The Selling of Joseph
The Selling of Joseph: A Memorial, by Samuel Sewall
Boston: printed by Bartholomew Green and John Allen, 1700
This is the only surviving copy of Samuel Sewall's The Selling of Joseph, the first anti-slavery tract published in New England in 1700. In it, Sewall condemns slavery and the slave trade, and refutes many of the era's typical justifications for slavery. Sewall cites the Bible, but also uses practical (and racist) arguments about the competition of slaves with free whites to support his case. The pamphlet likely was inspired in part by a petition circulated in Boston in 1700 about Adam, a slave of prominent merchant and magistrate John Saffin. Saffin hired out Adam for seven years and promised him freedom for good behavior, but later denied it. In 1703, after a long legal struggle, Adam finally gained his freedom.
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