We tend to think of the south when we discuss slavery in America. In 1703, New York City had the second highest percentage of slaves in the colonies. After Charleston, South Carolina. More than 42% of households in the city had slaves.
Ongoing slavery began in New York City in 1626, when eleven Africans were unloaded from a Dutch ship. In 1644, these eleven petitioned the director general of the colony for their freedom. The colony was skirmishing with Native Americans and the fear was that the slaves might run away and fight with them. So, they were granted partial freedom. They could purchase land and earn a wage from a master, and eventually earn full freedom. However, their children would be born into slavery. By 1644, those eleven, and others, attained half- freedom.
They lived north of Wall Street. Which was named thus because there was a wall there. The defensive barrier for New Amsterdam. They were settled outside it to be a further barrier against Native American attacks.
They settled near Fresh Water Pond, also known as Collect Pond. Later, this area became infamous as Five Points.
More slaves were being brought into New Amsterdam as the need for labor increased. These came from both Africa, primarily Angola, and the Dutch West Indies. In 1642, a French privateer, the La Grace, off-loaded ‘Spanish Negroes’ that had been captured from a Spanish ship. The men claimed to be freemen, but because they were black, they were sold as slaves.
In 1644, the English gained control of New Amsterdam. They continued to import slaves to New York City. In 1708, the New York Assembly passed the Act For Preventing The Conspiracy of Slaves. This prescribed capital punishment for any slave who attempted to, or did murder, their master. This was partly in response to the murder of William Hallet III and his family in Queens.
In 1711, a formal slave market was established on Wall Street, where it meets the East River. It was active for 51 years, until 1762.
In 1730, in fear of slave insurrection, the New York Assembly banned the gathering of more than three slaves unless under the direct supervision of their masters. Punishment for violating this was whipping, not to exceed forty lashes for each offense.
The Conspiracy of 1741: This was a supposed plot by poor whites and slaves to revolt. The city’s population at the time was 10,000. 2,000 of those were slaves. The War of Jenkins Ear, between England and Spain had begun in 1739 and last until 1748. This reduced the number of troops in New York City and the gentry felt threatened. Rumors of insurrection were rampant.
The Conspiracy of 1741: Much like the Salem Witch Trials, a wave of paranoia swept the city after several fires. A white indentured servant, Mary Burton, testified there was a cabal. Slaves and poor whites were arrested. They often implicated others to save themselves. 17 blacks and 4 whites were hanged. 13 blacks were burned at the stake. Many more were deported. Executions occurred at the then north end of the city near Chambers Street. With her reward, Mary Burton was able to buy her freedom from indenture.
During the Revolution, African-Americans fought on both sides, but predominantly for the British, because they were promised freedom for their service. Since the British occupied New York City for the duration of the war, blacks fled to it and their population grew to over 10,000 and it was a hub of free blacks. Two of them were escapees from George Washington’s plantation in Virginia.
The Treaty of Paris required all property, including slaves, be left in place and returned to their owners. The British commander in New York City refused to comply. He had over 3,000 black loyalists transported to Nova Scotia. A group of those then went from Canada to Africa to found Sierra Leone.
In 1781 the New York State legislature promised freedom to slaves who had fought for three years for the colonists. The African Free School was founded; the first formal education for blacks in North America. By 1790, one-third of blacks in New York were free. In 1799, the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery was passed. It didn’t free any current slave. However, any slave child born after 4 July 1799 was free (18 years in the future); except they had to serve an indenture (males to age 28 and females to age 25).
African-Americans fought in the War of 1812 and defended New York. In 1817, the state freed all slaves born before 4 July 1799 to become effective in 1827. On 5 July 1827, African-Americans in New York celebrated emancipation with a parade. They chose the 5th because the 4th was not meant for blacks, as Frederick Douglas would lately famously say.
Despite freedom, African-Americans were mostly disenfranchised from the vote until the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870.
Excerpted from: New York City Little Black Book 1: Secrets, History, and Trivia of the World’s Greatest City.
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