A list of the rules that slaves had to abide by. Taken from the Slavery in New York website
Shane White’s Somewhat More Independent: The End of Slavery in New York City and Homberger’s Historical Atlas of New York City: African Americans in New York seem to understate the reality of the brutal suffering African Americans endured during the late 18th century to the early 19th century. They also fail to mention anything that happened before that period compared to the slavery in New York website. The designers of the Slavery in New York website prove a thorough understanding of the events that occurred which eventually led the to emancipation of slavery in the Northern states. However, White does provide a powerful argument as to why documents don’t really explain the history of slavery in New York which we would like to give more clarity to his readers.
I think the designers of the Slavery in New York website do a very good job of depicting the struggles of the African-American slaves post emancipation by giving bits and pieces of background information of events and historical information of the leaders who fought for the freedom of freeing the slaves. This website also gives a chronological order of the events that led to freeing the slaves and how New York was very different from the other states in the way that they dealt with the emancipation of the slaves. The full emancipation of slavery didn’t occur in New York til 1827 where as other states had abolished slavery several decades prior.
I agree with you that White’s piece is less in depth than the website. The website really is a good depiction of events between the 18th and 19th century.