At the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, slavery was legal in all thirteen colonies, and the first census in 1790 counted 40,370 slaves north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Gradually northern slavery was phased out, with only eighteen slaves remaining in New Jersey in 1860 at the outbreak of the Civil War, while slavery in the southern states was greatly expanding.
Northern slavery became an invisible institution, but for 200 years slaves worked in industry, agriculture, and households throughout the North. Archaeologists are now using their sophisticated techniques to augment the sparse historical record of how northern slaves lived and worked.
In this engaging study, archaeologist James Delle of Millersville University looks closely at three case studies of northern slavery and its aftermath. The first concerns plantation slavery in the Finger Lakes region of New York, where archaeological studies of the slave quarters revealed fascinating details of daily life. The second examines armed resistance to the Fugitive Slave law of 1850 in Pennsylvania. The third focuses on politics of the anti-slavery movement in Pennsylvania.
These and other archaeological studies give us a much clearer view of slavery in the North and set the stage for future explorations to better understand an institution that was almost forgotten.
