family and second escape, 145–47
regret for endangerment of sisters, 50
sale of, 73
Edmonson family
decision to escape, 6
desirability of, to slave owners and dealers, 5, 46, 51
family tree, 152–53
number of children in, 3
second generation of teachers, 141
status of children at time of Pearl escape, 4–5
time line, 151
Edmonson sisters, Emily and Mary
abolitionist activism, 110–11, 114–15, 116, 117
in Alexandria slave pen, 49, 79
in Baltimore slave pen, 53–54, 78
defiance of rules at slave pen, 53, 69
desirability of, in New Orleans sex trade, 5–6, 55
education and aspiration to teach, 107–9, 125, 135
illiteracy, 20
march through Washington and confinement in jail, 33–39, 45, 47–49
meeting with and impression upon Stowe, 126–31, 136
in New Orleans, 63–70, 72–74
aboard Pearl, 14, 17–20, 25–26, 29–31
photos of, 108, 116
piety and manners, 20, 50–51, 53, 66, 107
preparation for coffle to South Carolina, 80–84
price for ransom of, 46, 49, 51, 79–80, 84, 94–95
ransom and freedom of, 93–96
ransom fundraising appeal for, 88–93
sale of, 46
aboard Union, 61–63, 77
work as house slaves and babysitters, 4, 50, 79, 81
education of black people
laws against, 21
at New York Central College, 109, 125
at Normal School for Colored Girls, 137–40, 140
at Oberlin College, 135–136
“Effects of the Fugitive Slave Law” (lithograph by Kaufmann), 111
emancipation
for all enslaved people, 148
controversy over ransom of slaves, 90, 92
with death of master, 3, 46
documents proving, 12
purchase of freedom, 4–5, 145
in South, 148
in Washington, D.C., 148, 149
Emancipation Proclamation, 148
England
abolitionist graphic image, 87
freedom under English law, 146
English, Chester, 35, 102, 104
escape from bondage. See also Pearl escape
considerations, 6
Fugitive Slave Act, 110, 111, 112, 115
protection under English law, 146
safety in Pennsylvania, 15
Underground Railroad, 109–10
F
families, separation of, 1–4, 47, 53–54, 57
field slaves, 5, 6, 59–60
Fillmore, Millard, 115, 120, 121
“free dealer” work arrangement, 145
freedom. See emancipation; escape from bondage
Fugitive Slave Act, 110, 111, 112, 115
Fugitive Slave Law Convention (Cazenovia, New York), 111, 114–15
G
Gannon, Joseph, 11, 35
Giddings, Joshua R., 98–101, 101
Goddard, John H., 40, 102, 113
H
Hall, David A., 99, 102
Hamlin, Edwin, 98
Hildreth, Richard, 150
Hill, Henry, 81
Hoover, Andrew, 104
house slaves, 5, 6
I
international slave trade (Middle Passage), 59–60
J
Johnson, Larkin, 143
“Journey of a Slave from the Plantation to the Battlefield” (trading cards), 4
K
Kaufmann, Theodore, 111
Key, Philip Barton, 102
Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, A (Stowe), 129, 130, 133, 136
L
laws concerning enslaved people
Black Code of the District of Columbia, 12
Compensated Emancipation Act, 149
Compromise of 1850, 112
emancipation in Washington, D.C., 148
Emancipation Proclamation, 148
Fugitive Slave Act, 110, 111, 112, 115
literacy laws, 21, 21
race classifications, 66
ten o’clock curfew, 11, 12
Thirteenth Amendment to Constitution, 148
Liberty Party, 86
Lincoln, Abraham, 148
literacy laws, 21, 21
Loguen, Jermain Wesley, 109, 109–11
Lumley, Arthur, 36–37
M
Madison, Dolley, 23
Middle Passage (transatlantic slave trade), 59–60
Miner, Myrtilla, 137–42, 138
mixed-race families
placage system, 67, 67
race classifications, 66
Morsell, James, 105
mosquitos, yellow fever and, 51, 74, 75, 75
mulatto race classification, 66
music and song
accompaniment to coffles, 82
during exercise at slave pen, 78
as symbol of sorrow, 83
N
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (Douglass), 83
National Era newspaper
mob attack on, 40–43, 42
serialized publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 129
New Orleans. See also South
brutality of southern slave system, 67–70, 68, 69
placage system of second wives, 67, 67
sex trade, 5–6, 55
slave-selling season, 51
“Slaves for Sale” (illustration), 64
slave showroom, 64–66
yellow fever, 51, 74, 75, 75
New York Central College, 109, 125
Normal School for Colored Girls (Washington, D.C.), 137–40, 140
Northup, Solomon, 12
O
Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), 135
octoroon race classification, 66
P
Paynter, John, 145–47
Pearl escape. See also Drayton, Daniel; Sayres, Edward
at anchor during storm, 25–26, 27
Edmonson siblings’ escape to, 9–14, 10
escape plan, 13, 97–98
escape route, 28
halt midstream, 18–19
organizers of, 97
pursuit and capture of, 24, 26–31
return of fugitives to bondage, 33–39, 45, 56–57
speech to Congress about, 100–101
Sunday worship aboard, 19–20
type of ship, 25, 27
white captains and crew, 15, 34–38, 97–98
Pennington, James W. C., 85–88
Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, 2
Personal Memoir of Daniel Drayton, 103, 150
placage system, 67
plantation slaves, 5, 6, 59–60
prostitution in New Orleans, 5–6, 55
Q
quadroon balls, 67
quadroon race classification, 66
R
race classifications, 66
Rachel, Aunt, 53–54
Radcliffe, Daniel, 41, 120
S
“Sale, The” (lithograph by Stephens), 4
Salem (steamboat), 24, 26–27
sale of slaves
advertisement for, 81
“Sale, The” (lithograph by Stephens), 4
showroom for, 64–66
“Slaves for Sale” (illustration), 64
Sayres, Edward
escape from Washington to Philadelphia, 122
imprisonment and charges against, 97, 102, 104–5, 119–21
participation in Pearl escape plot, 35, 98
presidential pardon, 120–21
Second Middle Passage, 59–60
“Secrets of the Prison House” (engraving by Lumley), 36–37
sex trade and sexual abuse o
f enslaved girls, 5–6, 55, 65, 66
Slatter, Hope, 56–57
slave pens
hiding of, behind ordinary homes, 11, 49
indignity and brutality at, 53–54, 63–70, 68, 69
photos and illustration of, 7, 12, 50, 64
prohibition of group worship at, 53
work and daily routine at, 49, 78, 79
“Slaves for Sale” (illustration), 64
Slave Ship, The (Turner), 27
Slingerland, John, 57
Smith, Gerrit, 109, 116
Smith, William R., 109
Society for the Abolition of Slavery, seal of, 87
South. See also New Orleans
emancipation of slaves in, 148
field slaves, 5, 6, 59–60
legal classifications of race, 66
literacy laws, 21, 21
profits and risks for slave traders, 51
Second Middle Passage domestic slave trade, 59–60
Stephens, Henry Louis, 4, 69
Stewart, Mary, 23
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
assistance with Edmonson sisters’ education, 135, 137
Edmonson family’s influence upon, 131, 133, 136
Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, A, 129, 130, 136
loss of son to cholera, 127
ransom of Louisa and Josiah, 126–32
Stull, John, 23
Sumner, Charles, 120–21
T
Thirteenth Amendment to U.S. Constitution, 148
transatlantic slave trade (Middle Passage), 59–60
Turner, Joseph Mallord William, 27
Turner, Mathew, 85
Turner, Nat, 21
Twelve Years a Slave (Northup), 12
U
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Stowe), 127, 127, 128, 129, 131
Underground Railroad, 109–10
Union (steamboat)
belowdecks cargo hold, 61–63, 77
Edmonsons’ boarding of, 54–55, 74
manifest of enslaved people, 55, 58
United States Congress
antislavery appeal to, 100–101
Fugitive Slave Act and Compromise of 1850, 110, 112
phase-out of international slave trade, 59
preservation of slavery in District of Columbia, 13, 48
United States Constitution, Thirteenth Amendment to, 148
V
Valdenar, Francis
oversight of Edmonson family, 3, 4–5, 46
ransom prices for Edmonson children, 46, 125, 132
W
Washington, D.C.
Black Code of the District of Columbia, 12
curfew for black people, 11
mob attack on antislavery newspaper, 40–43, 42
Normal School for Colored Girls, 137–40, 140
return of Pearl fugitives to, 33–38, 56–57
slavery in, 6, 11, 13, 48, 112, 148, 149
Washington City Jail, “Blue Jug,” 36–37, 39
West Indies, freedom in, 146
Williams, Hampton C., 23–24, 27, 102
Williams, William H., 11
work of enslaved people
in fields and plantations, 5, 6
“free dealer” arrangement, 145
in houses, 5, 6
in New Orleans sex trade, 5–6
skin color and, 66
in slave pens, 49, 79
wages of hired-out slaves, 4
Y
yellow fever, 51, 74, 75, 75
Published by
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© 2015 by Winifred Conkling.
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Getty Museum: Page 116; Library of Congress: Pages 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 18, 21, 25, 27, 36–37, 40, 42, 48, 50, 64, 68, 69, 81, 82, 83, 86, 87, 89, 90, 101, 103, 111, 114, 121, 127, 128, 133, 138, 149; Louisiana State Museum: Page 67; National Archives: Page 58; New York Public Library: Page 91; Onondaga Historical Society: Page 109; Wikipedia Commons: Pages 75, 108, 140.
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eISBN 978-1-61620-436-5