
Plantation Owner and Historian
The American Philosophical Society promoted scientific research and intellectual exchange in the American colonies. However, it also supported and published studies that reinforced racial hierarchies

What: An academic society founded by Benjamin Franklin that played a significant role in the development of American science.
When: Established in 1743.
Details: The American Philosophical Society promoted scientific research and intellectual exchange in the American colonies. However, it also supported and published studies that reinforced racial hierarchies. Members, including Thomas Jefferson, used the Society to disseminate their beliefs in the racial inferiority of Black people and justify their subjugation.
Why and How It Was Racist: The Society's promotion of pseudoscientific theories about race provided a platform for the justification of slavery and racial discrimination, shaping American scientific and social thought.
Sources:
Journal Articles:
Mills, C. (2012). Philosophy raced, philosophy erased. Reframing the Practice of Philosophy: Bodies of Color, Bodies of Knowledge, 45.
Website:
The APS and Inequality. American Philosophical Society. (2020, December 9). https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/aps-and-inequality#:~:text=Indeed%2C%20throughout%20the%20early%2019th,scientifically%20established%20differences%20between%20races.