Jupiter Hammon Quotes
All the time spent idly, is spent wickedly, and is unfaithfulness to our masters.
Hammon, Jupiter. An Address to the Negroes in the State of New-York. Carroll and Patterson, 1787, p. 7.
Mormons in later years found this principle difficult to enforce where there was unemployment and workers were idle through no fault of their own. The local Mormon churches were very active in encouraging wealthier Mormons to hire those who were unemployed.
Jupiter Hammon (1711-ca. 1806) is known as a founder of African-American literature, as his poem published in 1761 in New York was the first by an African American in North America. He published both poetry and prose after that. In addition, he was a preacher and a commercial clerk on Long Island, New York.
