HIST 1381
Spring 2006

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Slavery

Overview:

Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington were slaveholders. So, too, were Benjamin Franklin and the theologian Jonathan Edwards. John Newton, the composer of "Amazing Grace," captained a slave ship early in his life. Robinson Crusoe, the fictional character in Daniel Defoe's famous novel, was engaged in the slave trade when he was shipwrecked.

Slavery has often been treated as a marginal aspect of history, confined to courses on southern or African American history. In fact, slavery played a crucial role in the making of the modern world and the development of the United States.

Beginning at least as early as 1502, European slave traders shipped approximately 11 to 16 million slaves to the Americas, including 500,000 to what is now the United States. During the decades before the Civil War, slave grown cotton accounted for over half the value of all United States exports, and provided virtually all the cotton used in the northern textile industry and 70 percent of the cotton used in British mills.

In the decades before the Civil War. A third of the South's population labored as slaves. Enslaved African Americans performed all kinds of work, but slavery mainly meant backbreaking field work. Deprivation and physical hardship were the hallmark of life under slavery. Slave sales frequently broke up slave families. Nevertheless, enslaved African Americans were able—through their families, religion, and cultural traditions—to sustain an autonomous culture and community beyond the direct control of their masters. In addition, slaves resisted slavery through insurrection and a variety of indirect protests against slavery.


Our Online History of Slavery

Introduction Slavery in Historical Perspective Defining Slavery Slavery in the Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Worlds The Newness of New World Slavery Justifications of Slavery Slavery in Africa Why Africa? Enslavement The Middle Passage The Slave Trade's Significance The Atlantic Slave Trade The Origins of New World Slavery Slavery in Colonial America The Diversity of Colonial Slavery

Toward Slavery Slavery's Evolution The American Revolution and Slavery Antebellum Slavery What Was Life Like Under Slavery? Slave Labor Slave Family Life Slave Culture American Slavery in Comparative Perspective Slave Revolts and Resistance The Economics of Slavery Abolition The Experience of Liberation The Aftermath of Slavery

Annotated Primary Source Documents

Enslavement Enslavement John Barbot Ayuba Sulieman Diallo Olaudah Equiano Venture Smith The Middle Passage The Middle Passage James Barbot, Jr. Olaudah Equiano Alexander Falconbridge Arrival in the New World Arrival in the New World Olaudah Equiano Alexander Falconbridge Conditions of Life Conditions of Life Solomon Northrup Charles Ball Josiah Henson Francis Henderson Jacob Stroyer James Martin Childhood Childhood Jacob Stroyer James W.C. Pennington Lunsford Lane Family Family Laura Spicer Josiah Henson Lewis Clarke

Religion Religion Olaudah Equiano Charles Ball Peter Randolph Henry Bibb Punishment Punishment Frederick Douglass John Brown William Wells Brown Moses Roper Lewis Clarke Resistance Resistance Frederick Douglass Nat Turner Flight Flight Margaret Ward Frederick Douglass Harriet Tubman Henry ("Box") Brown Margaret Garner Emancipation Emancipation Thomas Long Jackson Cherry Jourdan Anderson Rufus Saxon Samuel Thomas Francis L. Cardozo Elias Hill Henry Blake Frederick Douglass

Classroom Handouts

Handout on Slavery
Fact Sheets on Slavery


Timeline

Timeline on Slavery


eXplorations
Our "doing history" projects

Indentured Servitude & Slavery

Spirituals


Maps

Slave Trade Maps
http://gropius.lib.virginia.edu/Slavery/FMPro?-
DB=SlaveTrade.fp5&-Format=return.html&HiddenCategory=1&-Max=16&-Find

Negro Spirituals

Deep River, Performed by: Harry Macdonough
Deep River, Performed by: Kathleen Howard
Band of Gideon, Performed by: Fisk Jubilee Quartet
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Performed by: Southern Four


Images

The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record
http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/slavery/


Interviews with Former Slaves

• Interview with Alice Gaston, Gee's Bend, Alabama, 1941 (2)
• Interview with Ann Scott, St. Helena Island, South Carolina (Gullah), June 27, 1932 (part 1 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Ann Scott, St. Helena Island, South Carolina (Gullah), June 27, 1932 (part 2 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Harriet Smith, Hempstead, Texas, 1941 (part 1 of 4) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Harriet Smith, Hempstead, Texas, 1941 (part 2 of 4) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Harriet Smith, Hempstead, Texas, 1941 (part 3 of 4) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Harriet Smith, Hempstead, Texas, 1941 (part 4 of 4) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Phoebe Boyd, Dunnsville, Virginia, 1935 (part 1 of 8) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Phoebe Boyd, Dunnsville, Virginia, 1935 (part 2 of 8) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Phoebe Boyd, Dunnsville, Virginia, 1935 (part 3 of 8) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Phoebe Boyd, Dunnsville, Virginia, 1935 (part 4 of 8) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Phoebe Boyd, Dunnsville, Virginia, 1935 (part 5 of 8) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Phoebe Boyd, Dunnsville, Virginia, 1935 (part 6 of 8) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Phoebe Boyd, Dunnsville, Virginia, 1935 (part 7 of 8) (2)
• Interview with Aunt Phoebe Boyd, Dunnsville, Virginia, 1935 (part 8 of 8) (2)
• Interview with Charlie Smith, Bartow, Florida, March 17, 1975 (2)
• Interview with Dave White, St. Simons Island, Georgia (Gullah), July 26, 1933 (part 1 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Dave White, St. Simons Island, Georgia (Gullah), July 26, 1933 (part 2 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Fountain Hughes, Baltimore, Maryland, June 11, 1949 (2)
• Interview with George Johnson, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, September 1941 (part 1 of 6) (2)
• Interview with George Johnson, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, September 1941 (part 2 of 6) (2)
• Interview with George Johnson, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, September 1941 (part 3 of 6) (2)
• Interview with George Johnson, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, September 1941 (part 4 of 6) (2)
• Interview with George Johnson, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, September 1941 (part 5 of 6) (2)
• Interview with George Johnson, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, September 1941 (part 6 of 6) (2)
• Interview with Irene Williams, Rome, Mississippi, October 1940 (part 1 of 3) (2)
• Interview with Irene Williams, Rome, Mississippi, October 1940 (part 2 of 3) (2)
• Interview with Irene Williams, Rome, Mississippi, October 1940 (part 3 of 3) (2)
• Interview with Isom Moseley, Gee's Bend, Alabama, 1941 (2)
• Interview with Joe McDonald, Livingston, Alabama, 1940 (part 1 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Joe McDonald, Livingston, Alabama, 1940 (part 2 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Mrs. Annie Williams, Petersburg, Virginia, ca. 1937-1940 (2)
• Interview with Mrs. Celia Black, Tyler, Texas, October 11, 1974 (2)
• Interview with Mrs. Laura Smalley, Hempstead, Texas, 1941 (part 1 of 5) (2)
• Interview with Mrs. Laura Smalley, Hempstead, Texas, 1941 (part 2 of 5) (2)
• Interview with Mrs. Laura Smalley, Hempstead, Texas, 1941 (part 3 of 5) (2)
• Interview with Mrs. Laura Smalley, Hempstead, Texas, 1941 (part 4 of 5) (2)
• Interview with Mrs. Laura Smalley, Hempstead, Texas, 1941 (part 5 of 5) (2)
• Interview with Mrs. Williams, Norfolk, Virginia, ca. 1937-1940 (2)
• Interview with Sally Ashton, Albemarle Co., Virginia, Summer or Fall 1934 (2)
• Interview with Samuel Polite, St. Helena Island, South Carolina (Gullah), June 27, 1932 (part 1 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Samuel Polite, St. Helena Island, South Carolina (Gullah), June 27, 1932 (part 2 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Sarah Ashton Brooks, Albemarle Co., Virginia, Summer or Fall 1934 (2)
• Interview with Sarah Garner, Virginia, May 7, 1935 (part 1 of 4) (2)
• Interview with Sarah Garner, Virginia, May 7, 1935 (part 2 of 4) (2)
• Interview with Sarah Garner, Virginia, May 7, 1935 (part 3 of 4) (2)
• Interview with Sarah Garner, Virginia, May 7, 1935 (part 4 of 4) (2)
• Interview with Susan A. Quall, Johns Island, South Carolina (Gullah), May 16, 1932 (part 1 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Susan A. Quall, Johns Island, South Carolina (Gullah), May 16, 1932 (part 2 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Susanna Rebecca Wright Thompson, Oldhams, Virginia, 1935 (part 1 of 6) (2)
• Interview with Susanna Rebecca Wright Thompson, Oldhams, Virginia, 1935 (part 2 of 6) (2)
• Interview with Susanna Rebecca Wright Thompson, Oldhams, Virginia, 1935 (part 3 of 6) (2)
• Interview with Susanna Rebecca Wright Thompson, Oldhams, Virginia, 1935 (part 4 of 6) (2)
• Interview with Susanna Rebecca Wright Thompson, Oldhams, Virginia, 1935 (part 5 of 6) (2)
• Interview with Susanna Rebecca Wright Thompson, Oldhams, Virginia, 1935 (part 6 of 6) (2)
• Interview with Uncle Billy McCrea, Jasper, Texas, 1940 (part 1 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Uncle Billy McCrea, Jasper, Texas, 1940 (part 2 of 2) (2)
• Interview with Uncle Bob Ledbetter, Oil City, Louisiana, 1940 (2)
• Interview with Virginia Ex-Slaves, Petersburg, Virginia, ca. 1937-1940 (1)
• Interview with Wallace Quarterman, Fort Frederica, St. Simons Island, Georgia (Gullah), June 1935 (part 1 of 3) (2)
• Interview with Wallace Quarterman, Fort Frederica, St. Simons Island, Georgia (Gullah), June 1935 (part 2 of 3) (2)
• Interview with Wallace Quarterman, Fort Frederica, St. Simons Island, Georgia (Gullah), June 1935 (part 3 of 3) (2)
• Interview with Wallace Quarterman, St. Simons Island, Georgia (Gullah), August 5, 1933 (part 1 of 2) (1)
• Interview with Wallace Quarterman, St. Simons Island, Georgia (Gullah), August 5, 1933 (part 2 of 2) (2)

Historiography

Few historical topics have evoked more heated debate than slavery. Among the central questions that historians have debated are these:

• Why did slavery come to dominate the economies of such societies as ancient Greece and Rome, the southern United States, Brazil, and Britain and France's Caribbean colonies?
• Why did slavery achieve its greatest strength in the United States, a society dedicated to freedom and equality?
• In what ways were slavery and racism connected?

For more than a century, professional historians have engaged in heated debates over slavery. They have argued over whether slavery or racism came first; whether the Constitution was a pro- or anti-slavery document; and whether slavery was the underlying cause of the American Civil War. Click below to learn about two heated historical debates:

• What were the origins of slavery?
• Was slavery the engine of American economic growth?
  

Bibliographical Essay
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/slavery/bibliographical_essay.html

Comprehensive Bibliography
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/slavery/bibliography.html

Film & Slavery
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/slaveryfilm.cfm
Many influential Hollywood films, from Birth of a Nation and G one with the Wind to Glory and Amistad , have helped shape the way Americans have thought about slavery.

To learn more about inaccuracies in Hollywood's depictions of slavery.

Recommended Films

Amistad (1997)
Steven Spielberg's flawed recreation of the 1839 incident in which kidnapped Africans overcame their captors and were subsequently put on trial in the United States for piracy. The film downplays the extent of racism in the North and distorts the role of religion in motivating antislavery.

Andanggaman (2000)
The first African film ever made about African involvement in the slave trade, the Adanggaman of the title was a late 17th century West African King (near the Gulf of Guinea) who led a war against the neighboring tribes, rounding up survivors to be sold to feed the demand for slaves in the New World.

Beloved (1998)
The screen adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel about the psychic legacies of slavery, loosely based on the story of Margaret Garner, a fugitive slave who killed her own child rather than have her offspring grow up in slavery.

Burn (1970)
Description
A study of the dynamics of colonialism, this film tells the story of a Britain who foments insurrection on a Portuguese slave island in order for Britain to acquire the island for itself.

Last Supper (1976)
A Cuban film based on an actual historical incident in which a plantation owner has his slaves reenact Christ's last supper, which helps to provoke a slave revolt.

NightJohn (1996)
This made-for-television drama tells the story of a slave who risks his life to teach other slaves to read.

Quilombo (1984)
The story of the famous fugitive slave community in Palmares in 17th century Brazil.

Roots (1977)
Description
Based on Alex Haley's best-selling novel, the first episode of this television mini-series focuses on the enslavement and resistance of the African warrior Kunta Kinte.

Sankofa (1993)
Named after an Akan word that means one must return to the past in order to move forward, the movie tells the story of a fashion model who is possessed by spirits lingering in Cape Coast Castle in Ghana and travels back to the slave past.


Recommended Website

Virginia Runaways
http://www.uvawise.edu/history/runaways/
A digital database of runaway and captured slave and servant advertisements from 18th-century Virginia newspapers, this project offers full transcripts and images of all runaway and captured ads for slaves, servants, and deserters placed in Virginia newspapers from 1736 to 1790.


Quiz
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/slav_test.cfm