James Forten's Wealth and Anti-Slavery Petition Influence

By the early 1810s, Philadelphia sailmaker James Forten had amassed a fortune of over $100,000, employing both Black and white workers in his sail-making business and making him one of the wealthiest men in Philadelphia regardless of race. Forten used his wealth to finance anti-slavery activism, helping fund William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator and organizing Black opposition to colonization schemes. He stood as proof of Black entrepreneurial genius and became a foundational figure in American abolitionism.