Chesapeake African-Americans

The Chesapeake Bay region has played an important role in African-American history. It served as a gateway for the first blacks brought from Africa to the colonies. Throughout the mid-1800s, the Bay and its tributaries were an important part of the Underground Railroad. After the war, recently emancipated blacks found their way to the shores of the Chesapeake, contributing to both the economy and the culture of the region.

Slavery and the Bay Region

Slavery in the Chesapeake region began in 1619, when a Dutch trading vessel entered Jamestown, Virginia carrying 20 African men. The slave trade expanded in the years that followed. Between 1700 and 1770, the Bay region's slave population grew from 13,000 to 250,000. By the end of the Revolutionary War five years later, black made up nearly one-third of the region's population.

In the 1800s, the Chesapeake region became a focal point for the national controversy surrounding slavery. “Free states,” which did not support slavery, bordered the northern portions of the Bay region, while “slave states” encompassed the southern portions. “Border states,” which allowed slavery but were allied with the free states, further highlighted the region's political differences.

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 further complicated the divisions between free, slave and border states. The law permitted the capture and return of escaped slaves who had taken residence in the northern “free” states. As a result, this new law left the Bay region in the unique position of spanning free, border and slave states. This combination of geography and politics made the Bay region the center of great turmoil throughout the 19th century.

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad, which operated prior to the Civil War between 1830 and 1860, was a coordinated network of safe houses. Aided by free blacks and sympathetic whites, slaves traveled under the cover of darkness through the network to reach freedom.

While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact routes followed by escaped slaves, records show that the waters of the Chesapeake and its tributaries were often used as passageways to the North. This segment of the Underground Railroad, dubbed “Chesapeake Station,” became an integral part of the anti-slavery movement.

Chesapeake waterways were used in a variety of ways.

• Escaping slaves would slip quietly aboard vessels docked along shorelines, which then shuttled them up the Bay and into the Susquehanna River.
• Captains in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia hid runaways abroad their ships, risking high fines and jail time.
• Slaves working onboard boats also aided runaways, smuggling them aboard without the knowledge of their captains.
• Other slaves heading from Virginia towards freedom crossed shallow sections of the Potomac River on horseback or wagon to reach safe houses on the Maryland side of the river.

Famous Abolitionists

Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass were both born into slavery on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 and returned to the South 19 times, freeing over 300 slaves as part of the Underground Railroad.

Douglass used the Chesapeake in his first of two attempts to escape slavery. Douglass and five other men planned to canoe up the Bay and into Pennsylvania; however, the men were turned in by another slave. Douglass ultimately found freedom on a steamboat traveling from Delaware to Pennsylvania.

The Civil War

The Chesapeake region, like much of the country, was increasingly divided over the issue of slavery.

• Pennsylvania, a free state, was loyal to the Union.
• The border states of Maryland and Delaware, through pro-slavery, remained loyal to the Union as well.
• Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861 and joined the Confederacy.

When the first shots of the Civil War were fired in 1861, the Bay region became a divided battlefield. Slaves throughout the region seized the opportunity for escape. The often did not have to travel far to find freedom and assistance to avoid capture.

In Newport News, Virginia, Union Major General Benjamin F. Butler invoked property law to protect escaped slaves that had fled to his camp. He reasoned that if the Confederacy was going to refer to slaves as property, he could seize them as property contraband of war. Butler's interpretation of the law created new hope and a new workforce. Runaway slaves flooded into Union camps, where they were put to work. Although not fighting on front lines, these individuals were instrumental in wartime operations, including building fortifications, maintaining railroads and mining coal.

As time passed and Union casualties grew, blacks were granted the right to serve in the Union Army, and many participated in battles throughout the watershed.

• In Maryland, six black regiments were formed, amassing more than 8,700 men. These regiments played major roles in the Union 's battle plans. The 36 th U.S. Colored Infantry guarded the Confederate prison at Point Lookout, Maryland. Later in the war, it also disabled Confederate torpedoes in the lower Chesapeake.
• More than 180,000 black men served in the Union Army and 18,000 in the Union Navy. Twenty-one were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military honor in the U.S.

African-American Watermen

By the 1860s, the Bay became the primary source of oysters in the U.S., creating an industry in need of a strong labor force. The availability of jobs and relatively low start-up costs for new watermen lured many newly freed blacks to the region. In addition to harvesting the Bay's bounty, many also found jobs building boats and processing the day's catches.

New African-American communities were built along the Bay's shores. These communities soon became economic and cultural centers for blacks in the region. African-American traditions that were practiced in these communities were incorporated into the local fishing industry.

During the early 1900s, it was not uncommon to hear men singing while hauling in seines full of fish. These rhythmic songs, known as chanteys, helped the men coordinate their movements and control the pace of the grueling work. Chanteys are rooted in African tradition. Many watermen believed that the chanteys helped the men haul in nets faster and more efficiently than those who did not sing.