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A Legacy Transformed: The Christiana Riot in Historical Memory by Anthony Rice A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate and Research Committee of Lehigh University in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Lehigh University December 2012 Copyright Anthony Rice 2012 ii DISSERTATION SIGNATURE SHEET Approved and recommended for acceptance as a dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. __________________________ Date _______________________ Roger Simon Dissertation Director __________________________ Accepted Date Committee Members: _______________________ Kim Carrell-Smith _______________________ Seth Moglen _______________________ William Scott iii Acknowledgements Research for this dissertation was referenced primarily from newspapers, the collections of the Lancaster County and Christiana Historical Societies, personal interviews, and various secondary sources. The three main repositories for this manuscript were Christiana’s Moore Memorial Library, the Christiana Historical Society, and the Lancaster Country Historical Society. The staffs and members of each institution were very patient and helpful to this author and for that I am very grateful. I thank those who consented to being interviewed for this paper; each of their opinions were much appreciated in enriching my research and in providing a personal touch that can sometimes be lost when writing history. I am also indebted to Professors Roger Simon, Kim Carrell-Smith, Seth Moglen, and Bill Scott for taking the time to review this work and offer suggestions. Their insights were pivotal in helping to shape this manuscript into something that I hope does justice to the Christiana Riot. Lastly, I thank God for giving me the strength to complete this project and my parents for their patience and continued support in putting up with me for all these years. How they do it I have no idea. iv Contents ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………..…………..1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………….……….3 I: PRELUDE TO CONFLICT………………………………...…………………………21 II: A CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES…………………………………………………….…..55 III: A HOUSE DIVIDED………………………………………………………….……..83 IV: A TREASONOUS SELF-DEFENSE………………………………………………112 V: RECONCILED BY COLOR………………………………………….…………….152 VI: COMMEMORATING A MYTH…………………………………………….…….202 VII: A TIME OF TRANSITION………………………………………….……………257 VIII: FROM RIOT TO RESISTANCE……………………………………...…………320 EPILOGUE……………………………………………….…………………………….387 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………..…..397 CURRICULUM VITAE……………………………………………………………..…416 v A Legacy Transformed: The Christiana Riot in Historical Memory Abstract by Anthony Rice On the morning of September 11, 1851, a slaveholder laid dead at the hands of fugitive slaves outside a small Pennsylvanian farming community in Christiana, Lancaster County. This slave resistance to a southern posse shocked Americans, precipitated a show trial, and embarrassed locals who just wanted the story to disappear. But as years passed, history merged with memory to transform the Christiana Riot from an incident forgotten to one of continual reinterpretation in the historical and local community. This dissertation traces the legacy of the Christiana Riot and how its narrative changed over time in relation to historical memory, changing racial attitudes in the United States, and the influence of a new social history on issues of race. From 1851-2001 the Christiana Riot would come full circle as a result of the dynamic nature of memory between two distinct racial groups in Lancaster County. Throughout these years the Christiana Riot’s legacy would have as much to do with race as it did with history as black memory clashed with white sentimentality over the riot’s historical significance. During its three public commemorations in 1911, 1951, and 2001, the riot’s meaning was transformed to suit current political circumstances both locally and nationally. The 1911 ceremony was affected by Civil War memory and Jim Crow policies whereby whites became the heroes of the riot as African-Americans were pushed to the background. The 1 1951 commemoration mixed white courage with black agency during a transitional period in the riot’s historical memory that mirrored the civil rights movement then beginning in the country. In 2001, progressive racial attitudes mixed with a new social history sensitive to previously underrepresented groups to create a public celebration of the riot focused on black historical contributions and self-emancipation. The transformation of the Christiana Riot’s legacy revealed the adaptive power of memory and its fluid relationship with what we consider important in history. This continual struggle between fact and fiction became as central to the riot story as it is to our personal understanding of the past—a past filled with Christiana Riots and unearthing the truth behind the memory. 2 Introduction On February 15, 1851, Frederick Jenkins could only reminisce about the freedom he so briefly enjoyed before his capture as a fugitive slave. Finding himself in the defendant’s chair of a Boston court was not the fate he envisioned during his escape from Virginia nine months earlier. As the judge ordered a continuance of the trial, all hope appeared lost for the accused man known as Shadrach. Suddenly, the courtroom doors burst open and a large crowd of black men pushed their way to the side of Jenkins. With a simple nod of agreement, the fugitive was lifted from his seat and rushed from the courthouse by his racial brethren. Disappearing into the city, Jenkins would eventually reach the safety of Canada where United States law could no longer touch him. Eight men were later arrested and tried for the Shadrach rescue, but each was found innocent of the charges. The failure to achieve a single conviction made this first major test of the newly minted Fugitive Slave Act a bitter disappointment to southern sensibilities. Prompted by fears of sectional discord, President Millard Fillmore condemned the rescue and exhorted citizens to respect the law for sake of the Union. Although the President’s overtures achieved a peaceful interlude, it was merely an ephemeral pause as the issue of slavery sparked another resistance seven months later. This time the national spotlight did not shine upon another metropole the likes of Boston. Instead, it focused upon a violent clash that erupted two miles outside a small town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, when a group of fugitive slaves clashed with a southern posse resulting in the death of a slaveholder. The riot occurred on the outskirts of Christiana on September 11, 1851, effectively making it the second test of the controversial fugitive slave law. 3 Although occurring in a central Pennsylvanian farming community roughly fifty miles west of Philadelphia and twenty miles north of the Maryland border, the incident inflamed nationwide controversy by ending in bloodshed that resulted in the largest number of individuals being charged with treason at one time in American history.1 The Christiana Riot and its aftermath was such a blow to southern sentiments of pride and justice that Lancaster Countians soon found themselves inexorably linked with a series of events that ultimately plunged America into Civil War a decade later. This study traces the historical memory of the Christiana Riot from its controversial beginning in a Pennsylvania field to its celebration in 2001. Over the course of those 150 years, the riot underwent a dramatic reappraisal in the memories of Lancaster County residents as reflected through its public commemorations in 1911, 1951, and 2001. Initially perceived locally as an incident best forgotten, the riot was transformed into a symbol of sectional reconciliation in 1911, a cautionary tale of legal defiance and racial inequality forty years later, and a triumphant example of black agency in 2001. Each commemoration was shaped by mainstream historical and societal trends regarding race, Civil War memory, African-American history, the civil rights movement, and social history. That the riot celebrations each presented different themes was no accident. As American society transformed, so too did the riot’s historical memory in accordance with that transformation. What was for many years a contentious memory between black and white over the riot and its meaning slowly aligned itself into one of racial consensus over 1 Stanley W. Campbell, The Slave Catchers: Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850-1860 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1970), pp. 148-151; “‘He Died For Law,’ in Christiana Riot,” Baltimore Sun, September 11, 1955; Jonathan Katz, Resistance at Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Rebellion, Christiana, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1851, A Documentary Account (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1974), p. 4. 4 a century later. How and why this historical understanding occurred composes the bulk of this study, illustrating a Christiana Riot legacy shaped more by public memory than historical fact. Previous studies by David Blight and others have rightly argued the fluidity of historical memory over time and its relationship