John Andrew Jackson

Last updated

John Andrew Jackson was an American abolitionist in the nineteenth century. He was born into slavery on a country plantation in Sumter County, South Carolina. His escape north to Canada may have been one of many slave experiences that inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin . During the American Civil War, Jackson published The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina (1862) [1] while in Great Britain. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Jackson had a condescending relationship with his owner and mistress, as many slaves did, [4] although he was the primary object of their ire. He grew up surrounded by brutality. For example, his master would whip Jackson for his disobedience. [5] Jackson's first job was being a scarecrow in the cornfields. He would stand every day posing as a scarecrow in the hot Carolina fields. When he was older, he was ordered to manage the plow but, due to his lack of strength, he was unable to manage the plow effectively. Despite this, he attracted a woman named Louisa Clifton, [6] who later became his wife.

Family

Louisa lived on the plantation about a mile away. Jackson and Louisa were unofficially married and had two children. He was prohibited from visiting his wife and children, but would often sneak out to be with his family. Jackson would be whipped, but persisted and continued to see his wife and children until his wife's master moved to Georgia. His mother, Betty, and father, [ citation needed ] John Andrew (known as Dr. Clavern) had 10 children, although 2 died before he escaped in 1846. [7] In 1846, after separation from his family, he fled slavery. Later, after he escaped to Canada and remarried but, his second wife died in an asylum. Jackson married for the third time and had two more children.[ citation needed ] [8]

Escape

As a child, the idea of freedom became more important to Jackson. One day, he bought a pony from one of the slaves on a neighbouring plantation. When the mistress found out, she threatened to have the pony killed. Hearing of the mistress's plan, Jackson hid the pony until Christmas. On Christmas Day, Jackson took his pony and escaped from his plantation, never to see his parents again. As he rode to Boston, Jackson met many white people who asked where he was going. Jackson would respond by saying that he was on his way to his plantation. Eventually, he arrived at the Santa Fe River where he boarded a small ship run by a black man. Jackson and his pony were dropped near land but had to struggle upstream to reach it. After almost drowning, Jackson and his pony made it to shore.

Jackson learned about the badge that all African Americans had to produce to prove they were allowed to be free. Not having a badge, he sold his pony to buy a cloak to hide from patrolmen. The cloak worked to his advantage until he was able to find a ship to Boston. He tried to board but, the crewmen refused, afraid that he was working for a white man and trying to set them up. In response, Jackson hid in a box that was loaded onto the ship's hold. Eventually, the crewmen found him and threatened to unload him on the next ship. There never was another ship and John made it to Boston safely.

From Boston, Jackson went on to settle in Salem, Massachusetts. Once settled, he sought to purchase his family members still enslaved. He sent a letter to inquire about his family, and shortly after it was received, a slave agent was sent to search for him. Jackson avoided capture and was assisted by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who gave him food, clothes, and five dollars. He later left Salem for Canada.

Freedom

In Salem, Jackson was free but not safe. He worked as a leather tanner and part-time sawmill operator until the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law which rekindled his fear of being returned to slavery. Jackson then escaped across the border to Canada.

Once in Canada, John Andrew settled in Saint John, New Brunswick. He legally remarried and had more children.

Still seeking to purchase his enslaved family members, he journeyed to Great Britain with his wife to solicit contributions. He lectured in Scotland and England with several others, including David Guthrie, Rev. Thomas Candlish, and Julia Griffiths.

John Andrew and his wife lived in London, England until after the American Civil War ended. Eventually, they returned to live in Springfield, Massachusetts. He travelled back and forth to South Carolina for many years trying to help the freedmen of Sumter County.

Related Research Articles

The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved Africans, particularly in the Americas. Over six thousand such narratives are estimated to exist; about 150 narratives were published as separate books or pamphlets. In the United States during the Great Depression (1930s), more than 2,300 additional oral histories on life during slavery were collected by writers sponsored and published by the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program. Most of the 26 audio-recorded interviews are held by the Library of Congress.

<i>Uncle Toms Cabin</i> 1852 anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S., and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the [American] Civil War".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Beecher Stowe</span> American abolitionist and author (1811–1896)

Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the Beecher family, a religious family, and became best known for her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), which depicts the harsh conditions experienced by enslaved African Americans. The book reached an audience of millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and in Great Britain, energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. Stowe wrote 30 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings and for her public stances and debates on social issues of the day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josiah Henson</span> American activist and minister

Josiah Henson was an author, abolitionist, and minister. Born into slavery, in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland, he escaped to Upper Canada in 1830, and founded a settlement and laborer's school for other fugitive slaves at Dawn, near Dresden, in Kent County, Upper Canada, of Ontario. Henson's autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself (1849), is believed to have inspired the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Following the success of Stowe's novel, Henson issued an expanded version of his memoir in 1858, Truth Stranger Than Fiction. Father Henson's Story of His Own Life. Interest in his life continued, and nearly two decades later, his life story was updated and published as Uncle Tom's Story of His Life: An Autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson (1876).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Jacobs</span> African-American survivor of slavery, abolitionist, educator and writer

Harriet Jacobs was an African-American writer whose autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, published in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent, is now considered an "American classic". Born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina, she was sexually harassed by her enslaver. When he threatened to sell her children if she did not submit to his desire, she hid in a tiny crawl space under the roof of her grandmother's house, so low she could not stand up in it. After staying there for seven years, she finally managed to escape to the free North, where she was reunited with her children Joseph and Louisa Matilda and her brother John S. Jacobs. She found work as a nanny and got into contact with abolitionist and feminist reformers. Even in New York, her freedom was in danger until her employer was able to pay off her legal owner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fugitive Slave Act of 1850</span> Act of the United States Congress

The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers.

<i>Pearl</i> incident 1848 slave escape attempt

The Pearl incident was the largest recorded nonviolent escape attempt by enslaved people in United States history. On April 15, 1848, seventy-seven slaves attempted to escape Washington D.C. by sailing away on a schooner called The Pearl. Their plan was to sail south on the Potomac River, then north up the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River to the free state of New Jersey, a distance of nearly 225 miles (362 km). The attempt was organized by both abolitionist whites and free blacks, who expanded the plan to include many more enslaved people. Paul Jennings, a former slave who had served President James Madison, helped plan the escape.

<i>Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl</i> Autobiography by Harriet Jacobs

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by herself is an autobiography by Harriet Jacobs, a mother and fugitive slave, published in 1861 by L. Maria Child, who edited the book for its author. Jacobs used the pseudonym Linda Brent. The book documents Jacobs's life as a slave and how she gained freedom for herself and for her children. Jacobs contributed to the genre of slave narrative by using the techniques of sentimental novels "to address race and gender issues." She explores the struggles and sexual abuse that female slaves faced as well as their efforts to practice motherhood and protect their children when their children might be sold away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Green (freedman)</span> African American slave

Samuel Green was a slave, freedman, and minister of religion. A conductor of the Underground Railroad, he was tried and convicted in 1857 of possessing a copy of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe following the Dover Eight incident. He received a ten-year sentence, and was pardoned by the Governor of Maryland Augustus Bradford in 1862, after he served five years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmonson sisters</span> 19th-century African-American abolitionists

Mary Edmonson (1832–1853) and Emily Edmonson, "two respectable young women of light complexion", were African Americans who became celebrities in the United States abolitionist movement after gaining their freedom from slavery. On April 15, 1848, they were among the 77 slaves who tried to escape from Washington, DC on the schooner The Pearl to sail up the Chesapeake Bay to freedom in New Jersey.

<i>Twelve Years a Slave</i> 1853 memoir by Solomon Northup

Twelve Years a Slave is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and written by David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details himself being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. He was in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before he was able to secretly get information to friends and family in New York, who in turn secured his release with the aid of the state. Northup's account provides extensive details on the slave markets in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, and describes at length cotton and sugar cultivation and slave treatment on major plantations in Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Female slavery in the United States</span> Overview of female slavery in the United States of America

The institution of slavery in North America existed from the earliest years of the colonial history of the United States until 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment permanently abolished slavery throughout the entire United States. It was also abolished among the sovereign Indian tribes in Indian Territory by new peace treaties which the US required after the Civil War.

<i>The Bondwomans Narrative</i> 19th-century slave narrative by Hannah Crafts

The Bondwoman's Narrative is a novel by Hannah Crafts who claimed to have escaped from slavery in North Carolina. The manuscript was not authenticated and properly published until 2002. Some scholars believe that the novel was written between 1853 and 1861. It is one of the very first books by an African-American woman, others including the novel Our Nig by Harriet Wilson, published in 1859, and the autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, published in 1861.

Washington is a neighborhood of the city of Maysville located near the Ohio River in Mason County in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is one of the earliest settlements in Kentucky and also one of the earliest American settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. It played a significant role in the lead-up to the Civil War, producing two civil war generals and an escaped slave whose legal case established Canada as a safe haven for escaping slaves. It also provided the site where Harriet Beecher Stowe witnessed a slave auction. It has since been annexed by Maysville, and is sometimes now referred to as Old Washington. The community is in Area 606 served by the 759 exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John H. Wheeler</span> American politician, North Carolina

John Hill Wheeler (1806–1882) was an American attorney, politician, historian, planter and slaveowner. He served as North Carolina State Treasurer (1843–1845), and as United States Minister to Nicaragua (1855–1856).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Beecher Stowe House (Brunswick, Maine)</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

The Harriet Beecher Stowe House is a historic home and National Historic Landmark at 63 Federal Street in Brunswick, Maine, notable as a short-term home of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Calvin Ellis Stowe and where Harriet wrote her 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Earlier, it had been the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as a student. It is today owned by Bowdoin College. A space within the house, called Harriet's Writing Room, is open to the public.

Louisa Picquet was an African American whose history in slavery was published in 1861.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Watkins (abolitionist)</span>

James Watkins, was an African American author and abolitionist. After managing to escape from slavery, Watkins travelled to the United Kingdom, where he gave several lectures against American slavery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of slavery in North Carolina</span> Aspect of history

Slavery was legally practiced in the Province of North Carolina and the state of North Carolina until January 1, 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Prior to statehood, there were 41,000 enslaved African-Americans in the Province of North Carolina in 1767. By 1860, the number of slaves in the state of North Carolina was 331,059, about one third of the total population of the state. In 1860, there were nineteen counties in North Carolina where the number of slaves was larger than the free white population. During the antebellum period the state of North Carolina passed several laws to protect the rights of slave owners while disenfranchising the rights of slaves. There was a constant fear amongst white slave owners in North Carolina of slave revolts from the time of the American Revolution. Despite their circumstances, some North Carolina slaves and freed slaves distinguished themselves as artisans, soldiers during the Revolution, religious leaders, and writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phebe Ann Jacobs</span> American Congregationalist, laundress, and free woman

Phebe Ann Jacobs was an American Congregationalist, laundress, and free woman. Best known for her posthumous biography Narrative of Phebe Ann Jacobs, Jacobs was born into slavery on the Beverwyck plantation in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey.

References

  1. "The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina | John Andrew Jackson". University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  2. Jackson, Andrew (1862). "John Andrew Jackson". University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved 2021-09-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. "John Andrew Jackson". docsouth.unc.edu.
  4. Allain, J. M. (2013). "Sexual Relations Between Elite White Women and Enslaved Men in the Antebellum South: A Socio-Historical Analysis". Inquiries Journal. 5 (8).
  5. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/teachers/lesson_plans/pdfs/unit4_5.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  6. "FamilySearch.org". ancestors.familysearch.org. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  7. Jackson, Andrew (1862). "John Andrew Jackson". University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved 2021-09-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. Jackson, John (1862). The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina.