Guide to the Letter to James H. Reid regarding the enslavement of a group of African Americans C0362 Letter to James H. Reid regarding the enslavement of a group of African Americans

Guide to the Letter to James H. Reid regarding the enslavement of a group of African Americans C0362

Letter to James H. Reid regarding the enslavement of a group of African Americans


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George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center

Fenwick Library, MS2FL
4400 University Dr.
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Business Number: 703-993-2220
Fax Number: 703-993-8911
speccoll@gmu.edu
URL: https://scrc.gmu.edu

Amanda Brent

Repository
George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center
Identification
C0362
Title
Letter to James H. Reid regarding the enslavement of a group of African Americans May 22, 1850
Quantity
0.01 Linear Feet, 1 folder
Location
R 72, C3, S 4
Language
English .
Abstract
Letter to James H. Reid regarding the enslavement of a group of African Americans, written on May 22, 1850.

Administrative Information

Use Restrictions

Public Domain. There are no known restrictions.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Alternative Form Available

This collection has been digitized and is available to view here. here.

Preferred Citation

Letter to James H. Reid regarding the enslavement of a group of African Americans, C0362, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

The donor is unknown.

Processing Information

Processing completed by Amanda Brent in June 2019. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in June 2019.


Historical Information

The enslavement of individuals of African descent - as well as other peoples of color - was legalized in the United States in 1641, with African Americans being the majority of enslaved individuals around 1708. The demand for enslaved individuals to work on southern plantations in the U.S. began in 1694, which only increased over time. In 1861 the Civil War erupted, one of the key issues of the war being states' rights as they related to the institution of slavery. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclimation, which declared all enslaved peoples in Confederate states free, but this did not end slavery entirely. Two years later on December 18, 1865, slavery in the United States was officially abolished with the 13th Amendment. Despite the legal freedom of African Americans post-Amendment, the racist treatment and oppression of African Americans did not wane, resulting in Jim Crow law and eventually catalyzing the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Scope and Content

Letter to James H. Reid regarding the enslavement of a group of African Americans, written on May 22, 1850. The letter's writer is concerned with the transportation of the group from one location to another at the hand of James H. Reid.

Arrangement

This is a single item collection.

Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center also holds other collections related to the topic of slavery in the United States, including the George Mason letters to John Augustine Washington III, the Deed of gift for an enslaved woman by Maynadier Mason, the Contract transfering ownership of enslaved man Peyton Cook, and the Adam Bell notice for escaped enslaved man.

Subjects and Indexing Terms


Bibiliography

"Causes of the Civil War." PBS. https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/causes-of-the-civil-war/ (accessed June 26, 2019).

"A History of Slavery in the United States." National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/interactive/slavery-united-states/ (accessed June 26, 2019).

Urofsky, Melvin I. "Jim Crow law." Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Jim-Crow-law (accessed June 26, 2019).