Wikipedia

History of slavery in Tennessee

Thehistory of slavery in Tennesseebegan when it was the oldSouthwest Territoryand thus the law regulating slavery in Tennessee was broadly derived fromNorth Carolinalaw, and was initially comparatively "liberal." However, after statehood, as the fear of slave rebellion and the threat to slavery posed by abolitionism increased, the laws became increasingly punitive: after 1831, "punishments were increased and privileges and immunities were lessened and circumvented."[2]Tennessee was one of five states that allowed slaves the right of ajury trial,[2]and one of three states that never passedanti-literacy laws,[3]although the punishment for forging aslave passwas up to39 lashes.[2]

Alfred Jackson(1812–1901) was a body servant, carriage driver, stableman, tenant farmer, building caretaker, and tour guide at theHermitage,Andrew Jackson's mansion in Tennessee, United States. He lived at the Hermitage longer than any other person, and was a valued living history resource in later life, especially after theLadies' Hermitage Associationtook over the building in 1889.[1]

Tennessee had a ban oninterstate slave tradingbeginning in 1827 but it was broadly flouted and repealed in 1854.[4]Memphis, Tennesseewas one of the central hubs of the interstate slave trade, along withWashington,Richmond,Charleston,Savannah,andNew Orleans.[5]Key Memphis traders includedByrd Hill,theBolton brothers,theLittle brothers,and theForrest brothers.[5]Nashville was a second-tier market, "advantageously situated for purchases inKentuckyand sales in northernAlabamaand northeasternMississippi....Much local and intra-state trading was a matter of course. "[5]East Tennesseemanifested earlyabolitionismandcolonization-movementactivism but slavery remained widespread in that region until emancipation.[6]

History

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According to journalist-turned-local historian Bill Carey, who wrote a book examining the history of slavery in Tennessee through the lens of newspaper reports, slave sale ads, county-government notices in local papers, andrunaway slave ads,not only did the city government ofNashvilleown slaves, in 1836 the state government "organized a lottery to raise money for internal improvements (mainly road construction). Lottery prizes included assets such as land, a farm, steamboats and five slaves: a 45-year-old man named Charles, a 43-year-old woman named Nancy and three girls named Matilda (12), Rebecca (11) and Maria (6)."[7]Hiring out of slave laborers was extremely common and provided significant household income for their enslavers.[7]

As of 1914, theSupreme Court of Tennesseeheld that "ex-slaves had no inheritable blood" and thus could not transfer property by will to their siblings.[8]TheSupreme Court of the United Statesruled inJones vs. Jonesthat this was an unconstitutional violation of the14th Amendment.[9]

In 2022, voters passed a measure that removed language in Tennessee state laws that permitted slavery or involuntary servitude as a form of punishment, a change intended to prevent abuses in the use of convict labor.[10]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^"Alfred Jackson".The Hermitage.Retrieved2023-08-01.
  2. ^abcMooney, Chase C.(1971) [1957].Slavery in Tennessee.Indiana University Publications, Social Science Series No. 17 (Reprint ed.). Westport, Conn.: Negro Universities Press. pp. 22 (jury trial), 28 (TN slavery law).OCLC609222448– viaHathiTrust.
  3. ^Wallenstein, Peter (2007). "Antiliteracy Laws". In Rodriguez, Junius P. (ed.).Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia.Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 172.ISBN9781851095490.OCLC123968550.
  4. ^Schermerhorn, Calvin (2020). "Chapter 2: 'Cash for Slaves' The African American Trail of Tears". In Bond, Beverly Greene; O'Donovan, Susan Eva (eds.).Remembering the Memphis Massacre: An American Story.University of Georgia Press.ISBN9780820356495.
  5. ^abcBancroft, Frederic(2023) [1931, 1996]. "XII. Memphis: The Boltons, The Forrests and Others".Slave Trading in the Old South(Original publisher: J. H. Fürst Co., Baltimore). Southern Classics Series. Introduction by Michael Tadman (Reprint ed.). Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press.ISBN978-1-64336-427-8.LCCN95020493.OCLC1153619151.
  6. ^Goodstein, Anita S. (2017)."Slavery".Tennessee Encyclopedia.Retrieved2023-08-26.
  7. ^abCarey, Bill (2018-08-02)."Tennessee's Slave History Lives in Old Newspapers, New Book".The Tennessee Magazine.Retrieved2023-08-26.
  8. ^"Former Slave in Shelby County Furnishes Supreme Court Interesting Problem on Inheritance".Nashville Banner.1914-03-20. p. 1.Retrieved2023-08-30.
  9. ^"Jones v. Jones, 234 U.S. 615 (1914)".Justia Law.
  10. ^"Slavery, involuntary servitude rejected by 4 states' voters".AP News.2022-11-09.Retrieved2023-08-26.

Further reading

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