Week 41: Context #52Ancestors

According to Merriam-Webster, “context” means “the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs : environment, setting.” [1]  For genealogists, it means going beyond the what of names and dates to find out how our ancestors lived, worshipped, went to school, etc., and why they did the things they did. Most of the time, our ancestors didn’t leave behind detailed letters or diaries explaining their lives forcing us to dig deep into the place and time where they lived to see what others similarly-situated were doing. From there, we can put flesh on the bones of our ancestors and provide a reasonable interpretation of their lives.

This week’s prompt got me thinking about slavery: what was the context that made this acceptable?

My side of the family came in to the U.S. in the 1850’s or later and settled in the Northeast, but many of my husband’s ancestors came to the U.S. in the Colonial era and, since they settled in the South, many owned slaves. An embarrassing and shameful history. But today, I hear “Don’t blame them; it was the times they were living in that made it acceptable.” It was the “context.”

But was it really?

Since we fought a bloody civil war over it, it is clear that at least by 1861 LOTS of people thought slavery was wrong. Further, fifty-four years earlier, the U.S. passed the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves.[2] And before then some states had already abolished the international slave trade (the Constitution protected the slave trade for twenty years from regulation by federal law).[3] There were even many notable abolitionists during the Colonial period, including Quakers and many former slave-holders.[4] Maybe in 2019 it’s easy for me to say, but I don’t agree that any “context” made it okay to own a slave. Context is important when researching your ancestors, but you can’t use it to whitewash the past or make yourself feel better.

I have the wills of many of my husband’s Southern ancestors and, as pious people, they always begin the will with words such as “In the name of God, Amen….” The wills then distribute their property, including people. My husband’s 6thgreat-grandfather, William Pearl, died in 1785 in Fauquier County, Virginia. His will addresses the distribution of three slave girls and their “increase,” i.e. their children. While it is so fun to reach back into the past to find ancestors, I want to always remember those three little girls: Nan, Sall, and Dorcas.[5]

[1] Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com : accessed 10 October 2019), “context.”

[2] Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org), “Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves,” rev. 05:27, 18 September 2019.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Evan Andrews, “6 Early Abolitionists,” History, 7 February 2019; History.com (https://www.history.com/news/6-early-abolitionists : accessed 10 October 2019).

[5] John K. Gott, Abstracts of Fauquier County Virginia, Wills, Inventories and Accounts 1759-1800 (Baltimore : Clearfield, 1999), 162-63, image, Ancestry, “Abstracts of Fauquier County Virginia, Wills, Inventories and Accounts 1759-1800” (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 October 2019).