Crisis Decade (1850 – 1860)

…4: Lesson 13 A generation of Brooklyn industrialists, including the Pierrepont and Havemeyer families profited from the nation’s sweet tooth. In 1807, William Havemeyer, a German immigrant, opened a sugar refining business in Manhattan. Sugar was still a luxury commodity enjoyed by the city’s elite. By 1857, changes in technology allowed sugar to be cheaply produced. The Havemeyers relocated their business to Williamsburg, where they began to st…

Timeline

…ea traveled as a preacher across the United States, West Indies, and Europe and shared the Gospel and his life story with audiences. He detailed his experiences in the Life, History, and Unparalleled Suffering of John Jea, the African Preacher (1811). His autobiography offers a rare glimpse into the brutality of slavery in Brooklyn from the perspective of an enslaved person. * Jea states that his slaveholders were Oliver and Anjelika Treibuen in…

Abolitionist Biographies

…and reported from the black state and national conventions that met annually during the antebellum decades. His tone and style were typified by irreverence, humor and satire. He was a member of the Committee of Thirteen, a vigilance committee also opposed to emigration. The organization formed some time after 1850 and attracted other Brooklynites Junius C. Morel, John N. Still, and a number of other anti-slavery activists from New York. Towards t…

US Department of Education Resources

…al theater piece that premiered at the Irondale Theater in May of 2012; a new website; a public memorial in downtown Brooklyn to honor the anti-slavery movement in Brooklyn; walking tours of Brooklyn’s abolitionists’ and URR sites; 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 d…

Civil War & Beyond (1861 – 1867)

…rah Tompkins, all anti-slavery activists, whose husbands were prominent abolitionists as well. The fair raised $1,100 (or about $30,000 today) for the Colored Orphan Asylum. [Borough Hall with Montague Street on right]. 1880. Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks. V1974.1.1299. Brooklyn Historical Society. In 1834, the Remsen and Pierrepont families donated land for the construction of a grand City Hall to reflect Brooklyn’s new city st…

Games

…s. James Hamlet Williamsburg resident, James Hamlet, was kidnapped and accused of being a fugitive who ran away from his enslaver Mary Brown in Baltimore. Manhattan and Brooklyn abolitionists rallied together to raise the $800 needed for Hamlet’s release. The Freedman’s Bureau After the Civil War, Congress established the Freedman’s Bureau.The Brooklyn Branch, which opened in 1866, assists, educates, and aids free people living in Brooklyn. Peter…

A Gradual Emancipation (1783 – 1827)

…ea traveled as a preacher across the United States, West Indies, and Europe and shared the Gospel and his life story with audiences. He detailed his experiences in the Life, History, and Unparalleled Suffering of John Jea, the African Preacher (1811). His autobiography offers a rare glimpse into the brutality of slavery in Brooklyn from the perspective of an enslaved person. * Jea states that his slaveholders were Oliver and Anjelika Treibuen in…

Glossary

…gia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. These states voted to secede from the United States between 1860 and 1861. Draft A system for selecting individuals from a group for military service. Emancipation A system under which people are treated as property, to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Enslavement/ Slavery A system under which people are treated as property, to be bought and so…