FREEDOM AND UNFREEDOM IN THE “GARDEN OF AMERICA:” SLAVERY AND ABOLITION IN NEW JERSEY, 1770-1857 by James J. Gigantino II (Under the Direction of Allan Kulikoff) ABSTRACT This dissertation examines abolition in New Jersey between 1770 and 1857. It argues that the American Revolution did not lead white New Jerseyans to abolish slavery. Instead, the Revolutionary War and the years following it reinforced the institution of slavery in the Garden State. This dissertation first focuses on the factors that led New Jersey to pass the Gradual Abolition Act of 1804, specifically the rise of Jeffersonian Republicanism and the influence of Quaker abolition activists and then examines the elongated abolition period which followed the enactment of gradual abolition, beginning with the role of the children born under the law, those who I call slaves for a term. The role these children played in early national America challenges our understandings of slavery and freedom. Instead of a quick abolition process, slaves and slaves for a term in New Jersey continued to serve their masters in significant numbers until the 1840s and then in smaller proportions until the eve of the Civil War. The existence of slavery in a free state challenges our understanding of the rise of capitalism in the early republic as well as the role the North played in debates over nationwide slavery issues beginning in the 1820s. This long-standing relationship to slavery helped prevent the formation of a strong abolitionist base in the 1830s and influenced Northern images of African Americans until the Civil War. Abolition in the North became very much a process, one of fits and starts which stretched from the Revolution to the Civil War and defined how Americans, white and black, understood their place in the new republic. INDEX WORDS: New Jersey, Slavery, African Americans, Abolitionism, Gradual Abolition, Gradual Emancipation, American Revolution, Early Republic, Antebellum, Capitalism FREEDOM AND UNFREEDOM IN THE “GARDEN OF AMERICA:” SLAVERY AND ABOLITION IN NEW JERSEY, 1770-1857 by JAMES JOHN GIGANTINO II B.A., University of Richmond, 2004 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2010 © 2010 James John Gigantino II All Rights Reserved FREEDOM AND UNFREEDOM IN THE “GARDEN OF AMERICA:” SLAVERY AND ABOLITION IN NEW JERSEY, 1770-1857 by JAMES JOHN GIGANTINO II Major Professor: Allan Kulikoff Committee: John Inscoe Stephen Mihm Timothy Cleaveland Kathleen Clark Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2010 DEDICATION To my parents, Lois and Jim Gigantino, who have helped make me the man I am today iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project began in the spring of 2005 ironically not in a course on early America but in Jim Cobb’s recent United States history research seminar. After reading C. Vann Woodward’s Strange Career of Jim Crow and his one short paragraph on the “virtually abolished” institution of slavery in the North made me pursue this topic for that seminar paper. Jim Cobb graciously stretched the definition of “recent history” and allowed me work on this project which engulfed my life for the last five years. After I decided to pursue slavery in New Jersey as a dissertation topic, Allan Kulikoff readily volunteered to become my advisor, something for which I will be eternally grateful. I could have hoped for few better than him to help me grow as a historian. With a towering intellect unmatched by anyone I have ever met (or probably ever will), he has read each chapter far too many times than he probably needed to. With each draft, he challenged me to think about my work in the larger context of early America and made it, by far, better than it ever could have been without him. I thank him for everything. John Inscoe, routinely named the nicest man in academia, definitely earns that title every day. Ever since I spoke with him before I came to Georgia, he has provided sage advice and challenged me to think about what type of historian I want to be. He is a role model above all else. The same goes for Tim Cleaveland, the first professor I ever had in graduate school. Taking two courses with him and serving as his teaching assistant for two semesters made me understand not only African history but my role as a teacher. After over a dozen lunches and probably over a hundred meetings, I think I probably spent more time in his office than both of v us probably care to admit. He has always taken the time to talk with me about my research, my teaching, and my life. He is truly an amazing mentor and one I am the better for having known. From the first day I met him, Stephen Mihm has taken an active interest in my research and has pointed me in new directions. As a brilliant writer and historian, his comments on my work focused and refined both their content and clarity. Likewise, Kathleen Clark took an early interest in me and stepped in when I needed her most. She not only challenged me to think more broadly in African American history but pushed me to integrate gender history into both my research and my teaching. Librarians and archivists have been invaluable over the last five years. Special thanks go to the staff at the New Jersey State Archives who directed me to numerous resources and made me laugh on those long lonely days at the microfilm reader. The archivists at the New Jersey Historical Society patiently paraded over two hundred boxes of documents past my table with no complaint. Maureen O’Rourke and James Amemasor always lent a helping hand: thank you! Also, Chris Densmore at Swarthmore’s Friends Historical Library gave me numerous leads which made this project much more informed about Quakerism. Our conversations provided me a new and more refined understanding of New Jersey Quakers. As a graduate student, money has always been a key concern. The Department of History awarded me a five-year teaching assistantship and numerous research grants which helped this project along. For the last two years, this project was assisted by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State in the form of a Samuel Smith Dissertation Fellowship. I thank the people of New Jersey for their support. A fellowship from the Phelps-Stokes Fund also provided needed assistance for this project. vi At Georgia, I joined a community of graduate students who made this journey much more interesting and rewarding. For my first three years, I shared an office with Jason Manthorne who patiently listened to me explain the differences between East and West Jersey while Rhiannon Eves and Samantha Crowie made my first two years in Athens a much more exciting time. In addition, Steve Nash, Min Song, LaShonda Mims, Jenny Schwartzberg, John Paul Hill, Zac Smith, and Dori (my best four-legged friend) all made my time at Georgia more personally rewarding. Jennifer Wunn Malto, though, has done the most to make my journey at UGA memorable. She has taught me so much about myself and the important things in life. Each day with her is a new exciting adventure. I will be forever in her debt. I also wish to thank Bill and Doris Davis, Laurie Kane, Timothy Hack, Bill and Doris Davis, Justin Fanslau, Colin Holloway, Kelly Mahon, William Stueck, Jim Cobb, and Claudio Saunt for their assistance at various points during the last six years. The debt I owe to my family goes beyond what I can describe in these few short sentences. My sister, Diane, has been with me literally from day one and has provided support, advice, and love through these past twenty-six years. She, along with my brother-in-law, Joseph, and my nephew, John, who joined our family at the tail-end of this project, provided me more than their fair share of home-cooked meals and free lodging during my travels from New Jersey to Georgia. My thanks to each of them. My sister and I had the good fortune of having amazing grandparents who spoiled us rotten from the beginning. Each of them in their own way challenged me to be a better man. Even though my formal education is complete, their lessons will never stop defining who I am. Above all, my parents, Lois and Jim Gigantino, have made me the man I am today. They are without a doubt the best set of cheerleaders, mentors, and friends anyone could have ever vii asked for. From elementary school on, they encouraged my intellectual curiosity, challenged me to think about the world around me, and taught me the importance of family. They have shown me endless encouragement, devotion, generosity, and love, which made this project possible. It is to them that I dedicate this dissertation, for without them, none of this would have been possible. viii