Why Two States Counted All Their Black People
The Special Counts of Black People After Nat Turner’s Rebellion
I entered a rabbit hole in Charlottesville, Virginia, and came out in Liberia. Sometimes I have to see a thing a few times for it to register. During my research, I’d run across a few times the fact Sally Hemings had been counted as a “free-mulatto” during a special census in 1833. Every time I read that, I focused on “free-mulatto,” when I should have been looking at “special census.”
It wasn’t clear why a special census was required in 1833, but the information supplied at www.monticello.org clearly stated it was tied to the Nat Turner Rebellion in 1831.
“[1830] Sally Hemings and her sons Madison and Eston are listed as free white people in the 1830 census. Three years later, in a special census taken following the Nat Turner Rebellion of 1831, Hemings described herself as a free mulatto who had lived in Charlottesville since 1826.”
I tried every combination of search words on the Internet to find out about this special census. I found nothing for Virginia but did discover the 1832 Maryland Special Census of Freed Persons of Color. Nat Turner’s revolt also inspired Maryland.
“As a result of Nat Turner’s rebellion in Virginia in1831, the state of Maryland worked with the Maryland Colonization Society to remove freed persons of color to Africa, mostly to the Cape Palmas Colony, now known as Harper in the Republic of Liberia.”
So now, two states started counting people as a direct result of Nat Turner’s Rebellion. I had already known of several new laws passed throughout the South to curtail the activities of Black people, free or enslaved. They couldn’t congregate in groups of three or more, and reading and writing were forbidden. But I couldn’t find anything about special censuses. What states were counting who and what were they doing with the information?
LAWS PASSED | nat-turner
After the revolt in Southampton, communities and state legislatures across the South considered the implementation of…
My attempts to locate Census Bureaus in Virginia and Maryland directed me to the US Census Bureau. They had two telephone numbers. I called and found that everyone was in a “mandatory meeting,” but I could go to their frequently asked questions at ask.census.gov. While waiting for the mandatory meeting to end, I gave that a try and got the following response:
“The system you have attempted to reach is down for scheduled maintenance. Please try again later.”
I passed the time by returning to the Maryland Colonization Society and what they had done. I learned the Maryland General Assembly had authorized a census (Chapter 281, Laws of Maryland 1831) to aid in the effort to resettle recently freed slaves and other Blacks in Liberia.
Every reference I could find for that resettlement suggests it was voluntary, yet everything I’d read about free Black people of the period was that they mostly didn’t want to go. They had been in America for generations; only a few Africans were still arriving because the International Slave Trade had been banned, so the price of domestic-bred enslaved people would increase. The demand for the enslaved would be met by forced breeding and rape, but that’s another rabbit hole, and I was doing my best to stay on track.
Abraham Lincoln and others before him tried to get free Blacks to go to Africa voluntarily, but Frederick Douglass and other leaders told Lincoln no. That was Lincoln’s solution to a house divided and his plan for formerly enslaved people after the war, but he found it wasn’t going to work. The question still raging was whether this relocation was voluntary or forced, especially since there were few systems to assist them when they arrived.
The assumption was that once Black people who had never been to Africa got there, they would be fine. They were home, after all. The American Colonization Society had begun shipping Blacks to Africa in 1822, ultimately sending over 15,000 free Black people from America (including those from Maryland) and almost 4,000 from the Caribbean. Emigrants to Liberia suffered the highest death rate in recorded history. Of the 4,571 emigrants who arrived in Liberia between 1820 and 1843, only 1,819 survived. Hard to believe people wouldn’t want to go.
The mandatory meeting at the Us Census Bureau is over. I reached someone who, although confused by my request, was able to direct me to the State Data Centers for Virginia and Maryland and provided a telephone number for the Census History Staff. I called that number and got sent to voice-mail, and I left a message in hopes of a return call.
The Maryland State Data Center offered several options, so I settled on the State Library Resource Center. I called to find the phones were being worked on and was cut off while providing my contact information. I called back (the person I talked to apologized profusely), and it was suggested I email my request as the phones were cutting people off all day. I sent an email and decided to try Virginia. The phone contact there required me to have an identification number, so I also emailed Virginia.
Continuing my Internet search while waiting for anyone to get back to me, I stumbled upon research by Harry Bradshaw Matthews, a Dean at Hartwick College. He had been researching his family genealogy and clarified what Virginia and Maryland had been doing, though not what was being done with the information.
“After a slave rebellion in 1831 led by Nat Turner, counties in Virginia and Maryland decided to create a special census that specifically identified every black person, free or slave, in those areas.”
I also learned that Maryland prohibited free Blacks from entering the state in 1831 and in 1832 kept Blacks from owning guns without county approval. There could be no Black religious meetings without a white minister present. I know I’m skipping around, but this is a day in the life of researching stories. Someone sent me some information about the origin of the “No Trespass” signs, and I’m holding off on taking that off-ramp. I’m now going to walk my dog while awaiting responses.
A day later and no responses from Virginia, Maryland, and the US Census Staff. I will publish lest this story joins a dozen others in some state of progress. If I learn more, I’ll update the account.
Update:
I did hear from Maryland; I have requested information as to whether the emigration of “unsupervised” Black people was voluntary.
“Dear Mr. Spivey,
The 1832 Maryland Special Census of Freed Persons of Color was authorized as part (Sec. 9) of legislation (An act relating to the People of Color in this state, passed March 12, 1832, Chapter 281) which would remove Maryland free blacks to Liberia. In order to remove free blacks, the state had to know who and where they were.
The duty to make this Census was assigned to county sherrifs. They were directed to submit one copy of the Census to the clerk of their respective counties and one copy to a Board of Managers appointed by the Governor and in charge of the removal. That was the use of the information as specified in the legislation. I’ll see if I can find out what other uses were made of the Census data.
After the Turner Rebellion in Virginia, Marylanders became nervous about the large numbers of “unsupervised” blacks residing in the state.
Best regards,
Lisa Greenhouse
Librarian II
Maryland Department
Enoch Pratt Free Library/State Library Resource Center
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410.396.5468"
I received a download of the applicable Maryland state laws showing the deportation of free Black people wasn’t voluntary. The sheriffs of each county were ordered to gather them up and ship them off.
file:///C:/Users/RAC/Downloads/Xerox%20Scan_08172022162925.pdf
Ah yes. Liberia. Liberty they claimed. I always wondered how the freed people made it "back" to Africa. After all the kidnappings, slavery, abuse, etc., we will now send you back to a place you're not from and never have been. So very generous of them. And of course, you're not free to refuse. We're sending the sheriff to get you. The stories are just horrendous. Thank you for revealing the truth.
No wonder they didn't want to go to a wilderness beset with warfare with the indigenous Africans there. Here's an excerpt from information I obtained online some years ago:
ASHMUN ROLE IN LIBERIAN CIVIL WAR (http://pages.prodigy.net/jtell/Civilwar.html)
The Underlying Factors of the Civil War.
Although the Liberian-civil war was ignited by the brutal dictatorship of President Samuel Kanyon Doe, there were underlying ethnic hatred coupled with political dictatorship which permitted the crisis to implode. For over 174 years of its history, the Liberian governments fostered ethnic hatred and political dictatorship. This national-ethnic rivalry and political dictatorship began during the early years of the Liberian state.
The first political movement that was formed to oppose political dictatorship in Liberia was called "Independent Volunteer Company.” This organization which was disguised by the African-American repatriates as a social organization, was actually formed to check the political excesses of Jehudi Ashmun, the white American from Champlain, New York, who was sent out by the ACS and the American Government to run the colony. Ashmun was totally convinced that African-Americans were not capable of running their own political affairs, and therefore singlehandedly ran the executive, judicial and legislative branches of the colony, although these powers had not been granted to him by the Board of Managers of the American Colonization Society.
During the election for Vice-Agent in 1826, the Independent Volunteer Company candidate ran and won. According to Jehudi Ashmun's biographer, when Jehudi discovered what had happened, he refused to "confirm the chosen candidate in office, and stated his reasons, which were entirely of a political nature."
That afternoon, the leaders of the Independent Volunteer sent out a circular, which protested the annulment in the following words:"..the right of election conferred by the Board of managers [of the American colonization Society] on the people of the colony, as it never had been, so it never should be interfered with by the Agent; consequently appointments to offices of trust in the Colony, once legally made by the concurrence of the popular choice, with his own approbation, should never be rescinded by any arbitrary act on his part; and that the actual incumbents must remain in their offices till removed in the only way prescribed by the provisions of Government; that is, by vote of a majority of the electors of the Colony."
In response to their protest, Jehudi Ashmun noted that the leaders of the Independent Volunteer Company were, "high spirited young men, all excellent soldiers, but bad politicians." The Agent rescheduled another election, in which his handpicked candidate won the election under manipulative conditions. Commenting on the results of the new elections, Jehudi said, "The Agent...has the high satisfaction of finding himself sustained by a body of assistants, in whose good dispositions and capacity he has great confidence."
Subsequently, the rigging of elections in Liberia became the norm over the years. This eventually led to a de facto one-party dictatorship.
Institutionalized ethnic and racial hatred also contributed to the crisis. Back in 1822, after the ACS and the American government took possession of the Liberian settlement through fraudulent means, the indigenous people who own the land rose up and attempted to evict the new emigrants through lethal means, but failed. For another 158 years, the struggle continued between the descendents of repatriate African-Americans and "Congos" (those recaptured by the American navy and settled in Liberia) on the one hand, and the indigenous people who attempted to gain for themselves, a prominent place in Liberian political and economic life.