|
slavery in pennsylvaniaslave resistance in pennsylvaniapage contents
avoidance of workSlaves found many ways to express dissatisfaction with their condition. Probably the most frequently used form of protest was to avoid work wherever possible. This subtle tactic is not well documented, but can be inferred from common descriptive terms used in advertisements concerning slaves. Advertisements offering slaves for sale often used such favorable terms and phrases as "active," "honest, careful and industrious," and "possesses a very obliging disposition" to describe an easily managed slave. Many advertisements, however, avoided the subject of the slave's temperament, and stressed the skills and abilities of the slave for sale. Such ads used phrases such as "understands all labour on a farm," "understands the management of a dairy, and soap boiling," and even "she understands every kind of work that belongs to a respectable family." Also mentioned frequently in ads was the slave's physical condition. Able bodied slaves were described as "healthy," "stout," and "strong." While the absence of favorable terms describing a slave's temperament does not necessarily indicate recalcitrance, it should be remembered that docility in a slave was highly valued, and owner's looking to sell were always eager to present their property in the most favorable terms. A very common form of advertisement concerning slaves was the runaway ad. These differed dramatically from ads offering slaves for sale because the slaveholder did not need or want to describe the errant slave in a favorable light. In addition to describing the escapee's physical appearance and clothing, some slaves were portrayed by their owners in unfavorable terms (for a slave) such as "artful and cunning." Another derogatory phrase sometimes found in runaway ads is the notation that the slave is "fond of strong liquor," which suggests another type of escapism. running awayA more active form of resistance frequently employed by slaves was to run away from their owners. Newspapers of the period from every county in Pennsylvania in which slaves were held published notices from slaveholders seeking the return of slaves who took flight. The tactic of running away was used most frequently with, and increased in proportion to, the existence of several favorable factors. Such factors included the slave's familiarity with local terrain, the close proximity of communities of free Blacks, and good weather. The instances of slaves running away surged during the chaotic years of the Revolution. After the war there was a brief drop in the number of slaves who ran away, but those numbers soon rose again to new heights. During the Revolutionary War many Blacks took advantage of the offer of freedom promised by Virginia's loyalist governor Lord Dunmore to all fugitive slaves. Those who lived near the port of Philadelphia, with access to ships which could take them to Virginia, and those who lived along the border with Maryland, were in the best position to take advantage of this option. Others saw an opportunity in the social upheaval caused by the war and the British occupation of Philadelphia. In Dauphin County, farmer Jacob Awl discovered in December, 1777 that his slave Joe had disappeared along with one of his mares. Awl offered twenty dollars reward for the return of Joe, whom he assumed was headed toward Philadelphia where, at the time, British General Howe's army was encamped. Daniel Larrew of Middletown, Bucks County, advertised for the return of escaped slave Jude, who had run away in January, 1778. Larrew suspected that she was with the British because "she was frequently seen in Philadelphia while the British troops lay there, and it is supposed she is lurking in this State, or in the Jerseys, yet." James Morgan of Durham, Bucks County, registered seven slaves in 1780, six of them in absentia, with the notation "supposed to be in New York with the Enemy." Whether these slaves joined the British camp voluntarily, while it was in Philadelphia, or were carried away by British troops is not certain.
violence by slavesinsurrectionOf all forms of resistance exhibited by slaves, whites feared violence the most. Slave insurrection was the subject of numerous articles appearing in The Pennsylvania Gazette, which printed reports from visitors who had just returned FROM places which were experiencing a slave revolt. An example is this 1762 letter sent to one of the Gazette's correspondents in New York:
Although this "Negroe Plot" in Bermuda was discovered and the conspirators hanged, most Pennsylvania slaveholders must have experienced considerable disquiet in reading how the writer's trusted slave, one Peter Parker who previously was considered above suspicion, had intended to kill his master and then live in his house. Other accounts of slave uprisings appeared regularly, some nearer, and some bloodier. It was the vivid accounts of the 1791 Haitian Slave Revolt, however, that received an inordinate amount of attention. Perhaps it was because the revolt was not immediately quelled, as previous uprisings had been, and numerous slaveowners actually died at the hands of their former property, that local readers found so horrifying:
local violencePennsylvania slaveholders could take little comfort in the fact that the slave uprisings which they read about were in such exotic locations such as Bermuda and Haiti. Although far short of insurgency, there were notorious incidents of local slaves taking violent action against their owners, or against the white population at large. One such case was tried in the courts of Cumberland County at Carlisle in 1801. A slave, Chloe, was charged with murdering two children in her charge. After a fight with her owner, Mary Carothers, Chloe drowned one of the children in a nearby stream and otherwise killed a second child. She threatened to do the same to the third child, but was prevented. Chloe was found guilty of first degree murder and subsequently hanged. Similarly, in 1803 a York County slave was indicted for poisoning the white family which owned her. Shortly after she was imprisoned, numerous mysterious fires plagued York, and local authorities suspected that a concerted effort was underway by local Blacks who were setting the fires in protest. The fires became so troublesome that the borough required all free Blacks to carry a pass to enter the town. Slaves, presumably, would already have a pass to be away from their masters. fugitive communitiesGroups of runaway slaves who sheltered in remote regions in camps or makeshift settlements were a constant concern for county authorities and local slaveholders. Chester County slaveholder James Sharps advertised in 1779 for his runaway slave Abel, who he suspected would make his way toward a cedar swamp in Delaware which harbored a community of free Blacks. Abel had apparently secured a bogus pass from a co-conspirator. The vast tracts of forested land which surrounded iron forges, a necessary requirement to keep them supplied in charcoal, were hospitible environments for fugitive slaves. Two such men took to banditry near Peter Grubbs Cornwall Furnace in what is now Lebanon County:
These pages © Copyright 2003-2005
Afrolumens Project. |