Did you know that one of the most significant contributors to the 18th century Age of Enlightenment was a Welshman by the name of Richard Price?
Who Was Richard Price?
Price (23 February 1723-19 April 1791) was a radical thinker, moral philosopher and reformer from Llangeinwyr, Glamorgan. He was also a dissenting/nonconformist minister, meaning he was a Protestant opposed to state interference in religion.
He commented on many of the great events of history and lived through some of them, too, including the American War of Independence, during which he supported the American cause and was a close friend of Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
He was not afraid to break away from strong friendships if they were at odds with some of his core ideals. An example of this is with Jefferson and slavery. Price had described the transatlantic slave trade (and slavery as a whole) as “cruel, wicked and diabolical” while Jefferson kept more than 600 slaves in his adult life. Price directly commented on the contradictions of Jefferson on the topic of slavery, declaring “if there are any men whom they have a right to hold in slavery, there may be others who have a right to hold them in slavery.”
Price also lived through the beginning of the French Revolution. He supported it, believing it was the “fulfillment of a prophecy”, no doubt in relation to his strong belief in the separation of church and state. That being said, he also refused to condone the increasing violence that ensued and shunned a meeting with the French Jacobins – a view which placed him at odds with some of his key allies at the time.
Price was a mentor and close friend of the great English philosopher and feminist writer, Mary Wollstonecraft, and was an early advocate of the rights of women. He introduced Wollstonecraft to many radical thinkers of the day and personally funded and supported some of her travels in her early career.
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Niklas is the founder, owner, manager, editor, writer, video creator, voice over artist, and so forth, of Welsh Histories. He is passionate about the preservation of Welsh culture; the rejuvenation of the Welsh language and the promotion of Welsh history. Niklas currently resides in Pune, Maharashtra, with his beloved wife.