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Book contents
- The Slow Death of Slavery in Dutch New York
- The Slow Death of Slavery in Dutch New York
- Copyright page
- Reviews
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Size, Extent, and Nature of Dutch New York Slavery
- Chapter 2 The Rural Dutch Slave–Wheat Complex
- Chapter 3 The Price of Slaves in New York and New Jersey, 1700–1830
- Chapter 4 Dutch-Speaking Runaway Slaves in New York and New Jersey
- Chapter 5 Sold South?
- Chapter 6 Dutch Resistance to Emancipation and the Negotiations to End Slavery in New York
- Chapter 7 Making Sense of the Mild Thesis and the End of Dutch New York Slavery
- Book part
- Works Cited
- Index
Chapter 5 - Sold South?
Emancipation by the Numbers in Dutch New York
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2024
- The Slow Death of Slavery in Dutch New York
- The Slow Death of Slavery in Dutch New York
- Copyright page
- Reviews
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Size, Extent, and Nature of Dutch New York Slavery
- Chapter 2 The Rural Dutch Slave–Wheat Complex
- Chapter 3 The Price of Slaves in New York and New Jersey, 1700–1830
- Chapter 4 Dutch-Speaking Runaway Slaves in New York and New Jersey
- Chapter 5 Sold South?
- Chapter 6 Dutch Resistance to Emancipation and the Negotiations to End Slavery in New York
- Chapter 7 Making Sense of the Mild Thesis and the End of Dutch New York Slavery
- Book part
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Chapter 5 addresses a major demographic puzzle concerning thousands of New York slaves who seem to have gone missing in the transition from slavery to freedom, and the chapter questions how and if slaves were sold South. The keys to solving this puzzle include estimates of common death rates, census undercounting, changing gender ratios in the New York black population, and, most importantly, a proper interpretation of the 1799 emancipation law and its effects on how the children of slaves were counted in the census. Given an extensive analysis of census data, with various demographic techniques for understanding how populations change over time, I conclude that a large number of New York slaves (between 1,000 and 5,000) were sold South, but not likely as many as some previous historians have suggested. A disproportionate number of these sold slaves came from Long Island and Manhattan.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Slow Death of Slavery in Dutch New YorkA Cultural, Economic, and Demographic History, 1700–1827, pp. 140 - 173Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025