English merchant and vegetarian writer Thomas Tryon (1634-1703) was the first person who employed the term “animal rights” to speak out for innocent creatures systematically oppressed by humans. Despite his humble beginnings, he managed to educate himself and became a significant thinker in the tradition of animal theology and in ethical vegetarianism. In his lyrical essay, “The Complaints of the Birds and Fowls of Heaven to their Creator”, Tryon (1684) adopts the personas of birds such as chickens, pigeons, and ducks, pleading for justice:-
But tell us, O Men! we pray you tell us what Injuries have we committed to forfeit? What Law have we broken, or what Cause given you, whereby you can pretend a Right to invade and violate our part, and natural RIGHTS, and to assault and destroy us, as if we were the Aggressors, and no better than Thieves, Robbers and Murderers, fit to be extirpated out of the Creation?... From whence didst thou derive thy Authority for killing thy Inferiors, merely because they are such, or for destroying their Natural Rights and Privileges?
The Way to Health, Long Life, and Happiness (1683), another notable work by Tryon, also emphasizes the Bible's teachings against violence towards animals and highlights the negative impacts of meat consumption on human health and society. He believed that nonviolence towards animals and vegetarianism were essential for spiritual progress and the restoration of a paradisiacal state.
Apart from animal abuse, Tryon was vocal against the cruelty of slavery, drawing parallels between the exploitation of animals and humans. His writings influenced prominent figures like Benjamin Franklin and poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Article link: https://www.vegantheology.net/post/humans-how-dare-you-violate-animals-natural-rights-by-thomas-tryon-ed-dr-chapman-chen
Source:
Tryon, Thomas (1684). “The Complaints of the Birds and Fowls of Heaven to their Creator, for the Oppressions and Violences most Nations on the Earth do offer unto them, particularly the People called Christians, lately settled in several Provinces in America.” In Thomas Tryon, The Planter’s Speech to his Neighbours & Country-Men of Pennsylvania, East & West-Jersey, and to All Such as Have Transported Themselves into New-Colonies for the Sake of a Quiet Retired Life. To which Is Added, the Complaints of our Supra-Inferior-Inhabitants, ed. Deborah Taylor Pearce, London: Andrew Sowle. https://roses.communicatingbydesign.com/history/ePubs/Tryon-PlantersSpeech.html
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