Gamaliel Bradford (abolitionist) facts for kids

Gamaliel Bradford (1795–1839) was an important American doctor. He was also the leader of Massachusetts General Hospital. Plus, he was a strong supporter of ending slavery.

Growing Up and School

Gamaliel Bradford was born in Boston on November 17, 1795. He was one of nine children. When he was 12, he studied for nine months in a Catholic school in Messina.

In 1810, he started at Harvard University. He finished his studies there in 1814. He was also a member of a special group called the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

While he was learning to be a doctor, he helped students as a private tutor. He also worked as an assistant teacher at the Boston Latin School. In 1818, he got very sick with typhus. This illness stopped his studies for a while. In 1819, he traveled to the University of Edinburgh to finish his education. He came back home in the spring of 1820.

His Work as a Doctor

From 1821 to 1827, Dr. Bradford worked as a doctor. He practiced medicine in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the mid-1820s, he also taught about how the human body works.

In 1827, he stopped practicing medicine. He became the manager of a big brewery in South Boston. He left the brewery in 1833. A few months later, he became the Superintendent of Massachusetts General Hospital. This meant he was in charge of running the hospital.

Fighting to End Slavery

In 1832, Gamaliel Bradford went to the first meeting of the New England Anti-Slavery Society. This group wanted to end slavery. He didn't join the group right away. He didn't like how William Lloyd Garrison acted. He also thought that ending slavery immediately was not possible.

However, things changed in 1835. Leaders in Boston tried to make laws to silence people like Garrison. These laws would stop abolitionists from speaking out. Dr. Bradford then wrote an open letter in a newspaper called the Courier. In his letter, he stood up for the abolitionists. He said they had a right to free speech and to gather together. This letter was later printed as a small book.

He explained that abolitionists had the same right to share their ideas as people who supported the Temperance movement. The Temperance movement wanted people to drink less alcohol. He also pointed out that Benjamin Franklin had signed an anti-slavery paper in 1790.

In early 1836, leaders of the Anti-Slavery Society met with lawmakers. They wanted to stop the government from shutting down their activities. Dr. Bradford joined Samuel Joseph May, Samuel Edmund Sewall, and Charles Follen. He gave a powerful speech defending the fight against slavery. A newspaper called Liberator said his speech was "eloquent, thrilling, and impassioned."

Dr. Bradford argued that the abolitionists' actions followed international, constitutional, and moral laws. For his moral point, he used the Bible. He said that the Bible teaches us to "love your neighbor as yourself." He then told the story of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This story shows how important it is to help anyone in need.

The abolitionists won this argument. In January 1837, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted. They allowed the Anti-Slavery Society to use their meeting hall.

His Life Outside Work

Dr. Bradford believed in several important ideas. He supported temperance, which meant avoiding alcohol. He also believed in pacifism, which means opposing war and violence. And he followed strict Sabbatarianism, which meant keeping Sunday as a day of rest.

He was a mentor to a famous writer named Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his free time, Dr. Bradford loved to write essays and reviews. These writings were published in many journals. Some of these included the Boston Spectator, the New England Journal, the New-England Magazine, the North American Review, and the Christian Examiner.

In March 1821, Dr. Bradford married Sophia Rice. She was the daughter of Colonel Nathan Rice. He had a son, who was also named Gamaliel Bradford (1831-1911).

Starting in 1832, Dr. Bradford began having epileptic seizures. These attacks happened more often each year. In 1838, he went on a four-month trip around the Mediterranean Sea. He hoped it would make him feel better, but it didn't help much. On October 22, 1839, when he was 44 years old, he had a very severe seizure and passed away.

From 1833 to 1839, Dr. Bradford kept a diary. In it, he wrote about many talks he had with important people. These included John Quincy Adams, William Ellery Channing, and Edward Everett. His four unpublished diaries are kept at the Houghton Library at Harvard University.