavery debate by setting into motion the use of Biblical law to argue against African slavery. In fact, Keith’s argument against man-stealing would reappear in less than a …show more content…
Sewall was a judge in Massachusetts and spoke out against slavery as an institution. He was a well-known lawyer and jurist as well as a successful merchant and politician. Sewall’s voice became the first anti-slavery voice in America outside of the Quakers when he published The Selling of Joseph and his efforts sparked the first slavery debate in America. Sewall’s publication mimicked the format of Puritan sermons that were common in Sewall’s time and that Sewall had read and heard throughout his life. The Selling of Joseph opened with a statement of the text followed by an explication of the text. Objections to the text are also acknowledged and subsequently rebutted. Throughout the text, Sewall made numerous appeals to biblical authority in order to provide credibility to his anti-slavery position. Within the text, Sewall enhanced the biblical argument that had been put forth by Quaker George Keith just seven years earlier as he compared the slave trade to the biblical crime of man stealing that is prohibited in Exodus