Forten, James (1766-1842), was an African American businessman who won fame as an abolitionist during the early 1800’s. He believed that most Black Americans wanted to live as free people in the United States. He opposed efforts being made at the time to help Black people move to Africa.
Forten was born on Sept. 2, 1766, in Philadelphia, the son of free parents. He was a powder boy on an American ship during the Revolutionary War in America (1775-1783). Forten was captured in the war at the age of 15 and spent seven months on a British prison ship. In 1786, he worked in a Philadelphia sailmaking shop. Forten rose to the position of foreman two years later and became owner of the business in 1798. About that time, he invented a device that helped crew members handle heavy sails. The invention greatly aided his business, and Forten became wealthy.
During the War of 1812, Forten helped recruit about 2,500 Black people as part of a force to defend Philadelphia against a British invasion. In 1817, he presided over a meeting of Black Philadelphians who protested the American Colonization Society’s attempts to resettle free Black people in Africa. During the 1830’s, he contributed much money to the noted abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and to Garrison’s antislavery newspaper, The Liberator. Forten also helped enslaved people who had escaped and were seeking freedom in the North. He died on March 4, 1842. See also Abolition movement.
