Isabella was a slave ship that brought the first 150 African slaves to the American port of Philadelphia in 1684. The majority of these slaves were purchased directly by Quaker settlers – who themselves had only arrived 3 years earlier to city – to be laborers.^[1][2] This would result in approximately 2,500 people of African descent living in the city by the year 1720.

This article's factual accuracy is disputed. (February 2012)

• Quakers in the Abolition Movement: Even though many Quakers strongly opposed slavery, some Quaker families were slaveholders.
• History of slavery in Pennsylvania