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Sydney Tang

Felix
Hist 007A
21 Jul. 2016
Online Exhibit
The Life of Dorothy Creole
I thought it was interesting that the record documenting Creoles adoption of a black baby
was among the first to illustrate black people taking care of each other in New Amsterdam,
especially since it was mentioned that it was common for Africans to step up and take care of
each other. Based on the past assigned readings, I am convinced that the African-American
community was pretty united considering that they had been taken away from their homes and
forced to work for people they were unfamiliar with. With no one else but each other to rely on
and share their burdens with, it would only make sense that the African-American community
had a strong bond with one another. With this and the fact that it was common for black people to
take care of each other in mind, I wonder why documentation of this adoption was one of the
first public records of such practice.
Landscapes of Conspiracy: Two New Yorks, 1741
I found it amazing that African-Americans living in New York were able to map an
alternative cityscape just for their own community. Just the thought of creating secret
passageways only they knew about is astounding, even more so when the exhibit says that this
alternative cityscape was kept a secret from slave-owners and other leaders. A story like this
sounds like something you would hear about in TV shows or movies. The thought of having a
hidden world is exciting, but it also saddens me to think that they had to go through all of this
just for a bit of freedom; I cannot imagine having to sneak around just to meet up with friends.
The Meal Market
What I found to be most shocking about this was the fact that the value of a human
being was recalculated daily. I think that most people nowadays would agree that you cannot
put a price on a persons life, but 200 years ago slaves were sold as part of the daily market. It is
shocking to think that at one point it was widely believed that it was okay to treat other human
beings as objects and property. Details about slavery such as this one makes me wish that I could
understand peoples mindsets back during the 1700s because try as I might now, I cannot seem to
wrap my head around the idea that such beliefs were considered to be acceptable.
Leading the Struggle Against Slavery in New York State
John Jays story captured my attention because although he was a slave-owner, he was
also an advocate for (gradual) emancipation. It makes me question why he wanted to help free
the slaves, especially since it seems like there would be no gain for him personally. In addition,
as the first Chief Justice I would assume that he was a very powerful man, but I am surprised that
he only passed the Gradual Emancipation Act of 1799. However, I suppose that it must also be

taken into consideration that this was 1799 and not 2016; passing an act such as this must have
been as much as he could do given the times.
Freedoms People (Caesar, 1737-1852)
The reason this story caught my attention was because of how slaveholders used gradual
emancipation laws to more or less dispose of slaves that had outlived their usefulness. It angers
me to think that someone would simply throw away a human life as if they ridding themselves of
a burden. Moreover, the statement that said officials were more concerned with the cost of their
own care as opposed to what was needed to care for old and young African-Americans was even
more infuriating. I am baffled to think that at some point in time people were able to treat others
as if they were nothing. It is shocking to realize how much things have changed ever since
America was colonized.

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