About me
James Forten was a Black entrepreneur, veteran and abolitionist who was born to free parents in 1766 in Philadelphia. When he was a boy, he served on several privateer ships during the Revolutionary War, and was imprisoned for several months on a British ship before being freed in 1782 and returning to Philadelphia. Forten went on to become a wealthy sailmaker and a leader in the city’s abolition movement.
At this discovery cart, view replica objects from Forten’s time as a privateer, a sailmaker, a business owner, an abolitionist, a patriarch and a community leader. They include documents, sailmaking tools, imagery and more — expertly explained and interpreted by staff from the Museum of the American Revolution.
Find us in the Civic Square on Tier 2.
