Black History of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the Underground Railroad for Runaway Slaves

New Bedford is a city located south of Boston, Massachusetts, and referred to as the gateway to Cape Cod. New Bedford's history includes, whaling, garment industries, cobblestone pavements, and widow walks. The famous author Herman Melville wrote the classic Moby Dick when he was living in New Bedford. But New Bedford has a history of helping others. New Bedford helped fugitive slaves who came there for help.

In 1850, when the Fugitive Slave Act was passed and Federal sanction was given to Southern slave owners', efforts to retrieve slaves brought many runaway slaves to Canada. Many slaves also came to New Bedford Massachusetts via The Underground Railroad. It wasn't an actual railroad, but a network of people that would assist fugitive slaves to be free. Because this was a secret group of people, who kept no written records, the number of runaway slaves cannot be accurate, but is estimated between 300-700.

There were houses in New Bedford that had underground tunnels, and some of the sites where runaway slaves would be hidden include Daniel Drayton's Grave which is now home to the Rural Cemetery, Reverend William Jackson's House, 198 Smith Street, Loum Snow house, 465 County Street, Second Baptist Church, 201 Middle Street, John Brigg's home, 111-113 Allen Street, where Brigg's daughter Martha kept a school in his house for runaway slaves, William H. Carney home, which is now Martha Brigg's Educational Society, and the Lewis Temple House, 54 Bedford Street. A printable map is offered at this site.

But what brought hundreds of slaves to historical New Bedford? New Bedford was home to a large amount of non whites, and is estimated that 6.3 percent of the city population were blacks. This percentage grew to 7.5 with the fugitive slaves that were coming to the city. This was also a city that was very liberal. In the 1820's Quakers controlled the cities political and economical life. These Quakers were strongly opposed to oppression and forceable resistance and were the anti slavery leaders of the city.

New Bedford was a leader in the whaling industry, and would become known as "The Whaling City." Whaling was the third most profitable industry in the state of Massachusetts, and was in constant need of labor. Factories were leading the cities labor field, and many men and women left the whaling industry to work in the factories. New Bedford had many garment factories, better known as stitching mills, and many of these buildings are still standing. The whaling industry would welcome the fugitive slaves, as they were willing to work for pay, something they didn't have before as slaves. New Bedford was active in the coastal trading system, and slaves could easily stow away on the vessels.

In the fall of 1833, the first antislavery society was founded in New Bedford. Fredrick Dougllas, a runaway slave arrived in New Bedford. He is known for his great achievements in the city. He found New Bedford's people of color "much more spirited than I had supposed they would be. I found among them a determination to protect each other from the bloodthirsty kidnapper, at all hazards." In 1855 he wrote: "No colored man is really free in a slaveholding state. He wears the badge of bondage while nominally free, and is often subjected to hardships to which the slave is a stranger; but here in New Bedford, it was my good fortune to see a pretty near approach to freedom on the part of the colored people."

Nathan and Mary Johnson assisted Fredrick Dougllas and many other fugitive slaves. They were free slaves themselves, living in New Bedford. They owned a block of property, and a confectioners shop.

Today, there is a variety of ethnical people living in New Bedford, and will always be a liberal city. The first black Governor of Massachusetts has been elected, Duval Patrick, and he is very active with the people in New Bedford, helping them resolve the cities problems.

Information used in this story obtained from Teacher Vision

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/
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