Rascals on the antebellum Mississippi: African American steamboat workers and the St. Louis hanging of 1841

Journal of Social History

Volumn 34, Issue 4, 2001, Pages 796-816

  Buchanan, Thomas C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040483494     PISSN: 00224529     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jsh.2001.0045     Document Type: Review

References (178)

1. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions of Madison Henderson, alias Blanchard, Alfred Amos Warrick, James W. Seward, and Charles Brown, Murderers of Jesse Baker and Jacob Weaver: As Given by Themselves and Likeness of Each, Taken in Jail Shortly After Their Arrest (St. Louis, 1841 ), p. 64.
2. St. Louis Daily Republican, July 10, 1841. See also St. Louis Daily New Era, July 10, 1841.
3. St. Louis Daily Republican, July 10, 1841. See also St. Louis Daily New Era, July 10, 1841.
4. For another description of the hanging and decapitation see Mary Seemater, "Trials and Confessions: Race and Justice in Antebellum St. Louis," Gateway Heritage 12 (Fall 1991): p. 46.
5. Reprinted in the Boston Liberator, October 15, 1841.
6. New Orleans Picayune, August 22, 1841.
7. New Orleans Bee, September 15, 1841.
8. Louisville Journal, April 23, 1841.
9. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 50-1; Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 9.
10. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 50-1; Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 9.
11. The figure of the rascal has been left out of discussions of nineteenth-century masculinity. For an excellent volume on constructions of black masculinity in this period see Dalene Clark Hine and Earnestine Jenkins, eds., A Question of Manhood: A Reader in U.S. Black Men's History and Masculinity, Volume 1, "Manhood Rights": The Construction of Black Male History and Manhood, 1750-1870 (Bloomington, 1999).
12. For usage of this term see Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 48-51.
13. These comments are based on the confessions of Henderson and Seward. The confessions reveal less about the spending habits of Brown and Warrick. See Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 48-50, 54; Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 8-9, 16.
14. These comments are based on the confessions of Henderson and Seward. The confessions reveal less about the spending habits of Brown and Warrick. See Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 48-50, 54; Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 8-9, 16.
15. Historians have generally not viewed the river as a social system. For a notable exception see Michael Allen, Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse (Baton Rouge, 1990).
16. Seemater, "Trials and Confessions: Race and Justice in Antebellum St. Louis," pp. 36-46.
17. Seemater uses the men's story to illustrate the modernization of the legal system in St. Louis. Her essay compares the men's orderly trial and execution with the mob hanging and burning at the stake of the free black steamboat hand Francis MacIntosh just a few years before. But this argument does not take into account the broader, coercive relationship between African Americans and the law in this period.
18. Selected books that that have broadly influenced my thinking include Ira Berlin, Many Thousand Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in America (Cambridge, 1998); Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, The Slaves' Economy: Independent Production by Slaves in the Americas (London, 1991); John W. Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (Oxford, 1972); Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made (New York, 1976); Joseph P. Reidy, From Slavery to Agrarian Capitalism in the Cotton Plantation South, Central Georgia, 1800-1880 (Chapel Hill, 1992); Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South (Madison, 1989); Richard Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York, 1964); Peter Way, Common Labour: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals, 1780-1860 (Cambridge, 1993).
19. Selected books that that have broadly influenced my thinking include Ira Berlin, Many Thousand Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in America (Cambridge, 1998); Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, The Slaves' Economy: Independent Production by Slaves in the Americas (London, 1991); John W. Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (Oxford, 1972); Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made (New York, 1976); Joseph P. Reidy, From Slavery to Agrarian Capitalism in the Cotton Plantation South, Central Georgia, 1800-1880 (Chapel Hill, 1992); Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South (Madison, 1989); Richard Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York, 1964); Peter Way, Common Labour: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals, 1780-1860 (Cambridge, 1993).
20. Selected books that that have broadly influenced my thinking include Ira Berlin, Many Thousand Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in America (Cambridge, 1998); Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, The Slaves' Economy: Independent Production by Slaves in the Americas (London, 1991); John W. Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (Oxford, 1972); Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made (New York, 1976); Joseph P. Reidy, From Slavery to Agrarian Capitalism in the Cotton Plantation South, Central Georgia, 1800-1880 (Chapel Hill, 1992); Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South (Madison, 1989); Richard Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York, 1964); Peter Way, Common Labour: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals, 1780-1860 (Cambridge, 1993).
21. Selected books that that have broadly influenced my thinking include Ira Berlin, Many Thousand Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in America (Cambridge, 1998); Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, The Slaves' Economy: Independent Production by Slaves in the Americas (London, 1991); John W. Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (Oxford, 1972); Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made (New York, 1976); Joseph P. Reidy, From Slavery to Agrarian Capitalism in the Cotton Plantation South, Central Georgia, 1800-1880 (Chapel Hill, 1992); Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South (Madison, 1989); Richard Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York, 1964); Peter Way, Common Labour: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals, 1780-1860 (Cambridge, 1993).
22. Selected books that that have broadly influenced my thinking include Ira Berlin, Many Thousand Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in America (Cambridge, 1998); Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, The Slaves' Economy: Independent Production by Slaves in the Americas (London, 1991); John W. Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (Oxford, 1972); Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made (New York, 1976); Joseph P. Reidy, From Slavery to Agrarian Capitalism in the Cotton Plantation South, Central Georgia, 1800-1880 (Chapel Hill, 1992); Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South (Madison, 1989); Richard Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York, 1964); Peter Way, Common Labour: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals, 1780-1860 (Cambridge, 1993).
23. Selected books that that have broadly influenced my thinking include Ira Berlin, Many Thousand Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in America (Cambridge, 1998); Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, The Slaves' Economy: Independent Production by Slaves in the Americas (London, 1991); John W. Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (Oxford, 1972); Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made (New York, 1976); Joseph P. Reidy, From Slavery to Agrarian Capitalism in the Cotton Plantation South, Central Georgia, 1800-1880 (Chapel Hill, 1992); Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South (Madison, 1989); Richard Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York, 1964); Peter Way, Common Labour: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals, 1780-1860 (Cambridge, 1993).
24. Selected books that that have broadly influenced my thinking include Ira Berlin, Many Thousand Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in America (Cambridge, 1998); Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, The Slaves' Economy: Independent Production by Slaves in the Americas (London, 1991); John W. Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (Oxford, 1972); Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made (New York, 1976); Joseph P. Reidy, From Slavery to Agrarian Capitalism in the Cotton Plantation South, Central Georgia, 1800-1880 (Chapel Hill, 1992); Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South (Madison, 1989); Richard Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York, 1964); Peter Way, Common Labour: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals, 1780-1860 (Cambridge, 1993).
25. Selected books that that have broadly influenced my thinking include Ira Berlin, Many Thousand Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in America (Cambridge, 1998); Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, The Slaves' Economy: Independent Production by Slaves in the Americas (London, 1991); John W. Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (Oxford, 1972); Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made (New York, 1976); Joseph P. Reidy, From Slavery to Agrarian Capitalism in the Cotton Plantation South, Central Georgia, 1800-1880 (Chapel Hill, 1992); Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South (Madison, 1989); Richard Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York, 1964); Peter Way, Common Labour: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals, 1780-1860 (Cambridge, 1993).
26. Douglas R. Egerton, Gabriel's Rebellion: The Virginia Slave Conspiracies of 1800 and 1802 (Chapel Hill, 1993); Betty Wood, Women's Work, Men's Work: The Informal Slave Economies of Lowcountry Georgia (Athens, 1995); Philip D. Morgan, Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry (Chapel Hill, 1998).
27. Douglas R. Egerton, Gabriel's Rebellion: The Virginia Slave Conspiracies of 1800 and 1802 (Chapel Hill, 1993); Betty Wood, Women's Work, Men's Work: The Informal Slave Economies of Lowcountry Georgia (Athens, 1995); Philip D. Morgan, Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry (Chapel Hill, 1998).
28. Douglas R. Egerton, Gabriel's Rebellion: The Virginia Slave Conspiracies of 1800 and 1802 (Chapel Hill, 1993); Betty Wood, Women's Work, Men's Work: The Informal Slave Economies of Lowcountry Georgia (Athens, 1995); Philip D. Morgan, Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry (Chapel Hill, 1998).
29. For work on African American sailors see Julius S. Scott, "The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" (Ph.D. Diss.: Duke University, 1986); David S. Cecelski, "The Shores of Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad in North Carolina, 1800-1861," The North Carolina Historical Review 71 (April 1994): 174-206; Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997); W. Jeffrey Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," Journal of American History 76 (March 1990): 1173-1199; James Barker Farr, Black Odyssey: The Seafaring Traditions of Afro-Americans (New York, 1989); Martha S. Putney, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War (Westport, Conn., 1987); Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge, 1987); Peter Linebaugh Marcus Rediker, "The Many-Headed Hydra," Journal of Historical Sociology 3 (September 1990): 225-252; Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon, 2000).
30. For work on African American sailors see Julius S. Scott, "The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" (Ph.D. Diss.: Duke University, 1986); David S. Cecelski, "The Shores of Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad in North Carolina, 1800-1861," The North Carolina Historical Review 71 (April 1994): 174-206; Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997); W. Jeffrey Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," Journal of American History 76 (March 1990): 1173-1199; James Barker Farr, Black Odyssey: The Seafaring Traditions of Afro-Americans (New York, 1989); Martha S. Putney, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War (Westport, Conn., 1987); Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge, 1987); Peter Linebaugh Marcus Rediker, "The Many-Headed Hydra," Journal of Historical Sociology 3 (September 1990): 225-252; Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon, 2000).
31. For work on African American sailors see Julius S. Scott, "The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" (Ph.D. Diss.: Duke University, 1986); David S. Cecelski, "The Shores of Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad in North Carolina, 1800-1861," The North Carolina Historical Review 71 (April 1994): 174-206; Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997); W. Jeffrey Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," Journal of American History 76 (March 1990): 1173-1199; James Barker Farr, Black Odyssey: The Seafaring Traditions of Afro-Americans (New York, 1989); Martha S. Putney, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War (Westport, Conn., 1987); Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge, 1987); Peter Linebaugh Marcus Rediker, "The Many-Headed Hydra," Journal of Historical Sociology 3 (September 1990): 225-252; Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon, 2000).
32. For work on African American sailors see Julius S. Scott, "The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" (Ph.D. Diss.: Duke University, 1986); David S. Cecelski, "The Shores of Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad in North Carolina, 1800-1861," The North Carolina Historical Review 71 (April 1994): 174-206; Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997); W. Jeffrey Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," Journal of American History 76 (March 1990): 1173-1199; James Barker Farr, Black Odyssey: The Seafaring Traditions of Afro-Americans (New York, 1989); Martha S. Putney, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War (Westport, Conn., 1987); Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge, 1987); Peter Linebaugh Marcus Rediker, "The Many-Headed Hydra," Journal of Historical Sociology 3 (September 1990): 225-252; Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon, 2000).
33. For work on African American sailors see Julius S. Scott, "The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" (Ph.D. Diss.: Duke University, 1986); David S. Cecelski, "The Shores of Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad in North Carolina, 1800-1861," The North Carolina Historical Review 71 (April 1994): 174-206; Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997); W. Jeffrey Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," Journal of American History 76 (March 1990): 1173-1199; James Barker Farr, Black Odyssey: The Seafaring Traditions of Afro-Americans (New York, 1989); Martha S. Putney, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War (Westport, Conn., 1987); Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge, 1987); Peter Linebaugh Marcus Rediker, "The Many-Headed Hydra," Journal of Historical Sociology 3 (September 1990): 225-252; Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon, 2000).
34. For work on African American sailors see Julius S. Scott, "The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" (Ph.D. Diss.: Duke University, 1986); David S. Cecelski, "The Shores of Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad in North Carolina, 1800-1861," The North Carolina Historical Review 71 (April 1994): 174-206; Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997); W. Jeffrey Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," Journal of American History 76 (March 1990): 1173-1199; James Barker Farr, Black Odyssey: The Seafaring Traditions of Afro-Americans (New York, 1989); Martha S. Putney, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War (Westport, Conn., 1987); Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge, 1987); Peter Linebaugh Marcus Rediker, "The Many-Headed Hydra," Journal of Historical Sociology 3 (September 1990): 225-252; Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon, 2000).
35. For work on African American sailors see Julius S. Scott, "The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" (Ph.D. Diss.: Duke University, 1986); David S. Cecelski, "The Shores of Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad in North Carolina, 1800-1861," The North Carolina Historical Review 71 (April 1994): 174-206; Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997); W. Jeffrey Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," Journal of American History 76 (March 1990): 1173-1199; James Barker Farr, Black Odyssey: The Seafaring Traditions of Afro-Americans (New York, 1989); Martha S. Putney, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War (Westport, Conn., 1987); Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge, 1987); Peter Linebaugh Marcus Rediker, "The Many-Headed Hydra," Journal of Historical Sociology 3 (September 1990): 225-252; Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon, 2000).
36. For work on African American sailors see Julius S. Scott, "The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" (Ph.D. Diss.: Duke University, 1986); David S. Cecelski, "The Shores of Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad in North Carolina, 1800-1861," The North Carolina Historical Review 71 (April 1994): 174-206; Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997); W. Jeffrey Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," Journal of American History 76 (March 1990): 1173-1199; James Barker Farr, Black Odyssey: The Seafaring Traditions of Afro-Americans (New York, 1989); Martha S. Putney, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War (Westport, Conn., 1987); Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge, 1987); Peter Linebaugh Marcus Rediker, "The Many-Headed Hydra," Journal of Historical Sociology 3 (September 1990): 225-252; Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon, 2000).
37. For work on African American sailors see Julius S. Scott, "The Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communication in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" (Ph.D. Diss.: Duke University, 1986); David S. Cecelski, "The Shores of Freedom: The Maritime Underground Railroad in North Carolina, 1800-1861," The North Carolina Historical Review 71 (April 1994): 174-206; Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997); W. Jeffrey Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," Journal of American History 76 (March 1990): 1173-1199; James Barker Farr, Black Odyssey: The Seafaring Traditions of Afro-Americans (New York, 1989); Martha S. Putney, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War (Westport, Conn., 1987); Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge, 1987); Peter Linebaugh Marcus Rediker, "The Many-Headed Hydra," Journal of Historical Sociology 3 (September 1990): 225-252; Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon, 2000).
38. Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), 26-30.
39. For a discussion of this phares and the hidden history of African American resistance in a later period see Robin D. G. Kelley, "'We Are Not What We Seem': Rethinking Black Working-Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History 80 (June 1993): 75-113. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven, 1990); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985). This chapter also draws on an English crime and society literature that focuses on the role of crime in class struggle. Edward P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act (New York, 1975); Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteen Century (Cambridge, 1992); Douglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, E. P. Thompson, and Cal Winslaw, eds., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1975). This article also draws on discussions of working class self-activity. See, for example, George Rawick, "Working Class Self-Activity," Radical America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (March-April, 1969). The best studies of black theft in the South do not analyze the commercial world. See Alex Lichenstein, "'That Disposition to Theft with which They Have Been Branded': Moral Economy, Slave Management, and the Law," Journal of Social History 21 (Spring 1988): pp. 413-40; Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850 (Chicago, 1981), chapter seven.
40. For a discussion of this phares and the hidden history of African American resistance in a later period see Robin D. G. Kelley, "'We Are Not What We Seem': Rethinking Black Working-Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History 80 (June 1993): 75-113. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven, 1990); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985). This chapter also draws on an English crime and society literature that focuses on the role of crime in class struggle. Edward P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act (New York, 1975); Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteen Century (Cambridge, 1992); Douglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, E. P. Thompson, and Cal Winslaw, eds., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1975). This article also draws on discussions of working class self-activity. See, for example, George Rawick, "Working Class Self-Activity," Radical America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (March-April, 1969). The best studies of black theft in the South do not analyze the commercial world. See Alex Lichenstein, "'That Disposition to Theft with which They Have Been Branded': Moral Economy, Slave Management, and the Law," Journal of Social History 21 (Spring 1988): pp. 413-40; Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850 (Chicago, 1981), chapter seven.
41. For a discussion of this phares and the hidden history of African American resistance in a later period see Robin D. G. Kelley, "'We Are Not What We Seem': Rethinking Black Working-Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History 80 (June 1993): 75-113. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven, 1990); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985). This chapter also draws on an English crime and society literature that focuses on the role of crime in class struggle. Edward P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act (New York, 1975); Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteen Century (Cambridge, 1992); Douglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, E. P. Thompson, and Cal Winslaw, eds., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1975). This article also draws on discussions of working class self-activity. See, for example, George Rawick, "Working Class Self-Activity," Radical America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (March-April, 1969). The best studies of black theft in the South do not analyze the commercial world. See Alex Lichenstein, "'That Disposition to Theft with which They Have Been Branded': Moral Economy, Slave Management, and the Law," Journal of Social History 21 (Spring 1988): pp. 413-40; Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850 (Chicago, 1981), chapter seven.
42. For a discussion of this phares and the hidden history of African American resistance in a later period see Robin D. G. Kelley, "'We Are Not What We Seem': Rethinking Black Working-Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History 80 (June 1993): 75-113. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven, 1990); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985). This chapter also draws on an English crime and society literature that focuses on the role of crime in class struggle. Edward P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act (New York, 1975); Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteen Century (Cambridge, 1992); Douglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, E. P. Thompson, and Cal Winslaw, eds., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1975). This article also draws on discussions of working class self-activity. See, for example, George Rawick, "Working Class Self-Activity," Radical America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (March-April, 1969). The best studies of black theft in the South do not analyze the commercial world. See Alex Lichenstein, "'That Disposition to Theft with which They Have Been Branded': Moral Economy, Slave Management, and the Law," Journal of Social History 21 (Spring 1988): pp. 413-40; Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850 (Chicago, 1981), chapter seven.
43. For a discussion of this phares and the hidden history of African American resistance in a later period see Robin D. G. Kelley, "'We Are Not What We Seem': Rethinking Black Working-Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History 80 (June 1993): 75-113. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven, 1990); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985). This chapter also draws on an English crime and society literature that focuses on the role of crime in class struggle. Edward P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act (New York, 1975); Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteen Century (Cambridge, 1992); Douglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, E. P. Thompson, and Cal Winslaw, eds., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1975). This article also draws on discussions of working class self-activity. See, for example, George Rawick, "Working Class Self-Activity," Radical America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (March-April, 1969). The best studies of black theft in the South do not analyze the commercial world. See Alex Lichenstein, "'That Disposition to Theft with which They Have Been Branded': Moral Economy, Slave Management, and the Law," Journal of Social History 21 (Spring 1988): pp. 413-40; Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850 (Chicago, 1981), chapter seven.
44. For a discussion of this phares and the hidden history of African American resistance in a later period see Robin D. G. Kelley, "'We Are Not What We Seem': Rethinking Black Working-Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History 80 (June 1993): 75-113. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven, 1990); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985). This chapter also draws on an English crime and society literature that focuses on the role of crime in class struggle. Edward P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act (New York, 1975); Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteen Century (Cambridge, 1992); Douglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, E. P. Thompson, and Cal Winslaw, eds., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1975). This article also draws on discussions of working class self-activity. See, for example, George Rawick, "Working Class Self-Activity," Radical America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (March-April, 1969). The best studies of black theft in the South do not analyze the commercial world. See Alex Lichenstein, "'That Disposition to Theft with which They Have Been Branded': Moral Economy, Slave Management, and the Law," Journal of Social History 21 (Spring 1988): pp. 413-40; Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850 (Chicago, 1981), chapter seven.
45. For a discussion of this phares and the hidden history of African American resistance in a later period see Robin D. G. Kelley, "'We Are Not What We Seem': Rethinking Black Working-Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History 80 (June 1993): 75-113. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven, 1990); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985). This chapter also draws on an English crime and society literature that focuses on the role of crime in class struggle. Edward P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act (New York, 1975); Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteen Century (Cambridge, 1992); Douglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, E. P. Thompson, and Cal Winslaw, eds., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1975). This article also draws on discussions of working class self-activity. See, for example, George Rawick, "Working Class Self-Activity," Radical America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (March-April, 1969). The best studies of black theft in the South do not analyze the commercial world. See Alex Lichenstein, "'That Disposition to Theft with which They Have Been Branded': Moral Economy, Slave Management, and the Law," Journal of Social History 21 (Spring 1988): pp. 413-40; Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850 (Chicago, 1981), chapter seven.
46. For a discussion of this phares and the hidden history of African American resistance in a later period see Robin D. G. Kelley, "'We Are Not What We Seem': Rethinking Black Working-Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History 80 (June 1993): 75-113. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven, 1990); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985). This chapter also draws on an English crime and society literature that focuses on the role of crime in class struggle. Edward P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act (New York, 1975); Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteen Century (Cambridge, 1992); Douglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, E. P. Thompson, and Cal Winslaw, eds., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1975). This article also draws on discussions of working class self-activity. See, for example, George Rawick, "Working Class Self-Activity," Radical America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (March-April, 1969). The best studies of black theft in the South do not analyze the commercial world. See Alex Lichenstein, "'That Disposition to Theft with which They Have Been Branded': Moral Economy, Slave Management, and the Law," Journal of Social History 21 (Spring 1988): pp. 413-40; Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850 (Chicago, 1981), chapter seven.
47. For a discussion of this phares and the hidden history of African American resistance in a later period see Robin D. G. Kelley, "'We Are Not What We Seem': Rethinking Black Working-Class Opposition in the Jim Crow South," Journal of American History 80 (June 1993): 75-113. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven, 1990); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985). This chapter also draws on an English crime and society literature that focuses on the role of crime in class struggle. Edward P. Thompson, Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act (New York, 1975); Peter Linebaugh, The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteen Century (Cambridge, 1992); Douglas Hay, Peter Linebaugh, John G. Rule, E. P. Thompson, and Cal Winslaw, eds., Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England (New York, 1975). This article also draws on discussions of working class self-activity. See, for example, George Rawick, "Working Class Self-Activity," Radical America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (March-April, 1969). The best studies of black theft in the South do not analyze the commercial world. See Alex Lichenstein, "'That Disposition to Theft with which They Have Been Branded': Moral Economy, Slave Management, and the Law," Journal of Social History 21 (Spring 1988): pp. 413-40; Leonard P. Curry, The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850 (Chicago, 1981), chapter seven.
48. Historians of slavery do not universally hold this view. Robert L. Paquette for instance, argues that studies of day-to-day resistance have gone too far and that slave revolt leaders deserve further study. Robert L. Paquette, "Slave Resistance and Social History," Journal of Social History 124 (Spring 1991): 681-685.
49. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (1990), 124.
50. The four men's stories reflect the multidimensional quality of maritime resistance but it is important to recognize that they do not reveal all the ways in which African Americans used the Mississippi River system. The men's accounts, for instance do not convey how slave and free black families used the river. In the era of the expansion of internal slave trade, river workers were a beacon of hope for slave families trying to stay in touch over thousands of miles of distance. In such situations river workers were heroic carriers of secret underground information. See Thomas C. Buchanan, "The Slave Mississippi: African-American Steamboat Workers, Networks of Resistance, and the Commercial World of the Western Rivers, 1811-1880," (Ph.D. Diss., Carnegie Mellon University, 1998), chapter 3.
51. The cultural dimensions of the antebellum black underworld have been the subject of a fine article by Shane White. See Shane White, "The Death of James Johnson," American Quarterly 51 (December 1999): 753-795.
52. Trials and Confessions (1841).
53. For an excellent recent example of the kinds of distortions that occurred within this genre see Edward A Pearson ed., Designs Against Charleston: The Trial Record of the Denmark Vesey Slave Conspiracy of 1822 (Chapel Hill, 1999). Pearson contrasts the official version of the trials with the actual trial transcripts. He argues that the official version censored discussion of the conspirators plans to poison Charleston's water supply for fear other slaves would use this strategy. While this finding is significant, it is important to note that there were far more factual similarities between the two documents than dissimilarities. For a broader discussion of the how these the confessional genre relates to other slave narratives see William L. Andrews, To Tell a Free Story: The First Century of Afro-American Autobiography, 1760-1865 (Urbana, 1988), pp. 39-44.
54. For an excellent recent example of the kinds of distortions that occurred within this genre see Edward A Pearson ed., Designs Against Charleston: The Trial Record of the Denmark Vesey Slave Conspiracy of 1822 (Chapel Hill, 1999). Pearson contrasts the official version of the trials with the actual trial transcripts. He argues that the official version censored discussion of the conspirators plans to poison Charleston's water supply for fear other slaves would use this strategy. While this finding is significant, it is important to note that there were far more factual similarities between the two documents than dissimilarities. For a broader discussion of the how these the confessional genre relates to other slave narratives see William L. Andrews, To Tell a Free Story: The First Century of Afro-American Autobiography, 1760-1865 (Urbana, 1988), pp. 39-44.
55. St. Louis Daily New Era, July 8, 1841.
56. New Orleans Picayune, July 29, 1841.
57. This figure is based on my analysis of the 1850 St. Louis census that included the unauthorized enumeration of ninety-three steamboats in the city's harbor. See Thomas C. Buchanan, "The Slave Mississippi: African-American Steamboat Workers, Networks of resistance, and the Commercial World of the Western Rivers, 1811-1880," pp. 32-34. This estimate may well be conservative. Robert Starobin claims that ten thousand black boat workers plied the western rivers in the antebellum period. See Starobin, Industrial Slavery in the Old South (1970), p. 30.
58. This figure is based on my analysis of the 1850 St. Louis census that included the unauthorized enumeration of ninety-three steamboats in the city's harbor. See Thomas C. Buchanan, "The Slave Mississippi: African-American Steamboat Workers, Networks of resistance, and the Commercial World of the Western Rivers, 1811-1880," pp. 32-34. This estimate may well be conservative. Robert Starobin claims that ten thousand black boat workers plied the western rivers in the antebellum period. See Starobin, Industrial Slavery in the Old South (1970), p. 30.
59. For further discussion of the gendered nature of this work environment see Buchanan, "The Slave Mississippi: African-American Steamboat Workers, Networks of Resistance, and the Commercial World of the Western Rivers, 1811-1880," chapter 3. For black masculinity in Atlantic sailor communities see Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," pp. 1173-1199.
60. For further discussion of the gendered nature of this work environment see Buchanan, "The Slave Mississippi: African-American Steamboat Workers, Networks of Resistance, and the Commercial World of the Western Rivers, 1811-1880," chapter 3. For black masculinity in Atlantic sailor communities see Bolster, "'To Feel Like a Man': Black Seamen in the Northern States, 1800-1860," pp. 1173-1199.
61. For a discussion of the organization of the early steamboat industry see Louis Hunter, Steamboats on the Western Rivers: An Economics and Technology History (Cambridge, 1949), pp. 320-323.
62. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 17, 20, 23; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 29-32; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confession (1841), pp. 57-8; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confession (1841), pp. 57-62.
63. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 17, 20, 23; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 29-32; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confession (1841), pp. 57-8; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confession (1841), pp. 57-62.
64. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 17, 20, 23; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 29-32; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confession (1841), pp. 57-8; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confession (1841), pp. 57-62.
65. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 17, 20, 23; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 29-32; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confession (1841), pp. 57-8; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confession (1841), pp. 57-62.
66. Warrick remembered "it was during my stay in jail that I first got acquainted with Madison the man who is condemned with me. He was in jail three or four times and once was flogged." See confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 30.
67. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 31.
68. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 17.
69. For a more detailed description of the freedoms of these workers see Buchanan, "The Slave Mississippi: African-American Steamboat Workers, Networks of Resistance, and the Commercial World of the Western Rivers, 1811-1880," chapter 1.
70. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 57.
71. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 17.
72. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 8.
73. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 9.
74. In one case a local slave picked up a load of provisions from the steamboat Uncle Sam by falsely representing himself to the boat's steward as a servant of a local merchant. See New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849.
75. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 9.
76. Some commentary was false, however. Chambers quotes Brown as saying that he attended Oberlin College and was a paid agent of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society. But these stories do not square with records from Oberlin College or what is known about abolitionist organizations. See Catalogue and Record of Colored Students, 1834-1972, Office of the Secretary, Record Group 5, Oberlin College Archives, Oberlin, Ohio.
77. New Orleans Picayune, July 29, 1841.
78. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 58-9; Missouri Republican, July 10, 1841.
79. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 58-9; Missouri Republican, July 10, 1841.
80. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 56.
81. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 57.
82. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 57.
83. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 59.
84. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 59.
85. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 59.
86. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 60.
87. William Cheek and Aimee Lee Cheek, "John Mercer Langston," in Henry Louis Jr., ed., Race and the City: Work, Community, and Protest in Cincinnati, 1820-1970 (Urbana, 1993), p. 34.
88. See John Campbell, "As 'A Kind of Freeman'?: Slaves' Market-Related Activities in the South Carolina Upcountry, 1800-1860," in Berlin and Morgan, eds., The Slaves' Economy (1991), pp. 131-170; Wood, Women's Work, Men's Work: The Informal Slave Economies of Lowcountry Georgia (1995).
89. See John Campbell, "As 'A Kind of Freeman'?: Slaves' Market-Related Activities in the South Carolina Upcountry, 1800-1860," in Berlin and Morgan, eds., The Slaves' Economy (1991), pp. 131-170; Wood, Women's Work, Men's Work: The Informal Slave Economies of Lowcountry Georgia (1995).
90. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 57-58. For corroboration of these events see Galena Gazette, July 17, 1841.
91. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 57-58. For corroboration of these events see Galena Gazette, July 17, 1841.
92. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 58.
93. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 62. See Galena Gazette, July 17, 1841.
94. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 62. See Galena Gazette, July 17, 1841.
95. This account reflects passages in the narratives of Brown and Seward. Chambers quoted Brown as saying "On Friday night the Missouri came up and it was said that Mr. Collier (a partner in the Pettus Bank) had brought up a large amount of money." See confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), 62. Seward was quoted in his testimony as saying the men the men met Madison that night on the Missouri when it docked on the levee. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 49.
96. This account reflects passages in the narratives of Brown and Seward. Chambers quoted Brown as saying "On Friday night the Missouri came up and it was said that Mr. Collier (a partner in the Pettus Bank) had brought up a large amount of money." See confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), 62. Seward was quoted in his testimony as saying the men the men met Madison that night on the Missouri when it docked on the levee. Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 49.
97. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 21; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 33-4; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 50; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 63; Missouri Republican, April 20, 1841; St. Louis Daily New Era, April 20, 1841.
98. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 21; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 33-4; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 50; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 63; Missouri Republican, April 20, 1841; St. Louis Daily New Era, April 20, 1841.
99. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 21; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 33-4; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 50; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 63; Missouri Republican, April 20, 1841; St. Louis Daily New Era, April 20, 1841.
100. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 21; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 33-4; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 50; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 63; Missouri Republican, April 20, 1841; St. Louis Daily New Era, April 20, 1841.
101. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 21; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 33-4; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 50; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 63; Missouri Republican, April 20, 1841; St. Louis Daily New Era, April 20, 1841.
102. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 21; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 33-4; Confession of James Seward, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 50; Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), p. 63; Missouri Republican, April 20, 1841; St. Louis Daily New Era, April 20, 1841.
103. The narratives indicate that they shared a general secular orientation long associated with maritime workers. See Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (1987).
104. For the gender ideals of middle-class free blacks and the best single essay on African American masculinity in this period see James Oliver Horton, "Freedom's Yoke: Gender Conventions Among Free Blacks," Feminist Studies 12, No. 1 (Spring 1986): 51-76.
105. St. Louis Argus, April 19, 1841.
106. St. Louis Daily New Era, April 19, 1841.
107. St. Louis Daily New Era, April 20, 1841.
108. St. Louis Daily Republican, April 30, 1841.
109. The Cincinnati Daily Gazette reported on that the crimes created a "high degree of excitement throughout the whole western and south western country." See Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 17, 1841.
110. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), 64; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), 35; St. Louis Daily New Era, May 5, 1841.
111. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), 64; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), 35; St. Louis Daily New Era, May 5, 1841.
112. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), 64; Confession of Amos Warrick, Trials and Confessions (1841), 35; St. Louis Daily New Era, May 5, 1841.
113. Missouri Republican, May 1, 1841; New Orleans Picayune, May 9, 1841.
114. Missouri Republican, May 1, 1841; New Orleans Picayune, May 9, 1841.
115. National Anti-Slavery Standard, July 1, 1841. For other reaction to the men's flight see New Orleans Picayune, May 9, 1841.
116. National Anti-Slavery Standard, July 1, 1841. For other reaction to the men's flight see New Orleans Picayune, May 9, 1841.
117. St. Louis Daily New Era, May 5, 1841; Missouri Republican, May 6, 1841.
118. St. Louis Daily New Era, May 5, 1841; Missouri Republican, May 6, 1841.
119. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), 64; Louisville Journal May 8, 1841; Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 6, 1841.
120. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), 64; Louisville Journal May 8, 1841; Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 6, 1841.
121. Confession of Charles Brown, Trials and Confessions (1841), 64; Louisville Journal May 8, 1841; Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 6, 1841.
122. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 24-5; Daily Missouri Republican, May 10, 1841.
123. Confession of Madison Henderson, Trials and Confessions (1841), pp. 24-5; Daily Missouri Republican, May 10, 1841.
124. St. Louis Daily New Era, May 25, 1841. Coverage of the men's trials filled St. Louis newspapers in the May 10-June 7 period.
125. Missouri Republican, July 2, 1841.
126. Judith Schafer has done excellent work on these laws for Louisiana. See Schafer, Slavery, the Civil Law, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana (1994), p. 99. Similar laws in other western states have not received the attention they deserve. For Louisiana laws regulating steamboat officers and owners changed slightly over time. See "An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of This State . . . ," Act of February 13, 1816, Louisiana Acts, 1816, pp. 8-14; "An Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation, or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of State' . . . Approved 13 February 1816," Act of March 26, 1835, Louisiana Acts, 1835, pp. 152-53; "An Act to Prevent the Carrying Away of Slaves, and For Other Purposes," Act of March 19, 1839, Louisiana Acts, 1839, pp. 118-20; "An Act . . . Passed for the Purpose of Preventing Slaves From Being Transported or Conducted Out of This State," Act of March 25, 1840, Louisiana Acts, 1840, pp. 89-91. For Missouri see "An Act Supplementary to an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Slaves,'" Act of February 13, 1841, Missouri Acts, 1841, pp. 146-7. This act made it illegal for any "Master, Commander or [steamboat] Owner . . . to Transport Any Servant or Slaves, From One Point or Place in This State Any Other Point . . . Without the Consent or Permission of the Person or Persons to Whom Slave Doth or Right Belong." For Kentucky see "An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State," Act of January 7, 1824, Kentucky Acts, 1824, pp. 406-7; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State,'" Act of February 12, 1828, Kentucky Acts, 1828, pp. 178-9. This 1828 amendment made captains liable for Kentucky fugitives coming on board from the northern side of the Ohio River. For Tennessee see "Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act More Effectively to Prevent the Owners of Steamboats and Stages from Carrying Off Slaves Without the Knowledge or Consent of Their Masters'," Act of November 12, 1833, Tennessee Acts, 1833, p. 75.
127. Judith Schafer has done excellent work on these laws for Louisiana. See Schafer, Slavery, the Civil Law, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana (1994), p. 99. Similar laws in other western states have not received the attention they deserve. For Louisiana laws regulating steamboat officers and owners changed slightly over time. See "An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of This State . . . ," Act of February 13, 1816, Louisiana Acts, 1816, pp. 8-14; "An Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation, or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of State' . . . Approved 13 February 1816," Act of March 26, 1835, Louisiana Acts, 1835, pp. 152-53; "An Act to Prevent the Carrying Away of Slaves, and For Other Purposes," Act of March 19, 1839, Louisiana Acts, 1839, pp. 118-20; "An Act . . . Passed for the Purpose of Preventing Slaves From Being Transported or Conducted Out of This State," Act of March 25, 1840, Louisiana Acts, 1840, pp. 89-91. For Missouri see "An Act Supplementary to an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Slaves,'" Act of February 13, 1841, Missouri Acts, 1841, pp. 146-7. This act made it illegal for any "Master, Commander or [steamboat] Owner . . . to Transport Any Servant or Slaves, From One Point or Place in This State Any Other Point . . . Without the Consent or
128. Judith Schafer has done excellent work on these laws for Louisiana. See Schafer, Slavery, the Civil Law, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana (1994), p. 99. Similar laws in other western states have not received the attention they deserve. For Louisiana laws regulating steamboat officers and owners changed slightly over time. See "An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of This State . . . ," Act of February 13, 1816, Louisiana Acts, 1816, pp. 8-14; "An Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation, or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of State' . . . Approved 13 February 1816," Act of March 26, 1835, Louisiana Acts, 1835, pp. 152-53; "An Act to Prevent the Carrying Away of Slaves, and For Other Purposes," Act of March 19, 1839, Louisiana Acts, 1839, pp. 118-20; "An Act . . . Passed for the Purpose of Preventing Slaves From Being Transported or Conducted Out of This State," Act of March 25, 1840, Louisiana Acts, 1840, pp. 89-91. For Missouri see "An Act Supplementary to an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Slaves,'" Act of February 13, 1841, Missouri Acts, 1841, pp. 146-7. This act made it illegal for any "Master, Commander or [steamboat] Owner . . . to Transport Any Servant or Slaves, From One Point or Place in This State Any Other Point . . . Without the Consent or Permission of the Person or Persons to Whom Slave Doth or Right Belong." For Kentucky see "An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State," Act of January 7, 1824, Kentucky Acts, 1824, pp. 406-7; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State,'" Act of February 12, 1828, Kentucky Acts, 1828, pp. 178-9. This 1828 amendment made captains liable for Kentucky fugitives coming on board from the northern side of the Ohio River. For Tennessee see "Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act More Effectively to Prevent the Owners of Steamboats and Stages from Carrying Off Slaves Without the Knowledge or Consent of Their Masters'," Act of November 12, 1833, Tennessee Acts, 1833, p. 75.
129. Judith Schafer has done excellent work on these laws for Louisiana. See Schafer, Slavery, the Civil Law, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana (1994), p. 99. Similar laws in other western states have not received the attention they deserve. For Louisiana laws regulating steamboat officers and owners changed slightly over time. See "An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of This State . . . ," Act of February 13, 1816, Louisiana Acts, 1816, pp. 8-14; "An Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation, or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of State' . . . Approved 13 February 1816," Act of March 26, 1835, Louisiana Acts, 1835, pp. 152-53; "An Act to Prevent the Carrying Away of Slaves, and For Other Purposes," Act of March 19, 1839, Louisiana Acts, 1839, pp. 118-20; "An Act . . . Passed for the Purpose of Preventing Slaves From Being Transported or Conducted Out of This State," Act of March 25, 1840, Louisiana Acts, 1840, pp. 89-91. For Missouri see "An Act Supplementary to an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Slaves,'" Act of February 13, 1841, Missouri Acts, 1841, pp. 146-7. This act made it illegal for any "Master, Commander or [steamboat] Owner . . . to Transport Any Servant or Slaves, From One Point or Place in This State Any Other Point . . . Without the Consent or Permission of the Person or Persons to Whom Slave Doth or Right Belong." For Kentucky see "An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State," Act of January 7, 1824, Kentucky Acts, 1824, pp. 406-7; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State,'" Act of February 12, 1828, Kentucky Acts, 1828, pp. 178-9. This 1828 amendment made captains liable for Kentucky fugitives coming on board from the northern side of the Ohio River. For Tennessee see "Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act More Effectively to Prevent the Owners of Steamboats and Stages from Carrying Off Slaves Without the Knowledge or Consent of Their Masters'," Act of November 12, 1833, Tennessee Acts, 1833, p. 75.
130. Judith Schafer has done excellent work on these laws for Louisiana. See Schafer, Slavery, the Civil Law, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana (1994), p. 99. Similar laws in other western states have not received the attention they deserve. For Louisiana laws regulating steamboat officers and owners changed slightly over time. See "An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of This State . . . ," Act of February 13, 1816, Louisiana Acts, 1816, pp. 8-14; "An Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation, or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of State' . . . Approved 13 February 1816," Act of March 26, 1835, Louisiana Acts, 1835, pp. 152-53; "An Act to Prevent the Carrying Away of Slaves, and For Other Purposes," Act of March 19, 1839, Louisiana Acts, 1839, pp. 118-20; "An Act . . . Passed for the Purpose of Preventing Slaves From Being Transported or Conducted Out of This State," Act of March 25, 1840, Louisiana Acts, 1840, pp. 89-91. For Missouri see "An Act Supplementary to an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Slaves,'" Act of February 13, 1841, Missouri Acts, 1841, pp. 146-7. This act made it illegal for any "Master, Commander or [steamboat] Owner . . . to Transport Any Servant or Slaves, From One Point or Place in This State Any Other Point . . . Without the Consent or Permission of the Person or Persons to Whom Slave Doth or Right Belong." For Kentucky see "An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State," Act of January 7, 1824, Kentucky Acts, 1824, pp. 406-7; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State,'" Act of February 12, 1828, Kentucky Acts, 1828, pp. 178-9. This 1828 amendment made captains liable for Kentucky fugitives coming on board from the northern side of the Ohio River. For Tennessee see "Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act More Effectively to Prevent the Owners of Steamboats and Stages from Carrying Off Slaves Without the Knowledge or Consent of Their Masters'," Act of November 12, 1833, Tennessee Acts, 1833, p. 75.
131. Judith Schafer has done excellent work on these laws for Louisiana. See Schafer, Slavery, the Civil Law, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana (1994), p. 99. Similar laws in other western states have not received the attention they deserve. For Louisiana laws regulating steamboat officers and owners changed slightly over time. See "An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of This State . . . ," Act of February 13, 1816, Louisiana Acts, 1816, pp. 8-14; "An Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation, or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of State' . . . Approved 13 February 1816," Act of March 26, 1835, Louisiana Acts, 1835, pp. 152-53; "An Act to Prevent the Carrying Away of Slaves, and For Other Purposes," Act of March 19, 1839, Louisiana Acts, 1839, pp. 118-20; "An Act . . . Passed for the Purpose of Preventing Slaves From Being Transported or Conducted Out of This State," Act of March 25, 1840, Louisiana Acts, 1840, pp. 89-91. For Missouri see "An Act Supplementary to an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Slaves,'" Act of February 13, 1841, Missouri Acts, 1841, pp. 146-7. This act made it illegal for any "Master, Commander or [steamboat] Owner . . . to Transport Any Servant or Slaves, From One Point or Place in This State Any Other Point . . . Without the Consent or Permission of the Person or Persons to Whom Slave Doth or Right Belong." For Kentucky see "An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State," Act of January 7, 1824, Kentucky Acts, 1824, pp. 406-7; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State,'" Act of February 12, 1828, Kentucky Acts, 1828, pp. 178-9. This 1828 amendment made captains liable for Kentucky fugitives coming on board from the northern side of the Ohio River. For Tennessee see "Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act More Effectively to Prevent the Owners of Steamboats and Stages from Carrying Off Slaves Without the Knowledge or Consent of Their Masters'," Act of November 12, 1833, Tennessee Acts, 1833, p. 75.
132. Judith Schafer has done excellent work on these laws for Louisiana. See Schafer, Slavery, the Civil Law, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana (1994), p. 99. Similar laws in other western states have not received the attention they deserve. For Louisiana laws regulating steamboat officers and owners changed slightly over time. See "An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of This State . . . ," Act of February 13, 1816, Louisiana Acts, 1816, pp. 8-14; "An Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation, or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of State' . . . Approved 13 February 1816," Act of March 26, 1835, Louisiana Acts, 1835, pp. 152-53; "An Act to Prevent the Carrying Away of Slaves, and For Other Purposes," Act of March 19, 1839, Louisiana Acts, 1839, pp. 118-20; "An Act . . . Passed for the Purpose of Preventing Slaves From Being Transported or Conducted Out of This State," Act of March 25, 1840, Louisiana Acts, 1840, pp. 89-91. For Missouri see "An Act Supplementary to an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Slaves,'" Act of February 13, 1841, Missouri Acts, 1841, pp. 146-7. This act made it illegal for any "Master, Commander or [steamboat] Owner . . . to Transport Any Servant or Slaves, From One Point or Place in This State Any Other Point . . . Without the Consent or Permission of the Person or Persons to Whom Slave Doth or Right Belong." For Kentucky see "An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State," Act of January 7, 1824, Kentucky Acts, 1824, pp. 406-7; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State,'" Act of February 12, 1828, Kentucky Acts, 1828, pp. 178-9. This 1828 amendment made captains liable for Kentucky fugitives coming on board from the northern side of the Ohio River. For Tennessee see "Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act More Effectively to Prevent the Owners of Steamboats and Stages from Carrying Off Slaves Without the Knowledge or Consent of Their Masters'," Act of November 12, 1833, Tennessee Acts, 1833, p. 75.
133. Judith Schafer has done excellent work on these laws for Louisiana. See Schafer, Slavery, the Civil Law, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana (1994), p. 99. Similar laws in other western states have not received the attention they deserve. For Louisiana laws regulating steamboat officers and owners changed slightly over time. See "An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of This State . . . ," Act of February 13, 1816, Louisiana Acts, 1816, pp. 8-14; "An Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation, or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of State' . . . Approved 13 February 1816," Act of March 26, 1835, Louisiana Acts, 1835, pp. 152-53; "An Act to Prevent the Carrying Away of Slaves, and For Other Purposes," Act of March 19, 1839, Louisiana Acts, 1839, pp. 118-20; "An Act . . . Passed for the Purpose of Preventing Slaves From Being Transported or Conducted Out of This State," Act of March 25, 1840, Louisiana Acts, 1840, pp. 89-91. For Missouri see "An Act Supplementary to an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Slaves,'" Act of February 13, 1841, Missouri Acts, 1841, pp. 146-7. This act made it illegal for any "Master, Commander or [steamboat] Owner . . . to Transport Any Servant or Slaves, From One Point or Place in This State Any Other Point . . . Without the Consent or Permission of the Person or Persons to Whom Slave Doth or Right Belong." For Kentucky see "An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State," Act of January 7, 1824, Kentucky Acts, 1824, pp. 406-7; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State,'" Act of February 12, 1828, Kentucky Acts, 1828, pp. 178-9. This 1828 amendment made captains liable for Kentucky fugitives coming on board from the northern side of the Ohio River. For Tennessee see "Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act More Effectively to Prevent the Owners of Steamboats and Stages from Carrying Off Slaves Without the Knowledge or Consent of Their Masters'," Act of November 12, 1833, Tennessee Acts, 1833, p. 75.
134. Judith Schafer has done excellent work on these laws for Louisiana. See Schafer, Slavery, the Civil Law, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana (1994), p. 99. Similar laws in other western states have not received the attention they deserve. For Louisiana laws regulating steamboat officers and owners changed slightly over time. See "An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of This State . . . ," Act of February 13, 1816, Louisiana Acts, 1816, pp. 8-14; "An Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act to Take the Most Effective Measures in Order to Prevent the Transportation, or Carrying Away of Slaves Out of State' . . . Approved 13 February 1816," Act of March 26, 1835, Louisiana Acts, 1835, pp. 152-53; "An Act to Prevent the Carrying Away of Slaves, and For Other Purposes," Act of March 19, 1839, Louisiana Acts, 1839, pp. 118-20; "An Act . . . Passed for the Purpose of Preventing Slaves From Being Transported or Conducted Out of This State," Act of March 25, 1840, Louisiana Acts, 1840, pp. 89-91. For Missouri see "An Act Supplementary to an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Slaves,'" Act of February 13, 1841, Missouri Acts, 1841, pp. 146-7. This act made it illegal for any "Master, Commander or [steamboat] Owner . . . to Transport Any Servant or Slaves, From One Point or Place in This State Any Other Point . . . Without the Consent or Permission of the Person or Persons to Whom Slave Doth or Right Belong." For Kentucky see "An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State," Act of January 7, 1824, Kentucky Acts, 1824, pp. 406-7; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act to Prevent the Masters of Vessels, and Others from Employing or Removing Persons of Colour From This State,'" Act of February 12, 1828, Kentucky Acts, 1828, pp. 178-9. This 1828 amendment made captains liable for Kentucky fugitives coming on board from the northern side of the Ohio River. For Tennessee see "Act to Amend the Act Entitled 'An Act More Effectively to Prevent the Owners of Steamboats and Stages from Carrying Off Slaves Without the Knowledge or Consent of Their Masters'," Act of November 12, 1833, Tennessee Acts, 1833, p. 75.
135. Bolster, Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997), chapter 7. For an excellent summary of these laws in Louisiana see Tansey, "Out-of-State Free Blacks in Late Antebellum New Orleans," 369-387. For other states see "An Act to Amend the Several Acts of this State in Relation to Free Negroes and Mulattoes," Act of February 26, 1842, Mississippi Acts, 1842; "An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation," Act of March 3, 1860, Kentucky Acts, 1860; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation'," Act of January 23, 1861, Kentucky Acts, 1861; "An Act More Effectively to Prevent Free Persons of Color From Entering Into This State, and for Other Purposes," Act of February 23, 1843, Missouri Acts, 1843. For an 1849 Memphis city ordinance see Marious Carrierre Jr., "Blacks in Pre-Civil War Memphis," in Kenneth L. Kusmer, ed., Black Communities and Urban Development in America 1720-1990: A Ten Volume Collection of Articles Surveying the Social, Political, Economic, and Cultural Development of Black Urban Communities, Vol. 2, (New York, 1991), pp. 127-128.
136. Bolster, Blackjacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997), chapter 7. For an excellent summary of these laws in Louisiana see Tansey, "Out-of-State Free Blacks in Late Antebellum New Orleans," 369-387. For other states see "An Act to Amend the Several Acts of this State in Relation to Free Negroes and Mulattoes," Act of February 26, 1842, Mississippi Acts, 1842; "An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation," Act of March 3, 1860, Kentucky Acts, 1860; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation'," Act of January 23, 1861, Kentucky Acts, 1861; "An Act More Effectively to Prevent Free Persons of Color From Entering Into This State, and for Other Purposes," Act of February 23, 1843, Missouri Acts, 1843. For an 1849 Memphis city ordinance see Marious Carrierre Jr., "Blacks in Pre-Civil War Memphis," in Kenneth L. Kusmer, ed., Black Communities and Urban Development in America 1720-1990: A Ten Volume Collection of Articles Surveying the Social, Political, Economic, and Cultural Development of Black Urban Communities, Vol. 2, (New York, 1991), pp. 127-128.
137. Bolster, Blackjacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997), chapter 7. For an excellent summary of these laws in Louisiana see Tansey, "Out-of-State Free Blacks in Late Antebellum New Orleans," 369-387. For other states see "An Act to Amend the Several Acts of this State in Relation to Free Negroes and Mulattoes," Act of February 26, 1842, Mississippi Acts, 1842; "An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation," Act of March 3, 1860, Kentucky Acts, 1860; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation'," Act of January 23, 1861, Kentucky Acts, 1861; "An Act More Effectively to Prevent Free Persons of Color From Entering Into This State, and for Other Purposes," Act of February 23, 1843, Missouri Acts, 1843. For an 1849 Memphis city ordinance see Marious Carrierre Jr., "Blacks in Pre-Civil War Memphis," in Kenneth L. Kusmer, ed., Black Communities and Urban Development in America 1720-1990: A Ten Volume Collection of Articles Surveying the Social, Political, Economic, and Cultural Development of Black Urban Communities, Vol. 2, (New York, 1991), pp. 127-128.
138. Bolster, Blackjacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997), chapter 7. For an excellent summary of these laws in Louisiana see Tansey, "Out-of-State Free Blacks in Late Antebellum New Orleans," 369-387. For other states see "An Act to Amend the Several Acts of this State in Relation to Free Negroes and Mulattoes," Act of February 26, 1842, Mississippi Acts, 1842; "An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation," Act of March 3, 1860, Kentucky Acts, 1860; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation'," Act of January 23, 1861, Kentucky Acts, 1861; "An Act More Effectively to Prevent Free Persons of Color From Entering Into This State, and for Other Purposes," Act of February 23, 1843, Missouri Acts, 1843. For an 1849 Memphis city ordinance see Marious Carrierre Jr., "Blacks in Pre-Civil War Memphis," in Kenneth L. Kusmer, ed., Black Communities and Urban Development in America 1720-1990: A Ten Volume Collection of Articles Surveying the Social, Political, Economic, and Cultural Development of Black Urban Communities, Vol. 2, (New York, 1991), pp. 127-128.
139. Bolster, Blackjacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997), chapter 7. For an excellent summary of these laws in Louisiana see Tansey, "Out-of-State Free Blacks in Late Antebellum New Orleans," 369-387. For other states see "An Act to Amend the Several Acts of this State in Relation to Free Negroes and Mulattoes," Act of February 26, 1842, Mississippi Acts, 1842; "An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation," Act of March 3, 1860, Kentucky Acts, 1860; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation'," Act of January 23, 1861, Kentucky Acts, 1861; "An Act More Effectively to Prevent Free Persons of Color From Entering Into This State, and for Other Purposes," Act of February 23, 1843, Missouri Acts, 1843. For an 1849 Memphis city ordinance see Marious Carrierre Jr., "Blacks in Pre-Civil War Memphis," in Kenneth L. Kusmer, ed., Black Communities and Urban Development in America 1720-1990: A Ten Volume Collection of Articles Surveying the Social, Political, Economic, and Cultural Development of Black Urban Communities, Vol. 2, (New York, 1991), pp. 127-128.
140. Bolster, Blackjacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997), chapter 7. For an excellent summary of these laws in Louisiana see Tansey, "Out-of-State Free Blacks in Late Antebellum New Orleans," 369-387. For other states see "An Act to Amend the Several Acts of this State in Relation to Free Negroes and Mulattoes," Act of February 26, 1842, Mississippi Acts, 1842; "An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation," Act of March 3, 1860, Kentucky Acts, 1860; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation'," Act of January 23, 1861, Kentucky Acts, 1861; "An Act More Effectively to Prevent Free Persons of Color From Entering Into This State, and for Other Purposes," Act of February 23, 1843, Missouri Acts, 1843. For an 1849 Memphis city ordinance see Marious Carrierre Jr., "Blacks in Pre-Civil War Memphis," in Kenneth L. Kusmer, ed., Black Communities and Urban Development in America 1720-1990: A Ten Volume Collection of Articles Surveying the Social, Political, Economic, and Cultural Development of Black Urban Communities, Vol. 2, (New York, 1991), pp. 127-128.
141. Bolster, Blackjacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail (1997), chapter 7. For an excellent summary of these laws in Louisiana see Tansey, "Out-of-State Free Blacks in Late Antebellum New Orleans," 369-387. For other states see "An Act to Amend the Several Acts of this State in Relation to Free Negroes and Mulattoes," Act of February 26, 1842, Mississippi Acts, 1842; "An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation," Act of March 3, 1860, Kentucky Acts, 1860; "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act Concerning Free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Emancipation'," Act of January 23, 1861, Kentucky Acts, 1861; "An Act More Effectively to Prevent Free Persons of Color From Entering Into This State, and for Other Purposes," Act of February 23, 1843, Missouri Acts, 1843. For an 1849 Memphis city ordinance see Marious Carrierre Jr., "Blacks in Pre-Civil War Memphis," in Kenneth L. Kusmer, ed., Black Communities and Urban Development in America 1720-1990: A Ten Volume Collection of Articles Surveying the Social, Political, Economic, and Cultural Development of Black Urban Communities, Vol. 2, (New York, 1991), pp. 127-128.
142. Memphis Daily Appeal, January 8, 1861.
143. John W. Blassingame: ed., Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews and Autobiographies (Baton Rouge, 1977), 387.
144. Tansey, "Out-of-State Free Blacks in Late Antebellum New Orleans," 378-381.
145. Tansey, "Out-of-State Free Blacks in Late Antebellum New Orleans," 378-381.
146. Timothy R. Mahoney, River Towns in the Great West: The Structure of Provincial Urbanization in the American Midwest, 1820-1870 (Cambridge, 1990), pp. 173-175.
147. News articles from New Orleans and St. Louis illustrate what was undoubtedly a pattern in other western cities. See, for instance, New Orleans Picayune, September 4, 1839; New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849; New Orleans Picayune, May 30, 1844; New Orleans Picayune, August 9, 1854; New Orleans Picayune, August 3, 1854; Missouri Republican, August 18, 1845; Missouri Republican, October 3, 1846; Missouri Republican, October 5, 1846; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1853.
148. News articles from New Orleans and St. Louis illustrate what was undoubtedly a pattern in other western cities. See, for instance, New Orleans Picayune, September 4, 1839; New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849; New Orleans Picayune, May 30, 1844; New Orleans Picayune, August 9, 1854; New Orleans Picayune, August 3, 1854; Missouri Republican, August 18, 1845; Missouri Republican, October 3, 1846; Missouri Republican, October 5, 1846; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1853.
149. News articles from New Orleans and St. Louis illustrate what was undoubtedly a pattern in other western cities. See, for instance, New Orleans Picayune, September 4, 1839; New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849; New Orleans Picayune, May 30, 1844; New Orleans Picayune, August 9, 1854; New Orleans Picayune, August 3, 1854; Missouri Republican, August 18, 1845; Missouri Republican, October 3, 1846; Missouri Republican, October 5, 1846; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1853.
150. News articles from New Orleans and St. Louis illustrate what was undoubtedly a pattern in other western cities. See, for instance, New Orleans Picayune, September 4, 1839; New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849; New Orleans Picayune, May 30, 1844; New Orleans Picayune, August 9, 1854; New Orleans Picayune, August 3, 1854; Missouri Republican, August 18, 1845; Missouri Republican, October 3, 1846; Missouri Republican, October 5, 1846; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1853.
151. News articles from New Orleans and St. Louis illustrate what was undoubtedly a pattern in other western cities. See, for instance, New Orleans Picayune, September 4, 1839; New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849; New Orleans Picayune, May 30, 1844; New Orleans Picayune, August 9, 1854; New Orleans Picayune, August 3, 1854; Missouri Republican, August 18, 1845; Missouri Republican, October 3, 1846; Missouri Republican, October 5, 1846; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1853.
152. News articles from New Orleans and St. Louis illustrate what was undoubtedly a pattern in other western cities. See, for instance, New Orleans Picayune, September 4, 1839; New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849; New Orleans Picayune, May 30, 1844; New Orleans Picayune, August 9, 1854; New Orleans Picayune, August 3, 1854; Missouri Republican, August 18, 1845; Missouri Republican, October 3, 1846; Missouri Republican, October 5, 1846; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1853.
153. News articles from New Orleans and St. Louis illustrate what was undoubtedly a pattern in other western cities. See, for instance, New Orleans Picayune, September 4, 1839; New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849; New Orleans Picayune, May 30, 1844; New Orleans Picayune, August 9, 1854; New Orleans Picayune, August 3, 1854; Missouri Republican, August 18, 1845; Missouri Republican, October 3, 1846; Missouri Republican, October 5, 1846; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1853.
154. News articles from New Orleans and St. Louis illustrate what was undoubtedly a pattern in other western cities. See, for instance, New Orleans Picayune, September 4, 1839; New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849; New Orleans Picayune, May 30, 1844; New Orleans Picayune, August 9, 1854; New Orleans Picayune, August 3, 1854; Missouri Republican, August 18, 1845; Missouri Republican, October 3, 1846; Missouri Republican, October 5, 1846; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1853.
155. News articles from New Orleans and St. Louis illustrate what was undoubtedly a pattern in other western cities. See, for instance, New Orleans Picayune, September 4, 1839; New Orleans Picayune, April 8, 1849; New Orleans Picayune, May 30, 1844; New Orleans Picayune, August 9, 1854; New Orleans Picayune, August 3, 1854; Missouri Republican, August 18, 1845; Missouri Republican, October 3, 1846; Missouri Republican, October 5, 1846; St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1853.
156. Lafcadio Hearn, Children of the Levee, O. W. Frost, ed. (Lexington, 1957), p. 81.
157. Hearn, Children of the Levee, Frost ed. (1957), p. 81.
158. John Edmund Boland Recollections, Box 1, Folder 4, Sophie Pearson Collection, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, Louisiana State University.
159. John Edmund Boland Recollections, Box 1, Folder 4, Sophie Pearson Collection, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, Louisiana State University.
160. Larry Gara, The Liberty Line: the Legend of the Underground Railroad (Kentucky, 1961), p. 50.
161. Gilbert Osofsky, ed., Puttin' on Ole Massa (New York, 1969), p. 72.
162. Stuart Seely Sprague, ed., His Promised Land: The Autobiography of John P. Parker (New York, 1996), p. 63.
163. Buchanan, "The Slave Mississippi: African-American Steamboat Workers, Networks of Resistance, and the Commercial World of the Western Rivers, 1811-1880," chapter 4.
164. David Waldstreicher has recently published an outstanding analysis of "self-fashioning" by runaways in the eighteenth-century Mid-Atlantic. See David Waldstreicher, "Reading the Runaways: Self-Fashioning, Print Culture, and Confidence in Slavery in the Eighteenth-Century Mid-Atlantic," William and Mary Quarterly LVI (April 1999): 243-272.
165. Osofsky, ed., Puttin' On Ole Massa (1969), p. 151.
166. Osofsky, ed., Puttin' On Ole Massa (1969), p. 151.
167. In one Missouri court case boat officers admitted that the practice of subcontracting labor made them ignorant of the labor status of African American workers. See Blair et. al. v. Steamboat Aunt Letty, No. 183, Box 5, Unreported (1857), United States District Court Records, Eastern District of Missouri, National Archives - Great Plains Region. For family connections securing illegal hires see Goldenbow v. Wright, 13 La 371 (1839).
168. Sprague, ed., His Promised Land: The Autobiography of John P. Parker, Former Slave and Conductor on the Underground Railroad (1996), p. 44.
169. William Creek and Aimee Lee Cheek, "John Mercer Langston and the Cincinnati Riot of 1841," in Taylor, Henry Louis Jr., ed., Race and the City: Work, Community, and Protest in Cincinnati, 1820-1970 (Urbana, 1993), p. 44.
170. Benjamin Drew, The Refugee: A North-Side View of Slavery (Reading, Massachusetts, 1969), 256. For another case in which a northern African-American man, who was likely a boatmen, helped a black passenger elude bounty hunters see Sprague, ed., His Promised Land: The Autobiography of John P. Parker, Former Slave and Conductor on the Underground Railroad (1996), 132-4.
171. Benjamin Drew, The Refugee: A North-Side View of Slavery (Reading, Massachusetts, 1969), 256. For another case in which a northern African-American man, who was likely a boatmen, helped a black passenger elude bounty hunters see Sprague, ed., His Promised Land: The Autobiography of John P. Parker, Former Slave and Conductor on the Underground Railroad (1996), 132-4.
172. Drew, The Refugee: A North-Side View of Slavery (1969), p. 256.
173. Drew, The Refugee: A North-Side View of Slavery (1969), p. 257.
174. Mrs. Houstoun, Mrs. Hesperos: Or, Travels in the West, Vol. II, (London, 1850), p. 160.
175. See, for instance, testimony of Cox, John Blassingame, ed., Slave Testimony (1977), p. 390, testimony of Sella Martin, Blassingame, ed., Slave Testimony (1977), p. 728; testimony of Shadrach Cyrus, Rawick, ed., The American Slave, Mississippi Narratives, Supplement, Series 1, Volume 7, Part 2 (1977), p. 545; testimony of Mary Kindred, Rawick, ed., The American Slave, Texas Narratives, Supplement, Series 2, Volume 6, Part 5 (1979), p. 2203.
176. See, for instance, testimony of Cox, John Blassingame, ed., Slave Testimony (1977), p. 390, testimony of Sella Martin, Blassingame, ed., Slave Testimony (1977), p. 728; testimony of Shadrach Cyrus, Rawick, ed., The American Slave, Mississippi Narratives, Supplement, Series 1, Volume 7, Part 2 (1977), p. 545; testimony of Mary Kindred, Rawick, ed., The American Slave, Texas Narratives, Supplement, Series 2, Volume 6, Part 5 (1979), p. 2203.
177. See, for instance, testimony of Cox, John Blassingame, ed., Slave Testimony (1977), p. 390, testimony of Sella Martin, Blassingame, ed., Slave Testimony (1977), p. 728; testimony of Shadrach Cyrus, Rawick, ed., The American Slave, Mississippi Narratives, Supplement, Series 1, Volume 7, Part 2 (1977), p. 545; testimony of Mary Kindred, Rawick, ed., The American Slave, Texas Narratives, Supplement, Series 2, Volume 6, Part 5 (1979), p. 2203.
178. See, for instance, testimony of Cox, John Blassingame, ed., Slave Testimony (1977), p. 390, testimony of Sella Martin, Blassingame, ed., Slave Testimony (1977), p. 728; testimony of Shadrach Cyrus, Rawick, ed., The American Slave, Mississippi Narratives, Supplement, Series 1, Volume 7, Part 2 (1977), p. 545; testimony of Mary Kindred, Rawick, ed., The American Slave, Texas Narratives, Supplement, Series 2, Volume 6, Part 5 (1979), p. 2203.