Margaretta forten biography examples

  • African-American abolitionist and educator.
  • Margaretta Forten, an activist for women and African American rights, was born in Philadelphia in 1806.
  • Margaretta Forten (1806-1875) was a teacher and the daughter of abolitionists Charlotte Vandine Forten and James Forten; her father founded the American Moral.

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    Margaretta Forten (1806-1875) was a teacher and the daughter of abolitionists Charlotte Vandine Forten and James Forten; her father founded the American Moral Reform gemenskap. Due to the exclusion of women from the American Anti-Slavery Society, in 1833, Forten and her mother and sisters, Harriet, Sara, and Mary Isabella, co-founded the Philadelphia kvinnlig Anti-Slavery samhälle, America’s first bi-racial women’s abolition organization. Their goal was to include women in the activism for the abolition of slavery, and “to elevate the people of color from their present degraded situation to the full enjoyment of their rights and to increased usefulness in society.” Forten toured and gave speeches in favor of women's suffrage, and helped petition drives for the cause. She opened her own successful private school in 1850.
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    When the American privateer Royal Louis was captured in 1781 by the British ship HMS Amphion during the Revolutionary War, one of the prisoners taken was fifteen-year-old James Forten, an educated free Black resident of Philadelphia. Forten might have been sent into slavery in the West Indies, but instead the captain of the Amphion, impressed by Forten’s intelligence, made him the companion of his young son on board. Later, the captain even offered to send Forten to England to further his education. Forten declined, saying that he could not renounce his allegiance to the American cause. When the Amphion reached New York, Forten was sent to confinement in one of the fetid British prison ships floating in the harbor.

    Forten was rewarded for his loyalty. Over the following years, he would become one of the most respected citizens of Philadelphia—a prosperous business owner, a leading abolitionist, and an eloquent political writer. His wife and several of his children wou

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    Multi-Generational Activism: Lifting as They Climb

    In recognition of the centennial of the 19th amendment, the BWSA blog is publishing a series on Black women’s relationship to voting from the nineteenth century to the present. The third segment in this series is “Multi-Generational Activism: Lifting as They Climb” by Helene Balcerac, independent scholar.

    Looking back at the 19th amendment and the history of Black women in the women’s suffrage movement, what strikes me is the significant role that foremothers played in shaping the legacies of prominent suffragists.

    Although the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920, the fight for women’s right to vote started in the 1840s. Twice excluded due to both sexism and racism, Black women created their own organizations to achieve their goals and advocate for themselves, as no one else would: they financed schools for Black children, they hosted literary salons to discuss ideas

  • margaretta forten biography examples