Posted by Brendacious on June 27, 19101 at 10:29:30:

In Reply to: Did Ben own slaves? posted by Mike Stone on May 17, 19101 at 21:01:47:

:Hi, Mike -- I also saw that show and wondered. So I wrote to some experts online. Marthawilson@aol.com wrote me this answer.

Brenda,
I have found no doentation that specifically stated that B. Franklin did
or did not own slaves. He was opposed to slavery and in his Last Will and
Testament stipulated that his son-in-law (Richard Bache) free his slave Bob
in order to received any inheritance from Franklin. Therefore I'm going on
the umption that Franklin did not own slaves. He did, however, use prison
labor for his own personal use during the last months of his life. Whether
or not he paid for their services, is a fact that I could not find. I cannot
even start to remember how many sources I researched to find this material.
My term paper for American Literature was The Autobiography of Benjamin
Franklin. The single most helpful information source was, Benjamin Franklin,
A Biography by Ronald. W. Clark, Random House, New York, 1983. Abigail
Adams, wife of Pres. John Adams had no respect for Benjamin Franklin because
of his "free way" with women. As outspoken as she was, I believe she would
have been very verbal about Franklin if he had owned slaves. She also
adamantly disapproved of slavery; she and John did not own any.

Hope this has been some help to you.

Martha

Mike, I think some "black activists" do not deserve the honor of the title. This sort of person should do a little research before they attack. How ignorant is it to just ume that because an prominent American lived in colonial and revolutionary times, they owned slaves? Clearly these so-called activists don't know much about the debate against and for slavery that was taking place all along.

Brenda

Follow Ups:

• Re: Did Ben own slaves? me 11:12:46 10/06/103 (1)
  • Re: Did Ben own slaves? U 01:18:38 11/01/103 (0)

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