The demand for labor in the area increased sharply and led to an expansion of the internal slave market. McGruder was basically rented out to go from plantation to plantation to breed with other African women, said Marie McGruder, the great-great-grandchild of McGruder. (Genesis 9); Ham, son of Noah and father of Canaan, was deemed the antediluvian progenitor of the African people. Congress wanted to decrease the external supply to keep prices up for the homebred slaves. Today, the Lloyds' descendant, Richard Tilghman, occupies the great house. At the same time, the Upper South had an excess number of slaves because of a shift to mixed-crops agriculture, which was less labor-intensive than tobacco. Essentially, they had no choice in family or marriage as children largely became the property of the slave owner. Miller, Randall M., and Wakelyn, Jon L., p. 214, "Total Slave Population in US, 17901860, by State", https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/the-not-quite-free-state-maryland-dragged-its-feet-on-emancipation-during-civil-war/2013/09/13/a34d35de-fec7-11e2-bd97-676ec24f1f3f_story.html, Legacy of Slavery in Maryland Maryland State Archives, University of Maryland Special Collections Guide on Slavery in Maryland, Proceedings of the Maryland Colonization Society at, Brief History of Maryland in Liberia at www.buckyogi.com, Brief History of Maryland in Liberia at www.worldstatesmen.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_slavery_in_Maryland&oldid=1129801589. Artistes such as Shaba Ranks, Buju Banton, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and Sizzla Kalonjis have all been accused of rendering anti-gay lyrics and expressed public anti-gay comments in interviews. Over the course of the next 230 years of slavery's existence in Maryland, 22 counties were formed, defining the boundaries of one of the 13 original colonies. Their elegant and light carriages are drawn by finely bred horses, and driven by richly apparelled slaves.[21]. Sadly, the practice continued on the plantations too, with those who landed in Jamaica bearing the most brunt. All rights were to the owner of the slave, with the slave having no rights of self-determination either to his or her own person, spouse, or children. And there was one particular bowl it reminded me of a bowl my mother had," Lowery said. See Part One, Two, Four, Five, Six and Seven. Marylanders might agree in principle that slavery could and should be abolished, but they were slow to achieve it statewide. [50] In the same month Lincoln offered to buy out Maryland slaveholders, offering $300 for each emancipated slave, but Crisfield (unwisely as it turned out) rejected this offer.[50]. Unionville resident Harriet Lowery's great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Demby, was one of the settlers. [1] It included coerced sexual relations between male slaves and women or girls, forced pregnancies of female slaves, and favoring women or young girls who could produce a relatively large number of children. The Roman Catholic Church in Maryland and its members had long tolerated slavery. [16] Responding to Methodist and Quaker persuasion, as well as revolutionary ideals and lower labor needs, in the first two decades after the war, a number of slaveholders freed their slaves. Douglass was born a slave in Talbot County, Maryland, between Hillsboro and Cordova, probably in his grandmother's shack east of Tappers Corner (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}385304N 755729W / 38.8845N 75.958W / 38.8845; -75.958) and west of Tuckahoe Creek. Endnotes: (1) The Boston Sunday Globe, December 3, 1899 p. 31 (2) The Baltimore Sun Newspaper Archives, July 19, 1904 p.4 In 1842, the English novelist Charles Dickens wrote of the "gloom and dejection" and "ruin and decay" that he attributed to . They distinguish systematic breedingthe interference in normal sexual patterns by masters with an aim to increase fertility or encourage desirable characteristicsfrom pro-natalist policies, the generalized encouragement of large families through a combination of rewards, improved living and working conditions for fertile women and their children, and other policy changes by masters. Maryland remained a slave state, but the tide was turning. The early settlements and population centers of the province tended to cluster around the rivers and other waterways that empty into the Chesapeake Bay. After escaping in 1849, she returned secretly to the state several times, helping a total of 70 slaves (including relatives) make their way to freedom. During the eighteenth century the number of enslaved Africans imported into Maryland greatly increased, as the labor-intensive tobacco economy became dominant, and the colony developed into a slave society. Numerous free families of color were formed during the colonial years by formal and informal unions between free white women and African-descended men, whether free, indentured or enslaved. By Ned and Constance Sublette. The subjugation of slaves was taken as a natural right of the white slave owners. John Ogilby wrote in his 1670 book America: Being an Accurate Description of the New World: "The general way of traffick and commerce there is chiefly by Barter, or exchange of one commodity for another". Today I want to draw your attention to the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland database. The Maryland State Archives Online is constantly changing, which can be confusing for users but more often presents new opportunities for research without leaving home. T: 727-896-2922 [41] To carry out the removal of free blacks from the state, the Maryland State Colonization Society was established. In Somerset County, Maryland, Creswell outpolled Crisfield by a margin of 6,742 votes to 5,482, with Union soldiers effectively deciding the vote in favor of Creswell. I do not recollect ever seeing my mother by the light of day. Slaves "jumped the broom" with their spouse and were considered married by everyone. I am Ghanaian. [50] Some Marylanders, such as Representative John W. Crisfield, resisted the President, arguing that freedom would be worse for the slaves than slavery. Baltimore was the second-most important port in the eighteenth-century South, after Charleston, South Carolina. Tilghman, who was a lawyer in Baltimore. While homophobia cannot be countenanced in a civil society, According to psychiatrist, Dr. Patricia Newton, the breeding farms account for Boston having a high incest problem in the U.S. with seven out of 10 people having had an incest experience. Lowery says she was deeply touched by a few small beads and pieces of pottery excavated on the Long Green and brought to St. Stephens for display. In truth, it began decades earlier on plantations and farms and only because America was prepared to produce the slaves it needed did it allow the end of the importation of slaves from Africa. Their camp suffered an outbreak of smallpox and other infectious diseases. [16] The MSCS had strong Christian support [16] and was the primary organization proposing "return" of all free African Americans to a colony to be established in Africa. Until then, I want my voice to be heard and to make a difference. In the. The extension of the so-called Cotton Kingdom required new laborers. Those who have stated strong opposition to gay relations have been dancehall artistes, but the gay rights groups have pushed back even having scheduled concerts involving these artistes to be cancelled. The belated assistance of Governor Hicks also played an important role; although initially indecisive, he co-operated with federal officials to stop further violence and prevent a move to secession. Slave Breeding. By making slave status dependent on the mother, according to the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, Maryland, like Virginia, abandoned the common law approach of England, in which the social status of children of English subjects depended on their father. Slave Breeding Farms of "Africans in North America" Rashid Booker. In addition, mixed-race children were born to slave women and white fathers. [41] Most of the money would be spent on the colony itself, to make it attractive to settlers. Maryland remained part of the Union during the United States Civil War, thanks to President Abraham Lincoln's swift action to suppress dissent in the state. As children took their status from their mothers, these mixed-race children were born free.[2]. Wye House Farm, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, was originally settled in the 1650s and grew to cover 20,000 acres. In Virginia, female slaves exceeded males by over 300,000. Douglass writes that he witnessed Severe whipping a slave woman, "causing the blood to run half an hour at a time while her crying children pleaded for her release." "I don't think anyone in the family is going to say we're proud that our family were slave owners. They were used to breed. [2], The laws that ultimately abolished the Atlantic slave trade came about as a result of the efforts of British abolitionist Christian groups such as the Society of Friends, known as Quakers, and Evangelicals led by William Wilberforce, whose efforts through the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade led to the passage of the 1807 Slave Trade Act by the British parliament in 1807. [19][20] Thousands of slaves in the South left their plantations to join the British. At this early stage in Maryland history, slaves were not especially numerous in the Province, being greatly outnumbered by indentured servants from England. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 2016. After his escape from slavery as a young man, Frederick Douglass remained in the North, where he became an influential national voice in favor of abolition and lectured widely about the abuses of slavery. The English observer William Strickland wrote of agriculture in Virginia and Maryland in the 1790s: Nothing can be conceived more inert than a slave; his unwilling labour is discovered in every step he takes; he moves not if he can avoid it; if the eyes of the overseer be off him, he sleeps. Five days later, on September 22, encouraged by relative success at Antietam, President Lincoln issued an executive order known as the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all enslaved people in Southern states to be free. The following year, Maryland held a constitutional convention. The ox and horse, driven by the slave, appear to sleep also; all is listless inactivity; all motion is evidently compulsory.[22]. A vote was taken and the motion passed. Wye House Farm, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, was originally settled in the 1650s and grew to cover 20,000 acres. If enslaved mothers did not bear sufficient numbers of children to take the place of aged and dying workers, the South could not continue as a slave society.. Economist Richard Sutch did a study which found that in 1860, on farms that had at least one female slave the ratio of women to men was 2:1. The quest by white slave owners to dominate Africans was so dire that they devised Buck Breaking (Male Slave Rape) to break the intimidated and strong enslaved African males they have taken delivery of. Slaves were treated as a commodity by owners and traders alike, and were regarded as the crucial labor for the production of lucrative cash crops that fed the triangular trade. In this way, slaves could be bought and sold as chattel without presenting a challenge to the religious beliefs and social mores of the society at large. The 1664 Act read as follows: Be it enacted by the Right Honorable, the Lord Proprietary, by the advice and consent of the Upper and Lower House of this present General Assembly, that all negroes or other slaves already within the Province, and all negroes and other slaves to be hereafter imported into the Province shall serve durante vita. Many planters in Maryland had freed their slaves in the years following the Revolutionary War. [50], On April 10, 1862, Congress declared that the Federal government would compensate slaveholders who freed their slaves. The UKs Crown Prosecution Service has also scrutinized other artistes including Elephant Man, Vybz Kartel, Capleton and the group T.O.K to ascertain if their songs contain homophobic lines. In 1815 the Methodists and Quakers formed the Protection Society of Maryland, a group which sought protection for the increasing number of free blacks living in the state. The men were used for breeding for five years. In certain databases, users will find the following abbreviations used . . The 550,000 enslaved Black people living in Virginia constituted one third of the state's population in 1860. The slaves' overseer lived in a small, red cottage at the end of the green. [50] In 1863 Crisfield was defeated in local elections by the abolitionist candidate John Creswell, amid allegations of vote-rigging by the Union army. After that, Baltimore Mayor George William Brown, Marshal George P. Kane, and former Governor Enoch Louis Lowe requested that Maryland Governor Thomas H. Hicks, a slaveholder from the Eastern Shore, burn the railroad bridges and cut the telegraph lines leading to Baltimore to prevent further troops from entering the state. The identity of many whites in Maryland, and the South in general, was tied up in the idea of white supremacy. They didnt end the International Slave Trade to harm slavery, but to preserve it, domestic slavery, in particular. Free blacks and white supporters of abolition of slavery gradually organized a number of safe places and guides, creating the Underground Railroad to help slaves gain safety in Northern states. [2] Although the colonial and state legislatures passed restrictions against manumissions and free people of color, by the time of the Civil War, slightly more than 49% of the black people (including people of color) in Maryland were free and the total of slaves had steadily declined since 1810. [16] A slaveholder seeking manumission had to gain legislative approval for each act, meaning that few did so. But on the other hand, it's our heritage, and the African-American people who come here that's part of their heritage," Tilghman says. In 1700, the province had a population of about 25,000, and by 1750 that number had grown more than five times to 130,000. The quote from the film Gone With The Wind, I dont know nothin about birthing babies, was meant to be a thing of the past. New Orleans had the largest slave market in the country and became the fourth largest city in the US by 1840 and the wealthiest, mostly because of its slave trade and associated businesses.[10]. Were generally aware of that situation which weve been led to believe was the worst case scenario. Your email address will not be published. Sarah Mobley, NPR The Jesuits believed that their mission had to be redirected to urban areas, where the number of Catholic European immigrants were increasing. hide caption. The right to vote was extended to non-white males in the Maryland Constitution of 1867, which remains in effect today. The abolitionists had almost won. [27]. Slave labor made possible the export-driven plantation economy. Schneider, Dorothy and Carl J. Schneider (2000). Slavery. And it was the members of these communities who fostered a spirit of rebellion . In addition, by this time, the vast majority of blacks in Baltimore were free, and this free black population was more than in any other US city. supplied with homegrown captives born into slavery on Virginia and Maryland farms. Slaves in the District of Columbia were freed on April 16, 1862 and slaveholders were duly compensated. The society proposed from the outset "to be a remedy for slavery", and declared in 1833: Resolved, That this society believe, and act upon the belief, that colonization tends to promote emancipation, by affording the emancipated slave a home where he can be happier than in this country, and so inducing masters to manumit who would not do so unconditionally [so that] at a time not remote, slavery would cease in the state by the full consent of those interested. [50] The Civil War was not yet over, but slavery in Maryland had at last run its course. At first, indentured servants from England supplied much of the necessary labor but, as their economy improved at home, fewer made passage to the colonies. P.O. Economist Richard Sutch did a study which found that in 1860, on farms that had at least one female slave the ratio of women to men was 2:1. 3M views 6 years ago While it is well known that slave owners routinely raped enslaved Africans, the actual extent of these atrocities is rarely discussed. Severe, made famous in Frederick Douglass' writings. As author and historian, Anthony Browder puts it; they bred the Blacks like cattle. With two of the largest breeding farms in the U.S. being in the Eastern shore of Maryland and just outside of Richmond Virginia, the chosen Black male was made to have sex with his mother, sister, aunt or cousin. It was similar to the national American Colonization Society. Robert Lumpkin ran what is mostly referred to as a slave jail with little recognition that he ran the nations largest breeding farm. By Marie Jenkins Schwartz. . The issue of slavery was finally confronted by the new Maryland Constitution of 1864 which the state adopted late in that year. America's Breeding Farms: What History Books Never Told You William Spivey 19.7K 120 I've read. In 1692 the Maryland Assembly passed a law explicitly forbidding "miscegenation"marriage between different races. Although only the wealthy could afford slaves, poor whites who did not own slaves may have aspired to own them someday. [5], Some successful free people of color, such as Anthony Johnson, prospered enough to acquire slaves or indentured servants. It became influential in its support for abolition, and Douglass spoke widely on the Northern abolition lecture circuit. Black female slaves were some of the first people in the country to receive free health care. Citizen by choice, not by force: I am American. The Jesuits' plantations had not been managed profitably, and they wanted to devote their funds to urban areas, including their schools, such as Georgetown College, located near the busy port on the Potomac River adjacent to Washington, DC, and two new Catholic high schools in Philadelphia and New York City. [52] John Pendleton Kennedy seconded the motion. According to J.R. Rothstein, his great-great-great-grandfather may have had up to 100 children, though records say he had at least 40. About three miles down the road in Unionville, Md., is St. Stephens AME Church, a congregation founded by slaves from surrounding plantations who were freed during the Civil War. We Value History. The function of such breeding farms was to produce as many slaves as possible for the sale and distribution throughout the South, in order to meet its needs. Some even died before getting to their new homes. The survivors joined other British units and continued to serve throughout the war. On one breeding farm, the mother would be freed after birthing fifteen children. slave William J. Anderson in his 1857 narrative, ". Leone admits it's hard to come to terms with the what happened here 200 years ago. In 1790, his great-grandson, Edward Lloyd IV, built the plantation house. When notable singer R. Kelly who is facing multiple rape charges was accused of being intimate with minors, he also submitted he had also been abused as a child by older relatives staying with them. Travelers to Virginia were appalled by the system of slavery they saw practiced there. In this way the institution of slavery in Maryland was made self-perpetuating, as the slaves had good enough health to reproduce. While the opposition to homosexuality and the cases of incest are with us today, they have an underbelly stemming from the past. Presented here are selections from two groups of narratives: 19. th-century memoirs of fugitive slaves, often published My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant. Many of the white slave owners felt they were doing their female slaves a favor when they mated with them. Of the 1860 population of 687,000, about 60,000 men joined the Union and about 25,000 fought for the Confederacy. McGruders family believes he changed the last name to show his independence. Jill Magruder, who is a descendant of the white Magruders, recently found out that the white Magruders and Black McGruders are linked by blood. The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry. They're also helping the plantation's descendants better understand their shared history. Over time, I've not only gained additional knowledge . In 1796 they gained repeal of the 1753 law that had prohibited individual manumissions by a slaveholder. By the end of the seventeenth century, planters shifted away from indentured servants, and in favor of the importation and enslavement of African people. These actions were addressed in the famous federal court case of Ex parte Merryman. 752 pages. Sarah Mobley, NPR I long to be a Sci/Fi/Fantasy writer, incorporating race, politics, and education, as part of an epic tale pitting good vs. evil on a vast scale. It took place near Sharpsburg, Maryland. [1] The objective was to increase the number of slaves without incurring the cost of purchase, and to fill labor shortages caused by the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade. The numbers of slaves in Maryland was increased even more by continued imports up until 1808. University of Maryland students excavating Wye House Farm have unearthed buttons, beads, pottery shards and the remains of buildings. In an open letter to John Carey in 1845, published in Baltimore by the printer John Murphy, Richard Sprigg Steuart set out his views on the subject of relocating freed slaves to Africa. "Immediate emancipation in Maryland. Answer (1 of 5): No. I've been writing about America's slave breeding farms for years. [3] The small state of Maryland was home to nearly 84,000 free blacks in 1860, by far the most of any state; the state had ranked as having the highest number of free blacks since 1810. The Jesuits controlled six plantations totaling nearly 12,000 acres,[25] some of which had been donated to the church. But, by this time, most slaves and free blacks had been born in the United States, and wanted to gain their rights in the country they felt was theirs. Privacy Policy. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person., Article 1: Section 9 Constitution of the United States. And I do hereby further declare all indented Servants, Negroes, or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His MAJESTY'S Troops as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this Colony to a proper Sense of their Duty, to His MAJESTY'S Crown and Dignity. [4], At the same time that the importation of slaves from Africa was being restricted or eliminated, the United States was undergoing a rapid expansion of cotton, sugarcane, and rice production in the Deep South and the West. But cruelty was a harsh fact of life for the plantation's slaves. Published by Harvard University Press. Excerpted fromBirthing a Slave: Motherhood and Medicine in the Antebellum Southby Marie Jenkins Schwartz. Thousands were enslaved there. [37], Many wealthy Maryland planters were members of the MSCS. 31. His white owner was Magruder, the original spelling of the McGruder last name. [8][9][10] The legal status of Africans initially remained undefined; since they were not English subjects, they were considered foreigners. Although there is no direct evidence of the enslavement of Native Americans, the reference to "negroes and other slaves" may imply that, as in Massachusetts, Virginia and the Carolinas, the colonists may have enslaved local Indians. Following the lead of Virginia, in 1671 the Assembly passed an Act stating expressly that baptism of a slave would not lead to freedom. Aug 24, 201510:50 AM. [55] The vote was carried only after Maryland's soldiers' votes were included in the count. They worked, he said, from 18-20 hours, for three months, without breaks for the Sabbath or consideration for whether it was day or night. Over hundreds of years, thousands of people were enslaved on the plantation. [7] Earlier, in 1638, the Maryland General Assembly had considered, but not enacted, two bills referring to slaves and proposing excepting them from rights shared by Christian freemen and indentured servants: An Act for the Liberties of the People and An Act Limiting the Times of Servants. As a Union border state, Maryland was not included in President Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all slaves in Southern Confederate states to be free.