freedom and unfreedom in the “garden of america:”

357 Pages·2010·2.11 MB·English

FREEDOM AND UNFREEDOM IN THE “GARDEN OF AMERICA:”
SLAVERY AND ABOLITION IN NEW JERSEY, 1770-1857

by
James J. Gigantino II
(Under the Direction of Allan Kulikoff)
ABSTRACT
This dissertation examines abolition in New Jersey between 1770 and 1857. It argues
that the American Revolution did not lead white New Jerseyans to abolish slavery. Instead, the
Revolutionary War and the years following it reinforced the institution of slavery in the Garden
State. This dissertation first focuses on the factors that led New Jersey to pass the Gradual
Abolition Act of 1804, specifically the rise of Jeffersonian Republicanism and the influence of
Quaker abolition activists and then examines the elongated abolition period which followed the
enactment of gradual abolition, beginning with the role of the children born under the law, those
who I call slaves for a term. The role these children played in early national America challenges
our understandings of slavery and freedom. Instead of a quick abolition process, slaves and
slaves for a term in New Jersey continued to serve their masters in significant numbers until the
1840s and then in smaller proportions until the eve of the Civil War. The existence of slavery in
a free state challenges our understanding of the rise of capitalism in the early republic as well as
the role the North played in debates over nationwide slavery issues beginning in the 1820s. This
long-standing relationship to slavery helped prevent the formation of a strong abolitionist base in
the 1830s and influenced Northern images of African Americans until the Civil War. Abolition
in the North became very much a process, one of fits and starts which stretched from the
Revolution to the Civil War and defined how Americans, white and black, understood their place
in the new republic.

INDEX WORDS: New Jersey, Slavery, African Americans, Abolitionism, Gradual
Abolition, Gradual Emancipation, American Revolution, Early Republic,
Antebellum, Capitalism
FREEDOM AND UNFREEDOM IN THE “GARDEN OF AMERICA:”
SLAVERY AND ABOLITION IN NEW JERSEY, 1770-1857

by

JAMES JOHN GIGANTINO II
B.A., University of Richmond, 2004

A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

ATHENS, GEORGIA
2010
© 2010
James John Gigantino II
All Rights Reserved
FREEDOM AND UNFREEDOM IN THE “GARDEN OF AMERICA:”
SLAVERY AND ABOLITION IN NEW JERSEY, 1770-1857

by

JAMES JOHN GIGANTINO II

Major Professor: Allan Kulikoff
Committee: John Inscoe
Stephen Mihm
Timothy Cleaveland
Kathleen Clark

Electronic Version Approved:

Maureen Grasso
Dean of the Graduate School
The University of Georgia
May 2010
DEDICATION

To my parents, Lois and Jim Gigantino,
who have helped make me the man I am today
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project began in the spring of 2005 ironically not in a course on early America but in
Jim Cobb’s recent United States history research seminar. After reading C. Vann Woodward’s
Strange Career of Jim Crow and his one short paragraph on the “virtually abolished” institution
of slavery in the North made me pursue this topic for that seminar paper. Jim Cobb graciously
stretched the definition of “recent history” and allowed me work on this project which engulfed
my life for the last five years.
After I decided to pursue slavery in New Jersey as a dissertation topic, Allan Kulikoff
readily volunteered to become my advisor, something for which I will be eternally grateful. I
could have hoped for few better than him to help me grow as a historian. With a towering
intellect unmatched by anyone I have ever met (or probably ever will), he has read each chapter
far too many times than he probably needed to. With each draft, he challenged me to think about
my work in the larger context of early America and made it, by far, better than it ever could have
been without him. I thank him for everything.
John Inscoe, routinely named the nicest man in academia, definitely earns that title every
day. Ever since I spoke with him before I came to Georgia, he has provided sage advice and
challenged me to think about what type of historian I want to be. He is a role model above all
else. The same goes for Tim Cleaveland, the first professor I ever had in graduate school.
Taking two courses with him and serving as his teaching assistant for two semesters made me
understand not only African history but my role as a teacher. After over a dozen lunches and
probably over a hundred meetings, I think I probably spent more time in his office than both of
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us probably care to admit. He has always taken the time to talk with me about my research, my
teaching, and my life. He is truly an amazing mentor and one I am the better for having known.
From the first day I met him, Stephen Mihm has taken an active interest in my research
and has pointed me in new directions. As a brilliant writer and historian, his comments on my
work focused and refined both their content and clarity. Likewise, Kathleen Clark took an early
interest in me and stepped in when I needed her most. She not only challenged me to think more
broadly in African American history but pushed me to integrate gender history into both my
research and my teaching.
Librarians and archivists have been invaluable over the last five years. Special thanks go
to the staff at the New Jersey State Archives who directed me to numerous resources and made
me laugh on those long lonely days at the microfilm reader. The archivists at the New Jersey
Historical Society patiently paraded over two hundred boxes of documents past my table with no
complaint. Maureen O’Rourke and James Amemasor always lent a helping hand: thank you!
Also, Chris Densmore at Swarthmore’s Friends Historical Library gave me numerous leads
which made this project much more informed about Quakerism. Our conversations provided me
a new and more refined understanding of New Jersey Quakers.
As a graduate student, money has always been a key concern. The Department of
History awarded me a five-year teaching assistantship and numerous research grants which
helped this project along. For the last two years, this project was assisted by a grant from the
New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State in the form of a
Samuel Smith Dissertation Fellowship. I thank the people of New Jersey for their support. A
fellowship from the Phelps-Stokes Fund also provided needed assistance for this project.
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At Georgia, I joined a community of graduate students who made this journey much
more interesting and rewarding. For my first three years, I shared an office with Jason
Manthorne who patiently listened to me explain the differences between East and West Jersey
while Rhiannon Eves and Samantha Crowie made my first two years in Athens a much more
exciting time. In addition, Steve Nash, Min Song, LaShonda Mims, Jenny Schwartzberg, John
Paul Hill, Zac Smith, and Dori (my best four-legged friend) all made my time at Georgia more
personally rewarding. Jennifer Wunn Malto, though, has done the most to make my journey at
UGA memorable. She has taught me so much about myself and the important things in life.
Each day with her is a new exciting adventure. I will be forever in her debt.
I also wish to thank Bill and Doris Davis, Laurie Kane, Timothy Hack, Bill and Doris
Davis, Justin Fanslau, Colin Holloway, Kelly Mahon, William Stueck, Jim Cobb, and Claudio
Saunt for their assistance at various points during the last six years.
The debt I owe to my family goes beyond what I can describe in these few short
sentences. My sister, Diane, has been with me literally from day one and has provided support,
advice, and love through these past twenty-six years. She, along with my brother-in-law, Joseph,
and my nephew, John, who joined our family at the tail-end of this project, provided me more
than their fair share of home-cooked meals and free lodging during my travels from New Jersey
to Georgia. My thanks to each of them. My sister and I had the good fortune of having amazing
grandparents who spoiled us rotten from the beginning. Each of them in their own way
challenged me to be a better man. Even though my formal education is complete, their lessons
will never stop defining who I am.
Above all, my parents, Lois and Jim Gigantino, have made me the man I am today. They
are without a doubt the best set of cheerleaders, mentors, and friends anyone could have ever
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asked for. From elementary school on, they encouraged my intellectual curiosity, challenged me
to think about the world around me, and taught me the importance of family. They have shown
me endless encouragement, devotion, generosity, and love, which made this project possible. It
is to them that I dedicate this dissertation, for without them, none of this would have been
possible.
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