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Lot 259
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Important Slave Advertisements in Two Newspapers; One Speaks French!
Important Slave Advertisements in Two Newspapers; One Speaks French!
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Description:

Slavery
Hartford, CT; Washington, DC, ca. 1796, 1847
Important Slave Advertisements in Two Newspapers; One Speaks French!
Newspaper
SLAVERY. The Connecticut Courant, July 11, 1796. Hartford: Barzillai Hudson and George Goodwin. 4 pp., 11.25" x 19". Disbound; browning throughout; some edge tears.
With: Daily National Intelligencer, August 28, 1847. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Gales and William W. Seaton. 4 pp., 19" x 23.75". Edge tears and some tears on folds; foxing and browning throughout.

This pair of newspaper issues, separated by half a century and more than 300 miles, illustrate the omnipresence of slave sales in antebellum America. The first is from a 1796 Connecticut newspaper; that state did not outlaw slavery until 1848, though the number of slaves declined significantly from 2,764 in 1790 to 951 in 1800. In 1820, there were 97, and 25 remained in 1830.

The second issue is from Washington, D.C., in 1847. Long a center of the slave trade, the capital city continued to permit slavery until 1862, when Congress passed and President Abraham Lincoln signed a law abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, freeing more than 3,000 enslaved persons.

Excerpts
[Connecticut Courant:]
"To be sold a negro boy about 15 years of age, he can speak both the French and English languages, good and faithful servant, capable of attending to the care of a horse and chaise—apply to the printer." (p3/c3)

[Daily National Intelligencer:]
"A SERVANT WOMAN AND CHILD for sale for a term of years.–Will be sold low, for the term of six years, a servant Woman about 26 years of age, who is a good cook, and accustomed to all house-work.
"Also, her infant Child, to serve until he is 25 years old. For further particulars inquire of CHAS. P. WANNALL, corner of 9th st. and New York av." (p3/c5)
Charles P. Wannall (1808-1893) was born in Maryland and served as a clerk in the Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C.

The Connecticut Courant (1764-1914) was established as a weekly newspaper in Hartford by Thomas Green (1735-1812). He later sold the newspaper to Ebenezer Watson (1744-1777), who ran it until he died of smallpox in 1777. It was an influential proponent of the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War. His widow Hannah Watson (1749-1807) took over and became one of the first women publishers in America. George Goodwin (1757-1844) had begun work on the Courant when he was nine years old and gradually mastered the art of setting type. At the death of Ebenezer Watson, he became Hannah Watson's business partner. In January 1778, she married businessman Barzillai Hudson (1741-1823), who then became Goodwin's partner for more than thirty years. By the 1790s, the Courant was Federalist and strongly anti-Jefferson in politics. In 1806, federal authorities indicted Hudson and Goodwin on charges of criminal libel, but Oliver Ellsworth, the nation's recently retired chief justice, helped the newspaper win a key decision in United States v. Hudson and Goodwin (1812), in which the Supreme Court rejected English common law as a basis for federal charges. The conservative Courant increasingly supported the rich and powerful against the growing population of immigrants and opposed the separation of church and state and the expansion of voting rights. The firm of Hudson & Goodwin also published Noah Webster's Spelling Book. After the partnership dissolved, Goodwin continued to publish the Courant with his sons until 1836, when he sold it. The newspaper later supported the Whig and then the Republican Party. From 1887 to 1914, it was published semiweekly, and the weekly edition was the Hartford Courant, which succeeded it as a daily newspaper.

National Intelligencer (1800-1870) was a prominent newspaper published in Washington, DC. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson, then vice president and a candidate for the presidency, persuaded Samuel Harrison Smith, the publisher of a Philadelphia newspaper, to open a newspaper in Washington, the new capital. Smith began publishing the National Intelligencer, & Washington Advertiser three times a week on October 31, 1800. In 1809, Joseph Gales (1786-1860) became a partner and took over as sole proprietor a year later. From 1812, Gales and his brother-in-law William Winston Seaton (1785-1866) were the newspaper's publishers for nearly fifty years. From 1813 to 1867, it was published daily as the Daily National Intelligencer and was the dominant newspaper of the capital. They also continued thrice weekly and weekly editions. Supporters of the administrations of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, Gales and Seaton were the official printers of Congress from 1819 to 1829. From the 1830s to the 1850s, the National Intelligencer was one of the nation's leading Whig newspapers, with conservative, unionist principles.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 11.25" x 19"; 19" x 23.75"
  • Medium: Newspaper

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