USA Slavery Abolitionist Token - Am I Not A Man 1788 

• 1788 
• Guild tokens 
• Verenigde Staten 
• Porcelain 

5988079

Tokens / Medals

USA Slavery Abolitionist Token - Am I Not A Man 1788

1788

Am I Not a Man and a Brother

38 mm

Josiah Wedgewood, who was by then a member of the Slavery Abolitionist Society, produced the emblem as a jasper-ware cameo at his pottery factory. Although the artist who designed and engraved the seal is unknown, the design for the cameo is attributed to William Hackwood or to Henry Webber, who were both modelers at the Wedgewood factory. In 1788, a consignment of the cameos was shipped to Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, where the medallions became a fashion statement for abolitionists and anti-slavery sympathizers. They were worn as bracelets and as hair ornaments, and even inlaid with gold as ornaments for snuff boxes. Soon the fashion extended to the general public.