Ten Myths About Slavery, Part One

Ten Myths About Slavery

In order to write my award-winning epic poem, Two Mistakes (previously described here), I researched the topic of American slavery. Some things I learned during my research surprised me. I decided to compile the information here, as it came from a variety of sources.

The Ten Myths. (Discussion begins below.)

Myth #1. At the time of the establishment of the United States, slavery existed in the Southern states while the Northern states were free.
Myth #2. If a slave escaped from the Southern states to the Northern states, that slave was free.

Myth #3. Slaveowners who chose to, could grant their slaves their freedom.
Myth #4. Slaves were luxury items: few households in the South had slaves.
Myth #5. Many slaveowners treated their slaves as family.
Myth #6. Being a slave was no worse off than a peon during the Industrial Revolution.
Myth #7. Only blacks were slaves.
Myth #8. Pre-Civil War America was a stalemate between the slave states and the free states.
Myth #9. What the Dred Scott decision said.
Myth #10. Slavery is far behind us.

A Thumbnail View of the Context.

Slavery is a worldwide scourge with long historical roots. This essay addresses American chattel slavery, the institution that existed from the time of the formation of American colonies through the foundation of the United States and on up until the 13th Amendment in 1865. "Chattel" slavery refers to the legalized form wherein humans could be bought and sold the same as any legally transferable items.

After the discovery of the New World, several European nations aggressively acquired colonies and great empires were born. To exploit this land and its vast possibilities for wealth, lots of cheap labor was needed. This labor came to include native and African slaves, the latter being abducted and transported overseas to become property. This scheme was highly profitable. The European nations harvested the riches of their landholdings.

Even from early on, many recognized this arrangement as cruel. Much of the work, such as growing and harvesting sugarcane, was dangerous and performed on land infested with tropical diseases. The mortality was high, on average the workers survived only several years. Abolition societies were formed, but for decades their success was incremental.

• In 1706, England banned slavery on its own soil.
• In 1761, Portugal abolished slavery on its own soil and in some colonies.
• In 1804, Haiti achieved independence and abolished slavery.
• From the 1810s through 1830s, Latin America abolished slavery.
• In 1834, The British Slavery Abolition Act abolished slavery throughout the British Empire.
• In 1888, Brazil became the last country in the New World to abolish slavery.

Myth #1. At the time of the establishment of the United States, slavery existed in the Southern states while the Northern states were free.

Fact: Of the thirteen original states, all began with institutionalized slavery. Beginning in the 1780s most Northern states undertook a gradual process of emancipation of their slaves. Often these laws took the form of freeing the children of slaves at birth while allowing the others to remain as property. In the case of New Jersey, some of these older slaves continued to live up until the time of the Civil War.

The Seven Original Northern States.

• 1780. Pennsylvania began gradual emancipation declaring children born of slaves will be free.
• 1783. The Supreme Court of Massachusetts declared slavery unconstitutional, freeing all slaves.
• 1783. New Hampshire began gradual emancipation.
• 1784. Rhode Island and Connecticut began gradual emancipation.
• 1799. New York began gradual emancipation and set complete emancipation for 1827.
• 1804. New Jersey began gradual emancipation.
• Delaware was the only state north of the Mason-Dixon line that never enacted immediate or gradual emancipation

The strategy of gradual emancipation did eventually eradicate slavery, but for most states not until after 1840. Vermont had freedom written into its constitution but did not become a state until 1791 and so was not included in the above list.

At the time of the Civil War, Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri, Maryland and Delaware had legal slavery but did not join the confederacy. In spite of not seceding, Missouri's governor went Rambo and waged his own battle against the Union.

It should be noted that the number of slaves in the North were relatively small; even by 1790, 93% of the slaves were in the South.

• Slavery Population from the 1790 Census
• New Hampshire: 157
• Rhode Island: 958
• Connecticut: 2,648
• New York: 21,193
• New Jersey: 11,423
• Pennsylvania: 3,707
• Delaware: 8,887
• Southern states and District of Columbia: 648,651

By the time of the Civil War, slavery was almost exclusively in the South.

• Slave Population, 1860 Census
• New Jersey: 18.
• Delaware: 1,798.
• All other states north of the Mason-Dixon line: 0.
• Southern states and District of Columbia: 3,930,000

Source: Statistics of Slaves, U.S. Census Bureau

Myth #2. If a slave escaped from the Southern states to the Northern states, that slave was free.

If a slave escaped to the North, that slave was deemed a criminal, North and South. This was written into the Constitution as the "Fugitive Slave Law." It read:

No person held to service or labour in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due. (Note: the terms "slave" and "slavery" were not used in the Constitution.)

This Constitutional decree was written into several federal laws, most notably The Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. In the former, anyone who hindered the capture and repatriation of a slave could be fined $500. In the latter, Northern law enforcers were required to assist in the tracking and capturing of runaway slaves or else be fined or jailed. This extended to any citizen who could be deputized on the spot as a part of a posse (or if they refused, jailed). The word of slave-catchers was sufficient to legally identify the fugitive.

In part, because these laws were so severe, they were generally not followed in the North. The 1850 Act became a prime catalyst of the Civil War. However, whether because of geography and the difficulties of getting to the North, or whether due to the Fugitive Slave Acts and the ongoing fugitive status once the slave arrived, the North harbored few escaped slaves.

In the year 1850, one out of 3,165 slaves escaped their masters. In 1860, this number was down to 1 in 5000. Source.

The escaped slave, Frederick Douglass, became the foremost 19th century anti-slavery orator. In spite of having written and spoken about the horrors of his years of captivity, as his fame grew, he had to meet with his owner and arrange his own purchase to prevent capture and re-enslavement.

Coming up:

Myth #3. Slaveowners who chose to, could grant their slaves their freedom.
Myth #4. Slaves were luxury items: few households in the South had slaves.
Myth #5. Many slaveowners treated their slaves as family.
Myth #6. Being a slave was no worse off than a peon during the Industrial Revolution.
Myth #7. Only blacks were slaves.
Myth #8. Pre-Civil War America was a stalemate between the slave states and the free states.
Myth #9. What the Dred Scott decision said.
Myth #10. Slavery is far behind us.

Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. His latest mystery, Never Kill A Friend, is available from Ransom Note Press. His epic poem, Two Mistakes, recently won second place in the Margaret Reid/Tom Howard Poetry Competition. He can be contacted at mdhillortiz@gmail.com.