Unit 2A DBQ

Evaluate the extent to which the institution of slavery shaped United States society between 1783 and 1840

Document A Source: William Cushing, chief justice of the Massachusetts state supreme court, notes on the court case and decision in Quock Walker v. Nathaniel Jennison, 1783 

[The] justification [is made] that Quock is a Slave and to prove it tis said that Quock when a child [of] about 9 months old with his father and mother were sold by [a] bill of sale in 1754. . . . As to the doctrine of Slavery and the right of Christians to hold Africans in perpetual servitude, . . . a different idea has taken place with the people of America more favorable to the natural rights of Mankind, . . . with which Heaven (without regard to Colors, complexion, . . . [or] features) has inspired all the human Race. And upon this Ground our [state] Constitution of Government, . . . Sets out with declaring that all men are born free and equal and that Every subject is entitled to Liberty, and to have it guarded by the Laws. . . . This being the Case, I think the Idea of Slavery is inconsistent with our own conduct and [state] Constitution and there can be no such thing as perpetual servitude of a rational Creature.

Document B Source: William Lloyd Garrison, Massachusetts antislavery activist, newspaper article in the Genius of Universal Emancipation, 1829 

This ship [the Francis] . . . sailed a few weeks since from this port [of Baltimore, Maryland] with a cargo of slaves for the New-Orleans market. . . . I merely wish to illustrate New-England humanity and morality. I am resolved to cover with thick infamy1 all who were concerned in this nefarious 2 business. . . . The ship Francis hails from my native place, Newburyport, (Massachusetts) [and] is commanded by a yankee captain, and owned by a townsman named FRANCIS TODD. . . . I recollect that it was always a mystery in Newburyport how Mr. Todd contrived to make profitable voyages to New-Orleans and other places. . . . The mystery seems to be unraveled. Any man can gather up riches, if he does not care by what means they are obtained. 
1 disgrace 
2 wicked

Document C Source: Benjamin Banneker, free African American mathematician and land surveyor, letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1791

 [W]e are a race of Beings who have long laboured under the abuse and censure of the world. . . . Sir, Suffer me to recall to your mind that time in which the Arms and tyranny of the British Crown were exerted with every powerful effort in order to reduce you to a State of Servitude. . . . This Sir, was a time in which you clearly saw into the injustice of a State of Slavery, . . . it was [then] Sir, that your abhorrence 1 thereof was so excited, that you publickly held forth this true and invaluable doctrine. . . . “We hold these truths to be Self evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” . . . But Sir how pitiable is it to reflect, that although you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of the Father of mankind . . . that you should at the Same time counteract his mercies, in detaining by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my brethren under groaning captivity and cruel oppression. 
1 hatred

Document D Source: Jarena Lee, African American preacher, Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee, 1836

 I left for New York and arrived the first day the convention [of the American Anti-Slavery Society] sat, which I attended in company with Mrs. [Mary] Lane, who was ever zealous in the good cause of liberty and the rights of all, and I heard some very eloquent speeches which pleased me very much, and my heart responded with this instruction: “Do unto all men as you would they should do unto you;” and as we are all children of one parent, no one is justified in holding slaves. I felt that the spirit of God was in the work, and also felt it my duty to unite with this Society. Doubtless the cause is good, and I pray to God to forward on the work of abolition until it fills the world.

Evaluate the extent to which the institution of slavery shaped United States society between 1783 and 1840