James Mars
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

James Mars (March 3, 1790 – May 27, 1880) was an American
slave narrative The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved persons, particularly African diaspora, Africans enslaved in the Americas, though many other examples exist. Over six thousand such narra ...
author and political activist. Born into slavery in
Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
,
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, he gained his freedom in 1811. In 1864, he published his memoir ''A Life of James Mars, a Slave Born and Sold in Connecticut, Written by Himself''—a notable example of the slave narrative genre. His grave is a stop on the Connecticut Freedom Trail. In 2021, Governor
Ned Lamont Edward Miner Lamont Jr. ( ; born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 89th governor of Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwich, Con ...
declared May 1 to be James Mars Day in Connecticut.


Early life and emancipation

Mars was born into
slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
in
Canaan, Connecticut Canaan is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,080 at the 2020 census, down from 1,234 at the 2010 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region. The town of Canaan is often referred ...
. His parents, Jupiter and Fanny Mars, were enslaved persons who were owned by the Reverend Amos Thompson, Canaan's
Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...
minister, and by Thompson's
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
-born wife. Jupiter Mars fought in the
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. James's sister, Elizabeth, would spend 34 years as a missionary in
Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
. In 1784, Connecticut had enacted a gradual emancipation law that freed any enslaved person born in the state on or after March 1, 1784, once the person reached a given age (in Mars's case, the age of 25). However, Thompson attempted to bypass the emancipation law by moving to Virginia, a
slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were prohibited. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave s ...
, and forcing James and his brother, sister, and parents to accompany him. The Mars family instead fled to neighboring
Norfolk, Connecticut Norfolk () is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,588 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Regi ...
, and took refuge with white abolitionists, who kept them hidden and safe, moving from place to place, while Thompson and his agents attempted to recapture the fugitives. By September 1798, Thompson struck a deal with the Mars family through intermediaries. As part of the deal, James Mars and his brother agreed to work as slaves in Norfolk until they turned 25. Their parents and sister would be manumitted immediately. James's new captor, a man named Munger, proved a harsh taskmaster. In 1811, Mars paid $90 (~$ in ) to buy out his remaining years of servitude. He later reconciled with his captors and cared for the ailing Mr. Munger and his daughter until both died.


Activist years

Mars became a leader in New England's
freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...
community and in African American reform movements for temperance and enfranchisement. During the 1830s, he worked in a dry goods store in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, where he helped found the Talcott Street Church, in which he served as deacon alongside minister James W. C. Pennington. Mars was a principal in the 1837 landmark case ''Jackson v. Bulloch'', in which the
Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit i ...
freed a fugitive enslaved woman, Nancy Jackson, after she had lived two years in Connecticut with her
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
captor, James Bulloch. Mars also raised funds for the
legal defense In a civil proceeding or criminal prosecution under the common law or under statute, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) in an effort to avert civil liability or criminal conviction. A defense is put forward by a party to defeat a s ...
of the passengers of ''
La Amistad ''La Amistad'' (; Spanish for ''The Friendship'') was a 19th-century two-masted schooner owned by a Spaniard living in Cuba. It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives who had been captured and sold to European slav ...
.'' By 1840, he was serving on the board of the mostly white Connecticut Anti-Slavery Society.


Later life

Mars married in the early 1830s. By the time they departed Hartford, he and his wife had had eight children, one of whom died in infancy. Circa 1845, the family moved to
Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...
, where he lived for twenty years, purchased land, farmed, and continued to participate in Black reform and antislavery movements. Three of his sons fought for the Union in the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. As an impoverished elderly man, Mars returned to Norfolk and published ''The Life of James Mars: A Slave Bought and Sold in Connecticut'' (Hartford: Case, Lockwood & Company, 1864). The pamphlet-length book went through at least six editions, including a 1868 edition that included more details of his later life. Mars explained that he wrote his memoirs because "some told me that they did not know that slavery was ever allowed in Connecticut, and some affirm that it never did exist in the State." In August 1879, Mars was granted a pension by the State of Connecticut. He died less than a year later in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts. He was interred in the Center Cemetery in Norfolk.


References


External links


''Life of James Mars, A Slave Born and Sold in Connecticut''
- Full text via the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mars, James 1790 births 1880 deaths People from Canaan, Connecticut African-American non-fiction writers 19th-century American memoirists Writers of slave narratives 19th-century American slaves Free Negroes 19th-century African-American writers