Foundations of U.S. History: Resources
http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities.php?actvID=2
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Primary Source Activity: Runaway Slave and
Servant Advertisements (mid-1700s)
Download Runaway Ad 1
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/RunawayAd1.pdf)
Download Runaway Ad 2
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/RunawayAd2.pdf)
Download Runaways Spreadsheet
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/RunawaySpreadsheet.pdf
Download Historical Definitions
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/runawaydefinitions.pdf
Download Questions
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/runawayquestions.pdf
print this activity (.pdf)
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/runaways.pdf)
1. Overview
In this exercise, teachers examine advertisements for
runaway slaves and servants from the Virginia Gazette in
the mid-1700s and ask the following questions:
What do you notice about this advertisement?
What questions do you want to ask about this advertisement?
After discussing these questions, and learning more about
the historical context of slavery and completing a
spreadsheet, teachers draw conclusions about the
advertisements and about slavery in the 18th century.
Teachers then discuss possible classroom applications.
2. Source Analysis, Part 1
Distribute individual copies of Advertisement #1
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Foundations of U.S. History: Resources
http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities.php?actvID=2
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/RunawayAd1.pdf) and historical definitions
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/runawaydefinitions.pdf) .
Ask teachers to work in pairs and examine the advertisement closely, and write down
observations, unfamiliar words or phrases, and a list of questions about the advertisement and
the time period.
3. Group Discussion
Write three columns onto the board: Notice, Questions, and Historical
Background.
Use the following questions to guide discussion:
What did you notice about this advertisement? What surprised you?
What details are in the ad?
Why might these details have been included?
What is missing from this advertisement? What can the advertisement tell us and what can it
not tell us about this time period?
What questions do you want to ask about the advertisement, the context, or the historical
background?
What do you already know about slavery? About indentured servants? About runaway slaves and
servants? About runaway advertisements? About this time period?
Additional Information About Advertisement #1:
Thomas Jefferson seems to have a number of opinions about the character of
this particular slave (using descriptions like “insolent and disorderly,”
“addicted to drink,” and “artful and knavish”)—much more than we might
expect of a slave owner with a large number of slaves. This could indicate that
Sandy was particularly valuable to Jefferson, that Jefferson wrote the ad based
on an overseer’s comments, or that Sandy’s behavior had come to Jefferson’s
attention, behavior Jefferson would have seen as disruptive.
4. Historical Background
Present this historical background to enhance the group's knowledge of the time
period, and as a basis for drawing conclusions in Step 6. Write the words in bold
on the whiteboard, and use the rest of the text for guidance.
The nature of slavery evolved in Virginia over time: Beginning with the arrival of the first
Africans in Jamestown in 1619, an initially unplanned system of hereditary bondage for blacks
gradually developed. Over the course of 150 years, slavery became entrenched in Virginia
society, increasingly supported by a series of restrictive laws and reinforced by the teachings of
the community and family. Attitudes and class structure legitimized a slave system increasingly
based on color of skin. By the 18th-century, slavery was an integral part of life in Virginia.
Slavery was governed by an extensive body of law developed from the 1640s to the 1860s:
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Foundations of U.S. History: Resources
http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities.php?actvID=2
Each slave state had its own slave code and body of court decisions. All slave codes made slavery
a permanent condition, inherited through the mother. They defined slaves as property, often
in the same language used to describe real estate. Slaves, being property, could not own
property or be a party to a contract. Since marriage is a form of contract, no slave marriage
had any legal standing. All codes also had sections regulating free blacks, who were still subject
to controls on their mobility and employment and were often required to leave the state after
emancipation.
Slavery was most prevalent in the Chesapeake region: At the dawn of the American Revolution,
20 percent of the population in the 13 colonies was of African descent. Most blacks lived in the
Chesapeake region, where they made up more than 50 to 60 percent of the overall population.
The majority, but not all, of these African Americans were slaves. Whether free or enslaved,
blacks in the Chesapeake established familial relationships, networks for disseminating
information, survival techniques, and various forms of resistance to their condition.
The lives of the black populace in North America differed widely: The majority of blacks living
in the Chesapeake worked on tobacco plantations and large farms. Generally, slaves on
plantations lived in complete family units, but were more likely to be sold or transferred than
those in a domestic setting. They were also subject to brutal and severe punishments, because
they were regarded as less valuable than household or urban slaves. Urban and household
slaves generally did not live in complete family units. Most domestic environments used female
labor; therefore there were few men, if any, on domestic sites. Most male slaves in an urban
setting were coachmen, waiting men, or gardeners. Others were tradesmen who worked in
shops or were hired out. The first official United States census, taken in 1790, revealed that
eight percent of the black populace was free.
Indentured Servitude: Indentured servants played a significant role in the economy of the
colonies. Between 200,000 and 300,000 servants came to North America during the colonial
era, comprising more than half of all European immigrants. Indentured servitude, developed by
the Virginia Company to help bring workers to the colony, was based on earlier forms of
indenture, but differed in important ways. Indentured servants in the colonies had fewer
freedoms than apprentices in England and terms of servitude varied, depending on age and
skill level. They retained some legal rights, but could not marry without their master’s consent
and their terms could be extended if they ran away or became pregnant. With rising demand
and growing costs for purchasing servant labor, though, slavery gradually replaced indentured
servitude among Europeans.
5. Source Analysis, Part 2
Distribute the Runaway Ads Spreadsheet
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/RunawaySpreadsheet.pdf) , Advertisement #2
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/RunawayAd2.pdf) , and questions
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/runawayquestions.pdf) .
Have teachers remain in pairs to analyze the second ad and work on the spreadsheet.
6. Conclusions
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Foundations of U.S. History: Resources
http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities.php?actvID=2
What did you notice about Advertisement #2? What questions do you have?
Additional Information About Advertisement #2:
This advertisement shows the importance of clothing at the time. Clothing is
described in great detail, suggesting that it was valuable and might not have
been easily replaced. In addition, clothing was closely tied to class. The
assumption is that even if the runaways were not wearing these exact clothes,
they would wear something similar because that is all they would have been
able access.
Finish the discussion using the following questions:
Based on the historical context and your work with runaway advertisements, what conclusions
can you draw about slavery and indentured servitude in 18th-century Virginia?
What conclusions can you draw about society (e.g. values, currency, skills, work, gender, race,
physical characteristics, dress, social structure) in this era?
What additional resources or historical context would help you?
7. Classroom Applications
Do you think this activity would work with your students?
Could you use this strategy with other resources?
Would you do anything differently in your classroom?
8. Extension Activity: Data Gathering
Examining multiple runaway ads for slaves and servants allows an in-depth
examination of slavery and servitude based on individual lives and a comparison
of the positions of un-free whites and blacks.
Distribute the four Additional Runaway Advertisements
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/RunawayAddlAds.pdf) .
Download the Additional Information Handout
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/runawayadditional.pdf) .
Fill in the Runaway Ads Spreadsheet
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities/pdf/RunawaySpreadsheet.pdf) for all six advertisements.
Using the data you gather, try to draw conclusions about how slavery and indentured servitude
changed over the course of the 18th-century in Virginia.
Extend the activity further by incorporating more advertisements from the Geography of
Slavery in Virginia (http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/) database.
*This activity is based on Professor Michael O'Malley's Runaway from Freedom
(http://chnm.gmu.edu/exploring/18thcentury/runawayfromfreedom/index.php) lesson.
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Slave Advertisement #1
Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg), September 14, 1769
RUN away from the subscriber in Albemarle, a Mulatto slave called Sandy, about
35 years of age, his stature is rather low, inclining to corpulence, and his
complexion light; he is a shoemaker by trade, in which he uses his left hand
principally, can do coarse carpenters work, and is something of a horse jockey;
he is greatly addicted to drink, and when drunk is insolent and disorderly, in his
conversation he swears much, and in his behaviour is artful and knavish. He took
with him a white horse, much scarred with traces, of which it is expected he will
endeavour to dispose; he also carried his shoemakers tools, and will probably
endeavour to get employment that way. Whoever conveys the said slave to me,
in Albemarle, shall have 40 s. reward, if taken up within the county, 4 l. if
elsewhere within the colony, and 10 l. if in any other colony, from THOMAS
JEFFERSON.
Advertisement #2
Virginia Gazette, May 12, 1768
FIFTEEN POUNDS REWARD. RUN away from the subscriber, in Loudoun county,
near Rocky Run chapel, two English convict servant men, both blacksmiths by trade.
John Benham, about 28 years of age, a slender made fellow, about five feet five or six
inches high, stoops in his shoulders, has a very down look, and a hoarse voice; he wears
his own hair, which is short, and had on when he went away, an oznabrig shirt, a short
cotton jacket, cotton breeches, coarse stockings, and country shoes or pumps. John
Miller, about 28 years of age, a short well set fellow, about five feet two or three inches
high, wears his own short hair, has a very large scar in his forehead, has been in the
country before, talks very much, and is very deceitful. He had on when he went away, a
grey bearskin jacket and breeches, an oznabrig shirt, no stockings, and country shoes.
They perhaps may both change their dress, as they took with them oznabrig trouwsers,
and other cloaths. They also took with them, a Negro lad, about 18 years of age, named
Jack, a short well set fellow, has lost the greatest part of his toes with the frost, is a very
brisk lively fellow, and remarkably black. They stole out of my stable two horses, one a
bay, about fourteen hands high, shod before, has a star in his forehead, hanging mane and
switch tail, brand not known; the other a sorrel horse, with a star in his forehead very
large, shod all round, and goes well. The Negro boy took with him a white horse, about
12 hands high, with a bob tail. Whoever takes up the said servants and Negro, and brings
them to my house near Rocky Run chapel, in Loudoun county, shall receive the above
reward, and if taken apart, five pounds reward for each. WILLIAM CARR LANE.
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Center for History and New Media
A
1
B
Date (mth/day/yr) name(s)
C
age
D
color
E
sex
F
slave/servant/apprentice scars
G
H
clothes
I
means of escape skills
J
K
behavior
L
reward
M
N
escaped from? place of origin?
2
3
4
5
6
http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/activities.php?actvID=2
Center for History and New Media
Runaway Advertisements: Historical Definitions
[source: Oxford English Dictionary]
breech -
1. A garment covering the loins and thighs: at first perh. only a ‘breechcloth’; later reaching to the knees.
4. a. The part of the body covered by this garment; the buttocks, posteriors,
rump, seat.
corpulence - Bulk of body; over-bulkiness, obesity.
knavish - 1. Low, vulgar; obscene. Obs 2. Roguish, rascally, mischievous, impertinent 3.
Basely unprincipled, fraudulent, rascall.
Mulatto -
A person having one white and one black parent. Freq. more generally: a
person of mixed race resembling a mulatto.
1728 E. CHAMBERS Cycl., Mulatto, a Name given, in the Indies, to those
who are begotten by a Negro Man on an Indian Woman; or an Indian Man
on a Negro Woman.
oznabrig – 1. As a mass noun: a kind of coarse linen (and later cotton) cloth originally
made at Osnabrück, used esp. for making rough hard-wearing clothing, or
for furnishings, sacks, tents, etc.
2. As a count noun (usu. in pl., sometimes treated as sing.): a quantity of
this; (also) an item or items made of such cloth, esp. (formerly) clothing
given to servants or slaves.
Pistole –
A name formerly applied to certain foreign gold coins; sometimes (as in
quot. 1592) synonymous with PISTOLET; spec., from c1600, given to a
Spanish gold coin worth from 16s. 6d. to 18s.; also applied (after French) to
the louis d’or of Louis XIII, issued in 1640, and sometimes to the Scottish
twelve pound piece of William III, 1701, = £1 English.
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Center for History and New Media
Slavery Advertisements Questions
1. According to the writers of the advertisements, how old were the runaways?
Where were the runaways born?
2. What kinds of distinguishing marks are mentioned? How might runaways try to
disguise themselves?
3. According to the owners and masters of slaves and servants, what resources did
the runaways have? Were they ragged or well-dressed? Did they have help or
were they alone?
4. Did the runaways have skills that were valued by those writing the
advertisements? How might runaways have used these skills?
5. Was a reward offered? Did it vary depending on the person? What does that say
about what the owners and masters of slaves and servants valued (i.e., gender,
age, skill set)? Why might the amount be listed in different currency if returned
locally or from another colony?
6. How often did the ads provide information on race or color of the runaway? Was
it sometimes hard to tell?
7. What strategies did the runaways use to escape? Did owners and masters of slaves
and servants think that the runaways might disguise themselves?
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Center for History and New Media