TheDCVoiceLet’s kick off Black History Month with a scarcely reported fact about our nation’s capital – slavery. The District’s proximity to Maryland and Virginia, both slave states, made it an active and profitable slave depot. The very mall which fueled the January 6th insurrection was a major marketplace for slave trading. It’s probably also befitting that Lafayette Square, home of the controversial statue of Andrew Jackson, was once bordered by slave pens.
It shouldn’t be surprising when we consider that the country’s founding fathers were slave owners. However, slave trading in the heart of Washington D.C. is a bit of a revelation. D.C. and even Maryland are often overlooked for their participation in the slave trade. We are aware that slave labor built the White House, as echoed by former first lady Michelle Obama’s statement at the 2016 Democratic National Convention that “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves,…”. Somehow we miss that slave trading in the District was also part of the equation.
The Mall
It’s ironic that the stretch of land that now houses the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Maritn Luther King Memorials and the National Museum of African American History and Culture was “dotted” by slave pens. “Groups of chained slaves passed the Capitol and the White House daily. Slaves awaited sale and relocation in crowded pens and cells near and on the Mall…numerous nearby taverns were sites of slave auctions. Hotels bordering the Mall rented basement rooms for keeping newly-purchased slaves before they were taken out of Washington”.
Lafayette Square
Another popular cohort to the slave trade in DC is Lafayette Square. The historic statue of President Andrew Jackson is the centerpiece of the square. Although Jackson himself was a slave owner and known for his brutal Indian war campaigns, the statue itself has its own history. However, that history has its own slave story. We’ll dive into that at a later date.
“Lafayette Square was one of hundreds of sites in the United States where enslaved Black people were sold during 250 years of slavery, according to the GSA. The nation’s capital was a major hub for the slave trade.” It is also the location of The Decatur House where free and enslaved Blacks lived. The White House Historical Association writes, “Decatur House served as home to numerous enslaved and free African Americans who lived and worked at the site – and its architecture, in several ways, reflects the status of those African American residents….– the 1818 residence facing Lafayette Square and the ca. 1822 slave quarters – generally evidence of the living and working conditions of enslaved men and women in urban areas as well as their owners’ desires to hide their activities from plain view.”
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 abolished slavery in the district. However, it wasn’t until 1862 that slaves were actually freed. The Compromise of 1850 is a series of resolutions to deal with the westward expansion of the United States and the expansion of slavery. It’s a precursor to the growing tension within the Union that led to the Civil War. Nevertheless, being a free Black in DC was also perilous. Slave traders kidnapped free Blacks and sold them as well.
Coming Full Circle
The ironies of Washington DC abound. A southern city. Built on the same slavery legacy of its southern neighbors. The recent disturbance in Lafayette Square and the storming of the Capitol hearken back to DC’s slave past. As if, the hallowed grounds of our ancestors were desecrated. Hallowed grounds many of us walk through unknowingly every day.
Featured Image courtesy slaveryimages.org
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Featured Image courtesy www.slaveryimages.com
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-complexities-of-slavery-in-the-nations-capital
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/spring/dcslavery.html
http://mallhistory.org/explorations/show/mall-slavery
June Coxson
Onyekachi Akalonu
Myles Walker
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