New Hampshire has an African heritage that datees back almost to the arrival
of Europeans. Much of that history, begun in 1645, centers on the state's only
port at Portsmouth. As many as 700 blacks were here by the Revolution, many caught
up in an active Northern slave market, others part of a a little-known free society.
Trace the history in this groundbreaking study.
The first known black person in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, came from the west
coast of Africa in 1645. He was captured one Sunday when slave merchants attacked
his village in Guinea, killing about a hundred persons and wounding others. Upon
arrival in Boston, the slave was bought by a Mr. Williams "of Piscataqua." When
the General Court of the colony learned of the raid and kidnapping, it ordered
the merchants to return the African to his home. Slavery was not the issue of
concern, for human bondage was legal in the region. The court was "indignant"
that raiders had violated the Sabbath and that they had committed "ye haynos and
crying sin of man stealing."
The size of the black population in 17th century New Hampshire was small and,
therefore, easily overlooked. However, surveys of wills and inventories show that
slaves were included in the estates of several prominent early Portsmouth families.
For instance, eight slaves who worked in Richard Cutts' Kittery shipyard at midcentury
were among the earliest blacks in the region; five of the eight were eventually
willed to Widow Cutts in 1675.
Additional evidence that "mulattoes, Negroes and slaves" were present can be
found in laws which were adopted around the turn of the century. They were similar
to the restrictive laws enacted in other colonies which controlled activities
of both servants and masters. A number of laws prohibited servants from roaming
through town without their master's permission, being "abroad in the night time
after nine o'clock," from drinking in public taverns and the like.
Copyright (c) Valerie Cunningham. All rights reserved. This essay appears exclusively
on SeacoastNH.com. First posted 1997.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Valerie Cunningham has been researching, writing and teaching about local black
history for 30 years. Her avocation has made her one of the region's experts and
she is consultant to the Black History section of SeacoastNH.com. This article,
complete with detailed footnotes, first appeared in Historical New Hampshire (Vol.
41, No. 4, Winter 1989) published by the NH Historical Society. It is reprinted
here with permission of the author. Valerie's work has inspired the Portsmouth
Black Heritage Trail and her work is now recognized around the nation. Her new
book, Black Portsmouth, is available from University Press of New England.
African American Resource Center
PO Box 5094
Portsmouth, NH 03801-5094
603-431-2768
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BEGINNINGS
Valerie Cunningham has been researching, writing and teaching about local black
history for 30 years. Her avocation has made her one of the region's experts and
she is consultant to the Black History section of SeacoastNH.com. This article,
complete with detailed footnotes, first appeared in Historical New Hampshire (Vol.
41, No. 4, Winter 1989) published by the NH Historical Society. It is reprinted
here with permission of the author. Valerie's work has inspired the Portsmouth
Black Heritage Trail and her work is now recognized around the nation. Her new
book, 
