As a young man before his conversion, paul spent much of his time:

studying in the rabbi school in tarsus
presenting the gospel of christ
persecuting the church
debating with the apostles

The role did Benjamin Franklin played in the 1790 debate over slavery was by appending his signature on the Petition which contained slave abolition.

Benjamin Franklin decided it wasn’t proper for him to have slaves so he freed them and became a strong voice for the total abolition of slavery. He became the president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and ensured he presented a signed petition to the Congress to enforce slave abolition.