"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" :JAMES FORTEN

If you were to ask 20 Black High School Students what year Black Slaves were freed in America, many of them will probably say that it was when President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Well, that is unequivocally the wrong answer! You see, I recently came across a Black man by the name of James Forten who was born "FREE" in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Also, James served in the Revolutionary War in 1776. portrait of James Forten, c. 1834, probably by Robert Douglass Jr. Furthermore, as for Black Slaves were concerned, many Black Slaves were freed in many states in America well before the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1780, Pennsylvania became the first state to abolish slavery when it adopted a statute that provided for the freedom of every slave born after its enactment, once that individual reached the age of majority, and Massachusetts was the first to abolish slavery outright, doing so by judicial decree in 1783. Additionally, on March 31, 1817 the New York legislature ended two centuries of slavery within its borders, setting July 4, 1827 as the date of final emancipation and making New York the first state to pass a law for the total abolition of legal slavery. Now, this is one of the main reasons I feel that Critical Race Theory should be included in the school curriculum and taught at the schools in our Black Communities! Anyways, let's get to this week's Black Pioneer. When James Forten's father died , James started working at the age of seven to help his mother and sister, all while going to school part-time. The school he attended was ran by a Quaker abolitionists, named Anthony Benezet , who founded it to teach Black children free of charge. Although his mother wanted him to continue school, at the age of 9, young James left school to go to work full-time. During the Revolutionary War, he was only 14 years old, but James left home and joined the Revolutionary Army. Soon after he joined, he was captured by British forces. However, after being a prisoner for 7 months, James was released in a prisoner exchange. In 1790, he took a job as an apprenticed to sail-maker Robert Bridges, his father's former employer and a family friend. When Robert Bridges retired in 1798, James bought him out! Within 20 years, James had built up one of the most successful sailing businesses in Philadelphia. James believed in hiring both black and white workers, and he became one of the wealthiest Philadelphians in the city, black or white! James used his wealth, influence, time, and money towards working for the national abolition of slavery and gaining Civil Rights for Blacks.. When James Forten passed away in Philadelphia on March 4, 1842, thousands of people, both black and white, attended his funeral. In February 2023, the Museum of The American Revolution in Philadelphia opened the first-ever museum exhibition dedicated to James Forten's life and family, Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia.