Quakers and Slavery in Colonial Rhode Island
Quakers (Friends) are well-known for their efforts to abolish slavery and aid fugitive slaves through the Underground Railroad. Before 1775, however, many Rhode Island Quakers, including the speaker’s ancestors, owned slaves, invested in slaving voyages, and served in the legislature that enacted slave codes. This talk explores how a community of faith reconciled its religious beliefs with an economic system based on African slavery, and how the community ethos changed as Friends came increasingly to question the morality of slavery and, by 1773, to ban slave-holding among their members. It includes stories of particular Quaker families and the Africans who worked for them. This program can be tailored for children or adults, and can focus on a particular locality that had a significant Quaker presence, such as Newport/Portsmouth, South County (Kingstown/Westerly/Greenwich), and Smithfield/Providence.
Betsy Cazden is an independent scholar of Quaker history and an active Friend. She graduated from Harvard Law School and practiced law in New Hampshire for 25 years before moving to Rhode Island in 2006. Her MA thesis at Andover Newton Theological School examined five Quaker meetings in New England from 1920 to 1950. Past projects include presentations on the Friends’ mission in Cuba from 1900 to the present; serving on the advisory committee and provided commentary for the video Rufus Jones - A Luminous Life; and a biography of the first woman to be ordained as a Protestant minister, Antoinette Brown Blackwell (Feminist Press, 1983).
Needs: Lighted lectern/water; Powerpoint projector, screen, table & extension cord for laptop (preferred but not required; talk can be done without visuals)