Freedom at Risk: The Kidnapping of Free Blacks in America, 1780-1865

190 Pages·1994·21.996 MB·English

by  Carol Wilson

Kidnapping
the
of Free Blacks
America
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CAROL WILSON
BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
2015
in
https://archive.org/details/freedomatriskkidOOwils
FREEDOM
AT RISK

FREEDOM
AT
RISK
The Kidnapping
Free Blacks
of
in America,
1780-1865
CAROL WILSON
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
—
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c,oo^
Copyright © 1994 by The University Press ofKentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre
College ofKentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky
Historical Society, Kentucky State University,
Morehead State University, Murray State University,
Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University,
University ofKentucky, University ofLouisville,
and Western Kentucky University.
Editorial and Sales Offices: Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilson, Carol, 1962-
Freedom at Risk : thekidnapping offreeBlacks in America,
1780-1865 / Carol Wilson,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) andindex.
ISBN 0-8131-1858-1—(alk. pape—r) —
1. A—fro-Ameri—cans History To 1863. 2. —Kidnapping United
States —History -18th century. 3. Kidnappi—ng United States
History 1—9th century. 4. Afro-Americans Legal status, laws, etc.
5. Slavery United States. I. Title.
E185.18.W55 1994
973 0496073—dc20 93-21012
'.
This book is printed on recycled acid-freepaper meeting
the requirements oftheAmerican National Standard
for Permanence ofPaper forPrinted Library Materials. ®®
Contents
Acknowledgments / vi
Introduction / 1
1. “From Their Free Homes into Bondage”: The Abduction
ofFree Blacks into Slavery / 9
2. “The Legitimate Offspring ofSlavery”: Kidnappers Who
Operated within the Law / 40
3. “Leave No Stone Unturned”: Government Assistance to
Free Blacks / 67
4. “The Thought ofSlavery Is Death to a Free Man”:
Abolitionist Response to Kidnapping / 83
5. “An Almost Sleepless Vigilance”: Black Resistance to
Kidnapping / 103
Conclusion / 117
Notes / 121
Bibliography / 146
Index / 166
Acknowledgments
The completion ofthis work was facilitated by many people.
John R. McKivigan gave careful attention to the manuscript
and contributed many useful suggestions. Rosemarie Zagarri
offered valuable advice throughout the process. Thanks are
due as well to the Interlibrary Loan Staff of West Virginia
University, especially Judi McCracken, for consistently and
cheerfully providing me with sources not easily accessible.
I would also like to thank Robert Fallaw and my colleagues
in the Department ofHistory at Washington College for their
support and encouragement. Emilie Amt merits special men-
tion for her greatly valued assistance with computer matters. I
am grateful to all at the University Press ofKentucky for their
prompt and fair handling ofthe manuscript.
My parents, Calvin D. and Lois W. Wilson, have con-
tinually supported my work, and my father’s enthusiasm for
and interest in the project has been especially appreciated.
Robert L. Zangrando first suggested the topic ofkidnapping
to me. His comments on several parts of the book were
invaluable, and his encouragement throughout my career has
been stimulating and inspiring.
Most of all, the quality of this project is the result of the
patient editing and professional guidance ofRonald L. Lewis.
Many years ago, he nurtured a young student in whom few
others saw potential; for that I will be foreverindebted to him.
Introduction
The kidnapping of free blacks into slavery in pre-Civil War
America has been a topic frequently noted by scholars but
not examined in any detail. This omission may be partly
explained by the fact that while slavery has long been a sub-
ject ofintense interest for both scholars and the general pub-
lic, comparatively less work has focused on free blacks.
However, a significant body ofscholarship now provides an
image of the diversity of black life before the Civil War.
Whether northern or southern, rural or urban, escaped or
manumitted slaves, or the descendants of generations of
free-born people, black Americans all shared one disadvan-
tage: they did not enjoy the same rights, privileges, and op-
portunities as white Americans. Constrained by a lack of
economic and educational opportunity, the absence of legal
protection, overbearing legal restrictions, and the contempt
ofwhites, free blacks were in fact “slaves without masters,”
as Ira Berlin has characterized them 1
.
This study examines another aspect of discrimination
against free blacks. The kidnapping offree blacks for sale as
slaves was an all-too-common occurrence in the United
States during the decades between the Revolution and the
Civil War. The ever-present danger of kidnapping and the
fact that its victims had little recourse proved a grave threat
to the black community.
What made the practice of kidnapping possible was the
strong and deeply rooted beliefin white superiority. One of
the great debates in African-American history has centered
on the question ofwhich came first, racism or slavery. Schol-
ars such as T.H. Breen and Stephen Innes have argued that