When Benjamin Franklin arrived in London in 1757, he had with him two enslaved Africans that lived and worked at 36 Craven Street. At Benjamin Franklin House, we aim to tell the stories of all the individuals that lived here.

Benjamin Franklin was a slave owner, however, his ownership was not the only way he benefited from the institution. He gained profits from the domestic and international slave trade. As the editor of the Pennsylvania Gazette, Franklin benefited financially from the advertisements for runaway slave and slave auction advertisements paid for by ...

Franklin owned slaves from as early as 1735 until 1781. The Franklin household had six slaves; Peter, his wife Jemima and their son Othello, George, John and King. After 1758 Franklin gradually changed his mind when his friend Samuel Johnson brought him to one of Dr. Bray’s schools for black children.

At some points in his life, he owned slaves and ran "for sale" ads for slaves in his newspaper, but by the late 1750s, he began arguing against slavery, became an active abolitionist, and promoted the education and integration of African Americans into U.S. society. [7]

2019年8月12日 · In 1789 he wrote and published several essays supporting the abolition of slavery and his last public act was to send to Congress a petition on behalf of the Society asking for the abolition of slavery and an end to the slave trade.

As far as we know, Franklin first purchased a slave in 1735. Throughout his lifetime there were up to 7 named slaves in the Franklin household. By the late 1780s, Franklin had become a staunch abolitionist and as part of his will, all remaining slaves were freed upon his death in 1790.

While serving in Congress, he was a staunch defender of states’ rights and slavery. The next day, a petition arrived from the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and its president, Benjamin Franklin.