The exact date of the first
African slaves in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
is unknown, but the narrative of
Venture Smith
Venture Smith (Birth name: Broteer Furro) (c. 1729 – 1805) was an African-American farmer and craftsman. Smith was kidnapped when he was six and a half years old in West Africa and was taken to Anomabo on the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana) t ...
provides some information about the life of northern slavery in Connecticut. Another early confirmed account of slavery in the English colony came in 1638 when several native prisoners were taken during the
Pequot War were exchanged in the West Indies for African slaves. Such exchanges become common in subsequent conflicts.
Legal history of abolition in Connecticut
Connecticut blocked the importation of slaves in 1774, via the passage in the state legislature of the "Act for Prohibiting the Importation of Indian, Negro or Molatto Slaves" and began a
gradual emancipation of slaves in 1784, through the passage by the state legislature of the "Gradual Abolition Act" of that year. Through this "freeing the womb" act, all slaves born after March 1, 1784, would become free upon attaining the age of 25 for men and 21 for women, though it did not free the parents, or any other adult slaves.
1848 slavery abolition
In 1844, Governor
Roger Sherman Baldwin
Roger Sherman Baldwin (January 4, 1793 – February 19, 1863) was an American politician who served as the 32nd Governor of Connecticut from 1844 to 1846 and a United States senator from 1847 to 1851. As a lawyer, his career was most notable ...
proposed legislation to end slavery, but the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
did not pass it until it was reintroduced in 1848 as "An Act to Prevent Slavery". The last person enslaved in Connecticut, Nancy Toney of Windsor, died in December 1857.
Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney steered ''
La Amistad
''La Amistad'' (; Spanish for ''Friendship'') was a 19th-century two- masted schooner, owned by a Spaniard colonizing Cuba. It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives, who had been captured and sold to European slave ...
'' into Connecticut as opposed to the state of
New York in 1839 because at the time slavery was still legal in Connecticut in the 1830s.
Nancy Toney of Windsor (1774 - December 19, 1857)
Nancy was baptized on November 27, 1774, probably as an infant, in Christ’s Church. Abigail Sherwood Chaffee Loomis inherited Nancy from Dr. Chaffee Jr. after his death in 1821. His will, dated 1818, specifically bequeathed “to my Daughter Abigail S. Loomis, wife of Col. James Loomis…my negro slave Nance.” In the 1830 federal census, Nancy is surprisingly listed as a “free colored female.” No extant Windsor records prove Nancy’s freedom as it is categorized in the federal census; therefore, it is possible that the Loomis family began labeling Nancy as a free person without actually granting her freedom. The 1850 US Census, the first to name residents other than the head of household, listed Nancy, a 72-year-old free black woman, residing with James and Abigail Loomis.
Prevalence of slavery
According to Anne Farrow, Joel Lang, and Jenifer Frank, "In 1790 most prosperous merchants in Connecticut owned at least one slave, as did 50 percent of the ministers. ...Our economic links to slavery were deeply entwined with our religious, political, and educational institutions. Slavery was part of the social contract in Connecticut."
According to U.S. census data there were 2,764 slaves in Connecticut as of 1790, a little over 1% of the population at the time. This declined during the early part of the 19th century, with the census indicating numbers (percentages) reported as slaves in the State of 951 (.34%) in 1800, 97 (.04%) in 1820 and 25 (.008%) by 1830.
See also
*
Andrew T. Judson
*
Canterbury Female Boarding School
The Canterbury Female Boarding School, in Canterbury, Connecticut, was operated by its founder, Prudence Crandall, from 1831 to 1834. When townspeople would not allow African-American girls to enroll, Crandall decided to turn it into a school for ...
*
James Mars
James Mars (March 3, 1790 – May 27, 1880) was an American slave narrative author and political activist. Born into slavery in Canaan, Connecticut, he gained his freedom in 1811. In 1864, he published his memoir ''A Life of James Mars, a Slave ...
*
Nero Hawley
Nero Hawley (1742 – January 30, 1817) was an African-American soldier who was born into slavery in North Stratford, Connecticut, and later earned his freedom after enlisting in the Continental Army in place of his owner, Daniel Hawley, on Apri ...
*
New Haven Excitement Simeon Jocelyn (1799-1879) was a white pastor, abolitionist, and social activist for African-American civil rights and educational opportunities in New Haven, Connecticut, during the 19th century. He is known for his attempt to establish America's f ...
(
Simeon Jocelyn Simeon Jocelyn (1799-1879) was a white pastor, abolitionist, and social activist for African-American civil rights and educational opportunities in New Haven, Connecticut, during the 19th century. He is known for his attempt to establish America's f ...
)
*
Samuel Joseph May
Samuel Joseph May (September 12, 1797 – July 1, 1871) was an American reformer during the nineteenth century who championed education, women's rights, and abolition of slavery. May argued on behalf of all working people that the rights of h ...
*
Titus Gay
Titus Gay (1787-1837), also known as Old Ti, was born into slavery in the town of Suffield, Connecticut, USA. Because of the Gradual Emancipation Act passed in 1784, Gay was freed in 1812 after reaching 25 years of age. He was buried in the north ...
aka Old Ti
*
Titus Kent
Titus Kent was an enslaved man in colonial Suffield, Connecticut, the father of Titus Gay and a Connecticut militiaman in the American Revolutionary War. Kent served with his enslaver, Elihu Kent (1733–1814), and with others from Suffield, Conn ...
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Slavery In Connecticut
Pre-statehood history of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
History of racism in Connecticut
Slavery in the British Empire