The First Abolitionist (TRIH ep 316)

1738 · Resource

This episode examines the life and activism of Benjamin Lay (1681–1759), an eccentric Quaker activist whose experiences in Barbados and later in Pennsylvania drove him to radical early abolitionism. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace Lay’s background in Essex, his move with his wife Sarah to Barbados, and the brutal, industrialized system of Caribbean slavery that transformed both their consciences. The hosts discuss Lay’s vegetarianism, his pamphlet All Slave Keepers That Keep the Innoc...

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