Differing in their scheme from that of most
anti-slavery leaders, they were advocating the establishment of the
freedmen in society as good citizens and to that end had provided for the
religious and mental instruction of their slaves prior to emancipating
them.[3]
Despite the fact that the Quakers were not free to extend their operations
throughout the colonies, they did much to enable the Negroes to reach free
soil. As the Quakers believed in the freedom of the will, human
brotherhood, and equality before God, they did not, like the Puritans,
find difficulties in solving the problem of elevating the Negroes. Whereas
certain Puritans were afraid that conversion might lead to the destruction
of caste and the incorporation of undesirable persons into the "Body
Politick," the Quakers proceeded on the principle that all men are
brethren and, being equal before God, should be considered equal before
the law. On account of unduly emphasizing the relation of man to God, the
Puritans "atrophied their social humanitarian instinct" and developed into
a race of self-conscious saints. Believing in human nature and laying
stress upon the relation between man and man, the Quakers became the
friends of all humanity.[4]
In 1693 George Keith, a leading Quaker of his day, came forward as a
promoter of the religious training of the slaves as a preparation for
emancipation.
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