Prcis

When I first heard about slavery I was very surprised that people could
treat others like animals only because of the fact they didnt resemble. I was a bit younger
and did not knew much about it. After I grew, I studied some things about slavery at
school and understand it better. ut with this understanding I also started to disagree with
it even more. In that time I did not knew who !ohn rown was. What turned my curiosity
was a picture in which was showed a man climbing down some stairs, surrounded by
what seemed to be militia, and while heading towards what seemed to be his conviction,
he kissed a black child on the forehead. "he picture intrigued me and I decided to read
was ne#t to it. "hats when I first heard about !ohn rown. $e was an abolitionist.
Although the incident never happened %the kiss&, !ohn rown started a revolution through
his actions.
Introduction
In the year '(') there were *.+ million people in the ,-. .or '.+ million
of these people the words of the Declaration of Independence /that all men are e0ual1
were far from true.
"homas !efferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, owned
slaves himself. -o did 2eorge Washington and other leaders of the movement for
American independence and freedom. oth !efferson and Washington had uneasy
consciences about this. ut other big landowners in the southern states such as 3irginia
defended slavery. "hey asked what they thought was an unanswerable 0uestion. $ow
could they cultivate their fields of tobacco, rice and cotton without slave workers4
In the north of the ,- farms were smaller and climate was cooler. .armers
did not need slaves to work the fields for them. -ome northerners opposed slavery for
religious and moral reasons also. 5any were abolitionists6that is, people who wanted to
end or abolish slavery by law. y the end of the nineteenth century many northern states
have passed laws abolishing slavery inside their own boundaries. In '()( they also
persuaded 7ongress to make it illegal for ships to bring any new slaves from Africa into
the ,-.
y the end of the '(+)s southern and northern politicians were arguing
fiercely about whether slavery should be permitted in the new territories that were being
settled in the West.
8arly years
"he e#periences of African americans both in the south and in the north
had parallels and differences. .irst slavery and segregation were legal and practiced in
both regions. Although far more e#tensive and damaging in its effect in the -outh,
slavery also enriched sea captains and slave traders in the 9ortheast and produced labor
for the region:s citi;ens.
A second parallel involved the e#istence of mitigating circumstances in
both regions. In the -outh these were created primarily by differences in the character of
individual slave owners and by the e#istence of some individuals who did not favor the
cruel practices of slavery. In the 9orth the institution of slavery was weakened by strong
abolitionist and antislavery networks that included a secret underground railroad system.
A third parallel was that lack Americans made gains in both regions.
Although conditions that were severe enough to break the will of some slaves e#isted in
both the 9ortheast and the -outh, significant numbers of African Americans sei;ed
whatever opportunities they could find and rose to great achievements in education,
religion, the arts, political affairs, and business. .rom the tests of adversity leaders arose
to show ways out of the labyrinth of racism. Perhaps une#pectedly for those who created
the racist laws and initiated the acts of hatred, destruction, and killing, such acts often had
the effect of strengthening the will and determination of African Americans to overcome
and to achieve in a way that brings to mind the <atin phrase 3irescit vulnere virtus
%wounds can increase courage&.
In the 9ortheastern states67onnecticut, =elaware, 5aine, 5assachusetts,
9ew $ampshire, 9ew !ersey, 9ew >ork, Pennsylvania, ?hode Island, and 3ermont6
slavery and racial segregation were practiced beginning in the colonial period. "his is
surprising to many who regard slavery as a -outhern phenomenon and who learned in
school that the colonies were founded on principles of personal liberties. In the mindset
of the colonial era, however, liberties were seen as encompassing white people, not
Indians or Africans, and most colonists were untroubled by the contradiction of fighting
for liberty for themselves while denying it to others. "hus, slavery did develop and spread
in the 9ortheast. It was not as widespread as in the -outh because the land and growing
conditions were not suitable for developing vast, labor6intensive rice, cotton, and tobacco
plantations. -till, slaves were brought in, even in colonial days, to work the land and to
labor as house servants.
@n the Atlantic seacoast many sea captains earned their fortunes from
profits gained in the slave trade. In 5assachusetts eighteenth6century seaport towns
prospered as ships carried timber and salt fish to the 7aribbean and traded them for
molasses and sugar. ?eturning with the molasses, they had it distilled into rum, took the
product to West Africa, and traded it for slaves. In this triangle of trade, slaves then were
taken to the 7aribbean and -outh America to be sold, and more molasses and sugar were
taken on board. Profits made from each point of trade were used to build many fine
homes along the 5assachusetts shores.
"he -outh
When the Africans arrived, dark skin color as a distinguishing
characteristic had not yet been firmly e0uated with notions of inferiority. "he Africans
were regarded as indentured servants. "heir status was essentially e0ual to that of white
indentured servants, the poor of 8ngland who had been released from Aails, orphanages,
and poorhouses and who were bound to seven years of servitude to pay for a voyage to
America. .or many years after the arrival of the !amestown si#teen, lack indentured
servants worked side by side with their white counterparts in houses and fields,
intermingling and sometimes intermarrying. Although some distinctions were made on
the basis of race, racism and preAudice based on skin color were not yet firmly
entrenched.
When the first African indentured servants were freed, they bought land
and property and sometimes owned servants themselves. @nce free, they lived a better
life than those who were still bound, although their status was not as high as that of free
white men and women.
"he status of Africans changed, however, as the slave trade became highly
profitable and as huge plantations created an insatiable need for cheap labor. White
planters began to recogni;e that it was to their economic advantage to own their servants
for life rather than for a fi#ed period of several years. "hey reali;ed that white servants
came from a politically powerful country and had allies in 8ngland in those men and
women who spoke out against human bondage. As 7hristians, they were accorded a
measure of dignity and respect. ecause their skin was white, they were difficult to
identify if they escaped.
Indians also proved unsuitable as slavesB they knew the countryside well
and could easily flee, and they often were regarded as hard to subdue. @nly the Africans
stood out in their helplessness to fight against bondage. "hey were in a strange land
where the language was not their own, their homeland lacked political power, and they
had no national leaders with the military power to oversee their welfare. Although some
Africans had been bapti;ed into 7hristianity, this status was often ignored when the
political realities of greed prevailed. "he Africans were easily visible, and they lacked
knowledge of the geography of the new country. "hese factors mitigated against the
possibility of escape.
Within Aust a few decades these differences led the landowners to
increasingly and cunningly weave a web of Austifications for keeping Africans in bondage
for a lifetime. <andowners determined that slavery would be good for CheathenC Africans
because white people would care for them and introduce 7hristianity to them. As new
ritish colonies came into e#istence, white leaders threaded ideas of racial inferiority into
their ideologies and laws, creating an image of the African as a different and lower being
whose rightful place was in a subservient role and whose labors could be Austifiably
appropriated for the white community:s gain. White landowners passed laws that
consolidated their right to own slaves and that separated the races into different status
levels.
In -outh 7arolina in '*)', in 9orth 7arolina in '*'D, and in 3irginia in
'*+E, Africans were denied the right to vote. "he five original colonies in the -outh6
2eorgia, 5aryland, -outh 7arolina, 3irginia, and 9orth 7arolina6which later would fight
for their own freedom from tyranny, increasingly denied freedom to human beings. "he
slave trade flourished, making it possible to farm large acreages that earned enormous
wealth for landowners. "he men, women, and children who had come from caring,
developed societies in Africa now labored in the fields under brutally harsh conditions. In
3irginia slaves advised their owners that the land was suitable for growing rice and
showed how this cultivation was best done. "heir reward for giving such knowledge was
being forced to do the cultivation with no compensation for their labor.
In spite of the cruelty of slavery, most Africans managed to retain both
humanity and dignity. -ome already were skilled artisans when they arrivedB they and
others were the skilled carpenters and masons who built many of the beautiful mansions,
churches, and commercial buildings still standing in the -outh. @n the larger, self6
sufficient plantations they worked as carpenters, wheelwrights, shoemakers, barbers,
weavers, and tailors. "hey worked in the coal mines of Alabama and the iron mines of
-outh 7arolina.
The Prohibition Against Importing Slaves into the United States
In '()( 7ongress passed a law banning the further importation of slaves
into the ,nited -tates. @nce this legislation was passed, slave owners who wished to
increase their number of slaves could do so only by purchasing them, ac0uiring them
through inheritance, or relying on births to slaves they already owned. -lave owners
found ways, however, to circumvent the law that would have decreased the number of
new slaves available for purchase. -ome sea captains continued to import slaves, sailing
silently into numerous hidden coves and harbors. etween '()( and '(F) they illegally
imported +D),))) slaves into the ,nited -tates. 5any slave owners stooped to the level
of slave breeding, a procedure they regarded as no more immoral than the breeding of
livestock. @ther white men went on raids into 9orthern cities where they captured
fugitives or even kidnapped free lack men, women, and children and sold them into
slavery in the -outh.
Although members of 7ongress had banned the importing of slaves into
the ,nited -tates in '()( they were not necessarily in favor of abolishing slavery. In fact,
in response to pressure from the -outh, they passed laws that made it easier for slave
owners to capture slaves who had fled to the 9orth and the 5idwest.
The Fugitive Slave Laws
In '*GE 7ongress had tried to appease slave owners who were furious
about losing their runaway slaves by passing the .ugitive -lave <aw, making it easier for
states to cooperate in the return of escaped slaves. -lave owners were disappointed,
however, because the law was not very effective. 9orthern states already had begun to
abolish slavery, and the 9orthwest @rdinance prohibited slavery in the region that it
regulated. Anti6slavery sentiment was so strong in many towns in the 9orth and the
5idwest that many citi;ens ignored the .ugitive -lave <aw and continued to support the
underground railroad.
.earing the increasing number of fugitives, the slave owners angrily
demanded more assistance from the 7ongress. In response, 7ongress passed the .ugitive
-lave <aw of '(D), adding provisions that strengthened the previous law. "he new
legislation created fear and even panic among groups of free lack people. .or e#ample,
at the -t. 5atthews 8piscopal 7hurch in =etroit, 5ichigan, so many church members
fled to 7anada after passage of the .ugitive -lave <aw that remaining members were not
able to pay the debt on their new church. An African American was not allowed to testify
in court if kidnapped and wrongly identified as an escaped slave. .ederal commissioners
who returned a person to slavery were rewarded with H'), a welcome incentive at that
time. Any person who refused to cooperate with authorities in capturing a slave was
punished with a fine or a Aail sentence.
The Missouri Compromise
etween the passage of the first and second .ugitive -lave Acts, the
5issouri 7ompromise of '(+)6'(+' was enacted. Its purpose was to try to resolve
disputes between the slave states and the free states. "he area called 5issouri "erritory
had applied to Aoin the ,nion in '('(, and slave6owning citi;ens wanted 5issouri to be a
slave state. "hey were opposed, however, by 9ortherners who wanted new states Aoining
the ,nion to be free states. After e#tensive debates in 7ongress and after a futile attempt
to add a provision to the 5issouri statehood bill that would gradually eliminate slavery in
the state, 7ongress adAourned without passing the statehood bill.
The Kansas-ebras!a A"t
In '(DI, the 5issouri 7ompromise was repealed by passage of the
Jansas69ebraska Act. "his legislation divided land into two territories, Jansas and
9ebraska, and specified that settlers in the border states could decide by popular vote
whether each state would be a slave state or a free state. "he new bill enraged opponents
of slavery and deepened the split between 9orth and -outh. =uring this period the
?epublican Party was founded by opponents of the bill. "he test of the
effectiveness of the new legislation came, however, when Jansas was opened to
settlement in '(DI under the terms of the Jansas69ebraska Act. "he issue of establishing
Jansas as a slave or a free state captured national interestB proslavery and antislavery
groups from other parts of the country moved to Jansas to live and to fight for their side:s
position. .or e#ample, !ohn rown, a fiery white abolitionist, came to Jansas to Aoin the
fight. In '(DF he led a group of men in a battle against proslavery activists at
@sawatomie. Instead of having the 0uestion of slavery in the state decided by vote,
Jansas erupted instead into brutal and bloody battles and massacres over the issue. 8ach
side formed its own government in the battle for supremacy, and the warring region
became known as Cleeding Jansas.C
"he 9orth
-ea captains in 5aine and ?hode Island Aoined the slave trade. 5aine:s
large forests provided lumber for building ships that were used for shipping cotton and
other goods. "he miles of inlets and coves provided convenient harbors for the cargo of
human beings that the sea captains brought back to 5aine on their return trips.
-uch Aoint commercial ventures produced sympathy for the -outh and for
the institution of slavery, and many families in the 9ortheast purchased slaves for their
own use. In 9ew >ork both the =utch and the 8nglish imported slaves from the West
Indies and from Africa.
"he =utch, who first brought slaves into 9ew >ork in 'F'F for
agricultural labor, at first treated the Africans more like indentured servants than as
chattels. @ver the years, however, the form of slavery changed much as it had in the
-outh, and the process of dehumani;ation began. -lave owners began to regard slaves as
nothing more than property that could be bought and sold Aust as household goods or
farm animals were bought, sold, and willed to others. In 9ew >ork the importation of
slaves increased until by 'FG( there were more than +,))) slaves in the 9ew >ork
7olony. y '*IF there were more than G,))) adult slaves in the state.
In many ways slavery was as cruel in the 9ortheast as it was in the -outh.
"o increase control over the slaves, the 9ew >ork Assembly passed a law in '*)+ that
forbade trading with slaves and that forbade slaves from assembling or carrying arms. In
spite of the closer supervision, however, there was a slave uprising in 9ew >ork 7ity in
'*'+B it was not the last such conflict to occur in the state. In the 9ortheast slaves reacted
as they had in the -outh6by trying to escape. In 9ew >ork and Pennsylvania newspaper
ads offered rewards for the return of runaway slaves. etween 'FG) and '*E)
7onnecticut set up a series of laws to control and CprotectC African Americans. -laves
who did not carry with them a pass from their masters were considered runaways. .or
stealing, a slave could receive up to thirty CstripsC or lashes.
Although 5aine never had a large lack population, slavery was as
heartless there as it was in any other region. .amilies were separated in slave auctions
with little thought to the anguish felt by family members. In an '(*D book, author
8dward ourne called slavery Cthe great sin of the -outh.CK $e described a house that
once stood in >ork, 5aine, and was used as a slave factory. 8ntire lack families were
imprisoned for sale at the house, and buyers went there to purchase slaves. ourne also
noted that in the town of Wells, 5aine, families were able to purchase slaves from the
many small vessels that for almost a century traveled back and forth in the West India
trade. $e described the agony of a sale in which a mother and daughter were separatedL
Phillis had a little daughter of the age of five years, to whom she was bound by all
the ties which take hold of a mother:s heart. ut a distinguished ?evolutionary
officer, with the same heartlessness which we have been wont to attribute to those
engaged in the slave trade, took this little child from its mother, and, as he would
any article of produce, carried her to -aco, and there sold her. "he agony of the
poor mother in this cruel separation was said to be indescribable. >et there were
no relentings and no remorse on the part of the trader, which led to any attempt to
rescind the unholy contract. It did not seem that our own townsmen had any more
doubt, in the Audgment of conscience, as to the legitimacy of this trafficB and that a
negro was a mere chattel, subAect to be bought and sold at the will of the master,
than they had that the right of sale in the owner, was a condition or incident of any
other property4
"he cruelty that could be displayed by slave owners, even in the
9ortheast, also was e#emplified in the home of 7olonel !ohn Ashley and his wife,
$annah, in Ashley .alls, 5assachusetts. When $annah Ashley tried to burn a slave girl
with a red6hot household implement, the slave girl:s sister, 8li;abeth, Aumped between
and took the searing burn instead. 8li;abeth steadfastly refused to return to the house
even though the Ashleys pleaded with her, and she eventually won her freedom through
the 5assachusetts state courts.
In 9ew >ork, a lack man named Austin -teward also was treated cruelly
by his master, a man who had brought him from 3irginia to 9ew >ork. -teward, who
later wrote a book, Twenty- Two Years a Slave and Forty Years a Free Man, stated that it
was as hard to have been beaten on the head with a piece of iron in 9ew >ork as it was to
have been beaten this way in 3irginia.
8ven those slaves in the 9ortheast who lived in the master:s home often
lived in terrible conditions.
As a child, -oAourner "ruth, who later would become a famous
spokesperson against social inAustice, lived in a cold, damp basement in her master:s
house in $urley, 9ew >ork, sharing her living space with insects and rats.
@pposition to -lavery
-ome opposition to slavery e#isted in the -outh, although it never was as
open as it was in the 9ortheast. Protest in the 9ortheast consisted primarily of individual
actions and of the strength of the abolitionist and antislavery movements in that region.
Abolitionists worked to repeal laws that reinforced slavery, and they supported
antislavery candidates. White and lack abolitionists established and maintained an
underground railroad, a secret network of men and women who helped fugitive slaves to
escape.
It was to the 9ortheast states that large numbers of slaves sought to
escape. Although slavery e#isted in 5aine, the underground railroad was there also.
-urrounded on three sides by 7anada and on the fourth side by the Atlantic @cean, 5aine
provided a desirable route for runaway slaves who fled through Portland, runswick,
3assalboro, and 7hina <ake before moving on to 7anada. -ometimes boats transported
them. A modest number remained in 5aine, where they Aoined the relatively small
population of slaves and free people already there.
In 9ew >ork and 5assachusetts several groups, including the Muakers
and other religious sects, strongly opposed slavery. In their monthly meetings the
Muakers spoke out against slavery, and they were prepared to disown individuals who
would not set their slaves free. In 9ew edford, 5assachusetts, the Muakers worked to
make the city hospitable to fugitive slaves and to free lack citi;ens. "hey were
determined to see that no fugitive slave seeking refuge in 9ew edford would be
captured and returned to slavery. 9ew edford created such a positive atmosphere that
when .rederick =ouglass arrived in that city, he was surprised to see that laboring lack
people there lived better than many slave owners had in his native 5aryland. $e was
surprised at the confident serenity of the lack men as they worked on the 9ew edford
docks. =ouglass saidL
... almost everybody seemed to be at work, but noiselessly so, compared
with what I had been accustomed to in altimore. "here were no loud songs heard from
those engaged in loading and unloading ships. I heard no deep oaths or horrid curses on
the laborer. I saw no whipping of menB but all seemed to go smoothly on. 8very man
appeared to understand his work, and went at it with a sober, yet cheerful earnestness,
which betokened the deep interest which he felt in what he was doing, as well as a sense
of his own dignity as a man.
oth lack and white citi;ens worked against slavery in other areas of the
9ortheast. In oston activists included African American leaders <ewis and $arriet
$ayden and white abolitionist William <loyd 2arrison, one of the founders of the 9ew
8ngland Anti6-lavery -ociety. "he .arwell 5ansion in oston %now the property of the
<eague of Women for 7ommunity -ervice& and the =illaway6"homas $ouse in ?o#bury,
5assachusetts, were stops on the underground railroad. In 9ew >ork, prominent
abolitionists included .rederick =ouglass, !ohn rown, -usan . Anthony, and William
-eward. $arriet eecher -towe, who lived in $artford, 7onnecticut, wrote Uncle Tom's
Cabin, one of the most effective books of the day in arousing sentiment against slavery.
In 7anterbury, 7onnecticut, Prudence 7randall showed uncommon courage in opening
her school to lack students in the face of threats and actual violence directed her way.
Segregation and A"hievement
8mancipation of slaves took place far earlier in the 9ortheast states than in
the -outh. y '*GG 9ew >ork had provided for the abolition of slavery by specifying
gradual manumissions. y '('* 2overnor !ohn !ay of 9ew >ork signed a law specifying
that every slave born before !uly I, '*GG, was to be freed on !uly I, '(+*. 8very child
born after passage of the law was to be freed by age twenty6one. "he importation of
slaves also was prohibited. In '(+* all who still were slaves in 9ew >ork were freed.
In 7onnecticut, which became the fifth state in '*((, most citi;ens
opposed slavery. $owever, one impetus to abolishing slavery in 7onnecticut came not
from philanthropic feelings but from self6interest. As more slaves began to ac0uire skills,
white artisans began to lose their Aobs to the unpaid lack workers. .earful of losing
more Aobs, the white workers spoke out against slavery and against the importation of
more slaves into 7onnecticut. A state law was passed providing that children of slaves
who were born after 5arch I, '*(I, were to be free by age twenty6five. In '*G* the age
was changed to twenty6one years. y '*G) there were +,*DG slaves and +,()' free blacks
in the state. In '(I( all slavery was abolished in 7onnecticut.
With the abolition of slavery in the 9ortheast, lack citi;ens still lacked
peace of mind. .ugitive slaves who escaped to the region feared being captured by slave
traders to be returned to slavery in the -outh, and unscrupulous slave traders kidnapped
free lack men and women to sell in the -outh. All of the ,nited -tates was subAect to
the '(D) .ugitive -lave <aw that allowed slave owners to enter 9orthern states to sei;e
runaway slaves and that provided penalties for obstructing capture. Although American
law had abolished the importing of slaves into the country in '()*, slave traders used
stealth to get around this rule, and many continued to illegally import slaves.
!ohn rown
!ohn rown was a northern abolitionist who advocated and practiced
armed insurrection as a means to end all slavery. In '(DD, not long after moving his
family in 9orth 8lba, 9.>. %near <ake Placid&, rown learned from his adult sons in the
Jansas territory that pro6slavery forces there were militant and that their families were
completely unprepared to face attack. =etermined to protect his family and oppose the
advances of pro6slavery supporters, rown left for Jansas, enlisting a son6in6law and
making several stops Aust to collect funds and weapons. As reported by the 9ew >ork
"ribune, rown stopped en route to participate in an anti6slavery convention that took
place in !une '(DD in Albany, 9ew >ork. =espite the controversy that ensued on the
convention floor regarding the support of violent efforts on behalf of the free state cause,
several individuals provided rown some solicited financial support. As he went
westward, however, rown found more militant support in his home state of @hio,
particularly in the strongly anti6slavery Western ?eserve section where he had been
reared.
rown and the free state settlers were optimistic that they could bring
Jansas into the union as a slavery6free state. ut in late '(DD and early '(DF it was
increasingly clear to rown that pro6slavery forces were willing to violate the rule of law
in order to force Jansas to become a slave state. rown believed that terrorism, fraud,
and eventually deadly attacks became the obvious agenda of the pro6slavery supporters,
then known as Corder ?uffians.C After the winter snows thawed in '(DF, the pro6slavery
activists began a campaign to sei;e Jansas on their own terms. rown was particularly
affected by the -acking of <awrence in 5ay '(DF, in which a sheriff6led posse destroyed
newspaper offices and a hotel. @nly one man was killed, and it was a order ?uffian.
Preston rooks:s caning of anti6slavery -enator 7harles -umner also fueled rown:s
anger. "hese violent acts were accompanied by celebrations in the pro6slavery press, with
writers such as enAamin .ranklin -tringfellow of the -0uatter -overeign proclaiming
that pro6slavery forces Care determined to repel this 9orthern invasion, and make Jansas
a -lave -tate. rown was outraged by both the violence of the pro6slavery forces and also
by what he saw as a weak and cowardly response by the antislavery partisans and the
.ree -tate settlers.
rown started raising a small army of abolitionists and in the year '(DG
planed an attack on the $arpers .erry armory.