William Gardner (former slave)

Upon the end of his term, Gardner became a merchant's agent who worked for notable American colonial figures, including Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

[4] In 1777, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, the first law of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

[2] Madison was short on cash in 1782 but wanted to acquire philosophy books, including Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan.

[2] Gardner had been with Madison for three and a half years in the city; he was exposed to liberty, freedom, and philosophy and he saw free Black people daily.

[8][9] Madison and his father worried that they could not force the enslaved Gardner back to Virginia because he could potentially foment rebellion.

"[2][7][8] Madison considered options related to Gardner, including smuggling him out of Pennsylvania and then selling him where slavery was legal, such as the south or the Caribbean.

But in a letter to his father, Madison expressed trepidation regarding this, saying he could not "think of punishing him by transportation merely for coveting that liberty for which we have paid the price of so much blood, and have proclaimed so often to be the right, and worthy of pursuit, of every human being.

[7][11] Virginians in Philadelphia, including Martha Washington, would likely have been aware of Madison's dilemma regarding Gardner's emancipation.

[12][13][14][11] As a merchant's agent, Gardner would handle business for several well known historical figures, including James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.