The website starts off with mentioning the topic was on the abolishment of slavery in New York between 1600s -1827. I felt this was a misrepresentation of what was covered in our readings. While it is true that in the “African Americans in New York” reading, Homberger mentioned freeing slaves started in 1644, only eleven slaves were freed. The first slave revolt was on April 7th, 1712, when an African American set Peter Van Tilburgh’s house on fire. Because of this incident, the legislative tightened the laws on the controlling of slaves. This incident directly opposes the argument made on the website. The government was involved against the freedom of slaves, and wanted to restrict their freedom. While the website announces that people during the 1600’s and the 1700’s were thinking of abolishing slavery, Homberger points out the opposite and says New York was not yet ready to abolish slavery.
"I can't take this anymore!" (From Bristol Radical History Group website)
The third gallery overview mentions how slavery was very popular during the 1700’s (a contradictory with their previous statement). The fact that “two of every five households at least contained one [slave]” is written in the website and also in Chudacoff’s textbook. This concept was also discussed in class, as slavery was a very big issue even in New York. Both also mentioned about how laws repressed blacks, causing them to revolt or run away.