George Benson (Quaker)
Encyclopedia
George William Benson was an American
Quaker abolitionist
from Connecticut
who assisted Prudence Crandall
in her education efforts. His father George Benson (Sr.) (1752–1836) was also active in opposing slavery
. He was one of the founders of the utopian Northampton Association, and was the brother-in-law of William Lloyd Garrison
. Sojourner Truth
, who worked for him for a time as a housekeeper, was introduced to Garrisonian abolitionism in his home, which Crandall called an "asylum for the oppressed."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Quaker abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
from Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
who assisted Prudence Crandall
Prudence Crandall
Prudence Crandall , a schoolteacher raised as a Quaker, stirred controversy with her education of African-American girls in Canterbury, Connecticut...
in her education efforts. His father George Benson (Sr.) (1752–1836) was also active in opposing slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. He was one of the founders of the utopian Northampton Association, and was the brother-in-law of William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
. Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth was the self-given name, from 1843 onward, of Isabella Baumfree, an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, she...
, who worked for him for a time as a housekeeper, was introduced to Garrisonian abolitionism in his home, which Crandall called an "asylum for the oppressed."