In the annals of abolitionist history, names like William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, the Grimke sisters, and Harriet Tubman are well known. Dr. Marcus Rediker‘s new book, The Fearless Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became The First Revolutionary Abolitionist (Beacon Press, 2017) adds an important abolitionist to this group of revolutionaries. Benjamin Lay lived and proclaimed a life dedicated to the immediate abolition of slavery over a century before many of the women and men aforementioned were either born or first proclaimed abolition as their chosen lifework. Many characteristics described Benjamin Lay: Quaker, dwarf, vegetarian, cave-dweller, sailor, farmer, or anti-capitalist; all of them informed his personal interpretation of militant and revolutionary abolitionism.
Adam McNeil is a soon-to-be PhD in History and Colored Conventions Project Fellow at the University of Delaware. He can be reached on Twitter @CulturedModesty.
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New Books in African American Studies