All Essays
Slavery & Resistance

Northern Complicity

Slavery was never just a Southern phenomenon.

Publication date — to be added

Northern Complicity — Essay cover

Introduction

Slavery was never just a Southern phenomenon.

This visual essay follows the evidence slide by slide, from the enslavement of Indigenous people in New England to Northern law, Northern commerce, and the gradual end of Northern slavery.

Digital PDF

Keep this essay.

Explore Visual Essay Guides →

Explore downloadable Black History 101 Visual Essay learning guides for deeper learning, classroom use, and independent study.

Sources & Further Reading

  • Greene, Lorenzo J. “Slave-Holding New England and Its Awakening.” Journal of Negro History 13, no. 4 (1928): 492–533.
  • Landy, Craig A. “When Did Slavery End in New York?” Historical Society of the New York Courts, June 7, 2017, updated October 24, 2018.
  • Mosterman, Andrea C. Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2021. See also Mosterman, “The Forgotten History of Slavery in New York.” Cornell University Press, November 2021.
  • Nagl, Dominik. “The Governmentality of Slavery in Colonial Boston, 1690–1760.” Amerikastudien / American Studies 58, no. 1 (2013): 5–26.
  • Newell, Margaret Ellen. “Indian Slavery in Colonial New England.” In Indian Slavery in Colonial America, edited by Alan Gallay. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009.
  • National Park Service. “Slavery and Law in 17th Century Massachusetts.” Boston National Historical Park and Boston African American National Historic Site.

Related Essays

Africa & the Diaspora

Black Venezuelans

Fighting for freedom, preserving African heritage

From the early 1500s, enslaved Africans in Venezuela worked in mining and agriculture, escaped to build their own communities, rose up at Coro in 1795, and sustained African traditions that their descendants continue to defend.

Black Figures

She Joined the Cycling League. Then It Drew a Color Line.

Kittie Knox's experience with racial discrimination and her efforts to continue participating in the sport.

Kittie Knox joined the League of American Wheelmen in 1893. When the league restricted new membership to white people the next year, her eligibility was questioned, and she kept presenting her credentials and riding.

Join The 101

The story doesn't end here.

Join The 101 and get the monthly Black History 101 letter—a story worth knowing, the context behind it, and what to read or watch next.

One email. Once a month.

Free to join. Receive the monthly Black History 101 letter plus occasional updates about new resources, courses, and programs. Unsubscribe anytime.

Keep Learning

Share this essay

Join The 101

Black history
doesn’t stop
at the post.

Join a growing community of educators, parents, learners, and history-curious people who want to go beyond the myths and follow the evidence.

Get new visual essays, deeper dives, reading recommendations, educational resources, and updates from Black History 101—directly from us, beyond the algorithm.

One email. Once a month.

  • 01A story worth knowing
  • 02The context behind it
  • 03What to read or watch next
  • 04New Black History 101 resources

Free to join. Receive the monthly Black History 101 letter plus occasional updates about new resources, courses, and programs. Unsubscribe anytime.