In association with the Columbia County Historical Society, the Archive presents a free lecture series throughout the spring of 2023.  These lectures aim to put into historical and sociological context the lived experiences of enslaved and freed people in the Hudson Valley. Noted scholars and researchers will be sharing their findings on how African Americans lived in the Hudson Valley from the 16th to 19th centuries.

To be in bondage, to be owned by another human being, to be subjected to another person’s total will—that was the essence of slavery. The natural “fight or flight” instinct in every human being dominated the minds of all those who were treated as property.
Humanizing an otherwise largely silent population, advertisements for fugitive slaves provide an exceptionally valuable window into Black life in Early America—from the nature of the slave system and the master-slave relationship to fascinating glimpses into material culture and folk life.

In her presentation, Mosterman will explore the history of slavery and resistance in Dutch New York, with special attention to Kinderhook and surroundings. Through examination of Dutch American homes, Dutch Reformed churches, and public spaces in these predominantly Dutch American communities, she shows how Dutch American enslavers increasingly used their dominance over these spaces to control the people they enslaved, while enslaved people resisted such control by escaping or modifying these spaces and expanding their mobility and activities within them. Such close analysis of enslavement in these spaces reveals that by the mid-eighteenth-century slavery in New York was an advanced system of violence and control that had much in common with that of slave societies in the plantation South.

​New Netherland (New York) was an active slave society from the time the Dutch West Indies Company imported the first slaves in 1626. At that time, the Dutch controlled a sizable portion of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which they had been involved in for many years. Slavery was greatly expanded under the British. Before the Revolutionary War, New York and Albany were the biggest slave markets in the country. By the end of the 18th century, New York had the largest enslaved population in the north -- three fifths of which lived and labored in the Hudson Valley. 

With the exception of a few larger landowners, the majority of slaveholders in Columbia County held five or fewer slaves. This area was primarily agricultural, and enslaved Black men labored in every aspect of farm life.  Black women usually worked in the home – cooking, cleaning, washing laundry, and tending to the children of their owners. Because of the cold winters, slaves customarily lived in the homes of their enslavers, usually in the cellar or attic. Dutch enslavers, in particular, often brought their slaves to church with them. The Kinderhook Dutch Reformed Church had a pew set aside for Blacks and many of those families remained members of the Dutch Reformed Church well into the 20th century.  After New York abolished slavery in 1827, most of the Black residents of Columbia County remained here, taking the surnames of their former owners and establishing a life in freedom.  They mainly worked on farms and as domestic servants. By the late 19th century, many were able to purchase homes and farmland of their own, and to open businesses. They formed churches and social organizations for their own community, but they also lived, worked, attended school and socialized alongside their white neighbors.

​Prior to the abolition of slavery in New York, enslaved men and women often risked
life and limb in search of their own freedom. Ads for “runaway slaves” were published
in newspapers, offering rewards and revealing poignant details about these individu-
als’ lives. Much of the enslaved population in the Hudson Valley spoke several lan-
guages, including Dutch, English and their native language.

​​Less than ten years after manumission, former slave Anthony Harder began
purchasing land on the border of Kinderhook and Stuyvesant. At the time
of his death in 1875, he owned a 125-acre farm.

1626
First enslaved African men brought to New Amsterdam and taken up the river to be sold at Fort Orange (Albany), less than two years after it was settled. The first enslaved women arrive in 1630.

1650s
Dutch slave trade rapidly increases, bringing thousands of enslaved men and women to be sold at New Amsterdam and Fort Orange. Most are brought from the West Indies by the Dutch West Indies Company.

1664
England takes New Netherland from the Dutch and further increases the slave trade.

1700 - 1774
Black slaves increasingly brought to New York directly from Africa. The Black population of New York Colony grows exponentially and by 1746 is the largest north of Maryland. Several “Slave Acts” are passed by the legislature to control the lives and activities of the enslaved.

1785
Formation of the New York Manumission Society, which aims to promote the gradual abolition of slavery and emancipation of slaves.

1790
Census notes approximately 21,000 slaves in New York State. While the enslaved make up 6% of the overall population of Columbia County, in Kinderhook, Claverack and Clermont the enslaved population is 10–13%.

1799
The Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery is passed, “freeing” any child of an enslaved person born after 1799. However, the child would be required to remain an involuntary servant to the owner of their mother until they turned 28.

1817
Act Relative to Slaves and Servants frees all slaves born before 1799, but does not take effect until July of 1827.

1827
Slavery is fully abolished in New York State. The last people held in bondage wouldn’t be free until the 1840s.

It's February, and there are events being held nearly every day -- great opportunities for learning new things and delving into our collective history.  If there's a bright side to our life changes over the past two years, it's that so many more events are accessible online, so whether you're snowed-in or just having a pajama day, you can take advantage of all that's out there.  Here are just a few events that you might be interested in.
(Please note that AfAmArchive has no connection to any of these organizations or their events; they're just things that we've heard about and thought would be interesting.) 

Multiple events for all ages, all month long
Smithsonian Institute

Multiple events for all ages, all month long
New York Public Library

Saturday, February 12th; 12pm
​National Museum of African American History and Culture/Smithsonian

Monday, February 14th; 1pm
National Museum of African American History and Culture/Smithsonian

Thursday, February 17th; 2pm
NYC Parks/Central Park Conservancy

Monday, February 21st; 2pm
​My Heritage

Thursday, February 24th; 2pm
​The Garden Conservancy