Slavery in the Colonial North

FAIN: ES-250946-16

Historic Hudson Valley (Tarrytown, NY 10591-1203)
Jacqueline Simmons (Project Director: February 2016 to December 2019)

A one-week institute for twenty-five schoolteachers on slavery in the colonial North.

"Slavery in the Colonial North: Institutions and Individuals" will offer teachers the opportunity to look deeply into northern colonial enslavement and gain a better understanding of when northern enslavement developed, how it was maintained, where it was contested, what was unique about enslavement in the North, and why it remains relevant. Teachers will examine the legal and economic systems in colonial America and how these systems justified and relied on the existence of slavery. By the end of the seminar, participants will understand that, for economic and social reasons, slavery was as entrenched in the North as in the South. Educators will learn that by including enslavement as part of the story of colonial America, their students will see how the past is connected to their lives in the present day and how they might consider their futures.