page_title: Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts
section_title: Anti-slavery efforts
hierarchical_section_title: Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts / Anti-slavery efforts
caption_attribution_description: British Museum reference2002,0904.1Detailed descriptionBlue glass sugar bowl inscribed in gilt "EAST INDIA SUGAR / not made by / SLAVES", English, probably Bristol, 1820–1830SizeHeight: 11 cm, diameter: 10 cmLocationRoom 47
context_page_description: Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts, began with the opposition to slavery voiced by Quakers during the late 1820s, followed by African Americans forming the antislavery group New Bedford Union Society in 1833, and an integrated group of abolitionists forming the New Bedford Anti-Slavery Society a year later. During the era New Bedford, Massachusetts, gained a reputation as a safe haven for fugitive slaves seeking freedom. Located on the East Coast of the United States, the town was becoming the "whaling capital of the world", where ships frequently returned to port, operated by crews of diverse backgrounds, languages, and ethnicity. This made it easy for fugitive slaves to "mix in" with crew members. The whaling and shipping industries were also uniquely open to people of color.
  Although only about 15% of the town supported abolition—and the town's abolitionists had different viewpoints about intermarriage, equal opportunity, and full integration—it provided opportunities for home ownership, education, attainment of a stable income, and the ability of African-Americans to help others escape slavery on the Underground Railroad.
context_section_description: Anti-slavery organizations established in New Bedford generally started out as integrated organizations, but later became segregated. In 1834 the New Bedford Anti-Slavery Society was established as an integrated organization. Its first president, Rev. John Choules of the First Baptist Church, was a white English immigrant. There was also the Bristol County Anti-Slavery Society. Separate groups were formed for young men and for women. The Quaker meetinghouse was the site of the anti-slavery address by Benjamin Lund in 1828 and is believed to have been a safe house for fugitive slaves.
  New Bedford, a port town, received ships from all over the world, bringing crew members of different cultures and languages. As a result, it was very easy for someone who escaped slavery and stowed away on ships to get "lost in the crowd." They arrived in New Bedford having traveled along the eastern seaboard on ships headed for New Bedford. New Bedford gained a reputation for being able to take in and safely hide slaves, many who came from Norfolk, Virginia, from slaveholders. Their success continued even after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. One slave owner, Major Hodsdon, said that he and his fellow slaveholders had done all that they could think of to procure the "negro thieves" from the "fugitive protectors", including having "disguised themselves, went in different directions and used every endeavor in as silent a manner as could be, to discover the whereabouts of the fugitives." Yet, they were ultimately unsuccessful. Some shipowning-merchants, like Rodney French, who traded along the east coast were boycotted for their role in saving slaves. Whale oil, a product of the whaling industry, from New Bedford were also boycotted. As a misinformation strategy, newspaper articles in the South claimed that people from New Bedford were crazy and treacherous. Given the opportunity to flee to Canada, Thomas Bayne (aka Sam Nixon), wished to stay in New Bedford, called by former slaves the "Fugitive's Gibraltar".
  From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace.
  — Frederick Douglas
  Well-known abolitionist speakers were paid by people in New Bedford to come speak to the town's residents. William Lloyd Garrison, a radical abolitionist, spoke at a 
  Bristol County Anti-Slavery Society meeting on August 9, 1841. Frederick Douglass also spoke that day about his experiences as a slave, which led to his being a lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.
  Women of New Bedford set specific fundraising goals for their anti-slavery efforts, one of which was to purchase women who were going to be sold into sexual slavery. After the Civil War, women raised money to purchase books for schools in the South. By December 1838, African-Americans R C and E R Johnson established a free-produce store in which sugar, molasses, coffee, rice and other produce was sold that was not produced through the use of enslaved people.
  African-Americans who fled their masters were pursued with the goal of returning them to slavery. New Bedford business people would not let that happen, partly because it would have affected their labor pool. Some wealthy employers helped their black employees purchase homes by loaning them money.
caption: This 1820s sugar bowl describes its contents as "EAST INDIA SUGAR not made by SLAVES", meaning it was a free-produce product
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