Freedom Seekers in the Revolutionary Era

In the 1700s, Boston was a seatown hub that was increasingly active in the network of goods, ideas, and people. Slavery existed in the United States from the colonial period, with enslavement beginning in Massachusetts until after the Pequot War in 1637, until the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865. Freedom seekers have continuously fought for their freedom. Since before the Revolution, freedom seekers had emancipated themselves through various measures. One would be running away.

Freedom seekers of all ages resisted by running away. This led to enslavers posting descriptive ads for freedom seekers. Here is an example from the Boston Post-Boy in 1774.

Boston Post Boy, May 23, 1774.

This ad is a typical example of many ads placed between 1757-1783. Ads typically describe the name, age, physical attributes, and additional identifying information of freedom seekers. Enslavers offered monetary rewards for the retrieval of freedom seekers, offering anywhere from two to ten dollars. A variety of Boston newspapers were used for ads, such as the Boston Evening Post, Boston Gazette, or Boston Post Boy.

This map exhibits freedom seekers described in slave ads placed in Boston only from 1757 to 1783. Freedom seekers fled enslavement from all around New England, including New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine (at that time Commonwealth of Massachusetts). These ads illustrate active resistance to slavery since the colonial period. Abolishment of slavery came gradually, with Massachusetts being one of the first states in the country to abolish slavery. Freedom seekers from nearby states that still held the institution of slavery, such as Connecticut and Rhode Island, would use Boston as an avenue of escape. With all these surrounding states posting ads in Boston, it suggests that Boston is the epicenter for freedom seekers. With the rhetoric, chaos, and uncertainty of the era leading up to, including, and just after the American War of Independence, there are freedom seekers taking advantage of the political uncertainty.

Contributed by: Mercedes Cao, Pohanka Intern

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References:

Jared Ross Hardesty. 2016. Unfreedom : Slavery and Dependence in Eighteenth-Century Boston. Nyu Press -04-26.

Moore, George Henry. 1866. Notes on the History of Slavery in Massachusetts. New York, D. Appleton & Company.

Triber, Jayne. n.d. “Slavery and Law in 17th Century Massachusetts (U.S. National Park Service).” Www.nps.gov. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/slavery-and-law-in-early-ma.htm.