By Student Corinne Saindon
Introduction
Slavery in the United States began even before the British colonies separated from their motherland. In 1619, the first of the many enslaved Africans were brought onto unknown soil and made to work against their will. The Triangular Trade was the trade route between Europe, Africa, and the Americas where goods were traded for human beings who were then traded for money in an inhumane display of human greed and capitalistic ideals. The practice of enslaving fellow man to bend to another’s will, while having existed for thousands of years, was only amplified by the colonies’ need to develop the New World. The middle colonies specifically traded with their surrounding colonies and ports, making them known as ‘Bread Basket Colonies’. As wealth grew in the colonies, more and more Africans were being shipped over and paid for to maintain the Americans’ properties, ports, and plantations. This unfair treatment of the enslaved created an immense amount of dehumanization that affected the enslaved in many ways, from
their treatment to their rights, or lack thereof. After the Revolutionary War was won, profits made from slavery in New Jersey continued to support the state’s largest cities, plantations, and ports. Without the use of the enslaved, the New Jersey economy would have been in ruins, as would have been in most of the United States. It seems as though the very foundation of this nation was built on the backs of the silenced, unknown enslaved people who were taken from their homelands and raised without much hope if any for freedom.
The Phillips Family
The Phillips Family owned property in New Jersey for about a hundred years, from around 1733 to 1832. John Phillips Sr. was the household patriarch and his two sons, Henry and Lott, fought in the Revolutionary War. Lott passed away in 1780, but it is not known if it was inside or outside of battle. His brother Henry survived the war and went on to marry Sarah Phillips. When John Sr. died, Henry inherited the farm and gristmill, a mill made for grinding grain, that was built on its property. Sarah and Henry had six children, William, Henry, Ralph, John H., Mary, and Elizabeth. The family looked after the farm, livestock, and gristmill with the help of an
unnamed male slave who was listed in tax assessments from 1778 to 1781 (HMR Architects). When Henry died, his properties were recorded by the government, and within them, an unnamed enslaved child was listed as being worth $60. This child, presumably Nance, was listed as being worth less money than some animals and furniture also found within the Phillips’ property. This girl’s bed and blankets were also listed under the Phillips’ estate file, making it clear that nothing she owned was truly hers. These listings show how the economics of slavery come into play and diminish a person’s self-worth, as they can be considered less than animals on a farm (Cain).
Nance’s Life
Nance, most likely born around 1785 based on a record saying she was 65 in 1850, was an enslaved woman presumably born into slavery. While not much is known about her life, it can be inferred what it was like on the Phillips’ farm. Her work was probably focused in the kitchen and livestock areas and may have included cooking for the Phillips family. The kitchen space, which was hidden behind the main house, was cramped and dark without much space for smoke in front of the fire from the hearth to air out.
The space Nance was most likely allowed to live in was just above the kitchen, and also cramped, especially considering that she had to live there with her six children. Nance’s less-than-adequate living and working space is a reflection of the overall treatment of the enslaved, and how the masters could treat their slaves however they wanted to. Nance’s work may have also involved working with the wool from the sheep, turning it into yarn. The Phillips farm most likely had 16 sheep and 4 lambs during the time Nance was enslaved there, so it is within reason to believe that they were involved in Nance’s work. As previously mentioned, Nance gave birth to six children from 1808 to about 1824, when Nance was 23 to around 39. While the father(s) are unknown, the children’s names and births were recorded by William Phillips. In order from oldest to youngest, the children’s names were Zillah (1808), Charles (1810), Gus (1813), Elias (1817), Robert (1821), and Maria Ann (1824/1825) (Hunterdon County). The lack of ability for Nance to register her children is an example of the paternalism that was prevalent throughout the slave-holding states. This means that enslaved people were thought of as unable to do the same things as their free white masters, and were therefore thought to be needed to be taken care of and told what to do. Nance likely continued to help maintain the property up until the 13th
Amendment abolished either slavery in 1865 or her death, the date of which is unknown. After slavery was abolished, the Phillips’ farm property began to trade hands more and more, showing just how much the farm’s handling was dependent on the family’s enslaved people.
Nance’s Legacy
While Nance herself may not have been given the chance to receive the freedom she deserved, her children did get this chance. Since all of them were born after 1804 when the Gradual Emancipation Act was passed, which allowed enslaved females to be freed after 21 years and enslaved males to be freed after 25 years, they all were able to legally apply for their freedom and live out a majority of their lives as free people. During this time, free black communities began to appear within the Pleasant Valley area. Nance’s children, along with many other formerly enslaved people were able to show agency and resistance by aspiring to live the lives of free people in a society that was only beginning to recognize that slavery was wrong.
Nance, like so many other nameless and faceless enslaved people, did not receive the recognition she deserved for her hard life of oppression and maltreatment. It is important to simply acknowledge these people and the
lives of unrewarded labor that many of them lived through. Showing agency through projects similar to this shines a new light on people whose stories would have otherwise stayed in the darkness. Nance’s life was one led by many people, often against their will, and often passed onto their children in a constant cycle of abuse and exploitation to feed the capitalistic society that was the emerging United States of America. Slavery as a whole was a practice that encouraged the purposeful mistreatment of a group of people based on false beliefs that they were entirely worth less than white people. The importance of sharing these stories is not only to prevent things like this from happening again, but also to show respect and honor those whose legacies would have otherwise been forgotten.
Works Cited
Cain, Pamela M., and Hopewell Valley Historical Society Consultant Committee, compilers. Justice John Phillips House, 84 Pleasant Valley Road, Hopewell Township, Block 54, Lot 07. Hopewell Valley Historical Society House Lineage Service, 2019.
HMR Architects. Historic Structure Report Justice John and Major Henry Phillips House, Howell Living History Farm Mercer County, New Jersey. HMR Architects, 9 Nov. 2023. Hunterdon County Clerk’s Office, compiler. Hunterdon County Birth Certificates of Children of Slaves, 1804-1835. State of New Jersey Department of State, Jan. 2008. Birth Certificates of Children of Slaves, 1804-1835 CHNCL004. New Jersey State Archives, www.nj.gov/state/archives/chncl004.html. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
Kidder, Larry. “Black Families in Pleasant Valley.” Hopewell Valley Historical Society Newsletter, winter 2018, pp. 863-68. Hopewell Valley Historical Society,
www.hopewellvalleyhistory.org/uploads/1/2/5/5/125504560/hvhs-newsletter-archives-19 75-2021-230121b.pdf. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
