New York in the 18th Century - Essay Example

The 1741 Conspiracy In the 18th Century, slaves held no place on the social ladder in the world generally, and New York was no exception. The country was characterized by racism and African Americans were harshly treated even by the judicial system, their last resort. In 1741, Daniel Horsmanden, the city’s recorder was one of the three presiding judges to the infamous New York conspiracy trials. This was after a series of fires took place taking down several buildings in the city within a period of a few weeks and it was generally taken that it was the work of slaves. Several arrests were made based on circumstantial evidence collected and the evidence of a single witness who was coerced to do so. The ringleaders were executed by hanging or gibbeting and many others were exiled. With time however, most historians have come to doubt whether such conspiracy indeed existed or not and most of them have concluded that the belief of a conspiracy emanated from white’s racism coupled with the conspiratorial fear of black slaves and the nature of slavery in the country at the time which I shall discuss below. New York in the 18th Century The 1741 New York conspiracy was largely believed to have occurred in the 18th Century. But by 19th century most historians started to doubt about its existence and the justifications of the slave killings that took place. Even Daniel Horsmanden had to try and counteract the criticism by writing a detailed account of the trials so as to justify the court’s actions and wipe the doubts of peoples mind. But his was a one-sided story and did not convince many people. Historians have gone ahead to give an account of what they believe must have been the process of events for the same. First of all, the situation in New York at the time facilitated a lot to the growth of suspicions about a conspiracy. This is because the alleged conspiracy arose at a time of economic decline with increased competition between the colored slaves and the poor whites. There was a severe winter at the time and the British government had just declared war on Spain leading to increased anti-Spanish and anti-Catholic feelings. All this amidst increased fires and destruction of property was enough to elicit feelings of insecurity from the slaves. The 1712 New York Slave Revolt where about 20 slaves came together to destroy property to avenge the injustices they had been put through and in the process killing nine whites and six others being injured, was also very fresh in the minds of the white population. The political factions would also instill fear about slavery to the white community to achieve other objectives. Moreover, the increasing population of African slaves in New York did not make matters any easier. At the time, it comprised of 20% of the New York population. The increased population caused a stretch in the economy and the poor whites had to fiercely compete with the slaves. This is because some slaves who were lucky enough to have their masters as artisans had the privilege of being taught the trade. They could therefore subcontract their work as well as underbid other white artisans. This was bound to cause racial rifts as well as economic tensions as between the newly equipped slaves and the competing white craftsmen. New York leaders started feeling threatened and concerned for their own as more and more whites were driven to poverty for lack of employment and most of them being forced out of business and eventually seeking resort in other countries. Between 1740 and 1741, there was winter which added even more hardships for the poor in New York. An Economic Depression led to a reduced supply of food and fuel which was made worse by the low temperatures and snowfall. The majority of the people were not only in danger of starving but also of freezing to death. This turned the population against the government itself as more tension between the blacks and whites grew as blacks were seen as the causes of all these problems. Another problem was the ongoing warfare between Britain and Spain adding on to the tension already existing in the seaport. It also caused increased feelings of anti-Catholicism and anti-Spanish. The Spanish had promised freedom to those slaves who would join them in their cause. The British had recruited soldiers in New York so as to attack Cuba and this had reduced the number of soldiers in New York. This caused more apprehension for the increasing rumors about slaves’ conspiracy among the upper class and the government started formulating restrictive measures; slave meetings were banned on the street corners and they were not required to form themselves into groups of more than three, only up to twelve during funeral. Their freedom of movement and assembly was also restricted. The People of New York and the Divisions The nature of slavery in the country contributed a great deal to the fears of a conspiracy. Both the slaves and the free lived within close proximity with around 20,000 people living in an area of approximately one square mile, i.e. at the sea-ports where they labored all day long. They comprised mostly of the Black slaves who were particularly important to help in this kind of work. In the evenings these people would all converge in those taverns along the waterfronts and the primary fear among the whites emanated from the fact that they may discuss their experiences of oppression and decide to rebel one day. The New York ruling class sought to prevent this from happening by enacting legislation such as the Slave Code of 1730. They restricted their freedom of movement and expression. These laws were mainly aimed at protecting the white property owners while at the same time condemning the white poor, the slaves, the soldiers and the sailors into deeper trenches of poverty day by day. The laws reflected the people’s racist attitudes towards the slaves. The white people believed they were really troublesome and annoying and they had to be well tamed otherwise they would cause chaos, (Horsmanden, 45). In his journal, Horsmanden advised white people to treat them as their enemies because they have seen what they are capable of doing, (Horsmanden, 46), and that slave masters should not give them so much freedom. But despite these efforts, the slaves were not deterred from their activities. They continued to commit crimes as a way of opposing the white hegemony, drinking and stealing and even sleeping with white prostitutes, (Horsmanden, 48). They were also involved in arson activities. With time, the waterfront laborers had formed themselves into gangs. Their frustrations with the authorities and the increased hardships in economic life had brought them together to a common ground to revolt against the ruling class. They were determined to take down the cities to avenge their frustrations and their hard work which mostly ended up unrewarded. This was coupled with preaching from itinerant preachers during the Great Awakening who encouraged people to take charge of their own salvation. These teachings impacted on all these rebels and Hughson even used the bible in administering oaths to them. Some of the teachings were also aimed at getting to the slave masters who were also ‘touched’ by the word. The situation was getting worse by the day. Instead of the ruling class worrying about the increasing unbearable conditions of life for the poor laborers, they were only concerned with the rich property owners and protecting them while the poor people succumbed to the famine and the declined temperatures. They worked their selves to the bone all day long and all they got for it is more harsh conditions and arbitrary arrests with more legislative frameworks working against them. The people had grown tired of being in such circumstances and were set out to make their lives a bit bearable and hence the conspiracy. Conclusion When the fires began, it was easy for the New York citizens to believe that they were pioneered by a slaves’ conspiracy. After all, they had done it in 1712 when nine whites were killed while six others injured, (Horsmanden, 64). The slaves had shown that they were tired of being treated badly. It was also easier to draw the frustration of the slaves as the only group which would be dissatisfied by the running of things in the country. Daniel Horsmanden himself believed he was right until it started getting deeper and he realized there was more to it than just dissatisfied slaves trying to revolt hence letting the slaves walk scot free thereafter. The living conditions in the country were also deteriorating for the people and they were desperate for a solution. They could have believed anything that would explain the circumstances. Also, the ruling elite did not want to admit that their way of leading people was unjust and inhumane to the poor laborers so they would rather hind beneath the slave conspiracy rumors. They are the same ones who had caused the rifts between the people and now they were evidencing the results of their actions. It was a sad thing all those slaves had to be slaughtered to pay for their mistakes. Work cited Horsmanden, Daniel. “The New York conspiracy trials of 1741”: Daniel Horsmandens Journal of the proceedings with related documents, 1741. ISBN 0-312-40216-3 Read More