Benjamin Lay was an English-born abolitionist who spent his life fighting slavery and challenging Christians who owned enslaved people. Through public protests and his 1737 book, All Slave-Keepers That Keep the Innocent in Bondage, Apostates, he condemned their hypocrisy and became one of the earliest and most outspoken abolitionists in colonial America, continuing his fight against slavery until his death in 1759.
Lay was born on January 26, 1682, in Copford, Essex, England, to Quaker parents. He worked as a farm labourer and shepherd before apprenticing as a glove-maker. He later ran away to London, where he found work as a sailor. His travels eventually took him to Barbados in 1718, where he worked as a merchant.
Barbados had a plantation economy built on the forced labour of enslaved Africans. What Lay witnessed there changed his life. He saw the cruelty inflicted on enslaved Africans and became deeply troubled by the willingness of Christian slaveholders to treat human beings as property.
One account describes how he witnessed an enslaved African man take his own life rather than endure further punishment from his enslaver. The experience strengthened his opposition to slavery and convinced him that the practice could not be reconciled with his religious beliefs.
In 1731, Lay moved to Pennsylvania, settling first in Philadelphia before eventually making his home in Abington. He and his wife, Sarah Smith Lay, were both Quakers, a Christian movement that emphasised spiritual equality and the importance of living according to one’s conscience.
However, many Quakers in colonial America owned enslaved people or accepted slavery as part of the society in which they lived. Lay saw this as a direct contradiction of their religious beliefs. If all human beings were equal before God, he argued, how could Christians justify owning other people?
He refused to keep his objections private. Lay confronted slaveholders during religious meetings, denounced those who profited from slavery, and challenged the wealthy members of his community who continued to participate in the institution. His approach was so uncompromising that he became a troublesome figure among fellow Quakers, many of whom preferred to avoid the subject or defend their existing practices.
Lay also tried to ensure that his own way of life did not depend on the exploitation of others. He refused to use goods produced through enslaved labour and adopted a simple, largely self-sufficient lifestyle. He grew his own food, practised vegetarianism, and rejected the use of animal products such as wool. After his wife Sarah died in 1735, he continued living frugally in the Pennsylvania countryside, at one point residing in a cave near his farm.
All Slave-Keepers That Keep the Innocent in Bondage
In 1737, Lay published All Slave-Keepers That Keep the Innocent in Bondage, Apostates, one of the early abolitionist books published in Britain’s North American colonies. The title expressed his central argument: Christians who enslaved innocent people had betrayed their own faith.
Lay used biblical teachings to challenge the moral authority of slaveholders. He argued that professing Christianity meant little if a person continued to deprive others of their freedom. Attending church, reading scripture, and claiming to follow Christ could not excuse the ownership and mistreatment of human beings.
His criticism also extended to religious communities that tolerated slaveholding among their members. Lay believed that Christians had a responsibility to act on their professed principles, not simply speak about morality while benefiting from the suffering of others. He demanded an end to slavery rather than a gradual reform that left enslaved people waiting for their freedom.
Lay was also known for his bold and sometimes shocking ways of protesting slavery. In 1738, he attended a Quaker meeting in Burlington, New Jersey, dressed as a soldier. He spoke out against slavery, using the Bible to challenge those who claimed to be Christians while keeping other human beings in bondage.
He then drove a sword into a Bible that contained a bladder filled with red pokeberry juice. The bladder burst, splashing the people nearby with red liquid that looked like blood. Through this act, Lay warned that those who enslaved innocent people would answer to God for their actions.
On another occasion, Lay stood outside a Quaker meeting in winter without a coat and with one foot bare in the snow. When someone expressed concern for him, he pointed out that enslaved people were forced to work outdoors in freezing conditions without proper clothing. His aim was to make the Quakers think about the suffering they overlooked while continuing to practise their religion.
Lay’s protests angered many members of the Quaker community, particularly those who owned enslaved people and resented his attacks on their way of life. Several Quaker meetings eventually expelled him because of his refusal to stop campaigning against slavery. He remained firm in his position, insisting that Christians could not claim to follow the teachings of Jesus while denying other human beings their freedom.
Benjamin Lay died in Abington, Pennsylvania, on February 8, 1759, at the age of 77. He did not live to see the Quaker community take its formal steps towards ending slaveholding among its members. In 1776, the Religious Society of Friends prohibited its members from owning enslaved people, following decades of growing opposition within the community.
Lay’s campaign was part of that wider struggle, and his uncompromising position helped challenge the acceptance of slavery among Quakers. His influence continued after his death, with later abolitionists keeping his memory alive as an example of someone who refused to remain silent when religious principles were contradicted by everyday practice.
Sources:
https://www.si.edu/object/benjamin-lay%3Anpg_NPG.79.171
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/All_Slave-keepers_that_keep_the_Innocent_in_Bondage,_Apostates
