Robert Carter III

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Robert "Councillor" Carter, III (c. 1727 – 1804) was an American plantation owner, founding father and onetime British government official. After the death of his wife, Frances Ann Tasker Carter, in 1787, Carter embraced the Swedenborgian faith and released more than five hundred slaves from his Nomini Hall plantation and very large house in Williamsburg, Virginia. His manumission is the largest known release of slaves in North American history prior to the Civil War.[1]


Contents

[edit] Family

The grandson of Virginia land baron Robert "King" Carter, who had fifteen children by two wives. Descendants include several signers of the U.S. Constitution, grandson Benjamin Harrison who became governor of Virginia, and later descendents president Benjamin Harrison and president Henry Harrison.[2][3]

[edit] Early life

Carter was born and raised in Virginia Colony; his father died when he was four. At the age of 21 he came into his very large estate, of more than 65,000 acres of land, much in Westmoreland County and over 100 slaves.[1] His family was raised in the Church of England, he converted to the Baptist faith and then eventually to Swedenborgianism.

[edit] Later life and career

He was appointed to the Virginia Council by King George II and then reappointed by King George III. Later, despite expressing support of the crown after George III's repeal of the Stamp Act 1765, he resigned as Councillor and eventually supported the American cause in the Revolution.

From Baptist and Swedenborgian principles and influences he came to the conclusion that human slavery was immoral. He instituted a program of gradual manumission of all the slaves attached to his estate, which continued after his death. The program was designed to be gradual so as to lessen the resistance of white neighbors. Frequently, Carter rented land to recently freed slaves, sometimes evicting previous white tenants. His release of slaves, numbering 452 is the largest known manumission in the United States did win the praise or sympathy of other plantation owners in Virginia.[1]

Toward the end of his life, he moved from Virginia to Baltimore, Maryland, in part to get away from family and neighbors who looked askance upon his Swedenborgian faith and upon his program of manumission. He wrote to his daugher Harriot L. Maund in 1803, the year before his death, "My plans and advice have never been pleasing to the world."[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Andrew Levy, The First Emancipator: The Forgotten Story of Robert Carter, the Founding Father who freed his slaves. New York: Random House, 2005 (ISBN 0-375-50865-1)
  2. ^ "Genealogy." Ben Lomond Manor House. 30 Jan 2007 [1]
  3. ^ "Robert 'King' Carter of Corotoman (1663-1732)." Historic Christ Church. 30 Jan 2007 [2]

[edit] References


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