History Blog

The legacy that emancipation created was the beginnings of systemic racism and a continuation of injustice based on the color of one’s skin. Freedom for most was not freedom as one might envision it. It was another kind of enslavement. Enslavement within a system that created the socio and economic divide in the United States that holds true to the present day. Emancipation continued a life that was controlled by former plantation owners and wealthy white land owners and business men. This population created the system that would exist for hundreds of years. The legacy of emancipation was one that fostered a warped sense of honoring and continued discrimination. This was very evident in 1892. The obituary for Timothy Meaher, the owner of the Clotilda read as follows in the New York Times; “last of the slave traders”. It was a salute to the northerner who became a southerner.  It was seen as an achievement and not a crime. Even though slavery had ended, racism was alive in every way. and by 1901 “ a rigid de facto of separation had been a fact of life.” (Diouf,2007)

 Specifically in the south, in Mobile Alabama emancipation changed the lives of those who were captives on the Clotilda forever because it opened a window of opportunity. Their story was a bit different than most of those who were free. The goal of those of the Clotilda was to return to Africa. When this goal was terminated by the system that brought them to American shores these strong people took the news and changed defeat into opportunity. This began with hard work and saving money in order to buy land. The land that was eventually purchased was from the man who actually sent a ship to enslave them.  With the purchase of the land which led to the creation of Africa Town, it buffered those of the Clotilda from this racial divide to some degree. The reason being is that Africa town elected to self segregate. When I read this it is was fascinating to me because in a way those of the Clotilda took a negative and created another positive and took back ownership of choice. This self segregation allowed those of Africa town to embrace their heritage and continue traditions of their childhood from West Africa. This was empowerment, but the map in Mobile from 1889 described it very differently. Africa town was called “African Colony”  and “uncivilized”. It was perfectly fine to categorize on paper a racist description on an area map at that time in history just as Meaher’s obituary. This was the beginnings and growth of socio and economic divides within our country.

Even though this divide existed, Africa town flourished and at one point had 12,000 residents with a strong sense of community and tradition, yet systemic racism eventually eroded this outstanding progressive model of what freedom and the American dream can look like when heritage is embraced. “Enslavement is racist and the byproduct caused permanent damage.” What is meant is that none of the captives of the Clotilda ever recovered from the shock of the capture, the separation from families and the middle passage” (Diouf, 2007) a town were strong filled with courage and perseverance as all who had brought and bought into slavery.

The decedents of the Clotilda still grapple with the sheer fact of what their ancestors had to go through to survive as Darren Patterson, a descendent of those who built Africa town shared in a interview. He also stated he wanted to “Just to feel what they felt, and to know what strong courageous people he had descended from.” Those of Africa town embrace their heritage. Jocelyn, a teacher shares, “my heritage tells me who I am. They are all we and they were all they had.” For those of reside in Africa town, they try to celebrate where they came from and to preserve the heritage for generations to come. Others residents state that the Meaher family needs to apologize and recognize those who have been hurt and continue to be hurt and that reparation should be part of this too.

From what I have researched those who are descendants of slavery want to understand and connect to those who came before. Especially those descendants of Africa town feel that preservation is key. This preservation needs to remain within the community as a honoring of a legacy that began so long ago. In addition celebration of African past has been going on for decades, much longer than any else in our country. You could say that they are all trail blazers in there own special way.

The most unfortunate aspect of the entire history of the Clotilda and Africa town is the fact that the systemic racism in our country took this unique story of success and destroyed it by erecting chemical and paper plants around the town. In turn, creating hazardous living conditions for those who resided in the town this affected the socio and economic prosperity of the community over time. Once again the Meaher family was part of this decline by selling land to the companies. Economic and environmental ruin occurred. In 1990 a highway was also built right through the center of Africa town. What does this say about what our country still believes? It is blatant racism. The history of slavery is continually be added to because 160 years after the Clotilda sank in Mobile Bay we still are grappling with the effects of slavery. The visual image of a depressed town speaks volumes of how our country is still entrenched in the slavery mentality of the past even thou it is the 21^st century. This is clearly an excellent and compelling example for why reparations are needed for the past as well as the present to hopefully one day fix the future.

Sources

Descendants of the Last Slave Ship Fight to Preserve Their History | Feb 17, 2020 | NowThis News

Wreck of last known slave ship – found in Alabama | Jun 7, 2019 | Channel 4 News

What the Discovery of the Last American Slave Ship Means to Descendants | National Geographic | May 22, 2019 | National Geographic

How discovery of the slave ship Clotilda informs U.S. history | May 23, 2019 | PBS NewsHour

Primary Sources

Dreams of Africa in Alabama, The Slave Ship Clotilda and The Story of the Last Africans Brought to America, Written by Sylviane A Diouf, Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press

Registration of Clotilda, April 19^th, 1855. National Archives and Records Administration, Southeast Region (Atlanta). RG 36 U.S. Customs Service, Collector of Customs

Land Sale, Meaher to Allen. October 21, 1872. Deed Book 30,643. Mobile County Probate Court

Marriage License, Polle Alen [sic] and Rosa Allen, Mobile, March 15^th, 1880. CML 6, 438. Mobile County Probate Court.

Was Emancipation successful, has a complicated answer. Yes, it provided freedom to the opposed, but this freedom created another kind of slavery. Slaves within the system of free America which consisted of rules and standards that were different depending on your color and race.

For those of the Clotilda it was three years since their arrival in Mobile Bay, and the third year of the Civil War. Each of the captured had been separated between Timothy Meaher and his two brothers. Each holding 30 persons as chattel. Most became field hands, and a few house maids. Along with this came a change in ones name. The purpose of the practice was to severe any ties to ones past as a name was given in honor to a person in Africa. One practice that the enslaved of the Clotilda did was to retain this connection was to use their native names in private with one another. (Diouf, 2007)

On January 1, 1863 President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation Act. It stated that “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” Even though this Proclamation was issued it was slow to be enacted. Many black men enlisted in the Army as a way out of slavery. “While in the army in the First Alabama Regiment Colored Infantry, payed northern teachers a $1.00 a month to teach them how to read and write. By the end of the war 20,000 colored soldiers could read intelligently.” (Diouf, 2007) This opportunity allowed for these men as they knew it to improve their lot in life. Before this time it was forbidden. Both were ways to participate in the process of Emancipation.

As for the plantation owners , “especially those in the interior were not inclined to part with their free labor. Many balked and refused to part with profitable labor source, so in June of 1863 the state started to “confiscate” their property.” (Diouf, 2007) which led to planters imposing stricter rules and punishment on the enslaved. By the time April of 1865 arrived so did the Union forces and they assaulted Mobile defenses and Robert E. Lee eventually surrendered.

Cudjo of the Clotilda asked a group of Union soldiers what was all the commotion about and they told him that he and his people were free. He wanted to know where he was supposed to go. The soldiers replied, “Wherever you want.” “Of this memorable event, Cudjo said, “I sho’ appreciate dey free me.” (Diouf, 2007)

The captives of the Clotilda were free, but robbed of much more than five years of their lives.” ” In the days and weeks that followed heading south to Mobile the roads were crowded, packed with people with baskets on their heads, children in tattered shirt tales and bundles tied to backs of those who walked.” (Diouf, 2007) Many had no shoes as it was a practice to receive one pair of shoes every five years. This freedom created displacement with no where to go or to live. Many headed to the cities such as Mobile where 6,000 African Americans made their way.

One important instinctive action of many was to find that husband, wife or child that was taken many years before in order to reunite. This was not an easy task with many sad outcomes. Many former slaves kept their American name as it was a way to fit in with others. As this new found freedom still had the chains of slavery attached this period in time. Violence also rose as those angered by the defeat of the south and the freeing of slaves took this resentment out on Black people in many horrible ways.

Those of the Clotilda had the dream of returning to Africa but it was soon ended because of lack of funds where in other countries such opportunity was possible. New hope arose though as plantations were divided and land was going to be available to homestead. A year later in 1866 the enslaved from the Clotilda who were now free would soon establish Africatown.

Emancipation released many from bondage of one kind, yet possibly placed a new type of bondage that has traveled into the 21st century.

Primary Source:

Diouf, Sylviane A. Dreams of Africa in Alabama. New York: Oxford University Press. 2007.

The legacy that emancipation created was the beginnings of systemic racism and a continuation of injustice based on the color of one’s skin. Freedom for most was not freedom as one might envision it. It was another kind of enslavement. Enslavement within a system that created the socio and economic divide in the United States that holds true to the present day. Emancipation continued a life that was controlled by former plantation owners and wealthy white land owners and business men. This population created the system that would exist for hundreds of years. The legacy of emancipation was one that fostered a warped sense of honoring and continued discrimination. This was very evident in 1892. The obituary for Timothy Meaher, the owner of the Clotilda read as follows in the New York Times; “last of the slave traders”. It was a salute to the northerner who became a southerner.  It was seen as an achievement and not a crime. Even though slavery had ended, racism was alive in every way. and by 1901 “ a rigid de facto of separation had been a fact of life.” (Diouf,2007)

 Specifically in the south, in Mobile Alabama emancipation changed the lives of those who were captives on the Clotilda forever because it opened a window of opportunity. Their story was a bit different than most of those who were free. The goal of those of the Clotilda was to return to Africa. When this goal was terminated by the system that brought them to American shores these strong people took the news and changed defeat into opportunity. This began with hard work and saving money in order to buy land. The land that was eventually purchased was from the man who actually sent a ship to enslave them.  With the purchase of the land which led to the creation of Africa Town, it buffered those of the Clotilda from this racial divide to some degree. The reason being is that Africa town elected to self segregate. When I read this it is was fascinating to me because in a way those of the Clotilda took a negative and created another positive and took back ownership of choice. This self segregation allowed those of Africa town to embrace their heritage and continue traditions of their childhood from West Africa. This was empowerment, but the map in Mobile from 1889 described it very differently. Africa town was called “African Colony”  and “uncivilized”. It was perfectly fine to categorize on paper a racist description on an area map at that time in history just as Meaher’s obituary. This was the beginnings and growth of socio and economic divides within our country.

Even though this divide existed, Africa town flourished and at one point had 12,000 residents with a strong sense of community and tradition, yet systemic racism eventually eroded this outstanding progressive model of what freedom and the American dream can look like when heritage is embraced. “Enslavement is racist and the byproduct caused permanent damage.” What is meant is that none of the captives of the Clotilda ever recovered from the shock of the capture, the separation from families and the middle passage” (Diouf, 2007) a town were strong filled with courage and perseverance as all who had brought and bought into slavery.

The decedents of the Clotilda still grapple with the sheer fact of what their ancestors had to go through to survive as Darren Patterson, a descendent of those who built Africa town shared in a interview. He also stated he wanted to “Just to feel what they felt, and to know what strong courageous people he had descended from.” Those of Africa town embrace their heritage. Jocelyn, a teacher shares, “my heritage tells me who I am. They are all we and they were all they had.” For those of reside in Africa town, they try to celebrate where they came from and to preserve the heritage for generations to come. Others residents state that the Meaher family needs to apologize and recognize those who have been hurt and continue to be hurt and that reparation should be part of this too.

From what I have researched those who are descendants of slavery want to understand and connect to those who came before. Especially those descendants of Africa town feel that preservation is key. This preservation needs to remain within the community as a honoring of a legacy that began so long ago. In addition celebration of African past has been going on for decades, much longer than any else in our country. You could say that they are all trail blazers in there own special way.

The most unfortunate aspect of the entire history of the Clotilda and Africa town is the fact that the systemic racism in our country took this unique story of success and destroyed it by erecting chemical and paper plants around the town. In turn, creating hazardous living conditions for those who resided in the town this affected the socio and economic prosperity of the community over time. Once again the Meaher family was part of this decline by selling land to the companies. Economic and environmental ruin occurred. In 1990 a highway was also built right through the center of Africa town. What does this say about what our country still believes? It is blatant racism. The history of slavery is continually be added to because 160 years after the Clotilda sank in Mobile Bay we still are grappling with the effects of slavery. The visual image of a depressed town speaks volumes of how our country is still entrenched in the slavery mentality of the past even thou it is the 21^st century. This is clearly an excellent and compelling example for why reparations are needed for the past as well as the present to hopefully one day fix the future.

Sources

Descendants of the Last Slave Ship Fight to Preserve Their History | Feb 17, 2020 | NowThis News

Wreck of last known slave ship – found in Alabama | Jun 7, 2019 | Channel 4 News

What the Discovery of the Last American Slave Ship Means to Descendants | National Geographic | May 22, 2019 | National Geographic

How discovery of the slave ship Clotilda informs U.S. history | May 23, 2019 | PBS NewsHour

Primary Sources

Dreams of Africa in Alabama, The Slave Ship Clotilda and The Story of the Last Africans Brought to America, Written by Sylviane A Diouf, Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press

Registration of Clotilda, April 19^th, 1855. National Archives and Records Administration, Southeast Region (Atlanta). RG 36 U.S. Customs Service, Collector of Customs

Land Sale, Meaher to Allen. October 21, 1872. Deed Book 30,643. Mobile County Probate Court

Marriage License, Polle Alen [sic] and Rosa Allen, Mobile, March 15^th, 1880. CML 6, 438. Mobile County Probate Court.

Fifty three years after Congress enacted a law on March 2nd of 1807 prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States, a schooner set sail from a port in Mobile Alabama on March. 4, 1860.

Captain William Foster defying the law and continuing the abuse of tearing African people from their homeland, embarked with a crew of 12. The destination was Whydah Dahomey, which is present day Benin.

The account that follows will have you question many aspects of the slave trade, become familiar with a legacy that continues to unfold even into the 21st century, and to become aware of the 110 African people who recreated their culture an ocean away from their roots.

The entire voyage was based on a wager that Timothy Meaher made with another wealthy New Orleaner that Meaher could smuggle slaves into the United States. There could have been another reason as well. During this period in the South there had been a high demand for slave labor due to explosion of the cotton trade. Slavery was central to this economic growth. Meaher also knew that it was cheaper to buy slaves in Africa than in the United States, an example of exploitation.

During this same time in history on the continent of Africa tribes were at war in Africa. The King of Dahomey (present day Benin). He warriors would raid the interior lands and take captives to a large slave market where ships would come to port to purchase the human cargo. The same question that came to mind when I read Hartman’s Lose your Mother; how can a countryman of African descent sell his brothers for profit? This is contribution the tearing away culture, family and life.

110 slaves were forcibly boarded on the Clotilda. This was a transport ship for lumber and then had adjustments made to be used as a slave ship. From this point of view it must have been a much more restricted area. Only 100 slaves arrived in the United States. Reading passages from Lose your Mother it must have been a very hard and suffering journey. The African captives were also housed in Africa in a warehouse like structure, a total of 4,0000 people which must have been another inhuman existence as Captian Foster was asked if he wished his slaves to be branded which he declined. Reading in Hartman’s Lose your Mother she speaks of the process of branding.

There is so much more to this account, journey and legacy to slavery which I will continue to share in future posts.

Check Hartman’s Lose your Mother , reads like a novel.

Sources:

slavevoyages.org voyage ID: 36990

Lose your Mother bySaidiya Hartman. Lose your Mother. (New York: Farrab, Straus and Giroux,2007.

The Atlantic World of Slavery during 1860 was different , yet the same within this area of the world. What do I mean by this, the reader may wonder?

In the United States of America in 1860 one could buy and sell slaves within the U.S., but the importation of slaves had been banned by an act of congress in March of 1807. During this time in American history cotton was the main crop in the south in 1860, with a half a million tons produced each year. A strong population of slaves was needed to harvest the crop to be placed into Eli Whitney’s cotton gins.. Slavery was the means that kept the south going.

Across the ocean in the Kingdom of Dahomey slavery continued as well. This aspect of slavery was the capturing of neighboring tribes by the Dahomey. Once captured, the Dahomey sold their captives to foreigners for alcohol, guns and ammunition. The captured Africans were taken from their homeland and forcibly placed into slavery an ocean away in the Americas.

In both instances, the enslaved experienced similar feelings of being taken from all that was familiar. Each group was ripped from their family, culture and heritage. These enslaved individuals experienced the fear of the unknown, the brutality of captivity, the struggle to survive as well as continual witnessing of abuse, death and suffering. As one descendant of the Clotilda shared; to paraphrase; Those 100 captives from the ages of 2-24 years continually prayed, drank water mixed with vinegar to prevent scurvy and most importantly pulled strength from one another as the Clotilda crossed the Atlantic.

Those who resisted the chosen lot of slavery in Whydah were most definitely killed by their captures as there was no way out from the warehouse which housed 4,000 nude captives. Once the human cargo arrived in Mobile Alabama these captives could not be sold as slaves so they were divided up among those who funded the expedition and became chattel to these wealthy southern owners.   

What was amazing in the story of the Clotilda and why it is so fascinating to me is that a year after these African peoples were forcibly brought to America, the Civil War began and soon after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 in which Lincoln declared, “That all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”

Once freed, those of the Clotilda saved and pooled their monies to try to return to their homeland, but were denied. As Ossa Keeby shared; “I go back to Africa in my dreams every night”.

 This group did not give up but persisted and created a replica of Africa in founding Africa Town. The land was purchased from Meaher by those of the Clotilda and they made their own Africa. It became a self sustaining community with its own language, rules and customs. There was a chief abroad the ship on the voyage in 1860. His name was Oluale Kossola later to be called Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis, one of the founders of Africatown. He became Africatown’s chief.

These shipmates as they called one another stayed to themselves, saved their money and pooled their funds to build a church and school. They stood together as enslaved and in the election of 1874 some of the men walked and walked until they finally were successful to cast a ballot.

The Clotilda carried the last “Black cargo” to arrive in the United States between, 1600-1860. Some 389,000 African peoples were brought to our country to be slaves.

Continue to follow this blog as I complete further research into this extra ordinary story.

Sources:

Sylviane A. Diouf, Dreams of Africa in Alabama:The Slave ship Clotilda and thesotry of the  last Africans to be brought to America. Oxford University Press, 20007.

www.oxfordrefernce.com

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=11tUOu2ZGiEpsPacrJki3t49w6WTj7JDDSiFs6uuyw-w&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650

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