Africans in America: America's Journey through Slavery (1998) s01e02 Episode Script

PRESENTING HISTORY'S BES ON PBS.
Woman: # YOUR COUNTRY # HOW CAME IT YOURS? BEFORE THE PILGRIMS LANDED WE WERE HERE.
YOUR COUNTRY HOW CAME IT YOURS? BEFORE THE PILGRIMS LANDED WE WERE HERE.
AFRICANS IN AMERICA [with captioning.]
HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY A GRAN FROM THE NATIONAL ENDOWMEN FOR THE HUMANITIES EXPANDING AMERICA'S UNDERSTANDING OF WHO WE WERE WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE WILL BE.
A HOME IS MORE THAN FOUR WALLS AND A ROOF.
IT'S SAFER STREETS BETTER SCHOOLS STRONGER COMMUNITIES THE AMERICAN DREAM.
THE FANNIE MAE FOUNDATION HELPING AMERICANS ON THE PATH TO HOME OWNERSHIP.
THEY WERE TORN FROM HOMES AND FAMILIES YET THEY NEVER LET GO OF THEIR COURAGE AND PERSEVERANCE AND OUR NATION IS STRONGER BECAUSE OF IT.
THAT'S WHY AFRICANS IN AMERICA IS PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY BANKERS TRUST, ARCHITECTS OF VALUE.
McDONALD'S IS PROUD TO SUPPOR THIS PRESENTATION OF AFRICANS IN AMERICA.
ADDITIONAL FUNDING IS PROVIDED BY: AND THE ANNUAL FINANCIAL SUPPOR OF PBS VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
Man: "WHEN YOU MAKE MEN SLAVES "YOU DEPRIVE THEM OF HALF THEIR VIRTUE.
"YOU SET THEM, IN YOUR OWN CONDUC "AN EXAMPLE OF FRAUD AND CRUELTY AND COMPEL THEM TO LIVE WITH YOU IN A STATE OF WAR.
" OLAUDAH EQUIANO, ENSLAVED AFRICAN.
Narrator: THE PROMISE OF BRITAIN'S AMERICAN COLONIES LAY BOUND UP IN NOTIONS OF WHAT A MAN COULD OWN.
IN SEARCH OF THAT PROMISE SCOTTISH IMMIGRAN WILLIAM DUNBAR TRAVELED TO THE AMERICAN FRONTIER IN 1771.
IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA HE LAID CLAIM TO A LARGE TRACT OF LAND THEN SET SAIL FOR THE CARIBBEAN.
DUNBAR RETURNED WITH 25 AFRICAN SLAVES TO CLEAR TREES, PLANT INDIGO AND CARVE A PLANTATION OUT OF THE BLACK DELTA EARTH.
JULY OF 1776 WOULD FIND THE SCOTSMAN WRITING NOT ABOUT THE NEWLY DECLARED AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE BUT OF A SUSPECTED SLAVE REVOL ON HIS OWN PLANTATION.
Dunbar: "JUDGE MY SURPRISE.
"THEY INFORMED ME "THAT A CONSPIRACY AMONG THE NEGROES HAD BEEN DISCOVERED AND THAT IT HAD TAKEN PLACE AT MY HOUSE.
" Narrator: DUNBAR WAS QUICK TO TAKE ACTION.
WITHIN 24 HOURS, HE HANGED FOUR MEN.
A FIFTH COMMITTED SUICIDE.
BUT THE IDEA OF FREEDOM DID NOT DIE.
IN THE LANGUAGES OF HAUSA, JA AND WOLOF AFRICANS CONTINUED TO CONSPIRE.
AND JUST EIGHT DAYS BEFORE, AMERICANS HAD DECLARED THAT "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL" THAT "LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS" WERE "INALIENABLE RIGHTS.
" HOW LONG THEN, IN A LAND OF SUCH PROMISE COULD ONE AMERICAN CONTINUE TO OWN ANOTHER? HE WAS BORN IN WEST AFRICA.
HE IS BURIED IN A SMALL NEW ENGLAND GRAVEYARD.
ON ONE SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN HIS NAME WAS BROTEER.
ON THE OTHER, HE WAS KNOWN AS VENTURE SMITH.
HE WAS BROUGH TO THE COLONIES AS A CHILD PRIDEFUL, HEADSTRONG.
HE WAS AN INDIVIDUAL OF IMMENSE SIZE AND STRENGTH A SLAVE WHO WAS NO EASILY CONTROLLED.
SHREWD, RELENTLESS HE WAS ONE OF THOUSANDS WHO WOULD GAIN THEIR FREEDOM IN THE VIOLENT YEARS THAT LED TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.
IN HIS LIFE IS A STORY OF AMERICA BECOMING.
Man: "WE WERE PUT ON A VESSEL BELONGING TO RHODE ISLAND "AND TOLD TO APPEAR TO THE BEST ADVANTAGE FOR SALE.
"ON BOARD, I WAS BOUGH BY ONE ROBERTSON MUMFORD "FOR FOUR GALLONS OF RUM AND A PIECE OF CALICO CLOTH "AND CALLED 'VENTURE' "ON ACCOUNT OF HIM HAVING PURCHASED ME "WITH HIS OWN PRIVATE VENTURE.
THUS I CAME BY MY NAME.
" VENTURE SMITH.
Narrator: VENTURE SMITH WAS ONE OF 86,000 PEOPLE WHO TRAVELED TO NORTH AMERICA IN THE 1730s.
NEARLY 41,000 WERE AFRICANS BROUGHT TO THE COLONIES AS SLAVES.
THEY WERE TO BE SLAVES FOR LIFE, AS WERE THEIR CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN.
DURING THOSE SAME YEARS 45,000 EUROPEANS MADE THE JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF OPPORTUNITY.
MOST WERE POOR.
THEY PAID FOR THEIR PASSAGE WITH FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS OF UNPAID LABOR IN THE COLONIES.
IT WAS A HARD BARGAIN, BUT PEOPLE CAME.
Man: THE AMERICAN COLONIES DEVELOP AS AN AREA OF OPPORTUNITY.
YOU WERE NOT CONFINED BY WHO YOUR GRANDFATHER WAS WHO YOUR FATHER WAS, WHAT THEIR TRADES WERE.
YOU COULD BECOME WHATEVER IT WAS YOU CHOSE TO BE WHATEVER YOUR TALENTS ALLOWED YOU TO BE BUT THAT NOTION OF OPPORTUNITY IS PREMISED ON AN UNCONFINED FREEDOM THAT, IN FACT, DOES NOT EXIS FOR THE ENTIRE POPULATION THAT EXISTS FOR ONLY A PART OF THE POPULATION.
Narrator: BY THE LATE 1730s ONE OUT OF EVERY SIX PEOPLE LIVING IN THE COLONIES WAS A SLAVE.
WHILE LESS THAN A QUARTER OF THE WHITE POPULATION OWNED SLAVES THE AFRICAN TRADE CREATED AN ECONOMY THAT GAVE RISE TO OTHER FLOURISHING INDUSTRIES IN THE NORTH: SHIPBUILDING, IRON FOUNDRIES, SAWMILLS RUM DISTILLERIES AND SAIL MAKING.
AND AMONG THE WELL-TO-DO FAMILIES OF THE SOUTH SLAVE LABOR WAS A WAY OF LIFE THAT BEGAN AT THE CRADLE AND ENDED AT THE GRAVE.
Man: "I, AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON, BEING SICK AND WEAK "BUT OF PERFECT SENSE AND MEMORY "DO MAKE MY LAS WILL AND TESTAMEN "IN THE MANNER FOLLOWING: "I GIVE UNTO MY SON LAWRENCE WASHINGTON AND HIS HEIRS FOREVER "ALL THAT PLANTATION AND TRAC OF LAND AT HUNNINGTON CREEK "ALL THE SLAVES, CATTLE AND STOCK OF ALL KINDS WHATSOEVER.
"I GIVE UNTO MY DAUGHTER BETTY "A NEGRO CHILD NAMED BETTY, DAUGHTER OF JUDY.
"I GIVE UNTO MY SON GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS HEIRS "THE LAND I NOW LIVE ON, WHICH I PURCHASED "AND TEN NEGRO SLAVES.
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN.
" Man: WELL, WASHINGTON, FROM THE TIME HE WAS 11 YEARS OLD OWNED HUMAN BEINGS.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT HE GREW UP WITH, CERTAINLY AND IT ALL REVOLVED IN HIS FAMILY AS MOST FAMILIES IN THE CHESAPEAKE, AROUND AGRICULTURE AND THE LABOR REQUIRED TO GROW LARGE QUANTITIES OF TOBACCO WHICH IS A VERY LABOR-INTENSIVE CROP.
SO FROM A VERY EARLY AGE WASHINGTON WAS SURROUNDED BY SLAVES.
HIS PARENTS OWNED SLAVES HIS GRANDPARENTS HAD BEEN SLAVE OWNERS HIS OLDER BROTHERS WERE SLAVE OWNERS.
SLAVE OWNING WAS COMMON IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA WHERE WASHINGTON GREW UP.
IT WAS JUS AN ACCUSTOMED PART OF LIFE.
Narrator: GEORGE WASHINGTON GREW UP AMONG VIRGINIA'S SLAVEHOLDING ARISTOCRACY.
THOUGH HE WAS A FOURTH-GENERATION AMERICAN HE FASHIONED HIMSELF IN THE MOLD WITH DANCING LESSONS AND FENCING LESSONS.
LIKE MOST WEALTHY VIRGINIANS, WASHINGTON LOOKED TO ENGLAND FOR SOCIAL CUSTOM, ARCHITECTURE, MUSIC AND TASTE.
THE BOOK HE STUDIED MOST WAS RULES OF CIVILITY AND DECENT BEHA VIOR IN COMPANYAND CONVERSATION A SELF-IMPROVEMENT MANUAL COMPILED FOR 16th-CENTURY NOBLEMEN.
BUT 3,000 MILES OF OCEAN SEPARATED THE COLONIES FROM BRITAIN AND AMERICANS WERE MOVING TOWARDS AN IDENTITY THAT WAS ALL THEIR OWN.
AMBITIOUS MEN LIKE WASHINGTON'S FATHER HAD MARRIED INTO WEALTH BOUGHT SLAVES, CLEARED THE LAND AND FARMED IT FOR PROFIT.
THEIR SONS WOULD DO THE SAME.
Man: "DEAR SIR, I WILL TAKE SIX OR MORE NEGROES "IF YOU CAN SPARE SUCH "UPON THE TERMS OFFERED IN YOUR LETTER.
"IF YOU AGREE TO I AND WILL APPOINT A TIME "I WOULD SEND FOR THEM "RELYING ON YOUR WORD THAT THE WHOLE ARE HEALTHY "AND NONE OF THEM ADDICTED TO RUNNING AWAY.
"THE LATTER I ABOMINATE "AND UNHEALTHY NEGROES, WOMEN OR CHILDREN WOULD NOT SUIT MY PURPOSE ON ANY TERMS.
" GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Narrator: IN COLONIAL AMERICA, THE ACQUISITION OF LAND AND SLAVES SERVED AS A CRUCIAL STEP TOWARDS POWER AND INFLUENCE.
ONLY MEN OF PROPERTY HELD THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
THEY WERE THE STATESMEN, THEY WERE THE MAGISTRATES.
WIVES AND DAUGHTERS WERE EXPECTED TO LIVE UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF A MALE HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD.
IT WAS A SOCIETY IN WHICH EVERYONE, FREE OR UN-FREE WAS EXPECTED TO KNOW HIS PLACE.
Smith: "I WAS PRETTY MUCH EMPLOYED IN THE HOUSE "CARDING WOOL AND OTHER HOUSEHOLD BUSINESS.
"MY BEHAVIOR HAD BEEN AS YET OBEDIENT AND SUBMISSIVE.
"I THEN BEGAN TO HAVE HARD TASKS IMPOSED ON ME "OR BE RIGOROUSLY PUNISHED.
I WAS ABOUT NINE YEARS OLD.
" VENTURE SMITH.
Narrator: AS A BOY, VENTURE SMITH WAS LEARNING THE PLACE OF A SLAVE ON A SMALL FARM IN RHODE ISLAND.
LIKE MOST CHILDREN WHO WERE SLAVES IN THE NORTH HE WAS GROWING UP IN THE HOUSE OF A WHITE FAMILY LABORING UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF HIS OWNERS.
Woman: CHILDREN WERE MORE LIKELY TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE HOUSEHOLD.
YOU'RE HELPING SOMEONE, SO YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO DO WHATEVER THAT THING, THA TASK IS, THAT ARTISAN TRADE.
YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO BE USED IN THE HOUSEHOLD BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE NOT A THREAT.
YOU'RE A CHILD.
UM, YOU'RE SEEN AS MORE EDUCABLE IN THE WAYS OF THE SLAVE SOCIETY.
SOME PEOPLE, SOME SLAVEHOLDERS THINK THAT CHILDREN WILL BE MORE PASSIVE.
Narrator: AS HE CAME INTO HIS TEENS VENTURE GREW LARGE FOR HIS AGE A BOY IN A MAN'S BODY.
AT SIX FOOT ONE AND UPWARDS OF 230 POUNDS HE BEGAN TO TES THOSE WHO TRIED TO CONTROL HIM.
Smith: "MY MASTER'S SON JAMES WOULD COME TO ME, BIG WITH AUTHORITY "AND ORDER ME TO DO THIS BUSINESS AND THAT BUSINESS "DIFFERENT FROM WHAT MY MASTER HAD DIRECTED.
THESE BURDENS WERE VERY GRIEVOUS TO ME.
" "ONE PARTICULAR DAY, I CAST A DEAF EAR.
" "HE BROKE OUT INTO A GREAT RAGE AND WENT TO LAY ME OVER THE HEAD WITH A PITCHFORK.
" "I DEFENDED MYSELF" "OTHERWISE HE MIGHT HAVE MURDERED ME IN HIS OUTRAGE.
"HE IMMEDIATELY CALLED SOME PEOPLE "TO TAKE A ROPE AND BIND ME WITH IT.
IN VAIN THEY ALL TRIED.
" Narrator: AS THE FIGHT RAGED ON JAMES MUMFORD RAN FROM THE BARN TO CALL FOR MORE HELP.
Smith: "AS I RECOVERED MY TEMPER, I WAS BOUND "AND WAS CARRIED BEFORE MY YOUNG MASTER THAT HE MIGHT DO WHAT HE PLEASED WITH ME.
" Narrator: A WHIP WAS FASHIONED FROM THE BRANCHES OF A NEARBY PEACH TREE AND BROUGH TO HIS WOULD-BE YOUNG MASTER BUT JAMES MUMFORD DARED NO RAISE HIS HAND TO VENTURE AGAIN.
THE WHIP WAS NEVER USED.
Davis: WE HAVE INNUMERABLE EXAMPLES OF SLAVEHOLDERS MAKING PROTESTATIONS ABOU A PARTICULAR SLAVE NOT BEHAVING RECOGNIZING THE PERSONALITY OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ENSLAVED.
THEY DO HAVE THEIR OWN MINDS.
THEY WILL EXERCISE THEIR OWN WILLS.
ALTHOUGH THE INDIVIDUAL EXERCISE OF THEIR OWN MINDS THE INDIVIDUAL EXERCISE OF THEIR OWN WILLS DOES NOT RELEASE THEM FROM THAT SOCIAL STRATUM THAT SLAVERY HAS IMPOSED, THAT THE SOCIETY HAS IMPOSED BY DECLARING THOSE PERSONS TO BE SLAVES.
Narrator: IN 1750, VENTURE TURNED 22 AND MARRIED A WOMAN NAMED MEG.
TRADITION HAS IT THAT ON THE OCCASION OF THEIR MARRIAGE A ROPE WAS THROWN OVER THEIR MASTER'S HOUSE.
VENTURE PULLED AT ONE END WHILE MEG PULLED AT THE OTHER.
AFTER BOTH HAD TUGGED FOR A WHILE, MEG JOINED VENTURE AND TOGETHER, THEY PULLED THE ROPE OVER WITH EASE.
"IF WE PULL IN LIFE AGAINST EACH OTHER WE SHALL FAIL," HE SAID "BUT IF WE PULL TOGETHER WE SHALL SUCCEED.
" AT YEAR'S END, MEG GAVE BIRTH TO A BABY GIRL.
THEY NAMED HER HANNAH.
Woman: THIS GENERATION WON'T KNOW AFRICA IN THE SAME WAY THAT THEIR PARENTS KNEW AFRICA.
THE CHILD ALSO WON'T KNOW FREEDOM IN THE SAME WAY THAT A PARENT KNEW FREEDOM.
BECAUSE A CHILD SEES DAILY THE WHIPPINGS, THE BRUTALITY OF THE SYSTEM SEES THEIR PARENTS COMING UNDER THE AUTHORITY COMING UNDER THE RULE OF THE WHIP OF THE OVERSEER EVEN SO IT'S VERY DIFFICULT.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I THINK PARENTS TEACH CHILDREN WHAT IS TO BE CHERISHED ABOUT THE SLAVE COMMUNITY AND THAT'S FAMILY, THAT'S RELIGION AND THAT'S TOGETHERNESS.
Narrator: BY THE YEAR OF HANNAH'S BIRTH NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF THE SLAVE POPULATION HAD BEEN BORN ON AMERICAN SOIL.
AFRICANS WERE SLOWLY BECOMING A NEW PEOPLE IN A NEW PLACE.
Men's choir: # I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS # SAY COME UNTO ME AND REST.
Man: "COME UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN "AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST.
"TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU, AND LEARN OF ME "FOR I AM MEEK AND LOWLY IN HEART: "AND YE SHALL FIND RES UNTO YOUR SOULS FOR MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT.
" THE BOOK OF MATTHEW.
Narrator: DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE 18th CENTURY A MOVEMENT OF WHITE, EVANGELICAL MINISTERS MADE THEIR WAY THROUGH VIRGINIA, THE CAROLINAS, GEORGIA AND PARTS OF NEW ENGLAND.
THEIR SERMONS WERE A DIRECT CHALLENGE TO AN ESTABLISHED RELIGIOUS ORDER IN WHICH GOD SPOKE ONLY THROUGH A PRIES A BISHOP, OR A CHURCH OFFICIAL.
THESE TRAVELING MINISTERS SOUGHT TO REMOVE CHRISTIANITY FROM THE ELEVATED HANDS OF THE CLERGY AND PLACE I IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF FARMHANDS, LABORERS, AND SERVANTS.
Man: THIS WAS NOT A DISTANT, FAR AWAY GOD IN SOME KIND OF INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH BUT IT WAS A GOD, SAID THE EVANGELICALS INVOLVED IN THE DAILY LIVES OF PEOPLE INVOLVED IN EVERY THOUGH AND EVERY DEED OF YOUR LIFE.
Narrator: THEMES OF TYRANNY, SLAVERY AND SPIRITUAL COMMUNION STRUCK A CHORD IN POOR WHITES AND SLAVES ALIKE.
THOUSANDS FLOCKED TO HEAR THE NEW GOSPEL AND THE MOVEMENT BECAME KNOWN AS "THE GREAT AWAKENING.
" Blight: THERE'D NEVER BEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.
HERE'S A MEETING OF 3,000 PEOPLE OUT IN A FIELD BLACKS AND WHITES TOGETHER, LISTENING TO A PREACHER WHO SAYS, "HERE IN MY MESSAGE AND HERE IN MY STORIES "IS A NEW LIFE FOR YOU.
"HERE'S A NEW CHANCE FOR YOU.
"HERE'S A GOD WHO HAS YOUR INTEREST AT HEART.
HERE'S A GOD WHO MAY DELIVER YOU.
" Narrator: THOUGH MOS BLACK PEOPLE IN THE COLONIES HELD ON TO TRADITIONAL AFRICAN BELIEFS THAT THEY OR THEIR PARENTS HAD CARRIED ACROSS THE OCEAN THE GREAT AWAKENING PRODUCED A SMALL GROUP OF BLACK, CHRISTIAN MINISTERS.
THESE MEN FUSED PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY WITH WEST AFRICAN RITUAL TO TAKE A GOSPEL OF LIBERATION TO THEIR FELLOW SLAVES.
OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS, THEIR NUMBERS WOULD GROW.
Man: "I LIVED A BAD LIFE AND HAD NO SERIOUS THOUGHT ABOUT MY SOUL.
"I SAW MYSELF AS A MASS OF SIN.
"I WAS SIN.
"I COULD NOT READ AND HAD NO SCRIPTURES.
"THEN I HEARD BROTHER GEORGE LIELE "A MAN OF MY OWN COLOR PREACH.
"HIS SERMON WAS VERY SUITABLE "ON 'COME UNTO ME ALL YE THA LABOR AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST.
' INDEED, HIS WHOLE DISCOURSE SEEMED FOR ME.
" DAVID GEORGE.
SLAVEHOLDERS WERE VERY WARY OF MISSIONARIES GOING AMONGST THE AFRICANS AND BAPTIZING THEM BECAUSE FOR AFRICANS THAT REPRESENTED A RITE OF PASSAGE, A TRANSITION.
SOMETHING HAD TO CHANGE.
Narrator: THE RENOWNED PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER SAMUEL DAVIES SOUGHT TO CALM SLAVEHOLDER'S ANXIETIES BY STATING THAT "THERE WAS NEVER A GOOD CHRISTIAN YE WHO WAS A BAD SERVANT.
" BUT TALK OF NATURAL RIGHTS AND SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP WOULD CHARGE PEOPLE TO STEP FORWARD AND QUESTION AUTHORITY.
ONE SUCH CONFRONTATION OCCURRED IN 1752 IN THE KITCHEN OF A SMALL RHODE ISLAND FARMHOUSE.
IT WAS AN ARGUMENT BETWEEN A WHITE WOMAN AND HER SLAVES.
Smith: "I WAS THEN AT WORK IN THE BARN.
"THE QUARREL BEGAN BETWEEN MY WIFE AND MY MISTRESS.
"THIS HAPPENED WHEN MY MASTER WAS GONE.
"WHEN I ENTERED THE HOUSE, I FOUND MY MISTRESS IN A VIOLENT PASSION WITH MY WIFE.
" VENTURE SMITH.
Ruffins: MANY, MANY PEOPLE WHETHER THEY WERE BLACK OR WHITE WHETHER THEY WERE RICH OR POOR WERE QUESTIONING THE LIMITS OF AUTHORITY.
SO VENTURE'S WIFE IS LIVING DURING THIS ERA IN WHICH QUESTIONING IS MORE POSSIBLE THAN AT SOME OTHER TIMES.
WHAT WE SEE HERE IS AN ARGUMEN BETWEEN THE MISTRESS AND A SLAVE AND ONE MIGHT SAY, "WELL, WHA COULD THEY BE ARGUING ABOUT?" CLEARLY THE MISTRESS SAYS, "DO SO" AND THE SLAVE MEEKLY, HUMBLY DOES SO.
WELL, THAT WAS NOT THE CASE.
Smith: "I EARNESTLY REQUESTED MY WIFE "TO BEG PARDON OF HER MISTRESS FOR THE SAKE OF PEACE.
"BUT WHILST I WAS THUS SAYING, MY MISTRESS TURNED THE BLOWS "WHICH SHE WAS REPEATING ON MY WIFE TO ME.
I IMMEDIATELY COMMITTED THE WHIP TO THE DEVOURING FIRE.
" Narrator: WHEN VENTURE'S OWNER RETURNED HOME HE SOUGHT TO PUNISH HIS SLAVE BY SNEAKING UP ON HIM FROM BEHIND AND STRIKING HIM WITH A CLUB.
VENTURE THREW HIS MASTER TO THE FLOOR AND BEAT HIM SOUNDLY.
THE TOWN CONSTABLE WAS SUMMONED AND VENTURE WAS TAKEN TO A BLACKSMITH'S SHOP WHERE HE WAS FITTED FOR A PAIR OF IRON SHACKLES.
Smith: "I CONTINUED TO WEAR THE CHAIN PEACEABLY FOR TWO OR THREE DAYS.
"NOT ANYONE SAID MUCH TO ME "UNTIL ONE HEMPSTEAD MINER OF STONINGTON "ASKED ME IF I WOULD LIVE WITH HIM "AND THAT IN RETURN HE WOULD GIVE ME A GOOD CHANCE "TO GAIN MY FREEDOM.
I SAID THAT I WOULD.
" Ruffins: SELLING A SLAVE OFF IS A MAJOR FORM OF CONTROL.
ONE PERSON MIGHT SAY, I KNOW I CAN'T CONTROL THIS PERSON SO I'M GOING TO SELL THEM TO, YOU KNOW, JOE SMITH NEXT DOOR BECAUSE HE'S BIGGER, HE'S STRONGER HE'S MORE WILLING TO BE BRUTAL, HE'S WHATEVER IT IS.
I CAN, SORT OF, BASICALLY CASH OUT.
I CAN GET MY MONEY OUT OF THE SITUATION AND LEAVE THE PROBLEMATIC ISSUE OF CONTROLLING THIS PERSON TO SOMEONE ELSE.
Narrator: DESPITE HIS PROMISE, VENTURE'S NEW OWNER HAD NO INTENTION OF EVER GRANTING HIM FREEDOM.
BECAUSE VENTURE HAD FOUGH VIOLENTLY WITH WHITES ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION HIS NEW OWNER QUICKLY SOLD HIM AGAIN TO AN UNSUSPECTING BUYER FROM CONNECTICUT.
Smith: "I LEFT MY WIFE AND CHILDREN.
"THIS WAS THE THIRD TIME OF MY BEING SOLD.
"TO THIS PLACE I BROUGHT WITH ME THREE OLD SPANISH DOLLARS "2,000 OF COPPERS "AND FIVE POUNDS OF MY WIFE'S MONEY "WHICH I BURIED IN THE EARTH.
I WAS THEN 31 YEARS OLD.
" VENTURE SMITH.
Man: "A PLANTATION WITH 70 SLAVES ON I "IS ESTEEMED AS GOOD PROPERTY.
"WHEN A MAN MARRIES OFF HIS DAUGHTER "HE NEVER TALKS OF THE FORTUNE IN MONEY BUT 20 OR 30 OR 40 SLAVES.
" ROYAL GOVERNOR WILLIAM TRYON.
Narrator: ON HER WEDDING DAY, A WOMAN IN THE COLONIES COULD EXPECT TO RELINQUISH CONTROL OF ANY PROPERTY THAT SHE OWNED TO HER HUSBAND.
AT THE TIME OF HER SECOND MARRIAGE MARTHA DANDRIDGE CUSTIS WAS RUMORED TO BE THE WEALTHIEST WIDOW IN VIRGINIA.
HER INTENDED WAS A MILITARY HERO WITH A PROMISING CAREER IN POLITICS.
THE TWO HAD SPENT FEWER THAN THREE WEEKS TOGETHER IN ALL OF THEIR LIVES.
ON A BITTERLY COLD DAY IN JANUARY OF 1759 MARTHA DANDRIDGE CUSTIS AND GEORGE WASHINGTON WERE WED.
Ferling: WASHINGTON WAS AN UP-AND-COMING MEMBER OF THE VIRGINIA ARISTOCRACY.
HE WAS NOT A TERRIBLY WEALTHY PLANTER OR ARISTOCRA BUT AN INDIVIDUAL WHO CERTAINLY HAD THE POTENTIAL FOR BEING A WEALTHY PLANTER.
SO HE'D MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF BUT HE NEVER HAD THAT KIND OF MONEY THAT THIS MARRIAGE BROUGHT TO HIM.
Narrator: THE AVERAGE PLANTER OWNED TWO OR THREE SLAVES AND FARMED 200 ACRES OF TOBACCO.
WITH HIS MARRIAGE TO MARTHA CUSTIS WASHINGTON INCREASED HIS SLAVEHOLDINGS NINE TIMES OVER ADDING 286 SLAVES TO THE 30 HE ALREADY OWNED.
IN ADDITION, HE GAINED CONTROL OF 17,000 ACRES OF FARMLAND PLACING HIM AMONG THE TEN WEALTHIEST PLANTERS IN VIRGINIA.
IT WAS A FORTUNE HE GUARDED CLOSELY.
TO CLOTHE EACH ADULT SLAVE WASHINGTON SPENT LESS THAN A DOLLAR A YEAR.
CHILDREN OFTEN WENT NAKED.
IN THE FALL OF 1759 WASHINGTON'S SLAVES HARVESTED HIS FIRST TOBACCO CROP.
WITH GREAT HOPES, HE SHIPPED THE GOODS TO ENGLAND BUT WASHINGTON SOON RECEIVED BAD NEWS.
HIS TOBACCO COULD NOT COMMAND A DECENT PRICE ON THE BRITISH MARKET.
WITHIN TWO YEARS, HE WAS DEEPLY IN DEBT.
HE WAS NOT ALONE.
THERE WAS A GROWING PATTERN OF DEB THROUGHOUT THE BRITISH EMPIRE, AND WITHIN TEN YEARS ITS EFFECTS WOULD HELP TURN AMERICAN COLONISTS AGAINST THEIR KING.
IN MARCH OF 1765, PARLIAMENT PASSED THE STAMP ACT.
IT WAS THE FIRST DIRECT TAX LEVIED AGAINST THE COLONIES.
BRITISH POLITICIANS REASONED THAT AMERICANS HAD GROWN PROSPEROUS UNDER THE KING'S PROTECTION.
NOW IT WAS TIME TO PAY THE CROWN BACK.
COLONISTS PROTESTED VIOLENTLY AND REFUSED TO BUY THE GOVERNMENT STAMPS.
IN NEW YORK, A HOWLING MOB ATTACKED THE BRITISH FOR AND FORCED THE OFFICER IN CHARGE TO BURN THE STAMPED PAPER.
IN BOSTON, THE STAMP DISTRIBUTOR WAS HANGED IN EFFIGY.
THE HOUSES OF TAX COLLECTORS WERE PILLAGED AND DESTROYED.
IN CHARLESTON A CITY THAT WAS 60% BLACK WHITE TRADESMEN TOOK TO THE STREETS WITH THE CRY OF "LIBERTY, LIBERTY.
" BLACK MEN AND WOMEN GATHERED PUBLICLY AND BEGAN TO SHOU "LIBERTY, LIBERTY" THEMSELVES.
FRIGHTENED CITY OFFICIALS CALLED FOR ARMED PATROLS THROUGHOUT THE PROVINCE.
Man: IF YOU'RE A BLACK RESIDENT IN CHARLESTON SEEING THE SONS OF LIBERTY MARCH DOWN BROAD STREE WITH FLAGS THAT SAY "LIBERTY, LIBERTY" ACROSS THEM YOU CAN IDENTIFY WITH THAT, YOU CAN RELATE TO THA YOU CAN SEE THAT AS AN OPENING THROUGH WHICH YOU CAN PUSH YOUR DESIRE FOR LIBERTY AS WELL.
Narrator: THE YEAR OF THE STAMP AC VENTURE BOUGHT HIMSELF OUT OF SLAVERY.
HE PAID HIS MASTER L71 AND TWO SHILLINGS THE COST OF ROUGHLY 4,000 ACRES OF LAND.
IT WAS A RARE ACHIEVEMEN FOR A SLAVE ANYWHERE.
IN ALL OF THESE NARRATIVES VENTURE SMITH'S AND OTHER NARRATIVES THAT WE HAVE FROM THIS ERA AND FROM LATER THE THE EMOTIONAL, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL, THE SPIRITUAL THE RELIGIOUS IMPORT OF BEING FREE CANNOT BE OVERSTATED.
Smith: "BEING 36 YEARS OLD, I LEF COLONEL SMITH ONCE MORE FOR ALL.
"I HAD ALREADY BEEN SOLD THREE DIFFERENT TIMES "HAD BEEN CHEATED OUT OF A LARGE SUM OF MONEY "LOST MUCH BY MISFORTUNES AND PAID AN ENORMOUS SUM FOR MY FREEDOM.
" Narrator: THE COMING OF FREEDOM WAS A MOMENT SO PROFOUND THAT THE NEWLY FREE OFTEN ATTRIBUTED THEIR GOOD FORTUNE TO DIVINE INTERVENTION AND COMMITTED THEIR LIVES TO CHRIST FROM THAT MOMENT ON.
EMANCIPATION WAS REBIRTH.
LIKE MANY FORMER SLAVES, VENTURE SOON SOUGHT TO FREE HIS FAMILY.
HE BEGAN HIS NEW LIFE BY CUTTING WOOD AND HAULING GOODS ALONG THE CONNECTICUT RIVER.
Ruffins: THEY'RE HEARING AROUND THEM ALL THE TIME IDEAS ABOUT FREEDOM AND LIBERTY AND EQUALITY BECAUSE THIS IS THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA IN AMERICAN LIFE.
SO THEY ARE THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM BEGINS TO PARALLEL THIS LARGER NATIONAL RHETORIC OF FREEDOM THAT LEADS TO THE ESTABLISHMEN OF THE UNITED STATES.
SO FOR PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY IN NEW ENGLAND PARTICULARLY IN THIS ERA THEY SEE THEIR FREEDOM AS LINKED TO THE FREEDOM OF THE NATION.
Narrator: 28 YEARS AFTER BEING BROUGHT TO AMERICAN SHORES VENTURE WAS FREE.
BUT BY LAW, FREE NEGROES COULD NOT WALK THE STREETS OR TRAVEL THE WATERS AFTER 9:00 P.
M.
WITHOUT A PASS.
CONNECTICUT'S BLACK CODES PROHIBITED FREE NEGROES FROM INVITING A SLAVE OR AN INDIAN INTO THEIR HOMES.
IN BOSTON, A FREE BLACK PERSON COULD NOT EVEN CARRY A STICK OR A CANE UNLESS THEY COULD PROVE THAT IT WAS NEEDED FOR ACTUAL SUPPORT OF THE BODY.
AND THERE WAS ALWAYS THE THREAT OF BEING KIDNAPPED AND SOLD INTO SLAVERY.
VENTURE HAD PAID L71 FOR HIS FREEDOM BUT IT WOULD COST HIM MUCH MORE TO KEEP IT.
IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING THE STAMP AC COLONISTS RESISTED NEARLY EVERY TAX THAT THE CROWN IMPOSED.
IN 1768, A BRITISH FLEET DROPPED ANCHOR IN BOSTON HARBOR.
4,000 TROOPS CAME ASHORE IN MARCH OF 1770, OCCUPYING BRITISH TROOPS SHOT AND KILLED FIVE MEN DURING A CONFRONTATION IN THE STREETS OF BOSTON.
THE FIRST TO FALL WAS A RUNAWAY SLAVE NAMED CRISPUS ATTUCKS.
A FORMER DOCK WORKER WHO WAS KNOWN FOR NOT BEING AFRAID OF A FIGH ATTUCKS WAS SHOT TWICE THROUGH THE CHEST AND DIED ON THE SPOT.
SAMUEL ADAMS, A SAVVY PAMPHLETEER SEIZED UPON THE KILLINGS TO TURN HIS FELLOW COLONISTS AGAINST THE CROWN.
THROUGHOUT THE COLONIES MARCH 5, 1770 CAME TO BE KNOWN AS "THE BOSTON MASSACRE.
" Man: THESE MEN BECAME INSTAN MARTYRS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT.
THESE PEOPLE WERE EULOGIZED YEAR AFTER YEAR ON THE ANNIVERSARY AND THE TERMS IN WHICH THEY WERE UTILIZED BECAME MORE AND MORE SYMPATHETIC TO THEM.
THESE WERE, UM NOBLE MEN, IT CAME OUT.
THEY WERE FATHERS AND SONS NOT ONE OF THEM WAS MARRIED.
THEY WERE ALL BACHELORS.
THEY HAD NO CHILDREN BUT ALL OF THE ORPHANS THAT WERE LEFT FROM THEM.
THIS BECAME A CAUSE CELEBRE.
Man: "I SPEAK IT WITH GRIEF, I SPEAK IT WITH ANGUISH: "BRITONS ARE OUR OPPRESSORS.
"I SPEAK IT WITH SHAME, I SPEAK IT WITH INDIGNATION: WE ARE SLAVES.
" JOSIAH QUINCY, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.
QUITE NATURALLY, THE REAL SLAVES ARE GOING TO PICK UP ON THIS AND AS A REACTION TO THA AFRICAN AMERICANS BEGAN TO PROTEST THEMSELVES AND BEGAN TO ASSESS, AS THEY HAVE ALWAYS DONE A SITUATION THAT MIGHT BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LIBERTY.
THERE'LL BE PETITION AFTER PETITION TO THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONIAL ASSEMBLY AND THEN LATER TO THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS PETITIONS SENT BY AFRICAN SLAVES THEMSELVES SAYING THAT WE ARE DEMANDING THAT YOU GIVE US THE SAME KIND OF FREEDOM THAT YOU ARE DEMANDING FROM ENGLAND.
Man 1: "THE HUMBLE PETITION OF MANY SLAVES LIVING IN THE TOWN OF BOSTON IS THIS" Man 2: "WE EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM MEN WHO HAVE MADE SUCH A NOBLE STAND AGAINST THE DESIGNS OF THEIR FELLOW MEN TO ENSLAVE THEM.
" Man 3: "WE HAVE NO PROPERTY! WE HAVE NO CITY! NO COUNTRY!" Man 4: "THE DIVINE SPIRI OF FREEDOM SEEMS TO FIRE EVERY HUMANE BREAS ON THE CONTINENT.
" Narrator: IN 1772, A BRITISH JUDGE RULED THAT SLAVERY WAS ILLEGAL ON ENGLAND'S HOME SOIL.
IT WAS A DECISION THAT GRANTED IMMEDIATE FREEDOM TO MORE THAN 14,000 PEOPLE.
THOUGH THE RULING DID NOT APPLY TO THE BRITISH COLONIES IT WAS A SPARK OF HOPE FOR BLACK AMERICANS.
Wood: WORD OF THAT COURT DECISION FILTERS VERY QUICKLY TO NORTH AMERICA.
AND WE HAVE RUNAWAY ADS IN THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE SAYING "MY SLAVE DISAPPEARED LAST WEEK HEADING FOR THE COAS "HOPING TO GET ON A SHIP TO ENGLAND WHERE HE CAN ESTABLISH HIS FREEDOM.
" THAT'S HOW FAR WORD HAD SPREAD.
Narrator: THE FOLLOWING YEAR, A LONDON PUBLISHER RELEASED A BOOK BY A 20-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN POE NAMED PHILLIS WHEATLEY.
SHE HAD BEEN BORN IN AFRICA AND ABDUCTED INTO SLAVERY DURING HER CHILDHOOD.
SHE WAS PURCHASED AS A HOUSE SERVANT BY A BOSTON FAMILY WHO TAUGHT HER TO READ AND WRITE WHILE INTRODUCING HER TO THE BIBLE.
AND SOON ADVANCED TO LATIN AND GREEK.
HER OWNERS TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN HER.
THEY SPOKE OF THEIR PHILLIS AS IF SHE WERE ONE OF THE FAMILY AND THEY INVITED THE LEADING INTELLECTUALS OF BOSTON TO COME AND MEE THIS MOST UNUSUAL SLAVE.
Man: IT CAN BE VERY CONFUSING TALKING ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS THE HUMOR, THE ACTS OF KINDNESS THAT WE KNOW SLAVES HAD FOR PARTICULAR OWNERS AND WE KNOW THAT PARTICULAR OWNERS HAD FOR GROUPS OF SLAVES.
WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT, HOWEVER IS THE BIG PICTURE.
DID EVER ANY OF THOSE ACTS OR INSTANCES OF KINDNESS CHANGE THE THINKING OF A SLAVE TO MAKE HIM OR HER ACCEP THEIR COLLECTIVE BONDAGE AND ENSLAVEMENT? Washington: "SHOULD YOU, MY LORD, WHILE YOU PURSUE MY SONG "WONDER FROM WHENCE MY LOVE OF FREEDOM SPRUNG "ONCE FLOWED THESE WISHES FOR THE COMMON GOOD BY FEELING HEARTS ALONE BEST UNDERSTOOD.
" Wheatley: "I, YOUNG IN LIFE, BY SEEMING CRUEL FATE "WAS SNATCHED FROM AFRIC'S FANCY HAPPY SEA "WHAT PAIN EXCRUCIATING MUST MOLES "WHAT SORROWS LABOR IN MY PARENTS' BREAS "STEELED WAS THAT SOUL, AND BY NO MISERY MOVED THAT FROM A FATHER SEIZED HIS BABE BELOVED.
" "SUCH, SUCH WAS MY CASE.
AND CAN I THEN BUT PRAY OTHERS MAY NEVER FEEL TYRANNIC SWAY.
" Narrator: THE PUBLICATION OF HER BOOK MADE WHEATLEY A LITERARY SENSATION BUT IT DID NOT MAKE HER FREE.
ON THE EVE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION SHE WAS ONE OF 500,000 SLAVES LIVING IN THE COLONIES.
Man: "THE DIE IS NOW CAST.
"THE COLONIES MUS EITHER SUBMIT OR TRIUMPH.
"I DO NOT WISH TO COME TO SEVERER MEASURES BUT WE MUST NOT RETREAT.
" KING GEORGE III TO LORD NORTH, SEPTEMBER 1774.
Narrator: ON APRIL 19, 1775 A DECADE OF TENSION BETWEEN CROWN AND COLONIES ERUPTED INTO FULL-SCALE WARFARE 20 MILES FROM BOSTON.
THAT DAY, NINE BLACK NEW ENGLANDERS FOUGH ALONGSIDE THEIR WHITE NEIGHBORS TO STOP AN ADVANCING COLUMN OF BRITISH TROOPS.
IN THE TOWN OF LEXINGTON A SMALL BAND OF MILITIAMEN FACED A HAIL OF BRITISH BULLETS LEAVING EIGHT COLONISTS DEAD.
THE NEWS TRAVELED QUICKLY.
AT THE TOWN OF CONCORD AMERICANS STOPPED THE BRITISH ADVANCE.
AND ON THE ROAD BACK TO BOSTON NEARLY 2,000 AMERICANS AMBUSHED THE BRITISH SOLDIERS.
HUNDREDS WERE KILLED AND WOUNDED AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION HAD BEGUN.
Ferling: THE COLONISTS STILL LOOKED UPON THEMSELVES AS COLONISTS WHO LIVED IN AMERICA SO THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF ATTACHMEN TO ONE'S PARTICULAR PROVINCE AND NO REAL ATTACHMEN AT THIS POIN TO A NOTION OF A UNITED STATES OR EVEN UNITED COLONIES.
Narrator: IN JUNE OF 1775, COLONIAL LEADERS NAMED GEORGE WASHINGTON TO COMMAND THE ARMY THAT WAS RAPIDLY FORMING ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BOSTON.
AS A VIRGINIAN IT WAS HOPED THAT HE WOULD INSPIRE SOUTHERNERS TO FIGHT IN A NEW ENGLAND WAR.
AS A RICH MAN, IT WAS THOUGH THAT HIS WILLINGNESS TO RISK LIFE AND LIMB MIGHT SERVE AS AN EXAMPLE TO OTHERS.
WASHINGTON GUESSED THA THE CONFLICT WOULD BE SHOR SIX MONTHS AT THE MOST.
COLONIAL LEADERS WANTED TO SECURE BUT THEY HAD NO INTENTION OF LEAVING THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
George Washington: "WE MUST ASSERT OUR RIGHTS "OR SUBMIT TO EVERY IMPOSITION "THAT SHALL MAKE US TAME AND ABJECT SLAVES AS THE BLACKS WHICH WE RULE OVER WITH SUCH ARBITRARY SWAY.
" GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Narrator: AS WASHINGTON INSPECTED HIS TROOPS, HE WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THAT SLAVES AND FREE BLACK MEN HAD MUSTERED IN AMONG THE WHITE AMERICAN SOLDIERS OUTSIDE OF BOSTON.
WITHIN WEEKS AFTER TAKING COMMAND WASHINGTON RULED AGAINST RECRUITING SLAVES UNDER ANY CONDITIONS.
ON THE SUBJECT OF FREE BLACK SOLDIERS, HE WAS UNDECIDED.
WASHINGTON WAS ALSO A POLITICIAN AS WELL AS A GENERAL AND HE FELT THAT THE SIGH OF FORMER SLAVES OR OF AFRICAN AMERICANS BEARING ARMS MIGHT HAVE AN ADVERSE EFFEC IN DEEP SOUTHERN STATES.
GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS COUNSEL OF WAR DID NOT WANT BLACKS IN THE WAR, PERHAPS BECAUSE, UM IT WAS FELT THA IF THEY SERVED IN THE WAR THAT THEY WOULD BE ENTITLED TO THEIR FREEDOM AND THAT THIS WOULD BE A WAR FOR THE FREEDOM OF ALL PEOPLE IN THE COLONIES.
Wheatley: "IN EVERY HUMAN BREAS GOD HAS IMPLANTED A PRINCIPLE "WHICH WE CALL LOVE OF FREEDOM.
"IT IS IMPATIENT OF OPPRESSION AND PANTS FOR DELIVERANCE.
I WILL ASSERT THAT THE SAME PRINCIPLE LIVES IN US.
" "GOD GRANT DELIVERANCE.
" PHILLIS WHEATLEY.
Narrator: IN OCTOBER OF 1775, GEORGE WASHINGTON ORDERED HIS RECRUITING OFFICERS TO BAR BLACK AMERICANS, SLAVE OR FREE FROM FURTHER ENLISTMEN IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY.
THE AMERICANS WOULD HAVE TO FIND MANPOWER ELSEWHERE.
QUIETLY, THE BRITISH GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA PUT A PLAN IN MOTION TO STRIKE FEAR IN THE HEARTS OF AMERICAN SYMPATHIZERS.
HIS STRATEGY WAS TO INCITE AN ENEMY FROM WITHIN THEIR MIDST.
THIS ENEMY WORKED IN THEIR SHOPS, LIVED IN THEIR HOMES AND PUT THEIR CHILDREN TO BED.
Wood: THE BRITISH GOVERNOR, LORD DUNMORE, HINTS TO HIS BARBER THAT HE MIGHT FREE THE SLAVES IF IT COMES TO THAT.
HE'S LEAKING A RUMOR TO SEND A MESSAGE TO WHITE PLANTERS BUT ALSO TO SEND A MESSAGE TO BLACK SLAVES TO TEST THE WATER.
LO AND BEHOLD, 24 HOURS LATER THERE ARE HALF A DOZEN AFRICAN AMERICANS AT THE BACK DOOR OF THE I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S THE BACK DOOR OR THE FRONT DOOR THAT SHOW UP AT THE MANSION IN WILLIAMSBURG TO SAY, "WE'RE READY.
"IF WE CAN FIGH FOR OUR FREEDOM, WE'LL DO IT.
IF WE CAN JOIN" WITHIN SIX MONTHS, IN THE FALL OF 1775 DUNMORE ACTUALLY ISSUES A FORMAL PROCLAMATION TO THAT EFFECT.
Man: "AND I HEREBY DECLARE "ALL INDENTED SERVANTS AND NEGROES FREE "THAT ARE ABLE AND WILLING TO BEAR ARMS "JOINING HIS MAJESTY'S TROOPS AS SOON AS MAY BE "FOR SPEEDILY REDUCING THE COLONY TO A PROPER SENSE OF THEIR DUTY TO HIS MAJESTY'S CROWN.
" LORD DUNMORE, ROYAL GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA.
Narrator: AS A LIBERATION FEVER TRAVELED THROUGHOUT VIRGINIA AND BEYOND BLACK MOTHERS NAMED THEIR NEWBORN BABIES DUNMORE.
AS FAR AWAY AS PHILADELPHIA A NEWSPAPER REPORTED THE STORY OF A BLACK MAN WHO REFUSED TO STEP OFF THE SIDEWALK FOR A WHITE WOMAN SHOUTING, "WAI TILL LORD DUNMORE AND HIS BLACK REGIMENT COME.
" SLAVES IN THE COLONIES, IT SEEMED WOULD SOON HAVE THEIR DAY.
Woman: "HELL ITSELF COULD NO HAVE VOMITED ANYTHING MORE BLACK "THAN HIS DESIGN OF EMANCIPATING OUR SLAVES.
"WE KNOW NOT HOW FAR THE CONTAGION MAY SPREAD.
"THE FLAME RUNS LIKE WILDFIRE THROUGH THE SLAVES.
I KNOW NOT WHERE THESE TROUBLES MAY LEAD US.
" THE MORNING CHRONICLE, 1776.
Narrator: IN NEW YORK, ANGRY FARMERS ON LONG ISLAND BURNED DUNMORE IN EFFIGY AND WORRIED ABOUT SLAVES "BEING TOO FOND OF BRITISH TROOPS.
" IN THE FACE OF DUNMORE'S PROCLAMATION SOUTHERNERS WHO HAD BEEN LOYAL TO THE CROWN BECAME AMERICAN PATRIOTS OVERNIGHT.
THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE URGED SLAVES TO CLING TO THEIR KIND MASTERS CITING THE FACT THAT DUNMORE HIMSELF WAS A SLAVEHOLDER.
Wood: OBVIOUSLY DUNMORE'S PROCLAMATION RAISES THE ANTE FOR EVERYBODY.
IT CREATES THE POSSIBILITY OF A SERIOUS SLAVE UPRISING FOR FREEDOM.
Narrator: HUNDREDS OF SLAVES LEFT THEIR MASTERS TO JOIN THE BRITISH RANKS.
THOSE WHO REACHED DUNMORE WERE MADE ROYAL SOLDIERS IN WHAT HE CALLED HIS "ETHIOPIAN REGIMENT.
" THEY WERE GIVEN GUNS AND UNIFORMS THAT WERE INSCRIBED WITH THE MOTTO "LIBERTY TO SLAVES.
" George Washington: "IF THA MAN IS NOT CRUSHED BEFORE SPRING "HE WILL BECOME THE MOS FORMIDABLE ENEMY AMERICA HAS.
"HIS STRENGTH WILL INCREASE AS A SNOWBALL BY ROLLING "AND FASTER, IF SOME EXPEDIEN CANNOT BE HIT UPON "TO CONVINCE THE SLAVES AND SERVANTS OF THE IMPOTENCY OF HIS DESIGNS.
" GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Narrator: ACROSS THE COLONIES RESTRICTIONS WERE TIGHTENED ON MEETINGS OF SERVANTS SLAVES AND FREE BLACKS.
TO DISCOURAGE WHAT ONE SOUTH CAROLINA OFFICIAL DESCRIBED AS "HIGH NOTIONS OF LIBERTY" BLACKS WERE SUBJECTED TO CURFEWS AND BEATINGS.
SOME WERE MURDERED TO SERVE AS PUBLIC EXAMPLES.
YET ACCOUNTS CIRCULATED OF SLAVES STEALING THEIR MASTERS' HORSES AND RIDING TO LATE NIGHT MEETINGS.
STILL OTHERS STOLE WEAPONS AND FOOD, DESTROYED TOOLS AND RAN OFF TO LIVE AMONG THE INDIANS.
AFRICAN AMERICANS DON'T SIT IDLY BY WHILE THE WHITES ARE MURDERING AND DOING ALL KINDS OF THINGS TO CURTAIL THEIR FREEDOM.
THEY KNOW THAT THE COLONIES ARE IN TURMOIL AND THAT THE SITUATION OF ENSLAVEMEN IS SOMEWHAT INSECURE.
Narrator: WITH THE ONSET OF WAR, THOUSANDS OF BLACK AMERICANS SOUGH TO LOOSEN THE CHAINS THAT BOUND THEM.
David George: "WHEN THE AMERICAN WAR WAS COMING ON "THE MINISTERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO COME AMONGST US "LEST THEY SHOULD FURNISH US WITH TOO MUCH KNOWLEDGE.
"I USED TO GO TO THE LITTLE WHITE CHILDREN "TO TEACH ME A-B-C.
"THE READING RAN IN MY MIND "THAT I THINK I LEARNED IN MY SLEEP "AS READILY AS WHEN I WAS AWAKE.
"I CAN NOW READ THE BIBLE, SO WHAT I HAVE IN MY HEAR "I CAN SEE AGAIN IN THE SCRIPTURES.
"I WENT TO THE SWAMP AND POURED MY HEART OUT BEFORE THE LORD.
"I THEN CAME BACK TO BROTHER LIELE AND TOLD HIM MY CASE.
"IT GAVE ME GREAT RELIEF "AND I WENT HOME WITH A DESIRE FOR NOTHING ELSE BUT TO TALK TO THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS ABOUT THE LORD.
" DAVID GEORGE.
Narrator: BY 1775, DAVID GEORGE WAS PREACHING IN SILVER BLUFF, SOUTH CAROLINA.
DESPITE LAWS AGAINST ASSEMBLY CHRISTIAN CONVERSION WAS BEGINNING TO TAKE HOLD IN THE LIVES OF ENSLAVED WOMEN AND MEN AS NEVER BEFORE.
Man: "THE LORD JESUS, THE SAME NIGHT IN WHICH HE WAS BETRAYED "TOOK BREAD.
"AND WHEN HE HAD GIVEN THANKS, HE BROKE IT AND SAID "'TAKE, EAT: THIS IS MY BODY WHICH IS BROKEN FOR YOU.
DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.
'" Narrator: IN LITTLE OVER TEN YEARS' TIME BLACK CHRISTIANS IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, WOULD ESTABLISH THE FIRST AFRICAN BAPTIST CHURCH A PLACE OF THEIR OWN TO MEET AND WORSHIP.
IT WAS THE FIRST BLACK BAPTIST CHURCH IN AMERICA.
MANY AMONG THEM WERE THE DAUGHTERS AND SONS OF THOSE WHO HAD COME FROM AFRICA.
MOST OF THEIR PARENTS HAD REJECTED CHRISTIANITY BUT THEY WOULD CHOOSE DIFFERENTLY.
Man: THEY CAN RELATE TO DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN.
THEY CAN RELATE TO MOSES AND THIS CROSSING THE RIVER INTO A PROMISED LAND BECAUSE IN THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE OF LIFE THEY ARE IN A WILDERNESS, IN THIS BONDAGE AND AND LIFE, LIBERTY, UH, JOY ARE WITHIN REACH.
IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE AND THAT'S WHY THEY HAVE HOPE BECAUSE THIS LIFE IS JUST BEYOND THE RIVER.
IT'S RIGHT THERE, WE CAN GET THERE.
Man: "THIS CUP IS THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MY BLOOD.
DO THIS, YE, AS OFT AS YE DRINK IT, IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.
" FIRST CORINTHIANS, 11th CHAPTER, 25th VERSE.
Narrator: ON APRIL 6, 1776, THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS CALLED FOR A WARTIME HAL TO THE SLAVE TRADE.
THEIR MOTIVES WERE LARGELY ECONOMIC BUT THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS WERE CLEAR: IF THIS WERE TO BE A WAR FOR "THE RIGHTS OF MAN" THE SLAVE TRADE SHOULD PLAY NO PART.
Woman: "I WISH MOST SINCERELY THERE WAS NOT A SLAVE IN THE PROVINCE.
"IT HAS ALWAYS SEEMED TO ME "A MOST INIQUITOUS SCHEME TO FIGHT OURSELVES "FOR WHAT WE ARE DAILY ROBBING AND PLUNDERING FROM THOSE WHO HAVE AS GOOD A RIGHT TO FREEDOM AS WE.
" ABIGAIL ADAMS.
Narrator: THE EVENTS OF A DECADE HAD CAUSED A NUMBER OF WHITE AMERICANS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINS OPPRESSION OF ANY KIND.
AS COLONISTS DUG IN TO FIGHT THEIR WAR FOR LIBERTY MORAL INDIGNATION AGAINST SLAVERY SOARED.
Man: "BLUSH YE TRIFLING PATRIOTS "YE PRETENDED VOTARIES FOR FREEDOM! "FOR WHILE YOU ARE FASTING AND PRAYING "NON-IMPORTING, NON-EXPORTING "RESOLVING AND PLEADING FOR YOUR RIGHTS "YOU ARE CONTINUING "THIS LAWLESS, CRUEL, INHUMAN AND ABOMINABLE PRACTICE OF ENSLAVING YOUR FELLOW CREATURES.
" JOHN ALLEN, PREACHER.
Narrator: IN THE WORDS OF ONE COLONIST, "THE CONFLICT WITH ENGLAND "HAD SET PEOPLE A-THINKING IN SIX MONTHS MORE THAN THEY HAD DONE IN THEIR WHOLE LIVES BEFORE.
" Man: "WHEN IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS "IT BECOMES NECESSARY FOR ONE PEOPLE "TO DISSOLVE THE POLITICAL BONDS WHICH (reading trails off) Narrator: ON JULY 4 OF 1776 THE COLONIES PUBLISHED A FORMAL DECLARATION OF THEIR INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN.
IN IT, THEY RAILED AGAINST GEORGE III THEY STATED A BELIEF THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD REPRESEN THE PEOPLE AND NOT A KING.
THEIR REASONING WAS FORCEFUL AND ELOQUEN AND AT THE HEAR OF THEIR ARGUMEN LAY THE ASSERTION THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.
Man: AND IN JUST A FEW WORDS, IT CAPTURES THE ESSENCE: INALIENABLE RIGHTS RIGHTS NOT GIVEN TO YOU BY THE STATE BUT GIVEN TO YOU BY GOD.
"WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT.
" IN OTHER WORDS, DON'T TRY TO YOU DON'T HAVE TO PROVE THEM.
IT'S SELF-EVIDENT.
WHY IS IT SELF-EVIDENT? IT CAME FROM GOD.
THEY'RE INALIENABLE.
GOVERNMENT SECURES THEM.
REMARKABLE DOCUMENT.
IT DIDN'T APPLY TO BLACK FOLKS.
Narrator: THE PRINCIPAL AUTHOR WAS A 33-YEAR-OLD VIRGINIAN NAMED THOMAS JEFFERSON.
HE WAS A WEALTHY ARISTOCRAT WHO POSSESSED A TIRELESS INTELLECT.
AS A STUDENT OF POLITICS, JEFFERSON SOUGH TO DEFINE A DISTINCTLY AMERICAN VIEW OF FREEDOM.
HE BORROWED FROM ANCIENT GREEK DEMOCRACY, ROMAN REPUBLICANISM OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS TO SHAPE WHAT WOULD BECOME THIS NEW AMERICAN IDEAL.
YET, AT THE TIME HE WROTE THE DECLARATION THOMAS JEFFERSON HELD TITLE TO 202 HUMAN BEINGS AS HIS OWN PERSONAL PROPERTY.
WHILE HE WROTE THE VERY WORDS "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL" A SLAVE NAMED BOB HEMINGS WAITED NEARBY TO ATTEND TO JEFFERSON'S EVERY NEED.
THOMAS JEFFERSON KEPT SLAVES BUT THOMAS JEFFERSON NEVERTHELESS WROTE THOSE MARVELOUS WORDS AND HE UNDERSTOOD THE INCONSISTENCY OF THIS ALL BECAUSE HE ALSO WROTE SOME TIME LATER TO A FRIEND: "IF THERE IS A JUST GOD, WE'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS.
" Narrator: WITH HIS PEN, JEFFERSON HELPED CREATE THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATION OF AMERICAN LIBERTY.
THROUGH HIS SLAVE DEALINGS, HE WOULD VIOLATE THOSE PRINCIPLES ALMOST EVERY DAY OF HIS LIFE.
Ferling: MANY PEOPLE WOULD WRITE JEFFERSON DURING HIS LIFETIME ASKING HIM WHAT HE MEAN BY "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL" AND I DON'T THINK HE EVER GAVE A VERY SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION TO IT.
BUT WHAT REALLY MATTERED, I THINK WAS WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THOUGHT.
Man: "FROM WHAT AUTHORITY DO OUR MASTERS ASSUME "THE POWER TO DISPOSE OF OUR LIVES? "FREEDOM IS THE INHEREN RIGHT OF THE HUMAN SPECIES.
"WE FEEL THE DIGNITY OF HUMAN NATURE.
"WE FEEL THE PASSIONS AND DESIRES OF OTHER MEN.
"GIVE US AN OPPORTUNITY "OF EVINCING TO THE WORLD OUR LOVE OF FREEDOM "BY EXERTING OURSELVES IN THE CAUSE OF THE COUNTRY "IN WHICH WE OURSELVES HAVE BEEN SO IN JURIOUSLY OPPRESSED.
"FOR THE SAKE OF IN JURED LIBERTY, FOR THE SAKE OF JUSTICE "AND THE RIGHTS OF MANKIND "MAY THE NAME OF 'SLAVE' BE HEARD NO MORE IN A LAND GLORIOUSLY CONTENDING FOR THE SWEETS OF FREEDOM.
" SIGNED, NATIVES OF AFRICA, NOW DETAINED IN SLAVERY.
IT'S ALMOST AS IF THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WERE NOT ONLY NATURAL RIGHTS BUT THEY WERE LIKE NATURAL RESOURCES.
THEY WERE LIKE PRECIOUS ORE.
THEY WERE LIKE CLEAN AIR YOU COULD BREATHE AND NOW THEY WERE WRITTEN UP IN A FORMAL DOCUMENT THAT SAID THESE BELONG TO ALL MEN, THAT THEY'RE INALIENABLE THEY BELONG TO EVERYBODY.
Narrator: GEORGE WASHINGTON LEARNED OF THE DECLARATION ON JULY 9, 1776.
HE ASSEMBLED HIS TROOPS ON AN OPEN PARADE GROUND TO HEAR THE DOCUMENT READ ALOUD.
HIS HOPE WAS THAT THE NOTION OF INDEPENDENCE WOULD INSPIRE HIS MEN TO FIGHT ON.
WITHIN A YEAR AND A HALF HUNDREDS OF THOSE MEN WOULD DESERT HIM.
THE PAY WAS LOW, INFECTIOUS DISEASE WAS RAMPAN AND A LARGE NUMBER OF POOR WHITES STILL DID NOT SEE THIS CONFLIC AS THEIR REVOLUTION.
AT THE END OF 1777 GEORGE WASHINGTON WENT TO HIS WINTER CAMP AT VALLEY FORGE WITH 23,000 MEN.
BY MARCH, ONLY 18,000 REMAINED.
IN EARLY 1778, A RELUCTAN BUT DESPERATE WASHINGTON ENDORSED A PLAN TO RAISE A REGIMEN OF FREE BLACKS AND SLAVES IN RHODE ISLAND.
CONGRESS APPROVED.
FOR SLAVES, FREEDOM WAS THE PRIZE.
ACROSS THE FORMER COLONIES SLAVES WOULD COME READY TO BEAR ARMS IN EXCHANGE FOR THEIR FREEDOM.
MANY CHANGED THEIR NAMES TO REFLECT THEIR ASPIRATIONS POMP LIBERTY, DICK FREEDOM, JUPITER FREE, JEFFREY LIBERTY.
IN ALL, SOME 5,000 BLACK SOLDIERS WOULD SERVE ALONGSIDE WHITES IN AMERICA'S ARMY AND NAVY.
Powell: FOR A SLAVE TO SUDDENLY BE PROMISED FREEDOM FREEDOM! YOU WOULD BE GIVEN A UNIFORM, YOU WOULD BE GIVEN RATIONS YOU WOULD BE REASONABLY WELL FED AND WELL CARED FOR AND YOU WOULD BE PAR OF SOMETHING GREATER THAN A PLANTATION EXISTENCE.
YOU WERE PAR OF A NATIONAL EFFORT.
AND SO IT WAS UPLIFTING IN SO MANY WAYS.
IT TOOK YOU OUT OF THIS HORRIBLE SITUATION YOU WERE IN.
IT PUT YOU AT A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION.
IT GAVE YOU A PURPOSE IN LIFE YOU'RE SERVING SOMETHING.
THAT SOMETHING WAS A NATION THAT MIGHT NOT BE SERVING YOU IN THE PROPER WAY, BUT NEVERTHELESS YOU CAN MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE FUTURE.
Smith: "MY WIFE AND CHILDREN "WERE YET IN BONDAGE TO MR.
THOMAS STANTON.
"I PURSUED VARIOUS METHODS TO REDEEM MY FAMILY.
"IN FOUR YEARS, I CUT SEVERAL THOUSAND CORDS OF WOOD "I RAISED WATERMELONS AND PERFORMED MANY OTHER SINGULAR LABORS.
" VENTURE SMITH.
Narrator: IN THE YEARS AFTER HIS EMANCIPATION VENTURE AND MEG SMITH POOLED ANY MONEY THEY COULD EARN TOWARDS THE FREEDOM OF THEIR CHILDREN.
Smith: "I SHUNNED ALL KINDS OF LUXURIES.
"I BOUGHT NOTHING THA I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT WANT.
"AT 40 YEARS OF AGE, I PURCHASED SOLOMON AND CUFF "TWO SONS OF MINE, FOR $200 EACH.
THE REST OF MY MONEY I LAID OUT IN LAND.
" Narrator: AT A TIME WHEN A FREE BLACK PERSON COULD EXPEC LITTLE PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW VENTURE SOUGH TO UNDERGIRD HIS FREEDOM WITH LAND AND LABORERS.
HERE IN CONNECTICU HE BUILT THE FOUNDATION FOR HIS FAMILY'S HOME.
BUT BEFORE HE FREED HIS WIFE, BEFORE HE FREED HIS DAUGHTER VENTURE ENTERED INTO A BARGAIN WITH THE FIRS OF SEVERAL SLAVES.
Smith: "I BOUGHT A NEGRO MAN FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN TO OBLIGE HIM "AND GAVE L60 FOR HIM "BUT A SHORT TIME AFTER, HE RAN AWAY FROM ME "AND I LOST ALL THAT I GAVE FOR HIM EXCEPT FOR THE L20 HE PAID ME PREVIOUS TO HIS ABSCONDING.
" VENTURE SMITH.
IN SEEKING TO ACQUIRE MORE LABOR, HE PURCHASES SLAVES.
HE ATTESTS TO TREATING THEM VERY WELL AND THEN ALSO ATTESTS TO SURPRISE WHEN THEY GET UP AND LEAVE HIM SEEKING THEIR OWN FREEDOM.
Narrator: FEELING CHEATED AND BETRAYED, VENTURE TURNED TO HIS SONS.
Smith: "SOLOMON, MY ELDEST SON "AND ALL MY HOPE AND DEPENDENCE FOR HELP.
"I HIRED HIM OUT TO ONE CHARLES CHURCH OF RHODE ISLAND "FOR ONE YEAR.
"CHURCH INDUCED MY SON TO GO ON A WHALING VOYAGE.
"AS SOON AS I HEARD OF HIS GOING TO SEA "I IMMEDIATELY SET OU TO PREVENT I "BUT ON MY ARRIVAL, TO MY GREAT GRIEF "THE VESSEL WAS OUT OF SIGHT.
"MY SON DIED OF SCURVY IN THIS VOYAGE.
"BESIDES THE LOSS OF HIS LIFE, I LOST EQUAL TO L75 AS CHURCH HAS NEVER YET PAID ME HIS WAGES.
" VENTURE SMITH.
Narrator: WITH THE DEATH OF SOLOMON, VENTURE WORKED TO FREE HIS WIFE.
Smith: "I PURCHASED MY WIFE "AND THEREBY PREVENTED HAVING ANOTHER CHILD TO BUY "AS SHE WAS THEN PREGNANT.
I GAVE L40 FOR HER.
" Narrator: SOON AFTER HER EMANCIPATION MEG SMITH GAVE BIRTH TO THEIR FOURTH CHILD, A BOY.
THIS BABY MARKED A NEW BEGINNING FOR VENTURE AND MEG.
THIS BABY WAS FREE.
IN A GESTURE OF REMEMBRANCE, THEY NAMED HIM SOLOMON AFTER THE SON THEY HAD LOST AT SEA.
IN 1778, FRANCE SIGNED A FORMAL TREATY OF ALLIANCE WITH THE AMERICANS.
BY THE END OF THAT YEAR, THE BRITISH HIGH COMMAND KNEW THAT IF THEY WERE TO WIN THE WAR THEY WOULD HAVE TO INVADE THE SOUTH.
THEY BEGAN IN GEORGIA AND MOVED UP THE COAS TO CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.
THOUSANDS OF SLAVES JOINED THEM.
Washington: THE SITUATION WAS ESSENTIALLY UPHEAVAL.
THE WHITES WERE FLEEING THEIR PLANTATIONS AS THE BRITISH BEGAN TO MOVE INTO THE SOUTH SOMETIMES TRYING TO TAKE THEIR BONDPEOPLE WITH THEM OTHER TIMES JUST LEAVING THEM.
WHEN THEY LEFT THEM MANY OF THE AFRICAN AMERICANS TOOK OVER THE PLANTATION HOMES LOOTED THEM, TOOK ALL KINDS OF CLOTHING SO THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ELATION.
THERE WAS ALSO A QUESTION OF WHERE WERE THEY GOING.
Narrator: THOSE WHO RAN INTO THE WOODS RISKED EVERYTHING.
CAPTURE BY THE AMERICANS MEAN CERTAIN PUNISHMENT, EVEN DEATH AND THE WAY TO THE BRITISH WAS NOT CLEAR BUT THEY GATHERED THEIR CHILDREN, THEIR PARENTS AND THEIR COURAGE.
IT WAS A CHANCE AT A NEW LIFE.
Man: "I DETERMINED TO GO TO CHARLESTOWN "AND THROW MYSELF "THEY RECEIVED ME READILY "AND I BEGAN TO FEEL THE HAPPINESS OF LIBERTY "OF WHICH I KNEW NOTHING BEFORE, ALTHOUGH I WAS MOST GRIEVED "TO BE OBLIGED TO LEAVE MY FRIENDS AND REMAIN AMONG STRANGERS.
" BOSTON KING, CHARLESTOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA.
A MODERN CONCEPTION OF WAR DOES NOT BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THIS WAR WITH THIS LARGE TRAIN OF AFRICANS OF ALL DIFFERENT DESCRIPTIONS IN ALL KINDS OF TRANSPORTATION FOLLOWING THE BRITISH.
THE IDEA THAT THE BRITISH ARE A SAFE HAVEN IS IN AND OF ITSELF PROBLEMATIC.
THE BRITISH ARE DEEPLY IMPLICATED IN THE SLAVE TRADE.
UH, SLAVERY, AT THE TIME OF THE REVOLUTION SLAVERY IS STILL LEGAL IN THE BRITISH COLONIES.
SO THE IDEA THAT YOU ONE WOULD BE SAFER BEING WITH THE BRITISH THAN BEING WITH THE AMERICANS IS NOT NECESSARILY CLEAR.
Narrator: WHILE SERVING WITH THE BRITISH THOUSANDS OF FUGITIVE SLAVES CONTRACTED SMALLPOX.
BRITISH POLICY WAS THAT THE SICK BE TAKEN AWAY FROM CAMP WHERE UNTOLD NUMBERS PERISHED.
NEVERTHELESS, IN SOUTH CAROLINA MORE THAN 20,000 PEOPLE RISKED LIFE AND LIMB TO REACH THE BRITISH LINES.
IN THE SPRING OF 1781 A SMALL BRITISH FLEET MADE ITS WAY UP THE POTOMAC RIVER AND DROPPED ANCHOR IN THE WATERS OFF GEORGE WASHINGTON'S ESTATE.
THE SOLDIERS DEPARTED WITH FOOD, SUPPLIES 18 MOUNT VERNON SLAVES, AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE COMMANDER OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY COULD NOT PROTECT HIS OWN HOUSE.
THE BRITISH ARMY HAD WREAKED HAVOC IN THE SOUTH BUT THEIR STRING OF VICTORIES WAS COMING TO AN END.
FOR MOST OF THE WAR, GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS GENERALS HAD WAITED FOR THE MOMEN WHEN A MAJOR OFFENSIVE MIGHT CRIPPLE THE BRITISH ARMY AND CHANGE AMERICAN FORTUNES FOR GOOD.
THAT MOMENT CAME IN THE FALL OF 1781 AT A SMALL VIRGINIA TOBACCO PORT YORKTOWN.
Man: "OCTOBER 16, 1781.
"TODAY THERE WAS STUPENDOUS CANNONADING "ON BOTH SIDES.
"DURING THESE 24 HOURS "3,600 SHOTS WERE COUNTED FROM THE ENEMY "WHICH THEY FIRED AT THE TOWN, OUR LINE "AND THE SHIPS IN THE HARBOR.
"THE BOMBS HIT MANY INHABITANTS AND NEGROES OF THE CITY.
"ONE SAW MEN LYING NEARLY EVERYWHERE WHOSE HEADS, ARMS AND LEGS HAD BEEN SHOT OFF.
" JOHANN CONRAD DOEHLA, SOLDIER WITH THE BRITISH FORCES YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA.
Narrator: AT YORKTOWN, THE AMERICANS WERE JOINED BY A FRENCH NAVAL FLEE FROM THE WEST INDIES AND SEVERAL DETACHMENTS FROM THE FRENCH ARMY.
FOR DAYS, WARSHIPS BOMBARDED THE BRITISH ARMY WITH CONSTANT CANNON FIRE.
AS FOOD AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES BEGAN TO RUN LOW IN THE BRITISH RANKS HUNDREDS OF BLACK REFUGEES WERE DRIVEN FROM THEIR CAMP.
HALF-STARVED MEN AND WOMEN HID IN THE WOODS CAUGHT BETWEEN THE WINNING AND LOSING ARMIES.
Man: "WE HAD USED THEM TO GOOD ADVANTAGE AND SET THEM FREE.
"AND NOW WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING THEY HAD TO FACE THE REWARD OF THEIR CRUEL MASTERS.
" JOHAN EWALD, SOLDIER WITH THE BRITISH FORCES YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA.
Narrator: ON OCTOBER 17, 1781 22 DAYS AFTER THE SIEGE AT YORKTOWN HAD BEGUN CORNWALLIS, THE BRITISH COMMANDER, SURRENDERED.
THE SAME DAY, THE AMERICANS PLACED GUARDS ALL ALONG THE BEACH TO PREVENT FUGITIVE SLAVES FROM ESCAPING WITH THE BRITISH.
George Washington: "MANY NEGROES AND MULATTOS "HAVE CONCEALED THEMSELVES "ON BOARD THE SHIPS IN THE HARBOR.
"OTHERS HAVE ATTEMPTED TO IMPOSE THEMSELVES AS FREEMEN "TO MAKE THEIR ESCAPES.
"IN ORDER TO PREVEN THEIR SUCCEEDING "SUCH NEGROES ARE TO BE DELIVERED TO THE GUARDS WHICH WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOR THEIR RECEPTION.
" GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Narrator: THE DEFEAT AT YORKTOWN BROKE THE BACK OF THE BRITISH RESOLVE.
SEVEN YEARS OF WAR HAD GROWN COSTLY AND LOST SUPPORT IN LONDON.
AND POLITICIANS ALIKE TIME WAS RUNNING OUT.
FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AS THE BRITISH RETREATED ACROSS THE SOUTH ESCAPED SLAVES FOLLOWED THE GROUND FORCES AND CROWDED INTO SEAPORTS.
THERE THEY FOUGH TO GAIN PASSAGE ON SHIPS BOUND FOR THE BRITISH HEADQUARTERS IN NEW YORK CITY.
Boston King: "PEACE WAS RESTORED BETWEEN AMERICA AND GREAT BRITAIN "WHICH DIFFUSED UNIVERSAL JOY AMONG ALL PARTIES EXCEPT US.
"A REPORT PREVAILED THA ALL THE SLAVES, 2,000 IN NUMBER "WERE TO BE DELIVERED UP TO THEIR MASTERS.
"THIS DREADFUL RUMOR FILLED US WITH INEXPRESSIBLE ANGUISH "AND TERROR.
"WE SAW OUR OLD MASTERS COMING FROM VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA "AND OTHER PARTS, AND SEIZING UPON THEIR FORMER SLAVES "IN THE STREETS OF NEW YORK "OR EVEN DRAGGING THEM OUT OF THEIR BEDS.
"FOR DAYS, WE LOS OUR APPETITE FOR FOOD AND SLEEP DEPARTED FROM OUR EYES.
" BOSTON KING, FUGITIVE SLAVE.
Wood: IMAGINE THE SITUATION YOU HAVE IN NEW YORK CITY AT THE END OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
THOUSANDS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO HAVE MADE THEIR CHOICE TO JOIN THE BRITISH HAVE WATCHED THE BRITISH FAIL TO WIN THE WAR HAVE REALIZED THEY'VE BE ON THE WRONG SIDE AND FIND THEMSELVES HUDDLED WITH THESE DEFEATED BRITISH FORCES IN MANHATTAN.
THE BRITISH ARE ABOUT TO DEPART.
THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE MANY OF THESE PEOPLE WITH THEM.
WHO'S GOING TO GO? WHO'S GOING TO STAY? Narrator: IN EIGHT YEARS' TIME AS MANY AS 100,000 SLAVES HAD ESCAPED BONDAGE.
COMPILED A "BOOK OF NEGROES" AN INVENTORY OF EVERY WOMAN, MAN AND CHILD IN THE CITY WHO COULD PROVE THE LENGTH OF THEIR TIME WITH THE BRITISH.
3,000 NAMES ARE RECORDED IN ALL.
6,000 FORMER SLAVES BOARDED BRITISH SHIPS IN CHARLESTON.
ANOTHER 4,000 GAINED PASSAGE AT THE PORT OF SAVANNAH.
THOUSANDS WEN TO SPANISH FLORIDA.
OTHERS SAILED TO THE WEST INDIES.
THE WOMEN AND MEN WHO LEF FROM NEW YORK ELECTED TO SETTLE IN NOVA SCOTIA WHERE THEY WERE PROMISED FREEDOM AND A FARM BY BRITISH OFFICIALS.
IT WAS NOT TO BE.
WITHIN FOUR YEARS, PEOPLE WERE STARVING.
Washington: MANY THOUSANDS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO AIDED THE BRITISH LOST THEIR FREEDOM ANYWAY.
MANY OF THEM ENDED UP IN SLAVERY IN THE CARIBBEAN.
OTHERS, WHEN THEY ATTEMPTED TO LEAVE WITH THE BRITISH IN PLACES LIKE CHARLESTON AND SAVANNAH, WERE PREVENTED.
AND THERE ARE INCREDIBLE LETTERS WRITTEN BY SOUTHERNERS OF AFRICANS AFTER THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTON SWIMMING OUT TO BOATS AND THE BRITISH HACKING AWAY AT THEIR ARMS WITH CUTLASSES TO KEEP THEM FROM FOLLOWING THEM SO IT WAS A VERY TRAGIC SITUATION AND OF THE MANY THOUSANDS OF AFRICANS WHO LEFT THE PLANTATIONS NOT MANY OF THEM ACTUALLY GO THEIR FREEDOM.
Man: "I AM A POOR NEGRO WHO WITH MYSELF AND MY CHILDREN "HAVE HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO GET MY FREEDOM.
"I AM TOLD THAT THEY ARE GOING TO PASS A LAW "TO SEND US ALL BACK TO OUR MASTERS.
"THIS WOULD BE THE CRUELEST ACT.
TO MAKE A LAW TO HANG US WOULD BE MERCIFUL.
" CATO, A FORMER SLAVE.
Narrator: THE YEARS FOLLOWING THE WAR WERE TIMES OF UNREST AND UNCERTAINTY.
SLAVE OWNERS IN THE DEEP SOUTH SOUGHT TO RECOVER WARTIME LOSSES BY IMPORTING AFRICAN SLAVES AT AN EVER-INCREASING RATE.
ANGRY WAR VETERANS PROTESTED IN PUBLIC FOR MORATORIUMS ON THEIR DEBTS AND EQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE LAND.
INDIVIDUAL STATES TOOK UP ARMS AGAINST EACH OTHER IN BORDER DISPUTES AND THERE WAS CONSTAN SPECULATION ABOUT SPLITTING THE NEW NATION UP INTO 13 SEPARATE COUNTRIES.
IN 1787, REPRESENTATIVES FROM 12 OF THE 13 STATES MET IN PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA FOR A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
THEY WERE THERE TO RESTORE ORDER TO A NATION IN TURMOIL.
GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS SUMMONED FROM HIS VIRGINIA PLANTATION TO PRESIDE OVER THE CONVENTION.
Riley: BY THE END OF THE REVOLUTION WASHINGTON IS THE REVOLUTION TO A LOT OF PEOPLE.
HE HAS AN ENORMOUS AMOUN OF PRIDE IN THE REVOLUTION AND KNOWS THAT IT IS FAR FROM BEING COMPLETE KNOWS FROM HIS STUDY OF HISTORY THAT VERY EASILY THIS COULD A COUNTERREVOLUTION COULD TAKE PLACE AND THEY WOULD LOSE ALL THEY HAD FOUGHT FOR.
Narrator: THERE WAS NO GREATER DIVISION IN THE NATION THAN THE ONE THAT LAY BETWEEN THE STATES THA HAD BEGUN TO ABOLISH SLAVERY AND THOSE THAT HAD NOT.
IN 1780, PENNSYLVANIA LAWMAKERS RULED THAT IN KEEPING WITH THE REVOLUTION'S PRINCIPLES OF EQUALITY THEY WOULD EXTEND THEIR FREEDOM TO OTHERS.
AS A RESULT, ALL BLACK CHILDREN BORN IN PENNSYLVANIA FROM THAT YEAR FORWARD WERE TO BE FREED AT AGE 28.
IN 1783, MASSACHUSETTS OUTLAWED SLAVERY ENTIRELY BASED ON A STATE CONSTITUTION THAT DECLARED "ALL MEN ARE BORN FREE AND EQUAL.
" CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND SOON FOLLOWED WITH GRADUAL EMANCIPATION ACTS.
AS THE TIDE BEGAN TO TURN AGAINST SLAVEHOLDERS IN THE NORTH THE NATION'S FOUNDERS LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR A SOCIETY THAT COULD GROW WHILE BOTH ESPOUSING IDEALS OF LIBERTY AND ENDORSING THE PRACTICE OF SLAVERY.
Blight: EVERY TIME A NEW STATE WAS BROUGHT INTO THE UNION THE TEST WAS, WAS THERE A SLAVE STATE TO BRING IN WITH A FREE STATE SO WE'VE GOT A NATION NOW GROWING WITH THE INTEREST OF FREE STATES AND THE SLAVE STATES KIND OF TRYING TO GROW IN TANDEM.
IT'S A DISPUTE BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS ONE SYSTEM OF SLAVERY, BASED UPON SLAVERY AND THE OTHER SYSTEM BASED UPON FREE LABOR.
AND SO VIRTUALLY EVERY ISSUE THAT WAS DISCUSSED IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION HAD AN IMPACT FROM SLAVERY.
Narrator: DELEGATES VOICED GREAT CONCERN OVER THE PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUAL LIBERTIES AND PERSONAL PROPERTY.
FOR SOUTHERN DELEGATES, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LIBERTIES WAS THE RIGHT TO OWN SLAVES.
WHILE THEY WANTED A FEDERAL GOVERNMEN THAT WOULD PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS THEY DID NOT WAN A GOVERNING BODY THAT WOULD EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES.
THE PROBLEM WITH THE LIBERTARIAN IDEOLOGY OF THE ENTIRE REVOLUTIONARY AND CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD IS THIS NOTION THA THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS IS TIED TO PROPERTY.
SO EVEN THOUGH THOMAS JEFFERSON IS ABLE TO SAY "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL AND ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH INALIENABLE RIGHTS" THESE RIGHTS INCLUDE THE RIGHT OF PROPERTY.
AS STRONGLY AS PEOPLE MIGHT ADHERE TO THE NOTION OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM THEY ADHERE JUST AS STRONGLY TO THE NOTION OF PROPERTY.
Narrator: IN THE COURSE OF SIX MONTHS, THE 55 DELEGATES DRAFTED THE FOUNDATION OF AMERICAN LAW AND GOVERNMENT.
NEITHER THE WORDS "SLAVE" NOR "SLAVERY" APPEAR IN THE CONSTITUTION BUT THE FATE OF ENSLAVED MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WAS CAREFULLY INSCRIBED WITHIN ITS PAGES.
THE U.
S.
CONSTITUTION PREVENTED CONGRESS FROM VOTING TO END THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE FOR A MINIMUM OF 20 YEARS.
FREE STATES WERE REQUIRED BY LAW TO RETURN FUGITIVES TO THE SLAVE STATES AND SLAVE STATES WERE PERMITTED TO COUN THREE-FIFTHS OF THEIR SLAVE POPULATION IN DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES THEY WOULD SEND TO CONGRESS.
SLAVEHOLDERS WON AN ENORMOUS POLITICAL VICTORY.
OWNING SLAVES WOULD BE PAR OF THE AMERICAN FREEDOM AND IN THE PROCESS, A UNION WAS FORGED.
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION WAS RATIFIED IN 1788.
THE FOLLOWING YEAR, GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS SWORN IN AS THE NATION'S FIRST PRESIDENT.
DURING THE COURSE OF HIS TWO ADMINISTRATIONS WASHINGTON, LIKE A GROWING NUMBER OF AMERICANS BEGAN TO FEEL THAT SLAVERY WAS EVIL AND AN UNSOUND ECONOMIC SYSTEM FOR THE FUTURE YET HE KEP HIS THOUGHTS CONFINED TO PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE WITH CLOSE FRIENDS AND NEVER TOOK A PUBLIC STAND AGAINST SLAVERY.
DURING HIS PRESIDENCY, HE AND HIS WIFE OWNED 317 HUMAN BEINGS.
George Washington: "UPON THE DECEASE OF MY WIFE "IT IS MY WILL AND DESIRE "THAT ALL THE SLAVES WHICH I HOLD IN MY OWN RIGH SHALL RECEIVE THEIR FREEDOM.
" Narrator: IN HIS FINAL WILL, GEORGE WASHINGTON STIPULATED THAT UPON HIS WIFE'S DEATH THE 125 SLAVES THAT HE OWNED OUTRIGHT WOULD BE FREE.
HIS WIFE'S SLAVES WOULD BE PARCELED OUT TO HER HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE TERMS OF HER WILL.
HE HAD SOUGHT TO RECONCILE IN DEATH WHAT HE COULD NO COME TO TERMS WITH IN LIFE.
ON A COLD DECEMBER NIGH IN 1799, GEORGE WASHINGTON DIED.
FOLLOWING HER HUSBAND'S DEATH MARTHA WASHINGTON MOVED OUT OF THE BEDROOM SHE HAD SHARED WITH HIM AND TOOK UP RESIDENCE IN A SMALL GUEST ROOM.
HER LAST YEARS WERE TROUBLED FILLED WITH MELANCHOLY, LONELINESS AND A GROWING FEAR OF THE SLAVES WHO LIVED AT MOUNT VERNON.
Riley: THERE WERE 125 PEOPLE WHO KNEW THAT WHEN SHE DIED THEY WERE FREE.
SHE FEARED FOR HER LIFE.
AND SO MARTHA ACTUALLY WEN TO COURT IN FAIRFAX COUNTY AND FREED THOSE SLAVES A YEAR AFTER HER HUSBAND DIED.
SHE DID NOT WAI AND SO SHE WAS CLEARLY UNCOMFORTABLE.
AND YOU MUST THINK THAT WASHINGTON THOUGH THAT SHE MIGHT BE IN THAT SITUATION AND I THINK THAT HE DIDN'T WAN TO PUT HER IN HARM'S WAY BUT HE JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO.
Smith: "I AM BOWED DOWN WITH AGE AND HARDSHIP.
"WHILE I AM NOW LOOKING TO THE GRAVE AS MY HOME "I HAVE MANY CONSOLATIONS: "MEG, THE WIFE OF MY YOUTH WHOM I MARRIED FOR LOVE "IS STILL ALIVE.
"I AM NOW POSSESSED OF MORE THAN 100 ACRES OF LAND "AND THREE HOUSES BUT MY FREEDOM IS A PRIVILEGE WHICH NOTHING ELSE CAN EQUAL.
" VENTURE SMITH.
Narrator: VENTURE SMITH DIED IN 1805 AS THE PRACTICE OF SLAVERY BEGAN ITS SLOW DEMISE IN THE PART OF THE COUNTRY THAT HE CALLED HOME.
THE CENSUS OF 1800 RECORDED THE PRESENCE OF OVER 100,000 FREE BLACK PEOPLE LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES.
BY CONTRAST, THERE WERE 800,000 SLAVES.
AMERICA HAD WON ITS WAR, BUT FOR BLACK AMERICANS THE REVOLUTION WOULD REMAIN A FIGHT UNFINISHED.
[Captioned by The Caption Center WGBH Educational Foundation.]
TO LEARN MORE ABOU AFRICANS IN AMERICA AND TO SEE THE TEACHERS' GUIDE FOR THE SERIES VISIT THE AFRICANS IN AMERICA NEXT TIME ON AFRICANS IN AMERICA RELIGION INSPIRES FREEDOM, BUT RAGE MAKES IT POSSIBLE.
Woman: YOU CAN FEEL THE ANGER AND YOU CAN WONDER WHETHER SLAVERY EVER WOULD HAVE ENDED WITHOUT THAT SORT OF RAGE.
TO PURCHASE THE AFRICANS IN AMERICA HOME VIDEO COMPANION BOOK OR C.
D.
SOUNDTRACK CALL 1-800-255-9424.
AFRICANS IN AMERICA HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY A GRAN FROM THE NATIONAL ENDOWMEN FOR THE HUMANITIES EXPANDING AMERICA'S UNDERSTANDING OF WHO WE WERE WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE WILL BE.
A HOME IS MORE THAN FOUR WALLS AND A ROOF.
IT'S SAFER STREETS BETTER SCHOOLS STRONGER COMMUNITIES THE AMERICAN DREAM.
THE FANNIE MAE FOUNDATION HELPING AMERICANS ON THE PATH TO HOME OWNERSHIP.
THEY CAME TO A NEW WORLD SPEAKING ANCIENT LANGUAGES YET THEIR COURAGE AND PERSEVERANCE STILL SPEAK TO US TODAY.
THAT'S WHY AFRICANS IN AMERICA IS PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY BANKERS TRUST, ARCHITECTS OF VALUE.
McDONALD'S IS PROUD TO SUPPOR THIS PRESENTATION OF AFRICANS IN AMERICA.
ADDITIONAL FUNDING IS PROVIDED BY: AND THE ANNUAL FINANCIAL SUPPOR OF PBS VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
THIS IS HISTORY'S BEST ON PBS.