The Christiana Resistance or, as it was called, Riot on September 11, 1851 at the house in Christiana, Pennsylvania of William Parker, himself an escaped slave, to prevent the recapture of some escaped slaves and the subsequent treason trial in November and December of that year were reactions to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.[1]
Incident
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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 permitted slave owners to pursue fugitive slaves into free states and to require the aid of state officials in the recapture of the alleged slaves. Those aiding an escaping slave could face six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
Christiana in Pennsylvania, a free state, was 20 mile north of the slave state Maryland and was a refuge for fugitive slaves. Being near the border it had often been raided by slave-catchers and the local Blacks had organized for self-protection which at times prevented the capture or rescued those captured. In Philadelphia where warrants for the arrest of fugitive slaves in Pennsylvania were usually acquired, another group, the Special Secret Committee, had organized to gather information and warn those being hunted.
Edward Gorsuch a Maryland slave owner, heard that four of his slaves who had escaped in 1849 from his farm in Monkton, Maryland had taken refuge in Lancaster county. On September 9, 1851 in Philadelphia he requested a federal warrant under the Fugitive Slave Act for the arrest of George Hammond, Joshua Hammond, Nelson Ford, and Noah Buley. Henry Kline a deputy Federal Marshall was authorized to make the arrests. Gorsuch then hired John Agin and Thompson Tully, Philadelphia police officers, to assist in the arrest. All three were to meet with Gorsuch and some additional men at Penningtonville on the State Railway. Due to some delays Agin and Tully returned to Philadelphia so the actual party were Henry Kline, Edward Gorsuch, Dickinson Gorsuch (his son), Joshua M. Gorsuch (his nephew), Dr. Thomas Pierce, Nicholas T. Hutchings, and Nathan Nelson. From Philadelphia the group had been watched by a member of the Special Secret Committee, Samuel Williams, who then warned the Black community around Christiana. In the early morning hours of September 11 the Gorsuch party went to the farm of William Parker himself a fugitive slave and suspected of harboring at least some of the escaped slaves. Parker and the neighbors who came to his aid refused to comply with the warrant and the resulting conflict led to several people being wounded and Edward Gorsuch killed.
Trial
editIn the immediate aftermath Parker and at least a few other fugitive slaves fled north to the eventual safety of Canada.
United States charged 38 of the Christiana local residents with treason though some such as Parker in abstentia.[2] Castner Hanway, one of the four white men charged and alleged to be a ringleader, was the first to be tried with trial lasting from November 24 until December 11, 1851 in Philadelphia and with Supreme Court Justice Robert C. Grier and U.S. District Court Judge John K. Kane presiding. The prosecution was headed by John W. Ashmead who was joined by lawyers from Maryland. Thaddeus Stevens presented the defense. Hanway was acquitted by the jury after 15 minutes of deliberation.
The 38 men charged, except for the first four charged all were Black:[2]
- Castner Hanway, White, miller, number 1 in the indictment
- Joseph Scarlet, White, farmer, number 2 in the indictment
- Elijah Lewis, White, storekeeper in Cooperville, number 3 in the indictment
- James Jackson, White, farmer, number 4
- George Williams, number 5
- Jacob Moore, number 6
- George Reed, number 7
- Benjamin Johnson, number 8
- Daniel Caulsberry, number 9
- Alson Pernsley, number 10
- William Brown, 2nd, number 11
- Henry Green, number 12
- Elijah Clark, number 13
- John Holliday, number 14
- William Williams, number 15
- Benjamin Pindergast, number 16
- John Morgan, number 17
- Ezekiel Thompson, number 18
- Thomas Butler, number 19
- Collister Wilson, number 20
- John Jackson, number 21
- William Brown, number 22
- Isaiah Clarkson, number 23
- Henry Simms, number 24
- Charles Hunter, number 25
- Lewis Gates, number 26
- Peter Woods, number 27
- Lewis Clarkson, number 28
- Nelson Carter, number 29
- William Parker, had already fled to Canada, number 30
- John Berry, number 31
- William Berry, number 32
- Samuel Williams, number 33, was tried in the Federal District Court for "interfering with the execution of warrants for the arrest of Noah Buley and Joshua Hammond, runaway slaves" and found not guilty on February, 4, 1852[2]: 98–99
- Josh Hammond, one of Gorsuch's escaped slaves, number 34
- Henry Curtis, number 35
- Washington Williams, number 36
- William Thomas, number 37
- Nelson Ford, one of Gorsuch's escaped slaves, number 38
Aftermath
editWilliam Parker was joined in Canada by his wife and children and settled in Buxton, Ontario. He died in 1891. Castner Hanway moved in 1878 to Wilber, Nebraska and died there in 1893.
References
edit- ^ a b Robbins, James J. (2008). "Report of the Trial of Castner Hanway for Treason, in the Resistance of the Execution of the Fugitive Slave Law of September, 1850". Underground Railroad Digital Classroom. Dickenson College. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
- ^ a b c Hensel, W.U. (1911). The Christiana Riot and Treason Trials of 1851. Lancaster, PA: The New Era Printing Company. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- ^ Kopaczewski, James (2015). "Christiana Riot Trial |". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
- ^ Thorburn, Mark (2002). "Castner Hanway Treason Trial: 1851 - Dictionary definition of Castner Hanway Treason Trial: 1851". Encyclopedia.com. Thomson Learning. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
- ^ Forbes, David R. (1898). A True Story of the Christiana Riot. Sun Printing House.
- ^ Slaughter, Thomas P. (1991). Bloody dawn the Christiana Riot and racial violence in the antebellum North (Reprint. ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195046342.
- ^ pilpath. Muweb.millersville.edu. Retrieved on 2010-12-23. no longer active
- ^ Carson, Clayborne; Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J.; Nash, Gary B. (2011). The struggle for freedom a history of African Americans (2nd ed. ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall. p. 206. ISBN 978-0205832422.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ "Description of ''Treason at Christiana: September 11, 1851'' by L.D. "Bud" Rettew based on contemporaneous news clippings". Masthof.com. Retrieved 2011-10-09. self-published
- ^ "William Parker, fl. 1851 The Freedman's Story: In Two Parts". docsouth.unc.edu.
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