The Fearless Benjamin Lay The Quaker Dwarf Who Became The First Revolutionary Abolitionist 2nd Edition Marcus Rediker by Marcus Rediker 9780807060988, 0807060984 instant download after payment.

The little-known story of an eighteenth-century Quaker dwarf who fiercely attacked slavery & imagined a new, more humane way of life
InThe Fearless Benjamin Lay, historian Marcus Rediker chronicles the transatlantic life & times of a singular man--a Quaker dwarf who demanded the total, unconditional emancipation of all enslaved Africans around the world. Mocked & scorned by his contemporaries, Lay was unflinching in his opposition to slavery, often performing colorful guerrilla theater to shame slave masters, insisting that human bondage violated the fundamental principles of Christianity. He drew on his ideals to create a revolutionary way of life, one that embodied the proclamation "no justice, no peace."
Lay was born in 1682 in Essex, England. His philosophies, employments, and places of residence--spanning England, Barbados, Philadelphia, and the open seas-were markedly diverse over the course of his life. He worked as a shepherd, glove maker, sailor, & bookseller. His worldview was an astonishing combination of Quakerism, vegetarianism, animal rights, opposition to the death penalty, and abolitionism.
While in Abington, Philadelphia, Lay lived in a cave-like dwelling surrounded by a library of two hundred books, & it was in this unconventional abode where he penned a fiery & controversial book against bondage, which Benjamin Franklin published in 1738. Always in motion & ever confrontational, Lay maintained throughout his life a steadfast opposition to slavery & a fierce determination to make his fellow Quakers denounce it, which they finally began to do toward the end of his life.
Rediker situates Lay as a man who fervently embodied the ideals of democracy & equality as he practiced a unique concoction of radicalism nearly 300 years ago. Rediker resurrects this forceful & prescient visionary, who speaks to us across the ages & whose innovative approach to activism is a gift, transforming how we consider the past & ho