Slavery in New York

SLAVERY IN NEW YORK ??

Believe it or not New York City was a hotspot for slaved during the 1780's in America. The north is not often grouped into slavery, but according to slave advertisements, many were located in areas like Greenwich Manhattan, parts of Brooklyn and all over New York State. However still rigorous labor and inhumane hardships, northern slavery differs from southern slavery. More skilled slaves were found in the north like places like New York City, and they were often skilled at a trade like carpentry or cooking because slaves in the north were more domesticated laborers.

The amount of slaves an owner could own was one of the differences between southern and northern slavery. The north was more urbanized and populated than most of the southern states' cities. Due to a lack of space, urban slaveowners could not possess nearly as many slaves as plantation owners in the south. The presence of house slaves was common in both urban and plantation slavery, however there was a significant difference that northern slaveholders did not maintain slave quarters. Northern slaves did do manual labor, but not in the way that most people think, when they think of slavery plantations in the South. However slavery in the north was just as bad as slavery in the south because at the end of the day it is still inhumane and slavery.

Places like Brooklyn that are heavily industrialized today, were in fact hot spots in New York City that maintained a slave population. I find this fascinating because many people, myself included used to think places like Brooklyn never had slaves since it was a major characteristic of the south.

WHAT IS DIGITAL HISTORY ?

Digital history is a method of researching and representing the past that makes use of new communication technology like computers and the Internet. It creates and shares historical knowledge by utilizing digital elements such as databases, hypertextualization, and networks to gain access to historical content. The evolution of technology has progressed immensely with the use of digital history. For instance, when you think of a museum and its archives you think of a physical institution with original artifacts.  Digital history allows those archives to be accessible online which is easier for use of research because we have the resources at the tip of our fingers. I do believe that we use digital history more than we think we do, because it is so common to come across when doing research on special topics, when looking for evidence or examples. However I find it interesting that we have access to an immense amount of knowledge online that didn't exist 50 years ago. 

RUNAWAY ADS:

Often times slave holders/ owners would post ad's in news papers like The Royal Gazette, and they would post a summary and physical description of the runaway slave. There would often be a reward amount as an incentive to look and find the said runaway. The ad could contain the labor and language skills, along with the mode of transportaion and or destination. These runaway ads were not commendable, but they give historians a way to gather information about slavery, so we can map out the lives of the slaves who were brave enough to run away from the horrific institution of slavery.

Keep in mind that the currency was not equivalent to modern day. One Guinea was a decent amount for a reward in the 18th century.

Sometimes the subscriber would go into more depth when describing the run away, unfortunately not all owners knew the background of each slave to mention their past. These advertisements allow historians to gather information and learn about the lives of the slaves.