Slavery in the Lower Hudson Valley - The Journal News

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A Newspaper-in-Education Supplement to The Journal News • LoHud.com Pretends to Be Free Imagining Runaway Slaves Students often express anger at the system of enslavement and suggest that they would have resisted slavery through acts of sabotage, rebellion, physical violence against slave owners, and by running away. Not surprisingly, many enslaved individuals did exactly what students suggest they would do if confronted by such a system. Although every type and individual act of resistance has its own story, there is much to be learned from the act of running away. Wherever slavery existed, enslaved individuals ran away. Colonial newspapers ran advertisements to retrieve lost or stolen “property.” In New York, the hundreds of runaway advertisements (three of which appear on these pages) printed in local newspapers provide us with a wealth of knowledge about enslaved individuals and their community. The ads show evidence of ongoing, active resistance by individuals against the institution of slavery and allow us a glimpse into the appearance, skills, personalities and motives of those who chose to run. It should be noted, however, that runaway advertisements were written by slave owners and written for people who supported slavery. Advertisements that refer to women as “wenches,” men as “boys,” hair as “wooll” and numerous character traits ranging from deceitful and cunning to slow-witted and clumsy tell us more about the authors than the true nature of the individuals who ran away. While a significant resource, runaway notices must be read with an understanding that these are painful reminders of an era marked by grave inhumanity. Documents written by slave owners about their slaves tell only one side of the story. b WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Adolph Philipse was one of the wealthiest men and one of the largest slaveholders in New York. When he died in the winter of 1750, his oldest nephew, Colonel Frederick Philipse II, inherited all his property. The inheritance included at least twenty-seven enslaved men, women and children—most of whom had lived together for generations at Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Colonel Philipse wasted no time in selling off his new “property.” Within six months, Philipse had sold or transferred eleven of his late uncle’s slaves. One was an eight-year-old boy named Sam who was sold at an auction held at Philipsburg Manor and, presumably, sold in front of his parents and extended family. Imagine that you were a member of Sam’s family and witnessed him being auctioned to the highest bidder? What would you do? Another Side (Ripped paper collage), 2006 Allyza Lustig, Croton-Harmon High School Advertisement: February 16, 1761 Stolen by Her Mother, 2006 Olivia Horvath, Croton-Harmon High School Advertisement: April 23, 1778 Music has always been a big part of my life. I’ve played piano since kindergarten, and my siblings both play instruments as well. This, along with other influences, has often inspired me to incorporate music/instruments into my artwork in the past. While I was reading through the various advertisements, one of the things that stood out to me in particular was the fact that a slave named Mark Edwards chose to take his fiddle with him when he ran away from the plantation. I set a scenario up in my head: he was running away, had to carry a light load, and could probably take only what was most dear to him. One of these items, along with the necessities such as warm clothing for the winter, was his fiddle. Slave owners may have taken away his family, his friends, his dignity, and his pride, but they couldn’t take away his music, and that struck me as being very prominent in this description. Reading this, I began to think of different media, compositions, and color schemes that I could use to create this piece. I knew that I would want the main focus of the project to be his face and his violin, because that is what I imagine his values were: his own self and his instrument. I wanted the piece to show a sort of love or passion for something intangible (in this case, music) that could not be taken away. To focus on this, I centered it on his face, with the eyes closed to show concentration and captivation. Concerning color, I picked certain ones as I went along. The red, white, and blue scheme fell into place. African Americans pushed their way through thick and thin to become a part of America and eventually they succeeded, hence the chosen colors. I found this project to be one that I learned quite a bit from, and by that I mean both in the art sense and in the history sense. I was able to try to see something from a point of view that is not often looked at very closely. I set up situations in my head, reacted to them, and then worked them out on paper to decide which I’d like to focus on the most. This particular piece let me explore a media (ripped paper collage) that I don’t get to work in very often and I think that I learned a lot about value (sectioning off shadows, for example) in the process. My painting, titled “Stolen by her Mother,” reflects the injustice committed against enslaved peoples in pre-Civil War times. An ad that particularly struck me was one proclaiming the theft of a nine-year old daughter by her mother. This struck me as absurd—the fact that a mother could ever be charged with stealing her own daughter. This shows the biases that American society had towards slaves. Slaves were not valued or respected as people at all, but as property. In the painting, I tapped into how the mother and daughter might have felt—a strong bond, even though they were separated by the law. I tried to show this though the closeness of the two figures. Above them, I painted a chain. This was meant to be the ever-looming presence of the binding laws of the white man. Their faces are solemn, for even though they are together, this chain is always a present and pressing issue. For this artwork, I used acrylic paints. This is not a medium I usually work in, but I believed that the subtle shades and texture of paint on canvas would carry across some emotion into the piece. To me, this painting represents the injustice that was shown towards African Americans in the early years of the United States. The fact that families were torn apart was bad enough. However, the fact that a mother would be persecuted for attempting to rescue her young daughter is absurd and atrocious.
A Newspaper-in-Education Supplement to The Journal News • LoHud.com The artworks and statements on these pages are the work of high school students who participated in an art contest entitled “Pretends to Be Free: Imagining Runaway Slaves.” To see other works of art from this show, please visit www. hudsonvalley.org/runaway. Runaway Advertisements The New York Gazette , February 16, 1761 How Far Is Freedom?, 2006 Stephanie Lawton The Escape, 2006 Sophie Hall RUN AWAY from the Subscriber, on the 20 th of December last, a Negro or Mulatto Man Servant, aged about 28 years, named Mark Edward, born near Byram River, in the County of Westchester, a well set Fellow, near six Feet high, talks good English, plays well on a Fiddle, calls himself a free Fellow, goes commonly with his Head shaved, hath two Crowns on the top of his Head, small black specks or moles in his Eyes, with a scar near the middle of his Breast, and a mole on his left Breast. Had on when he went away, a good pair of Leather Breeches, a blue Broadcloth Jacket, a red Jacket under it without sleeves, a good Beaver Hat. Whoever takes up and secures said Fellow, shall have FIVE POUNDS New-York Money Reward, and all reasonable Charges paid, by me ABNER SMITH, of New Haven, in the Colony of Connecticut. N.B. All House-keepers, and Masters of Vessels, are hereby forbid to harbour, conceal, or carry off said Fellow, as they may depend on being prosecuted according to Law. Abner Smith Bound (Black and white), 2006 Caroline Torres, Ossining High School Advertisement: May 24, 1783 The runaway slave, Violet, in this article is trying not to be caught and bound back into slavery by her white owner. To show this, I used different colored charcoals and drew Violet running away. The white bondage around her, dragging her down, represents the slave owners and everyone else trying to capture her and force her back into slavery. The background is a nighttime scene far away from where Violet ran. But even though she is so close to freedom, she is soon captured, bound, and brought back to slavery by her white slave owner, like so many before and after her. Motherhood, 2006 Sisi Li Runaway, 2006 Mary Kate Kelly Black and Blue, 2006 Nick Conte Leaving it All Behind, 2006 Ben Chehebar New-Jersey Gazette, April 23, 1778 200 dollars Reward WAS stolen by her mother, a NEGRO GIRL about 9 or 10 years old, named Dianah--Her mother’s name is Cash, and was married to an Indian named Lewis Wolis near 6 feet high, about 35 years of age--They have a male child with them between three and four years old. Any person that takes up the said Negroes and Indian and secures them, so that the subscriber may get them, shall have the above reward and all reasonable charges. Any person that understands distilling rye spirits, may find encouragement by applying to the subscriber at his own house. Kenneth Hankinson Penelapon, East New-Jersey, April 15, 1778. The Royal Gazette (New York), May 24, 1783 Untitled (Violet), 2006 Carolyne Vanegas Do This! • Write a story that describes what happened in the past to cause an individual who is described in one of the runaway ads to want to run away and/or write a story that describes what happens to the individual in the future. • Create a two- or three-dimensional artwork depicting one or more of the people described in one of the advertisements. Write a statement to accompany the artwork. Lone Boat in the Night, 2006 Adam DePaolo Breath of Fresh Air, 2006 Kara Rothschild • Draw the name of a classmate from a hat and write a runaway ad describing this person. As you do so, think about how the runaway ads are structured and what they include and exclude. Write a second ad describing yourself and then compare it to the ad that was written by the classmate who chose your name. Then write a short piece about how the runaway ads reflect the viewpoint of the writer, not the person being described. • Put yourself in the shoes of one of the enslaved individuals described in the ads. Write about how you came to the decision to run away and the steps you would take to elude capture and reach your final goal. FIVE GUINEAS REWARD W E N T off from his master on Thursday night, a Negro Wench, called VIOLET, with her male children, one about 7 years old, called Willis, the other about two years old, named Joe. The Wench is about 26 years old, tall, thin, and somewhat pitted with the small-pox. The youngest boy is rather of a yellow complection. Both boys have lately had their hair or wooll cut short. Whoever apprehends said Negroes, and brings them to the Subscriber’s House, at Greenwich, shall have a reward of Five Guineas immediately paid them. David CampbelL
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