The Germantown Petition Against Slavery: Crash Course Black American History #5 - Free Educational videos for Students in K-12

The Germantown Petition Against Slavery: Crash Course Black American History #5 - By CrashCourse

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00:0-1	Hi , I'm Clint smith and this is crash course
00:02	black american history . If you're like me , you
00:05	love breakfast , pancakes , waffles , french toast ,
00:09	bacon , sausage , you name it . I am
00:11	here for it in one of the breakfast food that
00:13	I love and that my kids really love . It's
00:16	oatmeal , especially with some raisins , some diced strawberries
00:20	and some cinnamon man . Shout out to Quaker oats
00:24	. Speaking of which did you ever wonder why they're
00:27	even called Quaker oats ? Part of the reason we
00:30	have a random 17th century Quaker man on the front
00:32	of the box is because people have long associated Quakers
00:35	with the qualities of goodness and peace and honesty .
00:39	What are qualities you love to see in people and
00:43	in your oatmeal for the record , Quakroat has no
00:47	association with the actual clickers . Anyway , today we're
00:50	going to take a closer look at Quakers . In
00:51	early America , including their varying opinions and relationships to
00:55	slavery , which led to many disagreements within the group
00:58	, as well as one of the first abolitionist documents
01:00	in the north american colonies . Yeah , By the
01:12	late 1600s , British North America had become well accustomed
01:15	to the practice of slavery , although it was not
01:17	nearly as integral to the economy in the North as
01:19	it was to the south . The practice did expand
01:22	rapidly , Including in the Delaware Valley region of Philadelphia
01:26	. Pennsylvania slavery in this region began in 1684 with
01:29	the arrival of some 150 captives aboard the British vessel
01:33	, the Isabella , the slave ship brought a highly
01:35	sought after commodity to philadelphia . Free labor , tapping
01:39	into the columnist desire to obtain their own enslaved workers
01:43	. Soon enslaved Africans would make up around the seventh
01:46	of the city's entire population . The colony of pennsylvania
01:49	had been founded by a man named William Penn ,
01:52	who himself was a Quaker , But not the man
01:55	on the Quaker oats box . The Quakers whose denomination
01:58	of Christianity developed in England in the mid-17th century were
02:01	also a significant portion of Philadelphia's population during this time
02:05	. Quakers beliefs were pretty different and in some ways
02:08	radically different than other christian groups . For example ,
02:12	they were one of the first to argue that individuals
02:14	could realize spiritual freedom through their own inner life ,
02:17	that people could communicate directly with God , so priests
02:22	weren't really needed to do so . Quakers were also
02:25	well known for being forerunners of the abolitionist movement ,
02:28	but it's always with history , it's complicated . We
02:31	should make clear that even though Quakers as a whole
02:34	were at the forefront of abolitionist work within the denomination
02:38	, there were people with a range of views on
02:40	the subject , Some Quakers , far from being abolitionists
02:43	or even indifferent to chattel slavery , Even participated in
02:47	the transatlantic slave trade themselves in the 17th century .
02:50	Many Quakers in the Caribbean , for example , purchase
02:53	captives in Barbados , in what some of them rationalized
02:56	as a form of evangelism , an effort they say
02:59	, to civilize these Africans and convert them to Christianity
03:03	. In her book , christian slavery historian Catherine Gerbner
03:06	discusses the experiences of english Quaker George Fox to highlight
03:10	some of the complexities in Quaker history when it comes
03:12	to the issue of slavery , She emphasizes the stark
03:15	contrast between Quakers who held anti slavery beliefs and those
03:19	whose primary concern was maintaining quote well ordered Quaker household
03:24	with christian slaves . Fox , regarded as the founder
03:27	of quake charism , was already a proponent of universal
03:31	evangelization And during a trip to Barbados in 1671 ,
03:35	when he had the opportunity to witness slavery Firsthand ,
03:38	his conception of Christianity was made to confront slavery directly
03:42	. You might think that witnessing the violence and barbarity
03:45	of enslavement would have deeply unsettled anyone who purports to
03:48	have christian views and would have made clear to them
03:51	that slavery was inconsistent with their faith . Right ?
03:55	Well , no . Instead , during his trip ,
03:59	Fox spoke of what he saw as deplorable promiscuity and
04:03	polygamous relationships among the enslaved , even though we should
04:06	note , there were often forced breeding practices imposed on
04:10	them . And Fox said that he was shocked and
04:13	angered to find that plantation owners in Barbados had no
04:16	intention of trying to convert their labor force to Christianity
04:19	. Something that he saw is essential . So ,
04:22	no , it wasn't the horrific , violent nature of
04:25	caribbean slavery that sent him over the edge . Instead
04:28	, it was the belief that , quote , the
04:30	gospel should be preached to every creature under heaven .
04:33	Apparently he saw no contradiction between the idea of a
04:36	loving God and the barbarous institution in front of him
04:39	that was perpetuated in God's name . We should note
04:42	that Fox wasn't alone in what we today clearly see
04:45	as a moral paradox . This evangelical approach , which
04:48	provided justification for those participating in the slave trade ,
04:51	was actually not considered controversial at the time in pennsylvania
04:56	, it was not uncommon for Quaker leaders to own
04:59	enslaved laborers . Even William Penn , founder of pennsylvania
05:03	, purchased laborers from Quakers who own plantations in Barbados
05:06	, Pen and other Quaker leaders simply believed that slavery
05:09	was necessary to secure the economic welfare of this developing
05:12	colony . There were , however , still many Quakers
05:15	who oppose slavery on moral grounds , and Quakers would
05:18	later become one of the most influential white religious groups
05:21	to lead anti slavery protests . They even provided direct
05:25	aid to the abolitionist movement and the underground railroad .
05:28	Let's go to the thought bubble . In 1688 ,
05:31	4 , German Dutch Quaker men presented what would become
05:33	known as the German town protest at a monthly local
05:36	meeting in Dublin Pennsylvania . But we're not talking about
05:39	a big public protests , like with signs and chanting
05:42	or anything like that . This was a written protest
05:45	petition with a list of demands advocating that the Quakers
05:49	formed a united front and publicly endeavored to end slavery
05:52	before men who drafted this petition made their complaints based
05:56	on fundamental Quaker beliefs that each human being is of
05:59	unique worth . The Germantown petition , named for the
06:02	location where it was drafted , became one of the
06:04	first formal documents to denounce the institution of slavery on
06:08	moral and practical grounds . These Quakers openly challenged the
06:12	logic behind slavery and the violence enslaved laborers were subjected
06:16	to . Unfortunately , although many prominent Quakers shared these
06:19	sentiments , they weren't willing to turn those sentiments into
06:23	action . And primary source documents from the time reveal
06:26	that have received less than enthusiastic response after listening to
06:30	the petitioners and inspecting the matter , the official response
06:34	from the meeting was that , given the nature of
06:37	the complaint , it was best that they not quote
06:40	metal in the issue . They claimed it was too
06:43	weighty of a problem for them to try and resolve
06:46	. At that time , they decided to pass the
06:48	issue off to a quarterly meeting . Then it was
06:50	passed to officials at the yearly meeting , where ultimately
06:53	, the full gathering would also reject the petition .
06:56	Thanks thought bubble . Even though the petition was ultimately
06:59	unsuccessful , the way it laid out the hypocrisy of
07:02	many of their fellow Quakers was really significant in their
07:05	draft . These Quaker men called out the hypocrisy of
07:08	enslavement , pointing out that it was in direct violation
07:11	of several fundamental christian values . The petition pointed out
07:14	that enslaving people is a pretty direct violation of the
07:17	Golden rule . The petition read in part , we
07:20	shall do to all men like as we will be
07:23	done ourselves making no difference of what generation , descent
07:28	or colour they are . The petitioners also appealed to
07:31	the strong sense of family that is essential to Quaker
07:34	beliefs . They stated that African families had no chance
07:37	of survival under the oppressive institution of slavery , pray
07:41	what thing in the world can be done worse towards
07:43	us . Then if men should rob or steal us
07:46	away and sell us for slaves to strange countries separating
07:50	husbands from their wives and Children . They also made
07:53	a special note that you shouldn't buy stolen goods ,
07:56	framing it as a larger moral issue tied to enslavement
07:59	. We who profess that it is not lawful to
08:02	steal must likewise avoid to purchase things as are stolen
08:06	, but rather help stop this robbing and stealing if
08:10	possible . This is important because in the petition ,
08:13	they stressed that Africans were captives brought to the Americas
08:17	against their will , and for that reason they too
08:21	are stolen . Our impassioned petitioners even suggested that the
08:24	hypocrisy was so blatant and so egregious that slavery is
08:28	very existence in the colony prevented Quakers in other areas
08:32	of the world from migrating to pennsylvania because of this
08:35	clear contradiction of their values and practices , given the
08:38	social and political context of the moment , is perhaps
08:41	not that surprising that this petition was rejected by landowning
08:44	white men who are still working to establish their place
08:47	in the american colonies . But the letter itself is
08:50	still important for us to learn about , because it
08:52	serves as documentation of abolitionist thought among white immigrants in
08:56	the United States . Moreover , it served as a
08:59	strong ideological foundation for many Quakers who were later even
09:02	more actively engaged in the abolitionist movement , expanding the
09:05	18th and 19th centuries . So , as you can
09:08	see , there were some groups or groups within groups
09:12	of white immigrants Who did recognize the maltreatment of enslaved
09:16	Africans and whose fight against it is documented in writing
09:19	from well over 300 years ago , and their argument
09:22	was rooted in something that most colonial regions could relate
09:25	to Christianity . The four Quaker men who presented the
09:29	German town petition in 1688 drew inspiration from the bible
09:34	to make plain the contradictions and the inhumanity of slavery
09:37	. At the same time as we saw in the
09:39	case of George Fox , it would be too simple
09:42	to suggest that these were the beliefs of all Quakers
09:45	, they weren't . And it's important for us to
09:47	complicate and Problema ties any rhetoric that suggests that all
09:50	Quakers were against slavery , many were , but certainly
09:54	not all . And this should be a lesson we
09:56	carry with us throughout our journey through all of american
09:58	history . We should be wary of over generalizing any
10:01	group of people . There are often a range of
10:04	opinions , perspectives and ideas that exist within any group
10:08	Quakers or otherwise . The Germantown protests showcases the significance
10:12	of white people , recognizing that they themselves had a
10:15	moral and human state in the Fight for Black Liberation
10:18	. This is a concept that will return to and
10:20	explore throughout this series . Thanks for watching . I'll
10:24	see you next time Crash Course . Black american history
10:27	is made with the help of all these nice people
10:29	and our animation team is thought catholic . Crash course
10:32	is a complexity production . And if you'd like to
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