Interesting Article on Slavery in the North

Wow, shocking article. I knew the north (I am from there) has been a little too pious when it comes to all this. There is (and has been) a huge racism problem and some people just refuse to acknowlege it. (I don't mean anyone on here! Just in general.) Many of my fellow northerners like to look down their noses at the south. Basically we all have to realize just how extreme the horrors and savagery have been in the past in all parts of our country and accept that there is still a problem with prejudice/racism today. Thanks so much for posting that article, loveajax. I feel sorry for that lady who found out that her ancestors were slave owners. That must be a horrible feeling, not that it's her fault obviously. I am quite proud to be from a long line of Quakers on my mom's side who were very active in the underground railroad, but it could just as easily not been like that I'm sure.

Really interesting article. There were also indentured servants in all of New England... although I don't know when they stopped that practice. I think that is why New England has more of a class system than in other parts of the country.

I think this is a good article. I was appalled, several years ago, to learn that there was even some slavery here in Utah, where I live. There was no slave trade, here, but there were a few families who came here in the mid 19th century, who brought slaves with them. It was permitted. Sometimes, slave labor was even given as church tithing! I think this an example of how, even in places where slavery was never very common, persons of color were still not seen as anywhere near equal to whites. That was true until fairly recently. There have always been some white people who had the ability to see a person with dark skin as being every bit as human as they were. I think that has become more and more common, as time has passed, but there are people who feel that light skin makes them superior, even now. Unfortunately, I have had to deal with a few of them, regarding my kids, the worst of which have been cops and the principal of the Jr, High. The fact that my third son had more attitude than anyone else in the school didn't help matters, but the punishments he got were certainly not comparable to that of white kids doing similar things. I think the more knowledge we have about the past, as well as the present, the better we can prepare our black kids to face life. We don't need to tell our kids about these nasty stories, like that of Mark Codman, but just having the understanding, ourselves, is helpful. I can just imagine how abusive John Codman must have been, for one of his slaves to murder him (and others to help him). They certainly would have known that they risked the worst kind of death possible, if caught. I would be willing to bet that they didn't do it to protect themselves. I think they did it to protect their children, or someone else they cared about. I am sure that, in the hereafter, things are finally fair and the abusive slave owner isn't in such a high and mighty station, where he is now!