Sullen, Down-Cast: Mental Health in Temperate Slavery Advertisements

 Slavery was an inherently traumatic experience for enslaved people with the Middle Passage, the violence of relocations, loss of autonomy, separation from family, vulnerability to abuse, and corporeal punishment as but a few examples of the emotional and psychological horrors enslaved people endured. Although it is difficult to gain insight into the traumas of a population who left few records of their own, runaway advertisements written by slaveowners offer some clues. Descriptions of freedom seekers as meek, docile, or depressive capture a spectrum of acts of self-care and defiance, whether deliberate or involuntary. Some advertisements mention enslaved people who refused to perform subservience with a smile and openly communicated displeasure. Other advertisements document runaways who enacted obedience for their survival while plotting to abscond. Examining enslaved people’s mental health and the range of actions such emotions produced helps us better understand the affective experiences of slavery as well as enslaved people’s resistance.

Concerns about enslaved people’s wellbeing, psychology, and socialization may be especially important to attend to when studying slavery in northern-temperate, slave minority sites like Canada, the American north, and Britain. In these locations, enslaved populations lived amongst larger white societies with limited Black community, support, or contact with kin. The harsh climate and long winters may also have negatively affected enslaved people’s mental health. Certainly, slavery in other regions of the Americas and beyond was also incredibly damaging to enslaved people’s psyches; however, the particular material and demographic conditions of northern-temperate slavery undoubtedly led to extreme feelings of isolation, loneliness, and depression among the enslaved. These emotions then shaped their lived experiences, relationships with their enslavers, and methods of resistance, including escape.

For instance, in northern-temperate regions, the enslaved generally lived in their enslavers’ homes like domestic servants in plantation colonies, a “forced intimacy” that rendered them continually susceptible to their slaveowners’ vitriol, surveillance, abuse, and punishment as well as the mental health effects of this treatment (Nelson 2018). A letter written by Henry Lewis to his enslaver, William Jarvis, in Upper Canada in 1798 suggests the emotional toll of his lodging arrangements under slavery. Lewis wrote to Jarvis following his escape and arrival in New York with hopes of formally purchasing his freedom. His letter describes how Jarvis’ wife had “vexed” him to such a high degree that his life became unbearable (Lewis 1798). Hannah Jarvis’ hatred was, according to Lewis, “far beyond the power of man to support it.” As Lewis explained, living in close proximity to Hannah and the Jarvis family was exhausting not only because of his labors, but also the psychological treatment he endured. In his own words, he communicated that he was unable to endure the weight of this conduct anymore.

In fugitive slave advertisements, loaded terms like “sullen”, “down cast”, or “down countenance” suggest the depressive posture and demeanor of enslaved people, at least as it was reported by their enslavers (Newman 2022). Harry, who was originally from Antigua but fled from London, was described by his slaveowner as of a “solemn, or rather sullen countenance.” Clearly, some freedom seekers allowed their bodily expressions to communicate their dissatisfaction, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Slaveowners also recognized and recorded this depressive demeanor, usually ignoring the fact that the institution of slavery was at least partially the source of their bondspeople’s misery. In the runaway advertisement below, Harry’s enslaver dissociates his “solemn” conduct from his experience as an enslaved man and likely his removal from family and community in the Caribbean. Solemn may mean serious or stern but when paired with “sullen,” it suggests that Harry displayed a sadness that his slaveowner felt accurately described him and therefore utilized it to hunt for his recapture.

Runaway advertisements in New York describe enslaved people as “down-looking”, “designed”, or with a “defeated posture.” James Stewart, in the advertisement below, portrayed Tite, a fugitive, as “down-cast” and disclosed his affinity for intoxicants, suggesting a tendency for escapism: “[he] smokes, snuffs, and drinks immoderately when he can obtain liquor” (Hodges and Brown 2019, no. 412). Tite’s use of substances may have been a coping mechanism as well as a method of resistance to the labor regime forced onto him. Stephanie Camp and other scholars such as Tera W. Hunter, Sophie White, Thomas Foster, Treva B. Lindsey, and Jessica Marie Johnson have highlighted the worthy and real instances of “stealing” pleasure for oneself under slavery. Such actions might include finding solitude from prying eyes, acquiring new clothing, romantic rendezvous, participating in sporting events, and intoxication. Perhaps Tite was numbing his psyche to deal with his circumstances—or perhaps Stewart exaggerated Tite’s usage to deface his character. Either way, Tite seems to have engaged in activities more immediately pleasurable like drinking alcohol.

FIVE DOLLARS Reward. RUN-away on Thursday night the 31st ult. from the subscriber, a negro man named TITE, about 40 years of age, about 5 feet 8 inches high, well shaped, a down-cast look, snuffs, smokes, and drinks immoderately when he can obtain liquor. Had on when he went off a flopped beaver hat, a brown or green double breasted jacket, check trowsers or black breeches. Whoever takes up and secures the said negro, shall have the above reward paid by the subscriber, at Mr. Ezekiel Ball’s, near Springfield. JAMES STEWART.

_{Text of Fugitive Slave Advertisement, The New-York Gazette; and the Weekly Mercury, November 4, 1776 (Hodges and Brown 2019, no. 412)}

Hannah in the Philadelphia advertisement below was described as of a “down countenance” likely caused by her forced migration from Africa to the Americas. Her facial scarification was disclosed as of African origin, with her enslaver mentioning that the “scars on her cheeks [were] (the marks of her tribe in Guinea).” Hannah was born free and endured the Middle Passage, separation from family and community, the transformation from human to human-commodity, as well as other possible secondary transportations to northern slavery. She also may have landed directly into northern slavery since Pennsylvania received slave ships from Africa in the 1750s and 1760s, as did New York (Smith and Wojtowicz 2016; Nash and Sonderlund 1991; Nelson 2018). Hannah’s “down” expressions may have been from multiple or compounding intersectional duresses under slavery and the Middle Passage, including sexual abuse (Morgan 2021). Enslaved people like Hannah wore their maltreatment, displeasure, and the horrors of slavery on their faces and bodies. Such a refusal of contented submission recorded in these advertisements shows a refusal to labor under slavery without a forced or fake gaiety. Rather than perform away their sadness for slaveowners’ sensibilities, they displayed their unhappiness likely as a manifestation of real psychological harm from slavery’s experiences.

Philadelphia, February 20th, 1776. FORTY SHILLINGS REWARD.

RUN AWAY, last Thursday evening, from the subscriber, living in Second-street, near Market-street, a NEGROE woman, named Han- nah, about 22 years old, a stout made, hearty girl, full faced, but rather down countenance, scars on her cheeks (the marks of her tribe in Guinea) had only her work clothes on, being a green baize short gown, striped lincey petticoat, an old pair of men’s shoes, and stockings, a plain linen cap….

_{Text of Fugitive Slave Advertisement, Pennsylvania Gazette, February 21, 1776 (Smith and Wojtowicz 2016, no. 237)}

Some freedom seekers were described in opposite ways as pleasing and cooperative. Ben Valentine, absconding from Pennsylvania in the advertisement below, was portrayed with an “agreeable countenance.” Osbom, fleeing New York, similarly had a “plausible address” as well as “bad legs” and a “down cast look when spoken to by strangers.” Both men may have strategically performed their servility since pleasing their slaveowners likely made their lives and days easier while they plotted their escapes. This manipulation of socialization is not unlike the tricky confidence bondsmen that David Waldstreicher analyzed who self-fashioned, dressed, and performed themselves as free to aid their escapes or schemes (Waldstreicher 1999). Osbom’s change in behavior when interacting with his enslaver as opposed to strangers may have been conscious code-switching as he adapted his demeanor to meet his needs and goals. A “plausible” comportment with his enslaver, for instance, may have been deliberate since he depended on him for material needs like sustenance. With “bad legs” and a “remarkable small waist,” perhaps from birth, an illness, malnutrition, or injury, it would have been difficult for Osbom to maintain a provision ground or trek to a New York or New Jersey market to diversify his diet. Some enslaved people deliberately performed contentment to create the capacity and circumstances in which they could abscond.

THREE POUNDS Reward. RAN away from the Subscribers living in Wilmington, New-Castle County, on Monday the 19th of March last, from Duck-Creek in said County, where he was sent on Business, and from whence he took a considerable Sum of Money with him the Property of his Master, a Negroe Lad named BEN VALENTINE, bred in Wilmington, about 16 Years of Age, 5 Feet 7 Inches high or thereabout, slim-made, somewhat bow leged, one of his Ancles a little thicker than the other, has an agreeable Countenance, is smart and active, and can read and write tolerably well; having had a big cut off the End of one of the Fingers of his left Hand…

_{Text of Fugitive Slave Advertisement, Pennsylvania Gazette, June 2, 1784 (Smith and Wojtowicz 2016, no. 274)}

RUN-away from Powles-hook, a negro Man called Osbom, about five feet four inches high, twenty-seven years of age, has a remarkable small waist and bad legs, of a plausible address, pretends to a knowledge of cooking, has a down cast look when he is spoke to by strangers, seemingly the effect of bashfulness. Had on when he went off,…

_{Text of Fugitive Slave Advertisement, The New-York Gazette; and the Weekly Mercury, April 21, 1777 (Hodges and Brown 2019, no. 425)}

I invite scholars of slavery and disability to consider affective modes and the mental welfare of enslaved people. The “affective turn” of history has not touched slavery, perhaps for fear of reinforcing trauma (Hultquist 2016). Yet we can reread emotion sincerely and compassionately onto the dress, bodies, and minds of the enslaved without reinforcing slavery’s violence. Enslavers left traces of the dispositions of enslaved people and from here we can speculate about bondspeople’s experiences of mental health.

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References

Hodges, Graham Russell. and Alan Edward Brown. 2019.“Pretends to Be Free:” Runaway Slave Advertisements from Colonial and Revolutionary New York and New Jersey. New York: Fordham University Press.

Hultquist, Aleksondra, 2016. “New Directions in History of Emotion and Affect Theory.” Literature Compass 13, no. 12 (December): 762–770.

Lewis, Henry. 1798. Letter to William Jarvis. William Jarvis Papers, Reference Code: S109 B55, Toronto Public Library Special Collections, Archive & Digital Collections.

Morgan, Jennifer L. 2021. Reckoning with Slavery: Gender, Kinship, and Capitalism in the Early Black Atlantic. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Nash, Gary B. and Jean R. Soderlund. 1991. Freedom by Degrees: Emancipation in Pennsylvania and its Aftermath. New York: Oxford University Press.

Nelson, Charmaine A. 2018 “‘Ran away from her Master…a Negroe Girl named Thursday’: Examining Evidence of Punishment, Isolation, and Trauma in Nova Scotia and Quebec Fugitive Slave Advertisements.” In Legal Violence and the Limits of the Law, edited by Joshua Nichols and Amy Swiffen, 68–91. New York: Routledge.

Newman, Simon P. 2022. Freedom Seekers: Escaping From Slavery in Restoration London. London: University of London Press.

Smith, Billy G. and Richard Wojtowicz. 2016. Blacks Who Stole Themselves: Advertisements for Runaways in the Pennsylvania Gazette, 1728-1790. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Waldstreicher, David. 1999. “Reading the Runaways: Self-Fashioning, Print Culture, and Confidence in Slavery in the Eighteenth-Century Mid-Atlantic.” The William and Mary Quarterly 56, no. 2: 243-272.

Additional Works Consulted

Barclay, Jenifer L., 2014. Mothering the ‘Useless’: Black Motherhood, Disability, and Slavery.” Women, Gender, and Families of Color 2, no. 2: 115–140.

Camp, Stephanie M. H. 2002. “The Pleasures of Resistance: Enslaved Women and Body Politics in the Plantation South, 1830-1861.” Journal of Southern History 68, no. 3: 533–572.

Dowbiggin, Ian Robert. 2011. The Quest for Mental Health: A Tale of Science, Medicine, Scandal, Sorrow, and Mass Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Foster, Thomas A. 2019. Rethinking Rufus: Sexual Violations of Enslaved Men. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. 

Foy, Charles R. 2020. “Britain’s Black Tars.” In Britain’s Black Past, edited by Gretchen H. Gerzina, 63-80. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

Gomez, Michael A. 1998. Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Hunter, Tera W. 2017. Bound in Wedlock: Slave and Free Black Marriage in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hunt-Kennedy, Stefanie. 2020. “‘Had His Nose Cropt for Being Formerly Runaway’: Disability and the Bodies of Fugitive Slaves in the British Caribbean.” Slavery & Abolition 41, no. 2: 212–233.

Hunt-Kennedy, Stefanie. 2020. Between Fitness and Death: Disability and Slavery in the Caribbean. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Kurth, Jan. 1988. “Wayward Wenches and Wives: Runaway Women in the Hudson Valley, N.Y., 1785-1830.” NWSA Journal 1, no. 2: 199–220.

Lindsey, Treva B. and Jessica Marie Johnson. 2014. “Searching for Climax: Black Erotic Lives in Slavery and Freedom.” Meridians 12, no. 2: 169–195.

McKittrick, Katherine. 2006. Demonic Grounds: Black Women and the Cartographies of Struggle. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Nelson, Charmaine A. 2020. “A ‘tone of voice peculiar to New-England’: Fugitive Slave Advertisements and the Heterogeneity of Enslaved People of African Descent in Eighteenth-Century Quebec.” In Current Anthropology 61, no. S22 (October): S303-S316. 

Nelson, Charmaine A. 2022. “He ‘Is Supposed to Have with Him Forged Certificates of His Freedom, and Passes’: Slavery, (Im)Mobility, and the Creolized Counter-Knowledge of Resistance.” Global Intellectual History 8, no. 4: 428–447.

Rediker, Marcus. 2008. The Slave Ship: A Human History. New York: Penguin Books.

Royal Navy Correspondence. “John Sutcliffe, Master of the Fearon, lately arrived from Jamaica. Could not get higher…” September 26, 1750. ADM 106/1085/379, Navy Boards Records, National Archives (UK), Kew, London. 

Rushforth, Brett. 2020. “‘She Said Her Answers Contained the Truth’: Listening to and with Enslaved Witnesses in Eighteenth-Century New France.” In Hearing Enslaved Voices: African and Indian Slave Testimony in British and French America, 1700-1848, ed. Sophie White and Trevor Burnard, 119-142. New York: Routledge.

Scull, Andrew. 1983. “Domestication of Madness.” Medical History 27: 233-248.

Simonsen, Gunvor. 2017. Slave Stories: Law, Representation, and Gender in the Danish West Indies. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.

Tyson, Philip John, Shakiela Khanam Davies, and Alison Torn. 2019. Madness: History, Concepts and Controversies. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

White, Sophie. 2019. Voices of the Enslaved: Love, Longing, Labour in French Louisiana. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

White, Shane. 1991. Somewhat More Independent: The End of Slavery in New York 1770-1810. Athens: University of Georgia Press.

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Chris J. Gismondi (he/they) is a Doctoral candidate at the University of New Brunswick and an Advisory Board Member of the Slavery North research initiative. His doctoral and master’s work have been sponsored by the Social Science Research Council of Canada and his curatorial work has spanned institutions like La Guilde, the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, and the Government of Ontario Art Collection. His writing has been published in Canadian Art, The English Historical Review, Esse: art + opinions, Peripheral Review, and Arcadia: Environment and Society.