History of slavery in Tennessee
The history of slavery in Tennessee began when it was the old Southwest Territory and thus the law regulating slavery in Tennessee was broadly derived from North Carolina law, and was initially comparatively "liberal." However, after statehood, as the fear of slave rebellion and the threat to slavery posed by abolitionism increased, the laws became increasingly punitive: after 1831, "punishments were increased and privileges and immunities were lessened and circumvented."[2] Tennessee was one of five states that allowed slaves the right of a jury trial,[2] and one of three states that never passed anti-literacy laws,[3] although the punishment for forging a slave pass was up to 39 lashes.[2]
Tennessee had a ban on
History
According to journalist-turned-local historian Bill Carey, who wrote a book examining the history of slavery in Tennessee through the lens of newspaper reports, slave sale ads, county-government notices in local papers, and runaway slave ads, not only did the city government of Nashville own slaves, in 1836 the state government "organized a lottery to raise money for internal improvements (mainly road construction). Lottery prizes included assets such as land, a farm, steamboats and five slaves: a 45-year-old man named Charles, a 43-year-old woman named Nancy and three girls named Matilda (12), Rebecca (11) and Maria (6)."[7] Hiring out of slave laborers was extremely common and provided significant household income for their enslavers.[7]
As of 1914, the
In 2022, voters passed a measure that removed language in Tennessee state laws that permitted slavery or involuntary servitude as a form of punishment, a change intended to prevent abuses in the use of convict labor.[10]
Gallery
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Slave trader, sold to Tennessee (watercolor image of overland coffle)
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"Just received from Virginia and Middle Tennessee a likely lot of young Negroes..." (M & W.M. Little"Memphis Daily Appeal, January 6, 1857)
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Slave cabin on display at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee; originally located on the Merritt family lands in Grainger County, Tennessee, built c. 1820
See also
- African Americans in Tennessee § History
- Nashville Market House– Slave auction house and commercial building in Tennessee
- Memphis massacre of 1866
- History of slavery in the United States by state
References
- ^ "Alfred Jackson". The Hermitage. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
- ^
- OCLC 123968550.
- ISBN 9780820356495.
- ^ OCLC 1153619151.
- ^ Goodstein, Anita S. (2017). "Slavery". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ^ a b Carey, Bill (2018-08-02). "Tennessee's Slave History Lives in Old Newspapers, New Book". The Tennessee Magazine. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ^ "Former Slave in Shelby County Furnishes Supreme Court Interesting Problem on Inheritance". Nashville Banner. 1914-03-20. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ^ "Jones v. Jones, 234 U.S. 615 (1914)". Justia Law.
- ^ "Slavery, involuntary servitude rejected by 4 states' voters". AP News. 2022-11-09. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
Further reading
- Carey, Bill (2018). Runaways, Coffles and Fancy Girls: A History of Slavery in Tennessee. Clearbrook Press. OCLC 1045068878.