This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue with our American stories.

Thomas Shipley was a 19th century Christian philanthropist who devoted his

life to the extinction of human bondage. Here to tell the story is Jack Miller Center's

editorial officer and historian Elliot Drago. The Jack Miller Center is a nationwide network of

scholars and teachers dedicated to

educating the next generation about America's founding principles and history to learn more.

Visit jackmiller center.org. Let's take a listen to Elliot Trago.

Thomas Shipley is the most famous abolitionist you've never heard of.

A white American living in Philadelphia during an age of slavery, Shipley's lifelong devotion to freedom made him a beloved icon within the abolitionist community.

His tireless efforts helped free hundreds of black Americans captured by slave owners and kidnappers, while his lobbying

of the Pennsylvania State Legislature protected thousands more.

Despite his pacifist upbringing as a Quaker, Shipley did not hesitate to throw himself into

carnage, whether that meant testifying against slave owners, pursuing slave catchers, outwitting

kidnappers, or charging headlong into a vicious race riot.

One of his eulogist and fellow abolitionist friends, Isaac Parrish, christened him.

Advisor and Protector of Black Americans, for on every occasion of popular disorder in which the safety of the black community was under threat,

Shipley could be founded as post, fearlessly defending their rights,

and using his political influence with those in authority to throw around them the protection of the laws.

So who was Thomas Shipley, and why did black Americans consider him their most sincere and active friend?

Born in Philadelphia in 1787, an orphaned by age six, Shipley was adopted into the household of fellow

Quaker Isaac Bartram, who had married Thomas's older sister. He attended boarding school in Westchester,

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