By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution.
June 27, 2015, a plaque marking the site of New York City’s 18th century Slave Auction House was unveiled in Lower Manhattan by Mayor Bill de Blasio. The plaque commemorates the location of where thousands of lives were callously sold off to the highest bidder. Water and Wall Street which, at the time the slave market thrived, was the East River waterfront before the many slips were continually filled in extending Manhattan’s land mass. Domestic slaves, slaves captured directly from Africa, plantation slaves brought up from the Caribbean, and slaves sold off estates like furniture and livestock; human lives torn from loved ones were thrust into a life of bondage to another man or woman’s whims and fancies. And unknown to most New Yorkers, for centuries, their beloved city thrived on the slave industry; even to this day firms like JP Morgan and the New York Stock Exchange owe their existence to the revenue that flowed from auctioning off humans. So much so that for decades there were more slaves per capita of the population in New York City than anywhere else in the former colonies. By the mid-1700’s, one of five people in New York were African American slaves. Recently discovered grave burial grounds just north of the old commons off Broadway revealed the proof of tens of thousands of unmarked African American remains.
First Settler on Manhattan was a Black Man
Italian Giovanni de Verrazano first visited the New York bay in a French ship in 1524 and Portuguese cartologist Esteban Gomez briefly explored the region in 1525. It wasn’t until Henry Hudson arrived in 1609, sailing for the Dutch, before a European conducted a detailed exploration of the area. However, the first person to land on Manhattan and remain to trade with the Native Americans was a free black man. Juan Rodrigues arrived in June of 1613 from Hispaniola (today’s Dominican Republic). He worked for the Dutch fur trading industry and was the first non-indigenous permanent resident of the island. He remained and was present when the Dutch West India Company (WIC) constructed a permanent outpost in 1621. Three years later, in 1624, the Dutch WIC landed a number of families at Noten Eylant – present Governors’ Island, off the southern tip of Manhattan at the mouth of the North River, renamed Hudson River. Two years later saw the first arrival of African slaves.
Dutch Brought Over First Slaves
In 1626, eleven Africans from Congo, Angola, and the island of Sao Tome were transported to the small town and subjected to slavery. More and more African slaves soon arrived from both Africa and the Caribbean. That same year the tip of Manhattan Island was secured when construction of Fort Amsterdam began. Much of the work was done by slave labor. Over the years, slave auctions were established around the village of New Amsterdam, often beside dockside warehouses or associated with taverns and shipping agents. These slaves, about 70% came from the Caribbean; the remaining 30% arriving directly from Africa. Numbers of slaves imported continued to increase and soon averaged about a quarter percent of the total population.
Wall of ‘Wall Street’ Built by Slave Labor
By the 1640’s, to protect against Native American attacks, a fence had been constructed across the lower tip of the island. In 1652, fear of an English invasion from the Anglo-Dutch war prompted the Dutch citizens to demand a sturdier wall; one that had specific gates and could mount cannon. Using African slave labor, fifteen-foot planks and dirt spanned just under a half mile across the southern tip of Manhattan from the East to North (Hudson) River. When finished, the wall, named ‘De Waal Straat’, had two main gates to the boweries (farms) and wilderness beyond; one along the East River and the other at Broadway. Towering nine feet in height, it also had half a dozen outposts that could mount cannon. The wall remained intact after New Amsterdam was surrendered to the English in 1664 (renaming the region New York), however it hindered development. By 1699, it was obsolete and torn down, no doubt with the use of slave labor. Much of the wood was preserved to construct a new City Hall.
Dutch Granted Freedoms to Some Slaves
Though most slaves remained as such for the rest of their lives, some were able to gain their freedom, however on very strict terms with the threat of being returned to slavery hovering over their heads. Of the original eleven 1626 original slaves, all had petitioned the Dutch authorities to obtain their freedom. Eighteen years later, they were successful. The eleven were given a collective 300 acres of land to farm which stretched from the Bowery Road to today’s 5th Avenue and 39th Street. However, their freedom was contingent on their ability to deliver one ‘fat hog’ and 22.5 bushels of corn, wheat, peas, or beans to the Dutch WIC every rear of face enslavement again. Their wives were freed, however not their children. Parents were subjected to the cruel ordeal of watching their offspring sold off, some shipped off to other provinces or even the Caribbean.
Percentage of Dutch Slaves
By the 1660’s there were approximately 1,500 Europeans on Manhattan. Of those about half were Dutch. Just over a quarter were of other nationalities and the nearly other quarter were of African descent; around 375 of which 75 were free and the other 300 were slaves. Until the Dutch turned over New York to the English, it is estimated that they imported close to 4,000 African descended slaves to the city. Records of origins known indicate 1,271 from Madagascar, 998 from Congo, 757 from Senegambia, 504 from the Gold Coast (Ghana), 239 from Sierra Leone, and 217 from other areas of the African continent.
British Passed Laws to Restrict African Americans
At first, New Amsterdam was a farm community and slaves worked the ‘boweries’ as they did in other provinces. But the lower portion of Manhattan quickly became an urban area, in some respects due to the wall that enclosed development to the southern tip of the island. Slaves did not work the farms or large plantations like in Virginia or sections of New England, but within the homes and businesses. These slaves were domestic servants, artisans, dock workers, and a wide assortment of skilled laborers. Though larger farms often had slave quarters in which the bondsmen were restricted to individual farms or plantations with minimal contact of outside slave communities, in New York, enslaved Africans lived near each other and communicated on a daily basis. They also worked among free blacks, again a situation that was absent on large southern farms. As such, under the Dutch and New Netherland laws, slaves could marry and travel the city. Freed blacks could own land. However, once the colony was given over to British rule in 1664, many of these former freedoms either vanished or were restricted. By 1700, about 20 percent of New York City’s population were enslaved. The colonial government enacted several measures of restriction: slaves must carry a pass if traveling more than a mile from home, marriage was discouraged, gatherings in groups of more than three persons were prohibited, and African Americans, both slave and freeman, could not sit among whites during church services, but restricted to their own gallery.
The Slave Auction House on Wall Street 1711-1762
From New York’s earliest existence, there were slave auctions spattered throughout the city. Either directly from Africa or West Indies, slaves were brought up from their floating prisons to stand before the auction block. So too, individuals could contract an auctioneer to sell his or her slave to the highest bidder, like today’s consignments. Whenever a death occurred, the estate slaves were often sent to a scheduled auction. With the aggressive slave trade and the expansion of the city, by the early 1700’s government officials decided to maintain strict control of human market. They constructed an official Slave Auction House to levy taxes on every sale of human beings. It was built in 1711 along the East River waterfront at the base of Wall Street in the shadow of ship’s yardarms. At the time Pearl Street, later named Queen and Dock Street, ran along the water front.
The auction house was an open-air market, meaning it was without walls, however capped by a large post and beam roof. Four huge posts supported the four corners of the long, rectangular building. Three additional posts supported each side and one each at the front and rear. It was airy in the summer months, but extremely cold during the winter. Conditions for the bonded humans was horrendous. Treated no better than animals, they were herded to stand naked while bodies shivered uncontrollably in the icy winds off the river. Handled, pinched, hit, inspected, and subjected to the most intimate examinations, they were forced to undergo the most horrendous treatments imagined. So too, the wailing of mothers and fathers resounded among the gleeful chatter of white attendees as countless families were separated and torn from loved ones, never to be seen again.
By 1730, forty-two percent of New York’s population owned slaves. This was a higher percentage than any other city in the country other than Charleston, South Carolina. The percentage of enslaved population to the total of the city’s residents at this time averaged between fifteen to twenty percent. By the mid-1700’s, due to landfill, the landmass extended into the East River between 500 to 700 feet adding Water Street. The auction remained vibrant for the next thirty-two years until it fell into disrepair and was torn down in 1762.
Though the main slave market ceased to exist; men, women, and children continued to be bought and sold throughout the city. One of the more important auctions continued just a few steps away from the original building. Auctions became quite the social and entertainment event. At the same time Americans proclaimed all men were created equal and had natural rights to freedom, a resident of New York City wrote “The steps and balcony [of the Tontine Coffee House] were crowded with people bidding, or listening to the several auctioneers… The slip and the corners of Wall and Pearl Streets, were jammed up with carts, drays [wagons with flat beds], and wheelbarrows; horses and men were huddled promiscuously together, leaving little or no room for passengers to pass… Everything was in motion; all was life, bustle, and activity.”
1712 Slave Revolt
After England took over the colony from the Dutch, they imported far more slaves directly from Africa rather than the West Indies. By the early 1700’s, there was a large percentage of ‘outlandish’, term for slaves born in Africa. Accordingly, the 1712 revolt was instigated by religious ‘outlandish’ who encouraged other bondsmen to revolt, calling for a war on their white rulers. The revolt was set for the night of April 6th. Fire was set to an outhouse at the home of Peter Van Tilburg on Maiden Lane near Broadway. When the white residents responded to fight the fire, they were confronted by twenty-three slaves (though reports ran as high as fifty) armed with guns, axes, and knives. They attacked the whites. Nine were killed and another six were injured. Some of the panic-stricken residents ran to the fort at Battery Park and alerted governor Robert Hunter who discharged the militia to scour the city for the rioters.
Many of the slaves ran north through a wooded swamp and escaped however seventy were rounded up near present day Canal Street. While awaiting trial, six captees committed suicide. Eventually forty slaves were brought to trial. Eighteen were acquitted, a few more were pardoned, four were burned alive at the stake, one terribly tortured and killed by a medieval breaking wheel, one was chained and starved to death and thirteen were hanged. Among the hanged was a pregnant woman. She was allowed to give birth before she was led to the gallows. Afterwards, harsh rules were enacted to control the black population including restrictions on gathering, gambling, owning weapons, travel. Also, a high tax was placed on anyone desiring to set his slave free – often much higher than what the slave would bring at auction. This almost guaranteed the perpetual enslavement of African Americans living in New York.
New York Slave Conspiracy of 1741. Also Known as the Great Negro Plot of 1741
This ‘slave rebellion’ was similar to the Salem Witch Trials, in which one main individual, supported later by others, charged a group of people of insurrection, resulting in large scale retributions and death. Black slaves and poor white settlers were accused of trying to burn down and ultimately take over the city. Fueled by paranoia, New York’s white population, some remembering the revolt of 1712, were convinced that a major rebellion was in the making. After a series of trials and brutal executions and deportations, no plot was ever uncovered, nor was there ever clear-cut evidence that any of the victims were guilty.
On March 18, 1741, Lt. Governor George Clarke’s home was set on fire. The governor’s resident had been within the walls of Fort George. A total of ten separate fires were torched at regular intervals with increased activity until four were set on April 6th, the twenty-ninth anniversary of the 1712 slave revolt that started with a set fire. By then, rumors ran wild that a black man, identified as a slave named Cuffee, had been seen running from one of the fires. It was enough to launch a witch-hunt. Judge Daniel Horsmanden was given the task of investigating the fires and he was eager to find the culprits, any culprit to whom he may lay blame. He had been presiding over a robbery trial that was completely unrelated, however he found the scape goat he was looking for and a plot and perpetrators soon materialized through the crafty manipulation of the judge.
A month prior to the first fire, a small store owned by a white couple, Robert and Rebecca Hogg had been robbed. One of the thieves, a slave named Caesar, carted his robbed goods to a dockside tavern along the Hudson River owned by John Hughson. Hughson was known to ‘fence’ stolen goods, especially from slaves and allowed them to drink at his establishment as well as sell them liquor. It became a meeting point for slaves and working-class residents, labeled deviants by the more sophisticated New Yorkers. Caesar and one of his partners named Prince, were arrested. Horsmanden decided to pin the fires on these two slaves, however he needed a witness to come forward. One was soon found. Mary Burton, a young indentured servant at Hughson’s tavern was pressured by the court. Under duress, she testified before a jury that three slaves, Caesar, Prince, and Cuffee, along with several poor white laborers, had plotted to burn the city and kill its inhabitants. Mary also implicated a white prostitute, Peggy Kerry, who had a relationship with Caesar. Kerry was then forced to testify under duress and accused many African Americans in a conspiracy. From there on, these slaves were brought to the city hall’s basement. They were beaten, harassed, and heckled by whites. The situation soon spiraled out of control with many of them providing additional testimony implicated scores more in the ‘plot.’
A month after the last fire, Caesar and Prince were hanged. Kerry, who was pregnant with Caesar’s child, along with the tavern keeper Hughson and his wife were publicly hanged in June. As an example, to others, their bodies were left dangling for many weeks. However, Horsmanden wasn’t finished. He offered rewards to anyone who could provide evidence of a conspiracy. Over the course of three months, 161 blacks and 20 whites had been arrested. No lawyers came forward to defend those accused. Many confessed and testified against others hoping to be released if they did so. So too, Mary Burton was on a roll and continued her accusations throughout the summer. From May 11th to August 29th, 17 blacks and 4 whites were convicted and hanged. Thirteen were horribly burned at the stake. An additional 70 blacks were sold and deported to the wretched plantations in the West Indies. Seven whites were also deported.
By the end of the summer, the hysteria had died down and accusations stopped. The following year, Mary Burton finally received her reward of £100 from the city, which she used to buy her freedom from indenture, and even had a little nest egg of money left over. If there is Devine justice awaiting those whose mortal remains are laid to rest and the soul face judgement, many will agree and be hopeful that a very special hell awaited Judge Horsmanden and his fellow judges and juries for their actions during the summer of 1741.
Anti-black Violence Did Not End with the Abolition of Slavery
New York City’s shameful history of bigotry, racism, segregation, and anti-black violence did not end with the abolition of slavery on July 4, 1827. In many instances it remained the same or even increased. By the 1850’s the city was dominating the illegal international slave trade. Banks, insurance companies continued to benefit from the illegal slave trade as they had done so when the repugnant business was legal. Companies like Aetna, JP Morgan, Chase Manhattan [which got its start under Aaron Burr by selling polluted water to the poor], and New York Life reaped huge profits as well as supporting slavery through southern cotton and sugar shipped from New York City’s harbors. New York lawyers and stock exchanges made a brisk business taking on slaveholders as clients including slave ship owners. Many of New York City’s traders and builders outfitted slave ships.
During the Civil War, pro-Confederate sentiments ran high in New York City. During the infamous Draft Riots of July, 1863, eleven black men were tortured, mutilated, lynched – hung from lampposts before being burned. In all about 100 people lost their lives, most of them black, in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Over one hundred buildings were destroyed, mostly homes of African Americans. By war’s end, nearly 3,000 African Americans were driven from their homes and fled New York City to New Jersey and Long Island.
And through it all, over the many centuries of persecution, African American New Yorkers, both enslaved and free, resisted and fought back establishing progressive churches, schools, and abolition and mutual aid societies. Mayor Bill de Blasio, during the 2015 ceremony that marked the site of the Slave Auction House is quoted, “It was true two, three centuries ago, even though it was never acknowledged. It was true then; it is true today. It will be true tomorrow. Black lives matter.”
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For Further Reading
- Ann Farrow et al. Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery
- Ira Berlin & Leslie Harris, eds. Slavery in New York
- Eric Foner. Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad
- Watcha conversation between Eric Foner and Leslie Harris
- Graham Hodges. David Ruggles: A Radical Black Abolitionistand the Underground Railroad in New York City
- Graham Hodges.Root and Branch: African Americans in New York and New Jersey, 1613-1863
- Graham Hodges. “Pretends to be Free.” Fugitive Slave Advertisements from Colonial and Revolutionary New York and New Jersey
- Graham Hodges. Chains and Freedom: The Life and Adventures of Peter Wheeler
- Leslie M. Harris. In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863
- Listento Leslie Harris on urban slavery, particularly in New York
- Alan Singer. New York and Slavery: Time to Teach the Truth
- Judith Wellman. Brooklyn’s Promised Land: The Free Black Community of Weeksville, New York