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Enslaved People in Franklin's Research?
Franklin's remarkable scientific accomplishments were enabled by the social and economic system he worked within. Franklin enslaved people, perhaps as many as seven. Their labor helped to build his fortune. They may have directly assisted his research, although we do not know for certain.
Franklin's involvement with slavery is complicated. He published anti-slavery articles in his newspaper while also profiting from the sale of enslaved people and printed notices seeking the capture of escapees.
Later in life he took an overt stand against slavery, becoming president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery in 1787, supporting gradual emancipation. But Franklin never emancipated any of the people he enslaved.
Franklin's place in the nation's history of slavery is part of his legacy, as is his electrical research that led to the smartphone. |