Guide to African American Historic Sites
Learn More: Enslaved Africans living in Deerfield
Caption: Sections of a Slave Ship, Robert Walsh, Notices of Brazil, Boston, 1831. PVMA Library
How did slaves arrive in towns like Deerfield?
In the early years of the slave trade to New England, most enslaved Africans were captured in Africa, and taken to the Caribbean before being sold and relocated to New England. As the number of enslaved Africans in New England grew between 1740 and 1775, slaves were increasingly brought directly from Africa bringing immediate cultural and religious traditions with them.
Slave? Servant? Or Enslaved African?
It is important to remember that "slaves" are human beings, forced into a life of servitude. The term "enslaved African" recognizes their common humanity, as well as the condition imposed upon them. Historical documents often refer to people as "servants," which can describe both enslaved and indentured servants.
What other forms of servitude were there?
Some laborers were bound to a master for a set period of time, at the end of which they would gain their freedom. Europeans called this arrangement "indentured servitude." Convicts, paupers, and those seeking to pay off their trip to America, worked as indentured servants for terms of seven to ten years. Slavery was a very different kind of bound labor. Not only were slaves forced to work for life, but their children inherited the enslaved status of their parents.
Control and Resistance
To keep slaves from running away or rebelling, slave owners and civic leaders attempted to dictate most aspects of slaves' lives. Despite these controls, enslaved persons managed to maintain their lives and culture. They resisted their enslaved condition in many ways, including carrying on oral traditions, socializing away from the oversight of their oppressors, or running away. There is much that we don't know about their successes or their struggles to overcome slavery.
Caption: Rev. Stephen Williams, c. 1750. Memorial Hall Museum
Slavery and the church
Many New England ministers, like other elite members of society, owned slaves. The diary of Reverend John Williams's son, the Reverend Stephen Williams of Longmeadow, MA, provides insight into one minister's thoughts about owning humans. In 1730, Williams writes "Oh Lord, help us to do our Duty- to all committed to our care," later noting his sermons speak to the duties of servants & masters. When one of his slaves died in 1751, Williams acknowledged the burden that bondage represented to slaves- "this day Stanford is laid in dark Silent Grave ye place where ye Servant is free [from] his master." Incredibly, even after his slaves Tom and Cato drown themselves in 1756 and 1763, Stephen Williams is uncertain if he should free his slave Peter in 1771, out of concern that he not "do anything, that may be dishonourable" to his religion.
Ministers, as well as other slave owners, hoped to convert slaves to Christianity. Such owners believed slaves would be inspired by such Christian sentiments as subservience to the Lord, and that their interpretation of the Bible and church sacraments would help control slaves' behavior. Some owners promoted literacy so that they would be able to read the Bible. Despite these efforts, the number of converted New England slaves remained low. Many slaves, especially those who had been raised in Africa, resisted Christianity and sustained their African beliefs. Did slaves accept Christianity willingly? Or was it one more demand placed on them by their owners?
Divided Families
Nine-year-old Phillis was one of three slaves listed in the 1741 probate inventory of Nehemiah Bull, minister of Westfield, MA. In 1741, she was sold to Timothy Childs (site 7 on map) for $100.
"Know all men by these presents that we ... Executors to the Last Will & Testament of the Revd Nehemiah Bull Late of Westfield Deceased for & In Consideration of the Sum of One Hundred pounds Current Bills... Paid by Timothy Childs of Deerfield... have by these presents sold... a certain Negro Girl named Phillis of about nine years of age to have & to hold that Negro Girl ... During the term of her Natural Life..."
Bill of sale, 1741. Thomas Williams Papers. New York Historical Society
The sale of child slaves is shocking to us today, but in the 18th century, enslaved children were regularly sold and parted from their families. It is not hard to imagine the devastation of separation. Although slaves' ability to maintain ties with family members was sometimes difficult, they struggled to stay connected.
Daily labor
Slave labor in New England was as diverse as the economy. Enslaved Africans were often given training in specialized skills to work in trades. Others, such as Cato and Titus, slaves to Deerfield's minister, the Reverend Jonathan Ashley (see site 19 on map), performed manual labor as needed for Ashley and others. In the household, people like Jenny took care of the children, cooked the family's meals over the kitchen fireplace, washed and mended the clothes, cleaned the house, and worked in the kitchen garden.
Connections to Africa
Documents and archaeological discoveries elsewhere show that many slaves stayed connected to their African culture. Deerfield historian George Sheldon heard about the Reverend Jonathan Ashley's slave Jenny (see site 19 on map) and wrote that she "fully expected, at death or before, to be transported back to Guinea; and all her long life she was gathering, as treasures to take back to her motherland, all kinds of odds and ends, colored rags, bits of finery, peculiarly shaped stones, shells, buttons, beads, anything she could string."
What could this mean? Jenny's collecting might reflect her cultural connection to Africa. Among the Bakongo peoples of West Central Africa (where many people were captured into slavery), people gathered objects like stones, roots, metal rings, and beads to make Nkisi bundles, or medicines of the gods. These sacred bundles could help direct the gods to provide aid for humans on earth.
Slave names
One way slave owners exerted their control over their slaves was to choose new names for them when they first arrived in the colonies or when babies were born to the enslaved, taking away an important cultural right to name members of one's own family. Names that were commonly chosen were sometimes derived from Greek or Roman history, the Bible, or classic literature (like Caesar, Mesheck and Titus), or place names such as Boston and Hartford. At other times, slave owners allowed enslaved people to retain their African names. In any case, it is likely that many slaves continued to use their African names in conversation with each other. Many slaves maintained kinship by bestowing parent's or grandparent's names, of whatever origin, to a newborn, thus preserving these names into the 19th century.
How did slaves interact with each other?
Enslaved persons crossed paths in daily life on a regular basis. Timothy Childs (see site 7 on map), who owned Humphry, Caesar, and Phillis, was one of many Deerfield residents who variously hired out his slaves and hired his neighbor's slaves, such as Cato and Titus from the Reverend Ashley. The seasonal demands of agriculture required many hands at various times of the year. Throughout the town, work, commerce, and daily life presented many opportunities for slaves to interact, communicate, and form relationships with one another. However, the personal side of slaves' experience often remains invisible.
Runaway Slave: Attempts to Resist
"Ran-away from his Master, Joseph Barnard of Deerfield a Negro Man named Prince, of middling Stature, his Complection not the darkest or lightest for a Negro, slow of Speech, but speaks a good English; He had with him when he went away, an old brown Coat, with Pewter Buttons, a double-breasted blue Coat with a Cape, and flat metal Buttons, a brown great Coat with red Cuffs and Cape, a new brown Jacket with Pewter Buttons, a Pair of new Leather Breeches, Castor Hats, several Pair of Stockings, a Pair of Pumps, A Gun and Violin. Whoever shall apprehend said Fellow and convey him to his master, shall have Ten Pounds old Tenor, and all necessary Charges paid by Joseph Barnard Deerfield, Sept. 18, 1749
All masters of Vessels and others are caution'd not to conceal or carry off the said Negro, as they would avoid the Penalty of the Law"
Boston Post Boy, 1749
Where did Prince go? Why did he have all those clothes? Did he hope to earn money playing the violin? Ironically, most of our very few physical descriptions of enslaved African Americans are found in advertisements for runaways. Running away was not uncommon among slaves throughout the American colonies as an important way in which enslaved people resisted bondage and re-established ties among family and friends. Studies of runaway slave advertisements reveal that more than half of those running away were thought by their owners to be going to or hiding among friends and kin from whom they had been separated. (See site 15 on map)
One story of freedom
In her will, Abigail Silliman (1708-1787) provided for the freedom of Chloe and gave her the necessary items to set up housekeeping (see site 3 on map).
"My Will is That immediately upon my Decease my Negro Woman Clo shall be intituled to her Freedom and I do hereby give to the said Negro a Bible, a Cow, a Feather Bed and Bedstead, 1 pr. of Sheets, my Brass Kittle and Iron Pot, 2 Trammels, a Chest with one Drawer, a pr. of Handirons, a Fire Shovel and Tong, a Silver Table Spoon Marked MT, 4 Black Chairs, 4 Large pewter Basons, 1 Quart Dē, 1 pint Dē, 1 pewter Quart Cup, 4 pewter plates, and 2 pewter Dishes."
Will of Abigail Silliman, 1785. Hampshire County Registry of Probate
Abigail Silliman's forethought about Chloe's need to support her own household reveals Abigail's awareness of the potential challenges that would face Chloe, including the ability to sustain herself in an environment where slavery was still institutionalized and where free Africans were seen as threats to the stability of society. In 1794, Chloe married Noble Spencer.
When did slavery end in Massachusetts?
As in most New England states, slavery came to a slow end in Massachusetts. Although the 1780 state constitution contended that "All men are born free and equal," it was not until 1783 that a court case successfully argued that these words applied to people of color. The outcome of this particular court case had a gradual effect over the last two decades of the 18th century, ultimately abolishing slavery in the state. In Deerfield, some slaves were not freed until 1787; the legacy of their enslavement lived on for years after that.
What did freedom mean?
Gaining freedom did not guarantee freed people all the rights or opportunities for prosperity that white citizens enjoyed. Hostility, prejudice, poverty, lack of resources and education made it difficult for freed slaves to succeed. Lack of economic opportunity forced many African Americans living in rural New England to relocate to urban areas.
Credits
This guide was written by members of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association's African American Monument Committee, composed of representatives of museums, schools, and the larger community, in an effort to give greater visibility to African American experiences in Deerfield. Special thanks are due Researcher Mary Hawks, Memorial Hall Museum; Advisors Joanne Pope Melish, University of Kentucky; Kevin Sweeney, Amherst College; and Anthony and Gretchen Gerzina, Dartmouth College; and Committee members Amanda Rivera Lopez, Historic Deerfield, Inc.; Jessica Neuwirth, Old Sturbridge Village; and Suzanne Flynt, Memorial Hall Museum.