Crisis Decade (1850 – 1860)

…uld be fined or imprisoned. The pamphlet, issued by the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society led by Lewis Tappan, sold 13,000 copies within three weeks of its first printing. Plymouth Church 1850. 1850. Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection. V1973.6.115. Brooklyn Historical Society. Church Debates on the Fugitive Slave Law “The Bible is Heavier than the Statute Book.” At Plymouth Church, on Orange between Henry and Hicks, the high…

Civil War & Beyond (1861 – 1867)

…ing in poverty, the Asylum offered a temporary refuge. Parents could send the children to the asylum to receive better care – often an agonizing decision –while they improved their own economic circumstances at home. On February 22, 1860, organizers held a four-day fair at Montague Hall, next to Brooklyn’s City Hall. The fundraiser “brought together all the elite and fashion of this portion of the Anglo-African world, and much of the Anglo-Americ…

Abolitionist Brooklyn (1828 – 1849)

…ests inspired a new generation of white activists. Bostonian William Lloyd Garrison, brothers Lewis and Arthur Tappan, and Gerrit Smith were initially sympathetic to colonization. But their views changed after witnessing colleagues speak out against colonization. This radicalization informed, in part, their decision to identify as abolitionists calling for an immediate end to slavery and the denunciation of colonization schemes. A Tribute for the…

Timeline

…led the prosperity of Kings County’s agricultural economy. Jea was born in southern Nigeria in 1773. He was kidnapped at the age of 2½ and sold into slavery. Jea worked on a large farm in Flatbush. His slaveholders, Albert and Anetje Terhune treated him “in a manner almost too shocking to relate.”* The Terhunes forced their enslaved laborers to work eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, with a paucity of food and inadequate clothing. They beat…

A Gradual Emancipation (1783 – 1827)

…led the prosperity of Kings County’s agricultural economy. Jea was born in southern Nigeria in 1773. He was kidnapped at the age of 2½ and sold into slavery. Jea worked on a large farm in Flatbush. His slaveholders, Albert and Anetje Terhune treated him “in a manner almost too shocking to relate.”* The Terhunes forced their enslaved laborers to work eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, with a paucity of food and inadequate clothing. They beat…

Games

FOR STUDENTS Build map skills, develop a better understanding of how everyday people advanced anti-slavery ideals, and create your own anti-slavery propaganda. It Happened in Brooklyn IN PURSUIT OF FREEDOM WRITE A POEM *Best viewed in Google Chrome & Safari IT HAPPENED in BROOKLYN Click on the titles on the right for additional information. Drag the circles to their proper locations on the map. Havemeyer, Townsend & Co. Sugar Refine…

About the Project

…ctor/Director of Research In Pursuit of Freedom Consultants Evaluation Ellen Leerburger, Evaluator Website Pure+Applied, Website Design PIXOD, Phase One design Curriculum Tracee Worley, Curriculum Developer Jody Polleck, Copy Editor PIXOD, Phase One Game Design Curriculum Advisory Board: Cathleen Marie Antoine, David Bally, Tracy Cook-Person, Allison Milewski Color Between the Lines Jim Niesen, Director Terry Greiss, Producer Irondale Ensemble, P…

US Department of Education Resources

…and a series of public programs scheduled for the next five years. Legacy of Slavery in Maryland preserves and promotes experiences that have shaped the lives of Maryland’s African American population. From the day that Mathias de Sousa and Francisco landed in St. Mary’s County aboard the Ark and the Dove in 1634, black Marylanders have made significant contributions to both the state and nation in the political, economic, agricultur…

Abolitionist Biographies

…shift the organization’s focus from emigration to education. Amos Freeman was a friend and colleague to Lewis Tappan and James Pennington and delivered the eulogy at Tappan’s funeral. Amos Freeman married Christiana Taylor Williams on December 24, 1839 in Newark, NJ. She was born on June 4, 1812 in Manhattan to Caribbean parents. Christiana worked closely with other women associated with Siloam Presbyterian – Elizabeth Gloucester and Mary Wilson…

For Educators

…same named town of Brooklyn. Here they chartered a path of self-reliance and self-determination as emancipation approached in 1827. Lesson 1: Brooklyn: A Slaveholding Capital (Middle & High School) Lesson 1: Brooklyn: A Slaveholding Capital Worksheet 1: Original Six Towns of Kings County Worksheet 2: 1790 United States Census Data, Kings County Worksheet 3: Brooklyn’s Slaveholding Families, 1790 Lesson 2: Gradual vs. Immediate Emancipat…