68 Chapter 3
aissanceand Enlightenment,thosetwo historicalperiodswerebut a fractionof the entire
spanof historythroughoutwhichhumanbeingspracticedslavery,a practicethatprob-
ablybeganpriorto 5,000B.C.Thuswe shoulddiscernhere,already,howfatuousit is to
attributeracist,pro-slaveryideasof the Nazisto the Enlightenment.
We can concedethatsomeEnlightenmentfiguresexhibitedhypocrisyon this issue.
ThomasJeffersondid not writeintohis willthathis slavesbe emancipateduponhis
death.JohnLockepurchased£600 worthof sharesin the RoyalAfricanCompany,which
tradedin slaves,^96 and,whenhe assistedhis patron,the firstEarlof Shaftesbury,in
settingup the Britishcolonyin the Carolinasof NorthAmerica,Lockewroteexplicitlyin
the colony’s charterthatslaverywasto be legalin the colony.^97 In hisSecondTreatiseof
Government, Lockesaysexplicitlythat whenEnglandcapturessoldiersfroman armythat
initiateswaron England,the Englishmayrightfullyenslavethoseenemysoldiersfor
life.^98 Still,Universityof MarylandhistorianHollyBrewerpointsout that,in his old age
and underthe ruleof KingWilliamIII, Lockedid indeedfightfor measuresto undermine
the slavetrade.Whenthe Britishgovernmentset up its Caroliniancolony,it optedto
providelandgrantsto settlers,and the size of the landgrantswouldbe directlypropor-
tionalto the numberof slavesthe plantationholderimported,therebyincentivizinga
plantationownerto maximizethe numberof slavesimported.Lockearguedagainstthis
measure,vocalizingthat it incentivizedan inhumanepractice.^99
Moreover,considerthe plethoraof Enlightenment-erafigureswhospokeout against
whiteenslavementof blacks.Thatlist includesA.L.C.Destuttde Tracy,^100 Jean-Baptiste
Say,^101 CharlesMontesquieu,Marquisde Lafayette,^102 AdamSmith,^103 ThomasPaine,^104
Jacques Turgot,^105 Manchester-based free-trade advocate John Bright, industrialist
WilliamGregg,^106 ErasmusDarwin(CharlesDarwin’s paternalgrandfather),^107 Josiah
Wedgwood(CharlesDarwin’s maternalgrandfather),^108 AdamFerguson,^109 and Nicolas
Condorcet.^110 Thesethinkersdid muchto startthe movementto eradicatechattelslavery
in Europeand NorthAmerica.JosephPriestleyconsideredhimselfa religiousmanand he
opposedslavery,^111 but his religiousviewswerenonethelessrejectedas heresyby main-
streamChristians.
Someapologists,suchas thosein the ActonInstitute—a Catholicconservativegroup—
try to handeverylast bit of creditfor the abolitionistmovementto Christianity,as the
Quakerseventuallycameto takeunofficialleadof the abolitionistmovement.Indeed,one
Quakerin particular,AnthonyBenezetof Philadelphia,did muchto recruitEnlighten-
mentphilosophesintothe cause.PulitzerPrizefinalistand non-conservativePhilipDray
admitsthatthe movement’s leadersincludedsuchevangelicalsas WilliamWilberforce
andGranvilleSharpe.However,hadChristianitytrulybeenthe factormostresponsible
for abolitionism,it wouldfail to explainwhy,fromthe firstcenturyA.D.to the Renais-
sance,the culturalleadersof Christendomdid nothingto end slavery.It wasnot untilthe
ascensionof suchsecularistEnlightenmentphilosophersas Jean-BaptisteSay thataboli-
tionismbecamepopularamongnominalChristians.ThissuggeststhatEnlightenment
liberalphilosophy,morethananyotherimpetus,catalyzedthe West’s reformationin
attitudeaboutslavery.Consideran earlyabolitionist—BenjaminFranklin.Franklindid
not startoff withthe cause;for muchof his life he was a slaveholder.His attitudebeganto
changeas a youngadultwhenhe becamea deist,meaningthathe believedin a Godbut
did not believein a literalinterpretationof the Bible;he believedin a non-intervening
Godof Nature.Franklinstruggledwiththisissuethroughoutmuchof his life.In his
twilightyears,Franklinjoinedin abolitionism,finallytakinghis Enlightenmentphiloso-
phyto its necessary,logicalconclusion.As PhilipDrayalsoobserves,it wasthe Enlight-
enment’sphilosopheswho“gavethe antislaverycauseits intellectualheft.. .”^112 Indeed,as
preachersin the northernUnitedStatescampaignedagainstslavery,theircounterpartsin
the SouthwerecitingBiblepassagesto propup the notionthatChristianityendorsedthe