Thomas Garrett
Overview
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
movement before the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
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Garrett was born into a prosperous landowning Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
family on their homestead called "Thornfield" in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....
. The house in which he lived until 1822, which was built around 1800, still stands today in what is now Drexel Hill
Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
Drexel Hill is a census-designated place in Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel Hill is located southwest of Center City, Philadelphia and is part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area...
in Upper Darby Township
Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania
Upper Darby Township is a home rule township bordering West Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. Although it retains the term "Township" in its legal name, presumably for historic reasons, it is the largest municipality of any type in Delaware County. Upper Darby is also home to the Tower Theater, a...
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In a family already inclined to abolitionism
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, Thomas was exceptionally dedicated.
Quotations
Thou has left me without a dollar,....I say to thee and to all in this court room, that if anyone knows a fugitive who wants shelter....send him to Thomas Garrett and he will befriend him.
In his closing address at the trail (1848|1848)
I should have done violence to my convictions, had I not made use of all the lawful means in my power to liberate those people, and assist them to become men and women rather than leave them in the condition of chattels personal.
Said after his conviction (1848|1848])
rejoice that I have lived to see this day, when the colored people of this favored land, by law, have equal, privileges with the most favored.
When the 15th Amendment|15th Amendment passed on 30 March|30 March 1870|1870,