Post by mary on Jan 21, 2003 16:55:13 GMT -5
While the charter of the Northwest Territory forbade slavery, the realities of this "institution" were in full force in Jacksonian America. The Mineral District was not immune to the presence of chattel slavery, as southerners like Dodge, George W. Jones, and doubtless others brought slaves onto the region.
The stark realities of slavery in America was clear to an Englishman names Edward S. Abdy, who travelled for a year and a half in the United States. Mr. Abdy noted and frequently commented on the condition of peoples of color in various locales. He also observed how at least one woman did her best to deal with the condition of slavery on her own terms.
Her remarkable story is deserving of mention in our "Distaff" section!
Mr. Abdy wrote: ...I called at the house of a colored woman, who had been mentioned to me as a most remarkable instance of generosity and benevolence. Her name was Hester Lane; and her age between fifty and sixty. She was at home, and received me without affectation or reserve. The object of my visit was soon explained; and the request I made as readily complied with. She informed me that she had redeemed eleven human beings from slavery, in Maryland, having purchased them at different times with the savings she had made out of her hard earnings. She had never had twenty dollars given to her, nor benefited by inheritance or bequest to the amount of a dollar. The house she lived in was her own; and the room in which we sat was well furnished. The first purchased by her was a girl of eleven years of age: the price was 100 dollars. She had been present when she was born, and afterwards assisted at her marriage, at the birth of her four children, and ultimately at her death and her funeral. The next she liberated was a boy of fourteen, for 200 dollars. The third a man about thirty, for 280. The fourth case was that of a man, his wife, and one child. As the parents were sickly and no longer young, she was charged but 140 dollars for the family: --the former she had in a great measure to maintain. The fifth case occurred about eight years previously, and was that of a woman and three children. For these she had to pay 550 dollars. They were bought at a public auction in Maryland, whither she went for that purpose, having received several letters on the subject. She afterwards purchased the husband for 200 dollars, with great difficulty and trouble, as the owner insisted upon having 300. She had the children properly educated, and instructed to gain their own livelihood. The greater part of the purchase money was refunded by the objects of her bounty, when they were enabled to repay her. This account, which I had from her own lips, was confirmed to me by Mr. Curtis, of Crosby Street, a person of great respectability, and well known for his kind feelings towards the descendants of Africa. Most of the cases he himself knew to be as I had heard them: for the rest, he said, he would without hesitation vouch; as her word was as good as any other person's oath. When I was with her, she was teaching herself French. She was a woman of strong religious feelings and principles. By her own exertions, she had obtained a comfortable competency for herself; having been successful in discovering a new mode of coloring walls, by which, and the assistance of a shop, she had realised sufficient to provide for her own wants, and those of her less fortunate fellow creatures. Like all of her race, with whom I had any communication, she was deeply affected by the numerous humiliations to which she was exposed. She never for a moment doubted, she said, that the designs of Providence were wise and good. Yet it was mysterious and afflicting to think that whole nations and tribes should so long have been doomed to unmitigated and unmerited bondage; and when free, should still be subject to contempt and reproach. Her windows looked into the street, and it was most painful to her to witness the savage way in which the blacks were treated by the people, and by none worse than by the Irish; some of whom, not long before, would have murdered a man of color, if some persons, who were passing in a carriage at the time, had not assisted him to escape.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Abdy coined the expression "African-American" in his three volume 1835 publication of his travels Journal of a Residence and Tour in the United States.
The stark realities of slavery in America was clear to an Englishman names Edward S. Abdy, who travelled for a year and a half in the United States. Mr. Abdy noted and frequently commented on the condition of peoples of color in various locales. He also observed how at least one woman did her best to deal with the condition of slavery on her own terms.
Her remarkable story is deserving of mention in our "Distaff" section!
Mr. Abdy wrote: ...I called at the house of a colored woman, who had been mentioned to me as a most remarkable instance of generosity and benevolence. Her name was Hester Lane; and her age between fifty and sixty. She was at home, and received me without affectation or reserve. The object of my visit was soon explained; and the request I made as readily complied with. She informed me that she had redeemed eleven human beings from slavery, in Maryland, having purchased them at different times with the savings she had made out of her hard earnings. She had never had twenty dollars given to her, nor benefited by inheritance or bequest to the amount of a dollar. The house she lived in was her own; and the room in which we sat was well furnished. The first purchased by her was a girl of eleven years of age: the price was 100 dollars. She had been present when she was born, and afterwards assisted at her marriage, at the birth of her four children, and ultimately at her death and her funeral. The next she liberated was a boy of fourteen, for 200 dollars. The third a man about thirty, for 280. The fourth case was that of a man, his wife, and one child. As the parents were sickly and no longer young, she was charged but 140 dollars for the family: --the former she had in a great measure to maintain. The fifth case occurred about eight years previously, and was that of a woman and three children. For these she had to pay 550 dollars. They were bought at a public auction in Maryland, whither she went for that purpose, having received several letters on the subject. She afterwards purchased the husband for 200 dollars, with great difficulty and trouble, as the owner insisted upon having 300. She had the children properly educated, and instructed to gain their own livelihood. The greater part of the purchase money was refunded by the objects of her bounty, when they were enabled to repay her. This account, which I had from her own lips, was confirmed to me by Mr. Curtis, of Crosby Street, a person of great respectability, and well known for his kind feelings towards the descendants of Africa. Most of the cases he himself knew to be as I had heard them: for the rest, he said, he would without hesitation vouch; as her word was as good as any other person's oath. When I was with her, she was teaching herself French. She was a woman of strong religious feelings and principles. By her own exertions, she had obtained a comfortable competency for herself; having been successful in discovering a new mode of coloring walls, by which, and the assistance of a shop, she had realised sufficient to provide for her own wants, and those of her less fortunate fellow creatures. Like all of her race, with whom I had any communication, she was deeply affected by the numerous humiliations to which she was exposed. She never for a moment doubted, she said, that the designs of Providence were wise and good. Yet it was mysterious and afflicting to think that whole nations and tribes should so long have been doomed to unmitigated and unmerited bondage; and when free, should still be subject to contempt and reproach. Her windows looked into the street, and it was most painful to her to witness the savage way in which the blacks were treated by the people, and by none worse than by the Irish; some of whom, not long before, would have murdered a man of color, if some persons, who were passing in a carriage at the time, had not assisted him to escape.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Abdy coined the expression "African-American" in his three volume 1835 publication of his travels Journal of a Residence and Tour in the United States.
