Ch. 3: Slavery Flashcards
Slavery Under the Dutch
1626 – First enslaved Africans arrive in New Netherland
• 11 Africans from Congo, Angola, and Sao Tome
1644 – “Half-Freedom” devised
• Successfully petitioned for their “freedom” in 1644 • granted 300 acres of land
• required to provide goods and resources annaully
1652 – Peter Stuyvesant expanded slavery
• given permission by the WIC to import “as many Negroes as
they shall have need of for the cultivation of the soil.”
A majority of enslaved workers were property of the WIC, not individuals.
New York Slave Codes
Acts for Regulating “Negroes” and Slaves (1702-1730) prohibited them from: • congregating in groups larger than three.
• owning any personal property.
• entering particular services and professions.
• carrying “guns, swords, clubs, staves”
• frequenting and imbibing at inns and taverns • learning to read and write.
• being out past sundown.
• leaving their masters’ property without proof. • absconding from their master.
They also fortified white owners’ power over their human property and solidified a system of slavery by-descent.
Slavery in Colonial New York
1711 – Slave market opens in New York City
• Made Common Council Law on November 30 • Wall Street, between Pearl and Water Streets
• Closes in 1762
Everyday Life Under British Rule
Tasks and other responsibilities? • In Households • domestic service • general labor • agricultural work • Artisan workshops • carpentry • bakery • butcher • tailors • blacksmiths • Businesses/Professionals • doctors • attorneys • retailers • grocers • mariners • hotel and other service
Negro Burial Ground
Life was far from "easy." "Negro Burying Ground" • African Burial Ground • ca. 1675 -1795 • 425 burials excavated • signs of health and labor • evidence of cultural preservation
Powerless?
Enslaved men, women, and children were not as powerless as they are often portrayed.
• often impeded work through subtle forms of resistance
• absconded, often taking refuge with indigenous Americans • formed independent, or “informal” markets
• rebelled on at least three occasions: 1708 (Q); 1712; 1741
