Welcome to our blog, where we explore the often-overlooked history of enslaved people in Philadelphia, shedding light on the lives, struggles, and resilience of Africans who endured bondage in a city often romanticized for its role in the founding of American liberty. As we uncover and take deep dives into records and libraries, Our blog will discuss and keep you updated on the complex relationship between Quakers and the manumitted enslaved. We will highlight the stories of 339+ Africans who were manumitted by Quaker slaveholders—an act that, while progressive for its time, reveals the contradictions and gradual awakening within a community grappling with its moral and spiritual conscience. Through documented narratives, legal records, and historical analysis, this blog aims to honor those whose lives were shaped by both oppression and the fight for freedom in early Philadelphia.