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''[[United States|United States]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[African American Research|African American Research]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[African_American_Slavery_and_Bondage|Slavery and Bondage]]'' | {{AfrAm-sidebar}}{| style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;" | ||
| {{Click|Image:AA_ORP.png|African_American_Online_Genealogy_Records|right}}''[[United States|United States]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[African American Research|African American Research]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[African_American_Slavery_and_Bondage|Slavery and Bondage]]'' | |||
African American slavery, plantation and other related records available for researchers. | African American slavery, plantation and other related records available for researchers. | ||
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[[Image:{{SlaveMarket}}]] | [[Image:{{SlaveMarket}}]] | ||
=== Brief History of Slavery in America === | === Brief History of Slavery in America === | ||
Nearly 75 percent of people who arrived in America from Europe and Africa before 1776 were immigrants in bondage. Those from Africa almost always arrived enslaved. Those from Europe were often convicts, indentured servant apprentices, or became indentured servants to pay for the cost of their ocean crossing. In colonial times indentured servitude as an apprentice was considered the normal way to learn a trade (part of growing up), or a normal option for paying a large debt.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Slavery in the United States," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States (accessed February 5, 2009). Citing The First Black Americans - US News and World Report.</ref> | |||
In 1619 a Dutch ship blown off course came looking for fresh water near Jamestown, Virginia. At Jamestown the Dutch sold 20 of the African slaves they had captured from a Spanish ship originally bound for Mexico. These were the earliest known African immigrants to arrive in what is now the United States. It was the custom of that time to free servant-slaves after seven years.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Slavery in the United States," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States (accessed February 5, 2009). Citing Alan Gallay, "Forgotten Story of Indian Slavery", Arab News (www.aljazeera.info), August 3, 2003.</ref><ref>Wikipedia contributors, "History of slavery," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery (accessed February 6, 2009).</ref> | In 1619 a Dutch ship blown off course came looking for fresh water near Jamestown, Virginia. At Jamestown the Dutch sold 20 of the African slaves they had captured from a Spanish ship originally bound for Mexico. These were the earliest known African immigrants to arrive in what is now the United States. It was the custom of that time to free servant-slaves after seven years.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Slavery in the United States," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States (accessed February 5, 2009). Citing Alan Gallay, "Forgotten Story of Indian Slavery", Arab News (www.aljazeera.info), August 3, 2003.</ref><ref>Wikipedia contributors, "History of slavery," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery (accessed February 6, 2009).</ref> | ||
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All 13 British-American colonies participated in the slave trade before 1780. In the 1750s a slavery abolitionist movement began and grew stronger. Vermont was the first to abolish slavery in 1777 and by 1804 all individual states north of the Mason-Dixon line had gradually ended slavery. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a federal law that prohibited slavery north of the Ohio River. Slave labor works best when the assigned task is relatively simple, such as large scale agriculture. Slavery in increasingly industrialized America was becoming too expensive until the invention of the cotton gin in 1793. A healthy young adult male slave was worth about two years wages, so most owners considered freeing slaves an economic hardship. The Constitution of the United States permitted the outlawing of the importation of slaves starting in 1808, but the internal slave trade continued until the end of the Civil War and the Thirteenth Amendment prohibited chattel slavery in 1865.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Slavery in the United States," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States (accessed February 5, 2009).</ref> | All 13 British-American colonies participated in the slave trade before 1780. In the 1750s a slavery abolitionist movement began and grew stronger. Vermont was the first to abolish slavery in 1777 and by 1804 all individual states north of the Mason-Dixon line had gradually ended slavery. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a federal law that prohibited slavery north of the Ohio River. Slave labor works best when the assigned task is relatively simple, such as large scale agriculture. Slavery in increasingly industrialized America was becoming too expensive until the invention of the cotton gin in 1793. A healthy young adult male slave was worth about two years wages, so most owners considered freeing slaves an economic hardship. The Constitution of the United States permitted the outlawing of the importation of slaves starting in 1808, but the internal slave trade continued until the end of the Civil War and the Thirteenth Amendment prohibited chattel slavery in 1865.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Slavery in the United States," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States (accessed February 5, 2009).</ref> | ||
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American slavery was particularly hard on African American families. Owners were frequently forced by economics to sell off members of a slave's family. A few slave owners freed some or all of their slaves in the owner's will, but more often ownership of slaves was transferred to the owner's wife or children. In some cases, rather than free a slave as instructed in the owner's will, the slave was sold to help pay debts. A few slave owners allowed their slaves to earn money and purchase their family members or their own freedom. Slave marriages were usually not recorded by civil authorities until after the Civil War in [[African American Freedmen's Bureau Records|Freedmen's Bureau]] records. However, occasionally slave marriages are in the plantation, or owner family Bible records. | American slavery was particularly hard on African American families. Owners were frequently forced by economics to sell off members of a slave's family. A few slave owners freed some or all of their slaves in the owner's will, but more often ownership of slaves was transferred to the owner's wife or children. In some cases, rather than free a slave as instructed in the owner's will, the slave was sold to help pay debts. A few slave owners allowed their slaves to earn money and purchase their family members or their own freedom. Slave marriages were usually not recorded by civil authorities until after the Civil War in [[African American Freedmen's Bureau Records|Freedmen's Bureau]] records. However, occasionally slave marriages are in the plantation, or owner family Bible records. [[Image:{{SlaveRcpt}}]] | ||
=== Slave Records === | === Slave Records === | ||
[[Image:{{PlantRec}}]]Finding an African American ancestor who was enslaved almost always means finding the records of the family that owned him or her. | |||
Study the life and records of the slave owner and his family. Your ancestor’s life was inseparably connected with the slave owner. Your ancestor may be listed in records of the slave owner’s property: | Study the life and records of the slave owner and his family. Your ancestor’s life was inseparably connected with the slave owner. Your ancestor may be listed in records of the slave owner’s property: | ||
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=== Finding Plantation Records === | === Finding Plantation Records === | ||
A few plantation records are listed in a set of user-guide books starting with the title ''Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War'' (Frederick, Md.: University Publications of America, 1966). The records described in these user-guide booklets are a microfilm collection of manuscripts held in several major research libraries throughout the South. Parts of the papers from some plantations were once scattered by their donation to many libraries, and this collection now helps gather some of them in a single set. It offers access to selected material from Maryland to Texas in one source.<ref>Jean L. Cooper, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53999037 Genealogical Index to the Guides of the Microfilm Edition of Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution Through the Civil War]'' ([Bloomington, Ind.]: 1st Books, 2003), vii. [FHL Ref book 973 D22cj]</ref> Viewing the user guides online requires [http://www.adobe.com/ Adobe® Acrobat® Reader]. Also, a more recent series about slavery in Southern industries has been started. | A few plantation records are listed in a set of user-guide books starting with the title ''Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War'' (Frederick, Md.: University Publications of America, 1966). The records described in these user-guide booklets are a microfilm collection of manuscripts held in several major research libraries throughout the South. Parts of the papers from some plantations were once scattered by their donation to many libraries, and this collection now helps gather some of them in a single set. It offers access to selected material from Maryland to Texas in one source.<ref>Jean L. Cooper, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53999037 Genealogical Index to the Guides of the Microfilm Edition of Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution Through the Civil War]'' ([Bloomington, Ind.]: 1st Books, 2003), vii. [FHL Ref book 973 D22cj]</ref> Viewing the user guides online requires [http://www.adobe.com/ Adobe® Acrobat® Reader]. Also, a more recent series about slavery in Southern industries has been started.<br><br> | ||
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| width="80%" bgcolor="#ffff33" align="center" | '''Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations Collection or Repository'''<ref>LexisNexis, "Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution Through the Civil War" in ''UPA COLLECTIONS Publications'' at http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/upa_cis/default.asp?t=343 (accessed 27 March 2010).</ref> | | width="80%" bgcolor="#ffff33" align="center" | '''Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations Collection or Repository'''<ref>LexisNexis, "Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution Through the Civil War" in ''UPA COLLECTIONS Publications'' at http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/upa_cis/default.asp?t=343 (accessed 27 March 2010).</ref> | ||
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| align="center" | [http://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/academic/upa_cis/10845_AnteBellSouthPlanSerN.pdf pdf] | | align="center" | [http://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/academic/upa_cis/10845_AnteBellSouthPlanSerN.pdf pdf] | ||
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| bgcolor="#ff9933" align="center" | '''Slavery in Ante-Bellum Southern Industries Collection or Repository'''<ref>LexisNexis, "Slavery in Ante-Bellum Southern Industries" in ''UPA COLLECTIONS Publications'' at http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/upa_cis/default.asp?t=343 (accessed 27 March 2010).</ref> | | bgcolor="#ff9933" align="center" | '''Slavery in Ante-Bellum Southern Industries Collection or Repository'''<ref>LexisNexis, "Slavery in Ante-Bellum Southern Industries" in ''UPA COLLECTIONS Publications'' at http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/upa_cis/default.asp?t=343 (accessed 27 March 2010).</ref> | ||
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| align="center" | [pdf] | | align="center" | [pdf] | ||
| align="center" | [film] | | align="center" | [film] | ||
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===== Indexes ===== | ===== Indexes ===== | ||