Research Guides @ Fordham: African American Studies: Slavery in New York

Print & Electronic Books

Fordham has both secondary sources on this topic as well as primary sources in book format. If you have any questions about searching the library catalog, try the tutorial on the Finding Books page or chat live with a librarian through Ask a Librarian.

Searching the catalog by subject will allow you to browse some books on this topic. Copy and paste the Library of Congress Subject Headings below to search the catalog by subject:

Antislavery movements--New York (State)--History

New York (N.Y.)--History--Conspiracy of 1741

New York (N.Y.)--History--1775-1865

New York (State)--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775--Sources

Slavery--New York (State)--History--17th century

Researching Laws

Find as much background information as you can before trying to find the original text of a law. Helpful information includes:

The year the law was passed
The chapter number if available
The jurisdiction (city government or state government)
The popular name (i.e. Montgomerie's Act) or official language (i.e. "An Act for the more effectual preventing and punishing the conspiracy and insurrection...")
The book below names many primary sources, particularly laws, that can be researched in other places:

Slavery in New York: A Historical Sketch by Ansel Judd Northrup

Once background information is gathered, try searching in the resources on the Government & Historical Documents page (includes Dutch & Colonial records) as well as:

HeinOnline Law Library This link opens in a new window
Find archive of NY session laws from 1691-2020 including the New York Colony (1691-1775). Once inside HeinOnline, find the Browse Databases by Name heading and select New York Legal Research Library.

Census Resources

Ancestry.com New York
Follow the directions from the New York State Archives to sign up for a free Ancestry.com New York account to search New York records. Does not included all Ancestry.com content.

Census of Slaves 1755 - Lower New York
Partial digitized booklet from Columbia University Libraries. Albany, New York, and Suffolk counties are missing.

Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790: New York
Typed 1790 census returns with summary statistics for the State of New York. It does not list the names of the enslaved but it will show if a family had enslaved and/or free people of color laboring in their homes.

Replication Data for New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan by Jill Lepore
Contains demographic information about the City of New York in the 1730s and 1740s compiled by Jill Lepore. (Use the library catalog to find the book.)

U.S. Census Bureau Data
See our page U.S. Census Bureau Data for more options.

Open Access Digital Collections

New York Public Library Digital Collections on Slavery
Over 1,800 images, books, essays, and other documents relating to slavery from NYPL. Limit your search to by city name to see items relating slavery within New York State.

NYC's Early African American Settlements
Research guide from NYPL with links to primary sources for New Amsterdam’s “Little Africa,” Manhattan’s Seneca Village, Brooklyn’s Weeksville community, and Staten Island’s Sandy Ground neighborhood.

New-York Historical Society Digital Collections
Search by keyword to find resources on the New-York Manumussion Society, the New-York African Free-School, and more. Select the Slavery--New York (State)--New York subject limiter on the left panel to browse collection.

New York Heritage Digital Collections
A collaborative project of the Empire State Library Network featuring digitized content from the colonial era to present from 350 libraries, museums, archives, and other cultural institutions across the state.

Slavery, Abolition, Emancipation and Freedom : Primary Sources from Houghton Library
A growing digital collection sharing digitized items relating to Black experiences from the 18th through early 20th century from Harvard University's Houghton Library.

SlaveVoyages -- Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American Slave Trade Databases
A collaborative digital initiative offering publicly accessible records of the largest slave trades in history across the Atlantic and within the Americas.

Black Loyalists & The American Revolutionary War

The Black Loyalist Directory : African Americans in Exile After the American Revolution by Graham R. Hodges; Susan H. Cook; Alan H. Brown (eds.)
Garland Pub. & New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996.
Call number [RH Stacks] E277 .B57 1996

Black Loyalist Digital Collections
From the Black Loyalist Heritage Center, a part of the Novia Scotia Museum.

Carleton Papers – Book of Negroes, 1783
Database from the Library and Archives of Canada.

Inspection Roll of Negroes Book No. 2
Digitized copy from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

African Burial Ground in New York City

African Burial Ground Final Reports
Provides access to reports conducted by the U.S. General Services Administration and Howard University covering the historical, bioanthropological, and archaeological significance of the African Burial Ground found at 290 Broadway.

The African Burial Ground in New York City by Andrea E. Frohne
Syracuse University Press, 2015.
Call number [RH Stacks] F128.9.N4 F76 2015

Breaking Ground Breaking Silence : The Story of New York's African Burial Ground by Joyce Hansen; Gary McGowan (Illustrator)
Henry Holt, 1998.
Call number [RH Stacks] F128.39 .H36 1998

Historical Primary Source Databases

Historical Newspapers & Periodicals
See the News & Magazines tab for historical newspapers & periodicals.

Finding Primary Sources
See this page for additional databases, digital collections, and physical archives in the Metro NYC area.

Narratives & Memoirs by the Enslaved

A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince, as Related by Himself
by James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
Printed by W. Gye, 1770.
Digital edition via the UNC-CH digitization project, Documenting the American South.
The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher. Compiled and Written by Himself
by John Jea.
Published by the author, 1811.
Digital edition via the UNC-CH digitization project, Documenting the American South.

Sojourner Truth drawing via the 1878 edition of Narrative of Sojourner Truth

Narrative of Sojourner Truth, A Northern Slave, Emancipated from Bodily Servitude by the State of New York, in 1828 by Olive Gilbert; Sojourner Truth
Published by the author, 1850.
Narrative of Sojourner Truth : A Bondswoman of Olden Time, Emancipated by the New York Legislature in the Early Part of the Present Century; with a History of Her Labors and Correspondence, Drawn from her "Book of Life" by Olive Gilbert; Sojourner Truth
Publication Date: 1878
Reprint from Oxford University Press, 1991.
Call number [LC QuinnX Stacks & RH Stacks] E185.A5 G5 1991
Memoir of Pierre Toussaint, Born a Slave in St. Domingo by Hannah Farnham Sawyer Lee
Crosby, Nichols and Company, 1854.
Special Collections Call Number: SPEC AMER 1854 68

Public History Projects

Northeast Slavery Record Index
A searchable compilation of records that identify individual enslaved persons and enslavers in the states of New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Freedom on the Move
Compiles citations and transcriptions of ads appearing in newspapers searching for runaway, fugitive, or self-emancipating slaves. Search the database to see listings for New York.

Slavers of New York
A group of activists, educators, and researchers using historical data and street art to expose the legacy of slavery in NYC.

Slavery and Resistance in NYC (1626-1865)
Story map and walking tour in Lower Manhattan by Mariame Kaba.

African American Studies: Slavery in New York

Slavery in New York State