October 2008, Volume 11, Issue 2.

From the President’s Desk

"Reason,..., teaches all mankind, who would but consult it, that being all equal and independent, not one ought to harm another in his Life, Health, Liberty, or Possessions," so wrote John Locke, Englishman and one of time's great philosophers, in October 1689.   Locke's Treatises on Government,  Discourses Concerning Government, Some Consideration of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,  A Letter Concerning Toleration, and Some Thoughts Concerning Education greatly influenced future scholars, governments, and founders of democracies. 

From the Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress on October 14, 1774: "That the inhabitants of the English colonies in North America, by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of the English constitution, and the several charters or compacts, have the following RIGHTS:  Resolved, N.C.D. 1. That they are entitled to life, liberty and property: and they have never ceded to any foreign power whatever, a right to dispose of either without their consent."

"That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, ... namely the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety." This sentence is taken from the Virginia Declaration of Rights, May 15, 1776, which was authored by George  Mason. 

"We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness;..." These are Thomas Jefferson's thoughts, penned by his own hand in the original rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. 

Pennsylvania's first Constitution was adopted on September 28, 1776 (232 years ago) and preceded the U.S. Constitution by 13 years.  Benjamin Franklin was the first non-proprietary governor of Pennsylvania after the declaration of war.  Franklin, a wise and elderly statesman in 1776, oversaw the Constitutional Convention and helped write the Constitution along with George Bryan and James Cannon.  The U.S. Constitution and many other state constitutions were modeled after Pennsylvania's.  Under Section 1. of Pennsylvania's first Constitution, the inherent rights of mankind are addressed as follows.  "All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness."

The most common thread among all the aforementioned quotes is that there are God-given, natural rights which every human being is born with - equality, life, liberty, safety, possession of property, and pursuit of happiness.  We U. S. Americans have directly reaped the benefits of John Locke's truths, as evidenced in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights.

All men are created equal.  What a powerful declaration.  Why has that particular God-given natural right been the most difficult for individuals and societies to comprehend outside of their own ethnic ancestry? 

On possession of property, John Locke was very explicit when he wrote, "Every Man has a Property in his own Person.  This no Body has any Right to but himself.  The Labour of his Body, and Work of his Hands, we may say, are properly his. The great and chief end therefore, of Mens uniting into Commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the Preservation of their Property." 

Tolerance of others; greed for the quantity of one's property; and semantics entered into the interpretation of "preservation of their property." During the great era of English colonization of the world, each one of the 50,000,000 Africans and Caribbeans who were kidnapped or sold by warring tribes to slave traders became property owned by another human being - most often, white, Anglo-Saxons.  The British needed the slave labor in the American colonies to keep their economy going and growing. Without the 50,000,000 African slaves there would never have been enough white people to plant, tend, and harvest the cotton and tobacco crops each and every year on the huge plantations.

In opposition to the institution of slavery, there were men - true Christians, who rallied and fought against slavery.    A resolution "..against this traffic of men-body, " was written and signed by four Germantown Mennonites and Quakers on February 18, 1688.   This resolution was a direct response and challenge to those Germantown Quakers who decided to traffic in slavery.  The resolution was signed by Garret Henderich, Derick op de Graeff, Francis Daniel Pastorius, and Abram op de Graeff, to be delivered at their monthly meeting in the home of Richard Worrell. These Mennonites and Quakers were actively protesting, across the Atlantic Ocean on a different continent, within the same time period that John Locke was writing An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and A Letter Concerning Toleration.

Abolitionist Quakers of Philadelphia continued to persevere, well into the 18th century, against slavery until their beliefs and ideals became more widely accepted in the Philadelphia society.  The power of peer pressure began to convince those who owned slaves to manumit their "property." In 1775 the Quakers founded the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Its members lobbied the legislature and also aided in the escape to freedom of hundreds of slaves.

In 1839 and 1840, the First Congregational Church of Thomaston, Connecticut underwrote the defense of the would-be slaves who mutinied and captured the Spanish slave ship, the Amistad.  The Africans were defended in court by former president, John Quincy Adams.  They won their case, won their freedom, and returned home.  After the trial, the American Missionary Association was founded by the Congregationalists and other denominations which felt the mission to abolish slavery needed to be carried forward.

William Penn owned slaves but made provisions in his 1701 will to free his slaves upon his death.  James Logan, born in Ireland and also a Quaker, was Penn’s trusted secretary, agent, and executor of his will. He did not carry out Penn’s directives because  Logan considered it a “private matter.” Logan also owned slaves, and his decision not to execute Penn's wishes to free his slaves leaves little doubt about his feelings toward the institution of slavery.

Isaac Norris Sr. was a Quaker, a contemporary of William Penn, and he became one of the wealthy merchants in provincial Philadelphia under Penn's "holy experiment."  Part of his wealth was acquired through slave trading.  His son, Isaac Norris Jr., after schooling abroad managed his father's business and then took over the family business in 1735 after his father passed away.  Isaac Jr. married Sarah Logan, the eldest daughter of James Logan.  Having acquired a sizable wealth by the age of 42, he retired from business and entered politics full time.

Isaac Norris Jr.: Quaker, son-in-law of James Logan, inherited his father's profitable  business, politician, strongly supported the Quaker majority in the assembly, trustee of the college which is now the University of Pennsylvania, slave holder.

Much has been written about the contradictions in Thomas Jefferson's life - the fact that he owned slaves, an inheritance from his father and his wife's father along with the inheritance of land, and that he professed his disdain for the institution of slavery. On average, he owned about 200 slaves throughout his lifetime.  Jefferson freed two while he was alive, and gave five slaves their freedom in his will. All seven were tradesmen.  Two slaves escaped, but Jefferson did not try to recapture them.  The slave quarters which Jefferson provided were better accommodations than other slave owners.

Jefferson, a scholar of John Locke's philosophy, wrote the following in the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. The paragraph was struck from the final version of the Declaration in deference to the representatives to the Continental Congress from the  southern colonies which relied heavily upon slave labor and those in the north who trafficked in slave trade.  Jefferson listed the following as one of the grievances against King George of England.  His thoughts put into words seemingly contradict his actions in life.

"He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce: and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another."

George Bryan, a Presbyterian, was a passionate abolitionist, renowned attorney in Philadelphia, and an influential political figure. Bryan along with Benjamin Franklin and James Cannon authored Pennsylvania’s 1776 Constitution. He served as governor of Pennsylvania for seven months during 1778, after which he was elected to the legislature. In 1780, George Bryan was the chief sponsor of the Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Act of March 1, 1780, the first anti-slavery law passed by a state. 

George Bryan: Presbyterian, Governor of the colony of Pennsylvania, representative to the assembly, co-author with Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania's 1776 Constitution, abolitionist, sponsor of the anti-slavery bill called the Gradual Abolition Act of March 1, 1780.

The law stated that children born after March 1, 1780 to enslaved parents would be indentured to their parents’ owner until they reached the age of 28.  At that time, the young adults would be given their freedom.  The law also disallowed any new slaves being brought into the state as a resident.  About 6,000 slaves resided in Pennsylvania in 1780 when the bill was passed.

Slavery goes against the God-given natural rights of life, equality, and freedom for every human being.  It goes against God's word in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ.  It was a cancer that could not be excised from America's society for over two centuries until a civil war was fought, and another hundred years of segregation was endured until the Federal government finally rendered it unconstitutional.

Ben's story, from the July newsletter, has haunted me since typing the last period of the last sentence.  There has to be more to his story - his life.  The Kauffman family's story of Ben's enslavement, ends by saying, "Ben was never heard of again." Although no one here in Franklin County ever learned of what happened to Ben after he was kidnapped by slave snatchers and sold into slavery, there was more to his story.  But what?  He was almost 28, young, and strong - just the attributes that the owners of cotton plantations in the deep south were looking for.  How much did he bring on the auction block?  Was he destined to dreadfully hard work in the tobacco fields of Virginia or in the cotton fields of Georgia in the deeper south?  A wife and children?  Harsh beatings?  More escapes?  Death?  Did he live to be freed after the Civil War? 

After searching several bookstores, I believe I have found a voice for Ben. They are the voices of former slaves whose life stories were printed in black and white.    (To be continued next month.)  Bonnie A. Shockey

Annual Membership Drive

On behalf of the board of directors, thank you to all of you who have renewed your annual memberships for the 2008-2009 membership year.  Your continuing patronage is greatly appreciated by the board of directors.  Your membership is very important to the longevity of Allison-Antrim Museum, especially in these seemingly unsettled economic times.

The board of directors welcomes those of you who are new members and also says, "thank you," for your support of AAMI's mission.  It is greatly appreciated.

Membership Renewal Reminder

If you have not returned your membership renewal, please take a minute right now to complete and mail the application form, which has been included in this mailing for your convenience.  There’s no time like the present.  Allison-Antrim Museum exists for you, your family, and the Greencastle-Antrim community-at-large; but, conversely it cannot exist without the support of you, your family, and friends. You are a valued member and the board of directors looks forward to including you in its membership. As a member you are directly helping to preserve Greencastle-Antrim's great heritage for future generations.  That is a phenomenal legacy to leave for your community and family.

Going Green

From the members who have so far renewed their membership and also chose to receive the newsletter and postcard notices via email, Allison-Antrim Museum is saving more than $300 in postage, envelopes, paper, and postcards.  Thank you!

A pre-formed concrete cistern was installed underground in front of the bank doors.  It is collecting the rainwater from the roof, which in turn will be used for outside watering needs.

Capital Campaign for the Barn

The work at the barn continues in its long journey to completion.  As the barn will be a public facility, there are a great number of Pennsylvania building codes which need to be met.  An inspector from the Commonwealth Code Office, with whom we have been closely working, has made several on-site visits as the work continues.  His help has been invaluable during the transformation of a barn into a facility which will not only provide climate controlled storage for collections, but will also accommodate the public.

One hundred and forty people were able to attend the 10th anniversary celebration on August 28.  They saw first hand the amazing amount of work that has been completed so far, but they also saw the great amount of work which still needs to be finished.  Lighting, HVAC, electrical, insulation of the barn's outside walls and the roof, installation of glass partitions to separate the exhibit bays, staining of the floor boards, drywall and painting in the ADA bathrooms, hanging drywall and completing the storage rooms on the lower level, applying borate to all the wood surfaces on both levels to repel insects, and staining of the outside barn boards are on the list of things yet to do.

If you have not yet done so, the board of directors asks you to consider making a tax deductible contribution toward the capital campaign.  Your gift, at whatever level, is greatly appreciated. 

Discovery Weekend:  The Road To Gettysburg

The Franklin County Visitors Bureau is sponsoring a Civil War Discovery Weekend on October 17, 18, 19.  The focus of the weekend tour is "The Road To and Retreat From Gettysburg."  The opening event, a dessert reception, will be held at the barn on Friday evening from 7 - 9:30 p.m. with the museum house being open from 6 - 7 p.m. for tours.  Historians and authors for the evening, who will be part of a panel discussion, will be Eric Wittenberg, Richard Sauers, John Miller, Jeffry Wert, Brian Steel Wills, and Ted Alexander as the moderator.  The topic for Friday evening's panel of historians will be "The Road To Gettysburg."  The cost for the whole evening is $25 per person.

This is an opportunity to spend an evening with some of the best known Civil War historians and authors in the region, and the location is in your hometown.  For more information on signing up for the evening or full weekend of events, please call the Franklin County Visitors Bureau at 717.261.3811. 

Current Events

Dateline: London, 1671 - 1691.  About 1671, John Locke wrote the following on government regulation of interest rates: "The first thing to be considered is whether the price of the hire of money can be regulated by law; and to that, I think generally speaking that 'tis manifest that it cannot.  For since it is impossible to make a law that shall hinder a man from giving away his money or estate to who he pleases, it will be impossible by any contrivance of law, to hinder men ... to purchase money to be lent to them ..."  In 1691 John Locke wrote his essay on economics entitled Some Consideration of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money.  It was written in response to the lobbyists for the East India Company who wanted Parliament to get involved with money markets.  It was Locke's view that government intervention in money markets is counterproductive because market action follows natural laws.  His advice of issuing full-weight silver coins was followed in addition to his warning against debasing money.