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Liberty, Bondage, and the Pursuit of Happiness: the Free Black Expulsion Law and Self-Enslavement in Virginia, 1806--1864

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Liberty, Bondage, and the Pursuit of Happiness: the Free Black Expulsion Law and Self-Enslavement in Virginia, 1806--1864 W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2011 Liberty, Bondage, and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Free Black Expulsion Law and Self-Enslavement in Virginia, 1806--1864 Edward Downing Maris-Wolf College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the African History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Maris-Wolf, Edward Downing, "Liberty, Bondage, and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Free Black Expulsion Law and Self-Enslavement in Virginia, 1806--1864" (2011). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623347. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-j58v-q756 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Liberty, Bondage, and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Free Black Expulsion Law and Self-Enslavement in Virginia, 1806-1864 Edward Downing Maris-Wolf Richmond, Virginia Master of Arts, The College of William and Mary, 2002 Bachelor of Arts, Amherst College, 1997 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the College of William and Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History The College of William and Mary May, 2011 APPROVAL PAGE This Dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by the Committee, April2011 Committee Chair Professor Melvin Patrick El The College of William and Mary 1nkLk3 La Fleur Professor Scott R. Nelson The College of William and Mary Joseph C. Miller The University of Virginia ABSTRACT PAGE Th1s d1ssertat1on seeks to explam why more than 110 Afncan Amencan md1v1duals proposed to enslave themselves (and, m some cases, their children as well) m V1rg1n1a from 1854 to 1864 I exam1ne the act of the V1rg1n1a legislature m 1856 "prov1dmg for the voluntary enslavement of the free negroes of the commonwealth" and suggest that this law prov1ded some free Afro-V1rg1n1an 1nd1V1duals w1th an alternative to removal from the state and separat1on from their families (as called for by the sporadically enforced 1806 expuls1on law, passed m part to discourage manumiSSions) I argue that 1f rece1v1ng legal freedom threatened a free black V1rgm1an w1th removal, then a legal enslavement that allowed for domestic freedoms-a meaningful fam1ly life and a connect1on to a homeland or commun~ty-could come to seem preferable Many scholars have suggested that, by passmg the 1856 self-enslavement law, legislators mtended to facilitate the wholesale enslavement ofV1rgm1a's free black population They have assumed that the passage of V1rgm1a's so-called voluntary enslavement law marked the nad1r of free black life m the state and the he1ght of antebellum repress1on of a class that V1rgm1a politiCians at t1mes unequivocally deemed to be "an ev11 " But such an 1nterpretat1on of the law m V1rg1n1a 1s a m1sreadmg both of the mtent1ons of white lawmakers and of the law's use by free blacks To enslave oneself m the state dunng the politically tense 1850s was generally not an easy task Safeguards mcorporated mto the law 1tself ensured that neither the state nor md1v1dual slaveholders could coerce free blacks mto servitude In fact, 1f the state played any part m self-enslavement, 1t was man attempt to prevent 1t Through data gathered m county w1ll books, court mmutes, ended papers m chancery and law causes, personal property tax lists, and vanous other county sources, as well as state and federal records, I attempt to 1llummate the lives of those md1v1duals who chose to become legally enslaved-all man effort to draw larger conclusions about the multiple meanmgs of manum1ss1on, freedom, and slavery to Afncan Amencans m nmeteenth­ century V1rgm1a TABLE OF CONTENTS Dechcatlon 11 Acknowledgements m Prologue: Passages ill Slavery and Freedom 1 Chapter One: L1fe and L1berty ill Vtrgillla, 1782-1849 28 Chapter Two: A Law for Wllhs and Andrew Doswell 63 Chapter Three: A General Self-Enslavement Law and Its Apphcatlon, 1856-1860 123 Chapter Four: To L1bena and Back 165 Chapter F1ve: Freedom, Famlly, andRe-enslavement 228 Epilogue: The Barber of Boydton 297 Conclus10n 321 Selected B1bhography 328 To Rachel, the Jove of my life. And to little Uy/vonne Elizabeth Randall, who came and went one summer, and changed us forever. u ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I must first thank my mentor, Melvin Patrick Ely, for his guidance and support during the past six years at the College of William and Mary. His research, writing, and teaching continue to inspire my interest in freedom, slavery, and the experiences of individuals in the past. The three additional members of my dissertation committee-] ames La Fleur, Scott Nelson, and Joseph Miller-also offered valuable insight and much-needed direction. Although I am deeply grateful for their editorial comments and suggestions, any inaccuracies or oversights in the following manuscript, of course, are entirely my responsibility. My interest in African-American history has deep roots and resulted from my first teachers in the subject: Frankie Ball, Paul Carr, Terence Blanchard, and Wynton Marsalis-music men, storytellers, and historians-four of our greatest American griots, who each inspired and encouraged me to study America's classical music-jazz-so that I might someday tell a true story. Here it is, without the soundtrack. David Blight challenged me long ago tore-imagine the nineteenth-century in its fullest complexity­ a task that I am still struggling to do. I cannot thank enough those at William and Mary and beyond who took the time to read or discuss portions of this dissertation, including Rich Price, Joanne Braxton, Ira Berlin, Jim Axtell, Mina Donkoh, Irene Odotei, Susan O'Donovan, Matthew Mason, Calvin Schermerhorn, Bonnie Martin, Bob Carriker, Mary Farmer-Kaiser, Rob Hermann, and Michael Martin. I must also thank Gail Conner, who made sure that all was always in order. Colleagues and friends at the Omohundro Institute made life an adventure while completing the dissertation. I am deeply indebted to Ron Hoffman and Sally Mason-two remarkable historians and storytellers. I will always treasure my time at the Institute, due in large part to the warmth and spirit of Ron and Sally, as well as Erin Bendiner, Shawn Holl, Beverly Smith, Melody Smith, Kim Foley, and others. My colleagues at Randolph-Macon College-Tom Porter, Mark Malvasi, Mathias Bergmann, Michael Fischbach, Alphine Jefferson, Joseph Kyle, Pat Watkinson, and Anne Throckmorton-have made Ashland a vibrant intellectual home since 2007. I thank my colleagues at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and Virginia Union University, especially Peter Latartara,Joseph Appiah, and Raymond Hylton. I have been inspired by the creative energy and excellent questions of my many excellent students over the years at Randolph-Macon College, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, William and Mary, and Virginia Union University. This dissertation could not have been completed without the expert help of a most impressive Library Reference Services team at the Library of Virginia, to whom I owe plates of homemade cookies. For their invaluable assistance, I thank Chris Kolbe, Dawn Tinnell, Cara Griggs, Virginia Dunn, Bill Bynum, Tom Crew, Derek Gray, Sarah Huggins, Bill Luebke, Amanda Morrell, Tricia iii Noel, Kelly Sizemore, Pat Watkinson, Minor Weisiger, and Lisa Wehrmann. I also want to thank Sarah Nerney, Joy Demery, Catherine O'Brian, Sherri Bagley, and Brent Tarter for their kindness and persistence. Fellow researchers at the Library of Virginia shared their humor and discoveries with me, which made the research room much more than a work place. I especially thank Maj. Harvey Burwell, Olen Lewis, Frankie Lyles, and Al Tillson. A large portion of the research for this project was conducted in more than fifty courthouses in Virginia. Many county clerks and their assistants helped me to scour their repositories for the records I needed. I especially thank Gary Williams (Sussex County); Richard Francis (Southampton County); Karen Glover (Bedford County); Suzanne Derieux (Essex County); Jean Doyle (Augusta County); William K. Ellenburg (Highland County); Florentine Entsminger (Alleghany County); Tara Leatherwood (Prince Edward County); John Fishback (Loudoun County); RobertS. FitzSimmonds (Prince William County); Karen K. Fridley (Augusta County); Lawrence Martin (Halifax and Charlotte County); Pam Quesenberry (Fairfax County); Lois S. Ralston (Highland County); and Ann Roach (Pittsylvania County). Finally, I want to thank my family and friends for their encouragement and interest. My father, Thomas A. Wolf, a scholar and historian, read the entire draft and encouraged key editorial and substantive revision. My mother, Susan Whittlesey Wolf, my sister, Caroline, my brother, Toby, and my stepmother, Libby Wolf, encouraged me every step of the way, as did my other parents, David and Beula Maris, who supported me and never doubted the eventual completion of this project. Bill Wertenbaker always kept morale high with sage Latin phrases and his sharp wit. My wife and best friend Rachel, to whom this work is dedicated, always believed in me and maintained a deep interest in the individuals detailed on these pages. For her support, humor, and love, I am forever grateful. And thank you to little Uylvonne Elizabeth Randall, to whom this work is also dedicated, who taught us the meaning of family. I hope someday to have a fraction of the strength that you did at six months. iv PROLOGUE Passages in Slavery and Freedom "I never knew a man who w1shed to be hlmself a slave." -Abraham Lillcoln (1864) 1 "There 1s no doubt but at thls moment, ill every densely populated country, hundreds would be willmg to sell themselves illto slavery 1f the laws would perrrut them." -Thomas R.
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