Wyandot, Shawnee, and African American Resistance to Slavery in Ohio and Kansas
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History History, Department of 8-2019 Wyandot, Shawnee, and African American Resistance to Slavery in Ohio and Kansas Diane Miller University of Nebraska-Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss Part of the Public History Commons, and the Social History Commons Miller, Diane, "Wyandot, Shawnee, and African American Resistance to Slavery in Ohio and Kansas" (2019). Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History. 94. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss/94 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. WYANDOT, SHAWNEE, AND AFRICAN AMERICAN RESISTANCE TO SLAVERY IN OHIO AND KANSAS by Diane Miller A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: History Under the Supervision of Professor William G. Thomas III Lincoln, Nebraska August, 2019 WYANDOT, SHAWNEE, AND AFRICAN AMERICAN RESISTANCE TO SLAVERY IN OHIO AND KANSAS Diane Miller, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2019 Advisor: William G. Thomas III From the colonial period, enslaved Africans escaped bondage. Colonial records and treaties reveal that they often sought refuge with Indian tribes. This resistance to slavery through escape and flight constituted the Underground Railroad. As European colonies developed into the United States, alliances of subaltern groups posed a threat. Colonizers and settlers aimed to divide and control these groups and arrived at the intertwined public policies of African chattel slavery and Indian removal. Tribal abolitionism and participation in the Underground Railroad was more pronounced than scholars have recognized and constituted an important challenge to the expansion of slavery. Encounters between fugitive slaves and Indians occurred along the frontier of territory settled by whites. In the Northwest Territory, freedom seekers crossing the Ohio River from Kentucky met tribes such as the Wyandot and Shawnee. Sometimes they joined the tribes, and sometimes they passed through on their way to Canada. Historical accounts document Africans living amongst both the Wyandot and the Shawnee and help provided by tribes to escaping bondsmen. The Northwest Territory did not remain the frontier for long. By 1826, the Shawnee removed from Ohio to Kansas. The Wyandot held on longer and were the last tribe to remove in 1843. In Kansas, the tribes were again on the frontier. A familiar pattern developed of fugitives seeking refuge in Indian territory in Kansas. Missionaries and Indian agents assigned to tribes in Kansas facilitated pro-slavery incursions. Methodist Episcopal missionary to the Shawnees, Thomas Johnson, for example, used enslaved labor at the school he established for tribes in the region. Some tribal leaders adopted the practice, but most members resisted. This internal struggle became a major front in the national debate between abolitionists and pro-slavery advocates on whether the federal government could limit slavery in new territories. The Wyandots intensified their opposition to slavery through the period of Bleeding Kansas, joining forces with Free State proponents. Through their activism, the tribes helped exclude slavery from Kansas. Copyright 2019 by Diane E. Miller All rights reserved i DEDICATION To all who made the perilous journey to freedom, and to all who helped them. They have been my inspiration. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I scarcely realized the journey I would be on when I returned to graduate school in 2005, twenty years after receiving my masters’ degree. During these years, I worked for the National Park Service (NPS) where I was privileged to manage the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom (NTF). Learning from researchers and descendants who held memories of their communities’ involvement with the Underground Railroad, I was struck by how these stories were often dismissed as myths. The research and documentation that I reviewed in my site visits told a different story. Motivated by a desire to see this local research taken more seriously, I returned to school. Perhaps, I felt, I could bridge a gap between the scholarly community and the avocational historians. Along the way, I gained knowledge to help contextualize the local stories. I owe a debt of gratitude to Professors Jeannette Eileen Jones and Douglas Seefeldt (now at Ball State University) who both advised me until I reached candidacy. Dr. Seefeldt’s enthusiasm for my work in public history helped my transition back to academia. Dr. Jones’ steady and pragmatic guidance kept me focused on my goals. I could not have made it through the beginning of my program without their encouragement. Professor William Thomas guided my dissertation work. I want to thank him for his patience and encouragement when my progress stalled. His guidance and insights on my topic contributed greatly to this project. The opportunity to work on the program committee for the Organization of American Historians 2018 conference with Dr. Thomas and his colleagues was an honor and pleasure that I will always value. iii The University provided a supportive environment for the completion of my dissertation. I want to thank the other members of my dissertation committee, Professors Katrina Jagodinsky, Jeannette Jones, and Ken Price. Because I moved to Delaware in the middle of my project, I was unable to interact with my committee members as much as I would have liked. I appreciate Dr. Price’s willingness to join the committee at the end of the process after his colleague Dr. Susan Belasco retired. Dr. Belasco’s early enthusiasm for my work helped motivate me. The history department supported my research with travel funds. This allowed me to access repositories in Ohio and Kansas at a time when I could not otherwise have done so. Throughout my program at the University of Nebraska, I continued to work for the NPS and manage the NTF program. I am grateful for the financial support of the agency for my studies. I have had several supportive supervisors, but I want to give special thanks to Dr. Cal Calabrese, now deceased. Cal encouraged my initial foray back to school and his irreverent spirit challenged me. From my colleagues in the NTF program and from our many partners, I continue to learn. I want to thank the original members of the team: Guy Washington, Aaron Mahr, Tara Morrison, Dr. Jenny Masur, Barbara Tagger, and Cyd Martin. Collectively, they helped form my understanding of the Underground Railroad. The many partners and members of the Network to Freedom have ignited and sustained my passion for the story. None of this NPS work on the Underground Railroad would have been possible without the vision and encouragement of former Director Robert G. Stanton. His wisdom and encouragement have been indispensable to me over the years. iv My deepest thanks are reserved for Dave Smith. Dave accompanied me on research trips and spent long hours discussing our discoveries. Without his friendship, love, support, and encouragement, the past fourteen years would have been insurmountable. v Table of Contents INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1—CREATING A “GEOGRAPHY OF RESISTANCE”: THE OHIO VALLEY TO 1843 ............................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 2—DE-STABILIZING SLAVERY IN THE BORDERLANDS: THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN OHIO AND KANSAS ............................... 57 CHAPTER 3—IN UNION THERE IS STRENGTH: OHIO’S TRI-RACIAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, 1785 - 1843 ..................................................... 81 CHAPTER 4—“WE HAD OUR BORDER RUFFIAN WAR BEFORE YOU HAD YOURS”: THE WYANDOT AND SHAWNEE IN KANSAS, INDIAN TERRITORY, 1828-1854 ................................................................................... 109 CHAPTER 5—BLEEDING KANSAS: THE WYANDOT AND SHAWNEE ENTER THE FRAY, 1854-1867 ...................................................................................... 138 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 170 METHOD AND SOURCES ......................................................................................... 175 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 180 1 INTRODUCTION When considering America’s racial past, scholars often examine minority groups in their relationship to whites, and typically not in relation to each other. Europeans colonized and settled the Americas through the dispossession of Native land and the subjugation of enslaved Africans. Yet, much of our culture and much of our history has separated the experiences of African Americans and Indians. The colonial imperative to separate the two groups persists in separate historiographical treatment through the twenty-first century. William Loren Katz reported “odd, mixed, or confusing reactions” following his 1986 foundational publication of Black Indians, A Hidden Heritage. By the