A Documentary History of Slavery in North America

by Rose, Willie Lee Nichols

• ISBN13: 9780820320656
• ISBN10: 082032065X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr

Summary

Documenting multiple aspects of slavery and its development in North America, this collection provides more than one hundred excerpts from personal accounts, songs, legal documents, diaries, letters, and other written sources. The book assembles a remarkable portrayal of the day-to-day connections between, and among, slaves and their owners across more than two centuries of subjugation and resistance, despair and hope. Beginning with a chronicle of the origins of slavery in the British colonies of North America, the collection traces the growth of the system to the antebellum period and includes accounts of slave revolts, auctions, slave travel and laws, and family life. Intimate as well as comprehensive, the documents reveal the individual views, goals, and lives of slaves and their masters, making this engaging work one of the most respected catalogs of firsthand information about slavery in North America.

Author Biography

Willie Lee Rose is the author of Rehearsal for Reconstruction, A Documentary History of Slavery in North America (both Georgia), and Slavery and Freedom.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(12)
ONE: SLAVERY IN THE ENGLISH COLONIES OF NORTH AMERICA
The First Blacks Arrive in Virginia	15	(1)
from Records of the Virginia Company of London
Slavery Becomes a Legal Fact in Virginia	16	(6)
from Statutes at Large of Virginia
Virginia Discriminates in the Punishment of Runaways	22	(2)
from Minutes of the Council and General Court of Virginia
Maryland Establishes Slavery for Life	24	(1)
from Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland
Robert Beverley Distinguishes between Servants and Slaves	25	(2)
from The History of Virginia...
The Reverend Le Jau Proselytizes Slaves on the Carolina Frontier	27	(9)
from letters to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
The Reverend Jones Reports on Slavery in the Tobacco Country	36	(4)
from The Present State of Virginia...
William Fitzhugh Enlarges His Holdings	40	(3)
from letters to Ralph Wormley
Robert Carter Assesses Slave Property	43	(2)
from Robert Carter to Micajah Perry
Peter Kalm Observes Labor Conditions in Pennsylvania	45	(6)
from Travels in North America
Philip Vickers Fithian Observes Slavery in Virginia	51	(3)
from Journal and Letters
Benjamin West Sympathizes with Slaves in South Carolina	54	(2)
from Letters
Masters Describe Their Runaway Slaves	56	(5)
from advertisements in Virginia Gazette
TWO: SLAVERY SURVIVES THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Saul, Revolution Veteran, Petitions for Freedom	61	(1)
from Petitions to Virginia Assembly
Virginia Authorizes Private Manumission	62	(2)
from Statutes at Large
Richard Randolph Explains His Act of Manumission	64	(2)
from his Will
Citizens of Halifax Country Petition against Emancipation	66	(2)
from Petitions to Virginia Assembly
Thomas Jefferson Condemns Slavery But Asserts Racial Differences	68	(8)
from Notes on the State of Virginia
George Tucker Criticizes Jefferson's Views of Racial Differences	76	(12)
from Letters from Virginia
Thomas Bayse and Martha Turberville Protest Activities of Free Blacks	88	(3)
from letters to Gov. William H. Cabell
A Richmond Editor Calls for a Military Corps	91	(4)
from the (Richmond) Virginian
White Artisans Claim Unfair Competition from Free Blacks	95	(4)
A Petition to the South Carolina Senate
THREE: REVOLTS, PLOTS, AND RUMORS OF PLOTS
A Slave Conspiracy in New York, 1712	99	(2)
from letter of Gov. Robert Hunter to the Lords of Trade
The Stono Insurrection in South Carolina, 1739	101	(3)
Account inserted in letter of Gen. James Oglethorpe to Harman Verelst
Samba's Conspiracy in Louisiana, 1763	104	(1)
from LePage du Pratz, History of Louisiana
A Small Plot in Louisiana, July 1776	105	(2)
from Journal of William Dunbar
Gabriel's Attempted Uprising in Richmond, 1800	107	(8)
from Minutes of the Trial
Denmark Vesey's Conspiracy in Charleston, 1822	115	(7)
from letter of Gov. Thomas Bennett
Nat Turner's Revolt in Virginia, 1831	122	(15)
from Confessions of Nat Turner...to Thomas R. Gray
FOUR: SLAVE ON THE BLOCK...SLAVES ON THE ROAD
Ethan Allen Andrews Visits a Slave Emporium in Alexandria	137	(4)
from Slavery and the Domestic Slave Trade in the United States
William Chambers Attends a Slave Auction in Richmond	141	(10)
from Things As They Are in America
Maria Perkins Writes of the Sale of Her Child	151	(1)
from Maria Perkins to Richard Perkins
Tyrone Power Sees Slavery Moving West	152	(4)
from Impressions of America...
George Featherstonhaugh Encounters a Slave Coffle	156	(8)
from Excursion through the Slave States
Joseph Holt Ingraham Describes a Slave Sale at Natchez	164	(4)
from The South-West, by a Yankee
Fredrika Bremer Sees the New Orleans Slave Market	168	(7)
from The Homes of the New World
FIVE: THE SLAVE AND THE LAW
The Louisiana Slave Code of 1824	175	(3)
from the Civil Code of Louisiana
The Alabama Slave Code of 1852	178	(18)
from the Code of Alabama
Thomas R. R. Cobb on the Legal Foundations of Slavery	196	(14)
from An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery...
Thomas B. Chaplin Sits on a Jury of Inquest	210	(3)
from the diary of Thomas B. Chaplin
The Killing of Nath: A Matter of Property	213	(6)
from Brunson vs. Martin, Supreme Court of Arkansas
Assault and Battery on Lydia	219	(5)
from The State vs. John Mann, Supreme Court of North Carolina
Blacks and Whites May Celebrate Together---Sometimes	224	(4)
from The State vs. Jacob Boyce, Supreme Court of North Carolina
Manslaughter or Murder?	228	(11)
from Nelson vs. The State, Supreme Court of Tennessee
Hanging and Quartering in 1733	239	(2)
from Goochland County (Virginia) Court Record
Punishing Black Thieves in 1802	241	(2)
from Virginia Recorder
On the Treadmill in Charleston Jail	243	(6)
from Karl Bernhard's Travels through North America...
SIX: THE SLAVE'S PROTEST: RESISTANCE SHORT OF REBELLION
Bewitching Master and Mistress in South Carolina	249	(2)
Stories from Elsie Clews Parsons, Folk-Lore of the Sea Islands...
Stealing from Old Master, Vicariously, in Louisiana	251	(2)
Stories from Alcee Fortier, Louisiana Folk-Tales
``Sheep-stealing'' and ``Lying Out'' on St. Helena Island	253	(1)
from the diary of Thomas B. Chaplin
Helping the Overseer Lose the Crop	254	(2)
from Richard D. Powell to John Hartwell Cocke
Carpenter Ned: ``Doing Literally Nothing''	256	(1)
from John B. Lamar to Mrs. Howell Cobb
Colonel Carter's Mr. Toney, and Others: Malingering, Bad Work, Lying, and Drunkenness	257	(5)
from The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter...
John J. Audubon Encounters a Runaway in Louisiana Swamps	262	(5)
from Ornithological Biography...
Arson by a Virginia House Servant	267	(4)
from Benjamin D. Rust and Edward J. Tayloe to William H. Tayloe
Henry Brown Escapes in a Box	271	(5)
from Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown...
Colonel Alexander's Slaves Resist the Patrol	276	(7)
from Austin Steward, Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman
A Bereaved Father Avenges Himself by Self-Mutilation	283	(1)
from Fredrika Bremer, The Homes of the New World
London Commits Suicide	284	(5)
from William Capers to Charles Manigault
SEVEN: THE SLAVE'S WORK
Labor and Disciplne on a Mississippi Cotton Plantation	289	(13)
from Frederick Law Olmsted, A Journey in the Back Country
On a South Carolina Rice Plantation	302	(5)
from Capt. Basil Hall, Travels in North America in the Years 1827 and 1828
Growing Cotton and Sugar Cane in Louisiana	307	(9)
from Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave
Weighing In the Cotton and Measuring Out the Punishment	316	(8)
from John Wesely Monette, Appendix to Joseph Holt Ingraham, South-West, by a Yankee
Women's Work in Field and Kitchen	324	(4)
from Emily Burke, Reminiscences of Georgia
A Manager Negotiates Hiring for an Iron Furnace	328	(2)
from three letters to Green Martin
Whites and Blacks in a Textile Factory	330	(2)
from James Silk Buckingham, The Slaves States of America
Working in a Richmond Tobacco Factory	332	(5)
from Charles Weld, A Vacation Tour of the United States and Canada
EIGHT: MASTER AND MAN
Master Bruce Inventories His Slave Property	337	(8)
from List and Inventory
Governor Hammond's Instructions to His Overseer	345	(9)
from MS Manual of Rules
How To Manage Negroes, by ``A Planter''	354	(6)
from The Farmer's Register
A Small Farmer Describes His Slave Management	360	(3)
from James DeBow, The Industrial Resources...of the Southern and Western States
A Scottish Weaver Compares Slavery to English Labor	363	(6)
from William Thomson, A Tradesman's Travels, in the United States and Canada...
A Trial of Wills between a Slave and a Prospective Employer	369	(3)
from James C. Davis to William W. Davis
Slaves Tell Masters What Masters Want To Hear	372	(3)
from Ethan Allen Andrews, Slavery and the Domestic Slave-Trade...
Master Chaplin, in Debt, Must Sell Ten Slaves	375	(3)
from Thomas B. Chaplin's diary
A Slave-Owner's Black Supervisors Report	378	(2)
from letters to William Elliott
Frederick Douglass Breaks a Slave-Breaker	380	(10)
from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Lucy Andrews Petitions To Enter Slavery	390	(5)
from Petitions to the Legislature of South Carolina
NINE: MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN
Slaves Had ``A Sense of the Moral Law''	395	(11)
from Jacob Stroyer, My Life in the South
The White Boys Outgrow Charles	406	(5)
from Moncure Conway, Impressions Concerning Slavery
Stolen Reading Lessons, Chimney Sweeps, and Dogs	411	(2)
from Emily Burke, Reminiscences of Georgia
Slavery Develops Stealing in Blacks, Bad Temper and Fear in Whites	413	(4)
from Emily Burke, Reminiscences of Georgia
Treaty and Louisine Lose Their Babies	417	(2)
from Stancil Barwick to John B. Lamar
A Visit to the Infirmary on Butler's Island	419	(4)
from Fanny Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation
Attending a Quadroon Ball	423	(2)
from Karl Bernhard, Travels through North America...
A Creole Father Counts His Children	425	(2)
from George Featherstonhaugh, Excursion through the Slave States
Mrs. Hansley Sues for Divorce	427	(7)
from Ruthey Ann Hansley vs. Samuel G. Hansley, Supreme Court of North Carolina
Rose Describes Being Forced To Live with Rufus	434	(3)
Interview from Federal Writers' Project
White Women Fear Violence from Slaves	437	(7)
from Mary Boykin Chesnut, Diary from Dixie
A Scientist Assesses Miscegenation in the South	444	(2)
from Sir Charles Lyell, A Second Visit to the United States
General Cocke Enforces Matrimony	446	(2)
from diary of John Hartwell Cocke
Master Jones Writes the Mother of His Little Slave	448	(2)
from T. D. Jones to Eliza
Nicey Kinney Fondly Remembers Her Owners on a Small Plantation	450	(7)
Interview from Federal Writers' Project
TEN: AFTER HOURS...BELIEFS AND AMUSEMENTS
Henry Bibb Tries ``Conjuration''	457	(5)
from Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb
William Thomson Attends an ``Imposing and Solemn'' Baptism	462	(3)
from A Tradesman's Travels...
The Reverend Jasper on Life, Death, and the Origin of Sin	465	(9)
from William Eldridge Hatcher, John Jasper: The Unmatched Negro Philosopher
Thomas Wentworth Higginson Describes ``Negro Spirituals''	474	(14)
from The Atlantic Monthly
Shout Songs, Work Songs, and Spirituals	488	(12)
from William Francis Allen and others, Slave Songs of the United States
Christmas...``the Carnival Season with the Children of Bondage''	500	(5)
from Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave
``Levying Contributions'' from Whites at Christmas	505	(3)
from Bishop Whipple's Southern Diary
Singing and Dancing Secular Music in Louisiana	508	(6)
from William Francis Allen and others, Slave Songs of the United States
Drums and Drumming in Congo Square	514	(3)
from Benjamin Latrobe, Impressions Respecting New Orleans
``Brer Rabbit'' Plays Tricks in South Carolina	517	(2)
Stories from Elsie Clews Parsons, Folk-Lore of the Sea Islands
``Compair Lapin'' and Other Louisiana Tricksters	519	(7)
Stories from Alcee Fortier, Louisiana Folk-Tales
Asking Riddles about Who Gets the Lady	526	(3)
Stories from Alcee Fortier, Louisiana Folk-Tales
A Bibliographical Introduction to the Sources	529