Law That Made Free Blacks Be Slaves Again
While students may know about the Undercover Railroad, which moved enslaved persons north to freedom, they may know less about the reverse motility of free African Americans in the north who were moved south and forced into slavery. Last calendar week we shared The Documents Backside Twelve Years a Slave, the story of Solomon Northup'south kidnapping into slavery. The newly released movie Twelve Years a Slave is based on Northup's autobiography. Northup's story may exist the most well known, but he was past no means the merely 1 who endured this cataclysm.
The nature of this crime makes it impossible to know how many free African Americans were kidnapped and enslaved. Many of the kidnapped African Americans were sold "downwards the river" and, dissimilar Solomon Northup, no one heard from them again. Today we share a document from the Eye for Legislative Archives in the National Archives that illustrates the devastating problem of pre-Civil War kidnapping of free African Americans.
The number of free African Americans in the north increased subsequently the American Revolution, due to emancipation laws in northern states, private manumissions, and the ability of some slaves to purchase their ain liberty. These gratis African Americans were easy prey for kidnappers, who, under the guise of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act, kidnapped and sold them into slavery. Some slave catchers did not take the time to ensure that the identity of the person they captured matched the ane they were legally allowed to seize.
Once kidnapped, it was nearly incommunicable for a person to regain his freedom. Kidnappers often destroyed liberty papers. In the rare case that a case made it to court with papers intact, judges could dismiss them as forged. Also, the kidnapped person's family unit or friends could rarely show on their behalf, as about courts did not allow the testimony of African Americans and white witnesses would refuse to testify altogether to avoid retribution from their neighbors. In fact, many whites did non pay much attention to the problem at all because although they would never own slaves themselves, they notwithstanding carried racist attitudes toward people of color.
White abolitionists witnessed the problem and worked to address it. In 1811, Elisha Tyson met with Representative Alexander McKim (R-MD), to explain the kidnapping problem. Tyson was a Quaker from Maryland who was well known in Baltimore for his efforts to protect free African Americans and to end slavery. Tyson followed upward with this letter, which provides the details on several kidnapping cases that were known to Tyson. He hoped to convince McKim that federal legislation was necessary to accost the trouble. Congress did non act and kidnappings, like that of Solomon Northup, continued.
As your students read the letter (or the transcript), ask them to assemble information nigh the facts of these cases and the scope of the trouble. How were these people abducted? Is there a design? How were they able to regain their freedom? What factors get in difficult to trace kidnapped people?
The letter does not explain who the writer is, or who he was writing to. Ask your students to place information that can help them create a hypothesis about the purpose of the letter. Before your students picket Twelve Years a Slave, ask them to watch for anything in the movie that aligns with or contradicts Tyson'due south illustrations of kidnapping.
Understanding the historical context of kidnappings of gratis African Americans before the Ceremonious War will help your students better understand the picture show, and will make Solomon Northup a character to call back.
Source: https://education.blogs.archives.gov/2013/11/12/kidnapping-of-free-people-of-color/
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