Episode 083: Jared Hardesty, Unfreedom: Slavery in Colonial Boston

by Liz CovartMay 24, 2016

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Colonial Bostonians practiced slavery. But slavery in Boston looked very different than slavery in the American south or in the Caribbean.

Today, Jared Hardesty, an Assistant Professor of History at Western Washington University and author of Unfreedom: Slavery and Dependence in Eighteenth-Century Boston, takes us on a tour of slavery, and the lives enslaved people lived, in colonial Boston.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Jared Hardesty, an Assistant Professor of History at Western Washington University and author of Unfreedom: Slavery and Dependence in Eighteenth-Century Boston, takes us on a tour of slavery in colonial Boston.

During our exploration, Jared reveals details about colonial Boston and how its people justified slavery; Origins of Boston slaves and where Bostonians purchased them; And, what life was like for enslaved men and women in colonial Boston.

What You’ll Discover

Details about colonial Boston
Colonial New England’s labor shortage
Origins of Boston slaves and their cost
Where Bostonians purchased slaves
Statistics for Boston slaveholders
Living conditions for slaves in Boston
Jobs performed by Boston slaves
Boston slaves’ diet
Boston slaves’ social and family lives
Negro Election Day
Boston’s place in the Atlantic Slave Trade
How Boston slaves used religion to form communities
Boston slave literacy rate
How Boston slaves used their literacy to petition for freedom
The colonial American continuum of unfreedom
Whether Boston slaves rebelled for freedom
What happened to Boston slaves if they gained freedom
The sources Jared used to get at the lived experiences of enslaved life in Boston

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Time Warp Question

In your opinion what might have happened if slaves had mounted a rebellion in Boston like the slaves of South Carolina did in the 1739 Stono Rebellion. Would such a rebellion have changed the nature of slavery in Boston? If so, how?