"Thoughts on Slavery"

John Parrish (1729-1807) was a Quaker abolitionist and a proponent of Native American rights. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1729 to John Parrish and Elizabeth Roberts. He married Elizabeth Durrant in Philadelphia in 1753. In his adult years, he lived with his wife and daughter in Philadelphia, although as a young man he resided in Maryland. It is also known that he suffered from a stroke in 1807 while in Philadelphia, and is thought to have died as a result.

Parrish is best remembered for authoring "Remarks on the Slavery of the Black People." Published in 1806, Parrish's pamphlet ran to nearly 70 pages and ranged over such issues as Biblical antislavery, constitutional rationales for emancipation, colonization, and African-American political protest. Parrish believed that Americans needed to redouble their antislavery efforts to avert either eternal damnation or massive uprising of the enslaved--or both.

This collection is comprised of the single volume handwritten manuscript of John Parrish's essay, "Thoughts on Slavery," in which Parrish discusses the religious and moral reasons in favor of abolishing slavery in the United States, as well as a short history of slavery in the United States, and the responsibilities of the United States government to those they are oppressing through slavery.

"Thoughts on Slavery" was donated to Special Collections, Haverford College in 1957 by The Archives and Historical Committee of Merion Friends Meeting, with the cooperation of Reverend Bartholomew Fair, Librarian of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

Processed by Kara Flynn; completed October, 2015.

HC.MC.975.01.003 David Bacon journal HC.MC.975.01.021 James Emlen journal HC.MC.975.01.061 William Savery diaries HC.MC.975.01.053 John Parrish diaries

Use

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Preferred Citation

"Thoughts on Slavery" (HC.MC.975.07.071), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Publisher

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Finding aids author

Kara Flynn

Date

October, 2015

Creator

Parrish, John, 1729-1807

Subject

Quakers -- History

Slavery and the church -- Society of Friends

Quakers

Antislavery movements -- United States

Antislavery movements -- History

Language

English

Form

manuscripts (documents)