Episode 170: Wendy Warren, New England Bound: Slavery in Early New England

by Liz CovartJanuary 23, 2018

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New England was a place with no cash crops. It was also a place that became known for its strong anti-slavery sentiment during the 19th century. So how did New England also become a place that practiced slavery?

Wendy Warren, an Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University and author of the Pulitzer Prize-finalist book New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America, joins us to explore why New Englanders practiced slavery and just how far back the region’s slave past goes.

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.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Wendy Warren, an Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University and author of the Pulitzer Prize-finalist book New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America, joins us to explore why New Englanders practiced slavery and just how far back the region’s slave past goes.

As we investigate New England’s slave past, Wendy reveals the origins of the African slave trade and why American colonists preferred enslaved labor to free labor; When and how New England adopted the practice of slavery; And, details about how enslaved people lived and worked in early New England.

What You’ll Discover

The African Slave trade and its origins
Why enslaved labor instead of free labor
The Great Migration to New England, 1620-1640
When and how New England adopted slavery
How New Englanders reconciled slavery with their religious beliefs
How New Englanders practiced slavery
Number of slaves in late 17th-century/early 18th-century New England
The lives and work of the enslaved in colonial New England
Elder care for enslaved men and women in early New England
Enslaved peoples’ efforts to resist New England slavery
Development of anti-slavery sentiment in New England
What it means to research history with little documentation

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Wendy Warren
New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America
David Eltis, The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas
Margaret Newell, Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery
James Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Every Day Forms of Peasant Resistance
Vincent Brown, The Reaper's Garden: Death and Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery
Karen Kupperman, Providence Island, 1630-1641: The Other Puritan Colony

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if New England had found a cash crop and its slave population had been larger? How would the history of slavery in New England, British North America, and the United States have been different? 