The first public protest against slavery in the British North American colonies originated in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood by a group of four men whose shared egalitarian beliefs sparked the beginning of the abolitionist movement. The document is now on display at Haverford College, and the desk it was written on is housed in the Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust. What stood out about the protest was the differences in some of the men’s religious backgrounds, according to Craig Stutman, a history professor at Delaware Valley University and board member of the Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust. “If you were German, regardless of whether you were Lutheran, Mennonite, Quaker or Dutch, you generally got along. • First abolitionist society in America (1775): Despite being a slaveowner himself, Benjamin Franklin at one point led the first formal group dedicated to abolishing slavery in America.

Source: The Guardian February 07, 2026 10:38 UTC