Museum. My name is dana anderson, and i have the pleasure of serving as the executive director of the ham Historical Society, whose home here is abraham heritage museum. And what a treat to welcome you all tonight, at the sold out program. Id like to thank on the behalf aboard a director and our small staff, i would like to thank you all for making us a part of your week. Id also like to thank gerard excuse me, are dusty for traveling across the country to be with us tonight. Id like to thank cspan, for filming us. So that others who cannot be with us, can see us on a later date. And thank you to the Abigail AdamsHistorical Society, and their board of directors, who offered us this wonderful opportunity and to partner with them as we did last year with their speaker edith gelles. Abigails rich history in this region inspires us every day. Thank you. The hang in Historical Society is focused like never before on its history. To understand all voices. We currently are in the midst of a campaign for the Benjamin Lincoln house. Which is our effort to purchase the home of hams American Revolutionary war hero at one 81 north street. Benjamin lincoln, received british sort of surrender and your town. Or as we like to tell our visiting schoolchildren, thats Benjamin Lincoln on the white boards. Featured so prominently and u. S. Capital. Benjamin lincoln also served him as a clerk, constable, and selectman. He also, came from a family that owns slaves. And to walk two blocks from here, theres a slave quarter in the attic of the lincoln home. Our next major exhibit here at the museum, generates out of the archeological finds from the nbcs green bush excavation. The artifacts of colonial a fishing wait on and allow away tell many stories. But the amazing story of the trial for which the common law gets its name. The massachusetts. We are privileged to work with the massachusetts tribe, a member of whom is with you tonight, to work on this exhibit, to be sure for the first time in the hang in Historical Society history, we present the voices correctly. But how do we do this . How do we tell the story of slavery . How do we tell the story of our native peoples we . Well and cola correctly . Its a joy to be here tonight with all of you. All the voices at the table, thank you for coming to tonights program. I would like to introduce michelle coffin, head of the board at the Abigail AdamsHistorical Society who will introduce our speakers. Thanks for coming tonight. applause welcome thank you so much for coming this evening. I want to thank the andrew and michael sincerely, and the rest of the ham Historical Society for again, partnering with us on a program that we are so happy to do this. And before i get into the introduction, i just want to tell you about another program that you might find of interest. On saturday, march 28th, from nine to one in plymouth at the spire center, the back roads of the south shore which is a consortium of local Historical Organization which the ham is snorkel society and abigail birthplace are part, are hosting our annual symposium. We have so many exciting anniversaries this year in massachusetts, that this supposedly this year will be focusing on those anniversaries. Such as obviously the 400th arrival adversary of the arrival of a mayflower. Hundred anniversary of the reaching of womens suffrage, an interesting lee locally, the 100th anniversary of up which will actually be the subject of the keynote. So booed the bill would whip, slip which is be our ss that work. So, the edges said, i am a member of the board of the adl Adams Historical society. And we, oversee, and are the stewards of the abigails birthplace, which was built in 16 85. Its in weymouth, its where Abigail Smith adams was born in 1744. She lived for the first 20 years of her life there, until she married john adams in 1764. She, she continued to be connected to this house throughout her life. She visited her parents lives, and she this is a place where her character and ideals were formed. So its very important to her. So we are in awe volunteer organization and, we try to continue our spirit by offering educational programs, we also offer seasonal tours and private tours. And if youd like more information, please check out our website at Abigail Adams birthplace. Org. So when i first joined the abigail birthplace a few years ago, despite knowing how prevalent slavery was in early new england, i was still shocked to discover that there were slaves in the home world at her anti slavery sentiments are wellknown. But her father, reverend william smith, have at least for slaves. Cato, tower, taunt, and phoebe. And these individuals were important to abdel adams early life. And we try to commemorate them and honor their memory by researching their lives and cooperating information about their lives into our tours, and also offering a program on early new england slavery every year. And so this year, we are very pleased to be able to have jarrett hardest in trying i wanted jerry to speak for us, since his first book came out which is on freedom slavery independence in 18th century boston. And this year, the stars have a line. So jared is an associate professor at western washington university, and he is the author of black lives native lands white worlds, history of slavery in new england. I welcome you to give jarrett award will. applause good evening everyone. Thank you for coming, thank you to the hangup Historical Society and everyone here. Displaces really swanky. Its really nice. And also, to the board of the Abigail AdamsHistorical Society, slash birthplace i was told to say slash birthplace at dinner, its a great honor to be here. And certainly thanks to the audience here tonight as well. This is now the seventh book topic given new england about this particular book. Almost every one of them has been sold out. As heartening as an arthur, but its heartening as someone who cares about the subject and wants this information out there. It is an educator as well. So it is my great honor to be here this evening, to talk about black lives, native lands, white worlds. A history of slavery in new england. This book, is the first general overview of slavery, in new england in nearly 80 years. The last book to do this was, Lorenzo Johnson drains, the knee grow and colonial in new england, published in 1942. There has been plenty of books since then, that explore slavery in new england, but theyre usually part of a larger histories of slavery in united states. Slavery in the american north, why focused historical study, im certainly guilty of doing that with my first book. This is a general overview, meant for kind of reading public. This evening, i wanted to discuss the purpose of writing this book. Or in other words, why i think we need this book in this moment. To give you a big overview of its contents, in doing so ill talk a bit about the history of slavery in new england generally. So why write this book at all, especially in this moment it came out last year in 2019. In the end, i envision this book as a conversation. Or rather, be me narrating a conversation. Thats been going on about the top last 25 years. You see about four different conversations going on in that time period. The first, theres been a massive outpouring of academic scholarship books, journal, articles things like that, by scholars on the topic of new england slavery. Much of that scholarship, and im totally guilty here, has been hyper specialized. Focusing on particular places, moments, themes, or sets of sources. These works, as excellent as they are, are sometimes make it difficult to see the bigger picture. And also, there is sometimes inaccessible, because of the way that academics right, but also things like pay walls. Articles that are very expensive to get out access to. The second conversation, is that, coming into this conversation are the libraries, archives, and historical societies across new england, who have identified that they own collections related to slavery. And made them widely accessible, via online publishing, traditional print publishing, but also sometimes something as simple as when these libraries digitize their catalogues, providing subject headings related to slavery. It makes the sources much easier to identify, and much more accessible. Third, add to that, a historical reckoning with slavery by leading institutions across new england. Such as Brown University report on slavery injustice. Now, that reckoning which started back in 2003, with brown, has extended to Historic Sites large and small. As we are here tonight. Other universities, and local state governments. Have all begun to dig into their own past and relationships with slavery. The finally the final piece of this is the work of community activists. Of public historians, local historians, independent researchers, have uncovered an incredible amount of source material on slavery, and publicized it in the most radically accessible way. On blogs, and things like that. In this forces us all, to acknowledge the regions and history in connection to slavery. So we have all these different conversations that have been going on for the past generation. Many different people talking to each other, with each other, at each other, past each other oftentimes. About the history of slavery in new england, the memory of that history, and the politics of that memory. In the book, i tried to bring together these conversations, and use the narrate a new more comprehensive yet accessible history of new england slavery. In short, i stand on the shoulders of people who have been doing in the trenches doing this work for the past 25 years. In that sense, i view the book, not only isnt in, its synthesizes 25 years of scholarship. But i think its also a beginning. Its provides a set of facts, a framework, and a starting point for future conversations. So, how do i narrate this conversation . These kind of four conversations that weve seen come to gather . Well, i discuss the lives of enslaved african Indigenous People in the age of. How their enslavement was instrumental to the colonization of the region, and how slavery and colonizations were to process designed to transform new england into a place that best serve the region whites of the population. Especially the most elite settlers. All three of those are tall orders in and out of themselves. But to do that in about 60,000 words, the editor told me no more than 60,000 words, that is about 100 and 775 pages, if you are wondering. Its not much at all. And to make it approachable to the reading public. These were no small tasks. Short length, make it readable, make sure its readable. Indeed, the hardest part writing this book was actually not what to research and right, i had 25 years of excellent source material from academics, researchers, and activists. But rather, how . How to create a book that is short, yet comprehensive, conference pensive yet readable, readable yet sensitive to the subject matter . And now the books published, and many of you bought copies let me know i pulled it off. The book is both a chronological and topical narrative that opens with the colonization of new england in the 16 twenties and 16 thirties. It ends in the early 19th century, with the process of emancipation. To some coherent along chronology, its a big history. The book uses one organizing theme, connections. I look at the connection between new england slavery, and slavery and slave societies and other parts of the americas. I look at the connection of slavery in new england, to the larger social economic and Political Development of the region. And finally, i look at how those two types of connections, connections to other slaves societies, connection to the development of new england, how those two connections shaped the lives of enslaved people and how enslaved people shape those connections. Its a tall order, but nevertheless, the book opens by examining the connection between slavery and colonization. Anyone whos familiar with the history of slavery in new england, theres like a mythical moment in history for the longest time, kind of narrating is the beginning of slavery in new england. It was in 16 38. In that year, the ship, the desire, sailed into boston harbour. And john is diary recorded the cargo on board the desire. And that was sugar, there was salt, and he also listed african captives. So 16 38, this is the starting date. Or about the 15 years or so, historians have really begin to challenge that as a foundational moment. In the history of slavery in new england. Theyve done and to a,s the first is pretty obviously there were unsafe people in new england before 16 38. We have direct eyewitness testimony from the early 16 thirties, the president s the presence of a slave africans. But the more important part, and where the scholarships really gone since, and where my book really tries to develop is not only studying the desire when it came back to new england. But the desire when it left. The desire, was based out of boston. And historians began looking into what did the desire ship to the west indies . To purchase the salt . And the sugar . And african captives . And in the whole of the desire, were a number of peak what captains. Between the year 16 36 and 16 38, the colonies of massachusetts, rhode island, connecticut went to war against the peacock people. The war yielded hundred of captives, many of them were enslaved locally. In a new england town, but we know a couple hundred at least were sold out of their colony. And so, there sold out of new england to the west indies where they are exchanged for african captains. We see here the direct connection between slavery and colonization and new england. Slavery served a dual purpose. First, its serve the purpose of removing Indigenous People from their land to open it for english settlement. What better way to remove people and to permanently tear them away, sell them away from their homeland. This allowed them for the rapid expansion of the new england colonies. Both large number of immigrants, they quickly expand into the interior, and that creates labor shortages. Especially in areas that they settled early. Major pour towns, boston, sale in places like that. And they need may labor. And the use african slave labor to supplement the labor force as a whole. So you see the process of, exchanging native captives for african captives, and that is the foundation of slavery in new england. Beginning in the 16 thirties. And its that process is gonna continue, exchanging captives indian captives for african captives, through the 16 seventies. As this cycle suggests central to, it was new englands connection to the west indies. Especially the growing plantation economies there, the english settled the west indies about the same time they settled in new england. 16 twenties. They arrived in barbados, a little bit better very quickly, these islands are completely colonized. And turned over to sugar cultivation. Almost the entire olive islands or. Theyre entirely strip the forest, in any piece of arable land is planted with sugarcane. And eventually they use in slaved africans to work those cane plantations. These islands, because they completely been stripped of their forest, theyre only growing sugar cane, they need food. They need provisions for that in slave labor force. They need supplies, timber for building, or for burning. They need livestock, for food, and for labor. And they turn to new england. As early as the 16 thirties, you see new england others selling the provisions to the west indies. Its used to fuel the plantation complex there. And in exchange, new england received sugar, and molasses, and and in the slave difference. It forms a symbiotic relationship between the two regions, between new england and the west indies, first barbados within the leeward antigua and later jamaica. Its kind of symbiotic relationship between the two. The symbiotic relationship extends beyond the economic. Its very much economic. But there is a considerable amount of Cultural Exchange as well. So some of these early graduates of harvard for example, where the sons of west indian top there is extensive in a marriage between merchant families in new england and planter families in the west indies. Further solidifying those economic ties. And, the new england colonies beacon borrowing from the slaves societies in the caribbean, to create their own systems of slavery here. So for example, massachusetts borrowed slave while customs governing direct slavery from barbados. And, most in slave people who arrived in the region and enslaved africans, actually spent time in the west indies before they arrived here. Sometimes theyre actually born there, sometimes they spend a couple months after writing on a slave ship. But they spent considerable amount of time on the caribbean. Were using this caribbean connection as a starting point, my book then turns and explores the language in slave people in new england. All told about 20,000 and slave africans arrived between the 16 thirties and the 1775. They came to comprise about 4 of the regions population. Now this is another place where they have to stop and kind of question the way in which the history of slavery in new england as been whether the ways historians have kind of push back against, or others have push back against the importance of slavery, is the demographic numbers. Oh its only 4 of the population, how important can actually be . Well theres two answers to that, the book takes up. The first is, when you look in specific regions, the puppy the unsafe population is significantly higher. So boston in the mid 18 century is about 12 to 15 and slave. Newport rhode island about 25 enslaved, so urban areas large and slate populations. But its not just the urban areas, which other historians would say. This is the mistake i made my first book, oh new england didnt matter. It mattered for boston. Researching this book, actually reveals it there is significant slave populations in other parts of the region as well. Rural areas. You feel massachusetts in 1750 had a population of 550 people. 50 of them enslaved. Then arrogance it countries, southern rhode island, Washington County it was called south county, home to large slave holding. s families who didnt own