On June 17, 1703, a great intellectual was born in Lincolnshire, England. John Wesley was known for being a man of letters and had about two million words published in many different documents. He wrote anything and everything a writer could possibly write. Some of his work ranges from diaries and advice to the Methodists to works of natural philosophy and works of theology. Wesley even has a dictionary published. (Siebert, 339).
John Wesley's variety in his writings was not the only variety he had in his life. He had a variety of religion around him. His parents were from two opposing religions. His father was an Anglican vicar and his mother was the daughter of a Presbyterian divine. John used this to his advantage by combining what he liked about each of the religion to make his own belief system. (Siebert, 339).
In 1724, John graduated from the Christ Church in Oxford where John Locke had previously graduated. In the next year, he went on to be a deacon in the Church of England. By February 1727, John Wesley earned a Master's degree from .
Lincoln College and became a member of the Holy Club. (Siebert, 339).
John went on to be a founder of the evangelical Methodist movement in England with his brother Charles. The two of them put together come- back for Christianity. This revival ended up being a success for England in 1739. (Siebert, 339).
In 1774, John read an account of a French Quaker's, Anthony Benezet, own experiences with slavery. This really disturbed Wesley. He did not realize just how the actions of his people were affecting other humans. As a Christian, he knew these actions of slavery were wrong. This experience inspired him to write and publish Thoughts upon Slavery. (Perry, 90).
In the excerpt, he talks about how slavery is "authorized by law," but argues that it defies human law (Perry, 91). He talks about how the slaves had their rights and justices taken away from them by his own people.
