Primary Resources

The Growth of Southern Slavery

Courtesty of Boston Public Library


"Andy"
Andy’s letter to Jim is a wonderful source to talk about many different aspects of slavery and the slave debate. Andy is writing to his friend (in an undisclosed slave state) from Indiana in 1853. In this letter, Andy remarks that he is glad that Jim has left the “uncivilized” woods of Missouri and hopes that “your stay in the land of niggers will not be so long nor so pleasant that your mind will become imbruted with the peculiar institution.” Andy then proceeds to lay out his own feelings about slavery including, the immorality of “dealing in the souls and bodies of men and women”, slavery’s effect on free labor (this is a particularly important point for Andy who, as a mechanic, is employed in a trade that uses slave labor in the South) and slavery’s effect on slaveholders – Andy feels strongly that slavery makes aristocrats of slaveholders who “do nothing themselves” In his letter, Andy describes a slave auction and his own actions in convincing a slave to flee to Canada. Andy notes that once the slave escaped to Canada, he became “a man.”


Eliot, Thomas D. (Thomas Dawes), 1808-1870. "The territorial slave policy : the Republican party ; what the North has to do with slavery."
In this speech, Congressman Eliot lays out the Republican Party’s position on the expansion of slavery into the territories and asserts that the Republican Party’s containment policy is based on the wishes and policy of the founding fathers. At the end of the speech, Eliot speaks about the benefits of free labor on the northern economy by providing statistics on items such as the population, annual product, numbers of illiterate whites, numbers of churches, etc.

James, Stephen. “Extracts from a West India plantation journal: shewing the treatment of the slaves and its fatal consequences.”
This article, which was included in the estate of abolitionist Samuel Sewall, analyzes abstracts from the diaries of two West Indian sugar plantations to prove the brutality and inhumanity of slavery. Excerpts that highlight slave mortality rates, punishments, and runaways are included in the tract.

McMontgomery, Belzora. ADS : Mississippi estate of three slaves.
This 1859 notice advertises the sale of Belzora McMontgomery’s three slaves in Jefferson County, Mississippi.

Otis, William. ALS : Barnstable [Mass.] to J[oseph] E. Smith.
From this 1812 letter, it appears that a fugitive slave was captured from Otis’ yard by southern agents. The “public clamor” about this injustice was so great that Otis sent a messenger with money to effect the slave’s release from bondage. .

Quincy, Josiah. “Address illustrative of the nature and power of the slave states and the duties of the free states; delivered at the request of the inhabitants of the town of Quincy, Mass., on Thursday, June 5, 1856.”
Quincy’s 1856 speech, made after Sumner was attacked on the Senate floor by Representative Preston Brooks argues that in pursuing pro-slavery politics, the southern states have made slaves of the northern states. For an image and description of the Sumner caning see: http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.html

Tappan, Lewis. “Address to the non-slaveholders of the south: on the political and social evils of slavery.” New York: American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, [1850?]
Abolitionist Lewis Tappan addresses this tract to the non-slaveholding population of the south who, he states, is “impoverished and degraded” by slavery. Tappan’s tract takes up subjects such as population, industry, religion, morals, and liberty of speech and press to argue that the non-slaveholding southerners need to “unite…with one heart, and one mind, for the legal, constitutional abolition of slavery.

United States. Congress 1849-1850). The Fugitive Slave Bill.
The Fugitive Slave Law, as part of the Compromise of 1850, was particularly onerous to northerners because it required them to actively seek out and return runaway slaves to the south. It is likely that this copy of the Fugitive Slave Bill was printed by abolitionists because the last page includes an image of “The Boston Police executing the infamous law, in the case of Simms, who was delivered into the hands of the oppressor, between the hours of moon-setting and sun-rising, in 1851.

Courtesy of the Andover Historical Society

Appraisal of Estate, Fredericksburg, VA. June 3, 1767.
This first page of this estate appraisal lists the slave property of Mrs. Jane Champe and their relationship to one another (ie: “Spencer – Nell’s Son). The second page details who bought which slaves and how much they paid for them.


Fisk, Pliny. “Letter concerning prayers for slaves and religion in Andover, Letter to Rev. Ephraim H. Newton.” March 10th, 1818.
In this letter, Essex County resident Pliny Fisk writes to his brother and asks why Christians never pray for slaves.

Siebert, Wilbur H. The Underground Railroad in Massachusetts. American Antiquarian Society, 1936.
Siebert’s writing details the many lines of the Underground Railroad that ran through Massachusetts. On page 32, Siebert discusses the line that ran through “Lynn, Salem, Marblehead, Beverly, Ipswich, Newburyport, and Amesbury

Smith, Mary Byers. The Founding of the Free Christian Church of Andover.
This document details the founding of the Free Christian Church of Andover. The church was started by abolitionists in Andover who were dismayed by the existing churches’ refusals to take a strong stand against slavery. Slavery was a contentious issue in Andover where the powerful Philips family, concerned about their Academy’s southern students, was apologists for slavery and others were ardent abolitionists.

Web Resources

American Civil War Envelopes at BibliOdyssey
This websites contains images of envelopes that have pro-Union cartoons printed on them.

The Geography of Slavery in Virginia
From the website: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia is a digital collection of advertisements for runaway and captured slaves and servants in 18th- and 19th-century Virginia newspapers. Building on the rich descriptions of individual slaves and servants in the ads, the project offers a personal, geographical and documentary context for the study of slavery in Virginia, from colonial times to the Civil War.

Runaway Slave Advertisements.
This Rutgers University website contains transcriptions of colonial advertisements for runaway slaves, many of them from New York and New Jersey.


Virginia Runaways Project,
From the website: The Virginia Runaways Project is a digital database of runaway and captured slave and servant advertisements from 18th-century Virginia newspapers. When a slave or servant ran away, masters often placed remarkably detailed advertisements for their return. Sheriffs and other county officials also often advertised the capture of runaways or suspected runaways. This project offers full transcripts and images of all runaway and captured ads for slaves, servants, and deserters placed in Virginia newspapers from 1736 to 1790.

Documenting the American South
From the website: Documenting the American South (DocSouth) is a digital publishing initiative that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes ten thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs. The University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sponsors Documenting the American South, and the texts and materials come primarily from its southern holdings. The UNC University Library is committed to the long-term availability of these collections and their online records. An editorial board guides developpment of this digital library.

Cotton is King – University of Michigan Library
David Christy’s anti-slavery tract helped to coin the phrase King Cotton. Christy, an ambassador with the American Colonization Society, argues that the “depraved” condition of free blacks in the north and the entire country’s reliance on southern cotton, makes the abolitionist project hopeless. To effect any sort of change for slavery therefore, Americans need to embrace the Colonization Society.

PBS – Companion website to the PBS series Africans in America
From the website: America's journey through slavery is presented in four parts (“The Terrible Transformation 1450-1750”, “Revolution 1750-1805”, “Brotherly Love 1791-1831”, and “Judgment Day 1831-1865”). For each era, you'll find a historical Narrative, a Resource Bank of images, documents, stories, biographies, and commentaries, and a Teacher's Guide for using the content of the Web site and television series in U.S. history courses.

The University of California at Berkeley – Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
A full-text online version of Douglass’ narrative

The University of California at Berkeley – Slave Panoramas
By providing panoramic views of slave cabins and plantation “big houses”, this site allows you to compare and contrast the lifestyles of slaves and plantation owners.

The Spirituals Project – “Sweet Chariot: The Story of the Spirituals”
This website provides a historical overview of the cultural meaning of spirituals and their use during slavery, Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights Movement. The website provides information on “Spirituals During Slavery”, “Spirituals as an Expression of Democratic Values and Community Solidarity”, “Spirituals as a Source of Inspiration and Motivation”, “Spirituals as Expressions of Protest”, “Spirituals as Coded Communication”, and “Freedom Songs of the Civil Rights Movement: Slave Spirituals Revived”.

The Shop’s of Yesteryear – The Works of Ruth Starr Rose
Ruth Starr Rose was a noted lithographer, serigrapher, painter and sculptor whose works are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Library of Congress. Rose was noted for her artistic renderings of African American spirituals.