The Negro in Colonial New England

Greene's Classic Approach to northern Slavery

In 1942, Professor Lorenzo Greene issued his highly respected investigation on northern colonial slavery, The Negro in Colonial New England 1620-1776. Through the meticulous use of primary sources, Dr. Greene not only bases his work on solid, factual ground, but also relates the lives of slaves on a practical, palpable level. He examines the importance of the slave trade, rather than slave labor itself, to New England and relates the resultant conditions those slaves endured. Indeed, Greene presents a slave world in New England that, while one of bondage, was comparatively better than that of bondsmen?s southern counterparts. To Greene, New England slavery was ?a curious blending of servitude and bondage. Under this system the slave assumed a more or less indeterminate status, varying between that of person and property.? As a result of this blending of status, New England slaves attempted to take advantage of the freedoms available to them, built a separate culture, and, despite their relative freedom, worked and sometimes fought for their full emancipation. Their ambiguous status as enlightened property and members of society created the slave world that Greene explores.
That slave world grew in order to satisfy the economic growth of a commercially based New England region. The focus of the Puritan business world was to manipulate the Triangle Trade, to satisfy the ?almost insatiable demand in the sugar islands for Negroes.? New Englanders looked to match the wealth of the southern landed aristocracy, and could not do so through large-scale farming. As a result, ?the thrifty New Englanders, attracted by the prospect of far greater profits than could possibly be drawn from the land, early began to engage in commerce, the fishing industry, and in the trade of Negroes.? As a result of a tightly run trade industry, New England was able to utilize slaves to gain and sell other goods necessary for all of its industries. According to Greene, all of New England?s commerce was dependent on the success of the slave trade. By 1700, the slave trade was an extremely lucrative business for New England?s merchants, and for its economy as a whole.
As the slave trade prospered, so did New England?s businessmen. Indeed, these traders resided at the top of the social ladder, eventually introducing and growing a domestic slave trade as well. The slaves were usually dealt from homes rather than slave markets, and the traders grew their domestic business into a well-run industry, a profession centered on the trade of a commodity. In fact, the slave trade itself was considered to be an honorable profession, emulated by businessmen in other industries. Moreover, Puritans sanctioned the slave trade, domestic and international, based on economic, spiritual, and legal grounds. Enslavement was necessary to New England?s economic success, and bondage of Blacks was considered to be a sacred privilege given by God, a path to humanization for the African savages. In addition, the 1641 Massachusetts Body of Liberties gave legal sanction to slavery. Satisfied with their justifications for slavery, New Englanders created the society in which the slaves would live.
For the most part, slave life in New England was less brutal and more comfortable than that of the South. In smaller households, slaves lived within the family home under generally good conditions. Slaves received a basic education, consistent with the need to understand the Bible in order to achieve salvation. Marriage was expected of the slaves, mostly to bless and legalize sexual relations between slaves. However, the owners? rights over slaves took priority over a marriage, and masters often split up families depending on personal financial needs and labor demands. Within this owner-dominated paternalistic society, slaves many times imitated white culture, holding their own Election Day, electing a Black Governor, and instituting forms of cultural control. In addition, slaves held their own events such as dances and maple sugarings as they built their own culture within the confines of Puritan New England. Despite this conformity, slave violence was a constant worry for whites in New England.
This book is a classic, and deservedly so. Highlighted by excellent writing and a plethora of documented facts, this work stands along any modern histories of slavery, and portrays northern slavery in an understandable manner. Highly recommended.