To be fair, Barnum’s opposition to slavery became more vehement later in his life, so he may not have been contradictory in his views during the time he kept Joice Heth. He may have learned from his mistakes later on. Nevertheless, there is no doubt he exploited her. While the Greatest Showman movie does a great job showing the cast of unusual characters that Barnum promoted, it never mentions that Joice Heth, a slave, was his first such ‘curiosity.’

Barnaum must have realized his mistakes and then decided to make amends much later.
A fine movie, thank you for sharing