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THE GERMANTOWN PROTEST AND AFRO-

GERMAN RELATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND

MARYLAND BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR

German-Americans and abolitionism — if

one believes the history books — are syn-

onymous. Motivated by their own experiences

in Europe, German immigrants reportedly

were repulsed by the proliferation of slavery

in the new homeland and both actively and

passively opposed what they considered an

inhumane system. One measure of their pas-

sive anti-slavery activity was a refusal to

exploit the labor of Africans in any form. The

popular histories, that is, the textbooks util-

ized to teach American history in our schools,

state unequivocally that Germans as a group

did not own slaves. Increasingly, the German-

town Protest is used to explain the origins of

this humanitarian struggle against popular

opinion and convention.

One need not be a professional historian to

discover how deeply slavery was rooted in the

American system both before and after the

creation of the Bill of Rights. Slavery and the

issue of equal rights for Blacks were and are

the political controversy that threatened the

Constitutional Convention, engendered the

Fugitive Slave Acts of 1797 and 1850, necessi-

tated the Missouri Compromise and the

Compromise of 1850, contributed to the out-

break of the Civil War, and precipitated the

Civil Rights Movement which in recent years

has floundered because it has collided with

the bedrock problem of economic justice.

Within that context, the Germantown Protest

would seem to have been the most important

document for Black Americans before the

Declaration of Independence and the Consti-

tution itself. So it would seem.

In the following I propose to re-examine

the Germantown Protest from the perspective

of its impact on Afro-German relations in

Pennsylvania and Maryland during the suc-

ceeding two centuries, up to the Civil War.

Specifically, I am interested in testing a

hypothesis formulated forty years ago by

Dieter Cunz in his book on the German ele-

ment in Maryland and most recently by

LaVerne J. Rippley. Both authors differen-

tiate the anti-slavery attitudes of the older

German migration (pre-1800's) from that of

the group which arrived as refugees from the

political turmoil of the 1840's.¹ If the German-

town Protest has value as a source document

for German anti-slavery sentiment then one

might expect some sort of casual relationship

between the Protest and German-Black inter-

actions between 1700-1860.

When the Germanic settlers arrived in

Pennsylvania in 1683 Africans and African

slavery had already been present in the Dela-

ware Valley for at least four decades. In Mary-

land it had been tolerated since at least 1642.²

In both areas African laborers had been

obtained, presumably from the flourishing

seventeenth century slave trade that con-

tinued the process begun in the sixteenth cen-

tury of depopulating Western Africa to meet

the labor needs of Spanish and Portuguese

New World colonies. The establishment of

English colonies in North America did

nothing to impede or reduce the spread and

growth of this trade in human beings.

Quaker Pennsylvania also required labor-

ers and embraced slavery as a convenient

solution. In 1684 a consignment of one

hundred-fifty slaves was sold to the highest

bidders in Philadelphia³ and slavery began its

slow but steady infiltration of all levels of

colonial society. From a prerequisite for sur-

vival of the colony, slavery soon evolved into a

status symbol, an outward sign of wealth and

position. At that point it had become so

intertwined with Pennsylvania's social fabric

that its removal was unthinkable and fraught

with the danger of extensive social disruption.

The Germantowners arrived early in this

process and thus witnessed the rapid prolifer-

ation of Africans and slavery. Their reaction

was the Germantown Protest. It is misleading,

however, to read a special empathy for Afri-

[ 23 ]

cans into that document. The German-

towners' condemnation of slavery was moti-

vated in part by self-interest. Slaves were

unpaid laborers and as members of a

working-class settlement the Germantowners

were understandably apprehensive at the

prospect of a large pool of cheap labor with

which they would have to compete.

Furthermore, although the protesters use

the Golden Rule to argue cogently against the

inhumanity of involuntary servitude, their

underlying perception of Africans is not

entirely free of ego-and ethnocentrism. The

core of their argument is contained in the

following passage:4

You surpass Holland and Germany in this

thing. This makes an ill report in all those

Countries of Europe, where they hear off that

ye Quakers doe here handle men licke they

handle there ye Cattel. And for that reason

some have no mind or inclination to come

hither, and who shall maintaine this your

cause or plaid for it?

The oblique reference to Holland and Ger-

many was intended as a comparison. Dutch

and German traders had been engaged in the

slave trade for some time but to the

Germantowners Quaker involvement far

exceeded that of the other groups.5 Appar-

ently, it was not only the intensity of Quaker

involvement in the trade that was disturbing

but also its proximity to Germantown that

prompted the protest.

The Germantowners would have us believe

that Quaker involvement in the slave trade

was turning public opinion against Pennsyl-

vania in some parts of Europe. As a conse-

quence, potential colonists were reconsider-

ing whether or not they should emigrate

there. A reduction in the flow of colonists to

Pennsylvania was certainly not a prospect

which the colonial government would wel-

come. The Germantowners had an even direr

prediction should the slave trade not cease:6

If once these slaves (wch they say are so

wicked and stubbern men) should joint them-

selves, fight for their freedom and handel

their masters & mastrisses as they did handel

them before; will these masters & mastrisses

tacke the sword at hand & warr against these

poor slaves, licke wee are able to believe, some

will not refuse to doe? Or have these negers

not as much right to fight for their freedom,

as you have to keep them slaves?

These protesters argue here very pragmat-

ically.

The spectre of slave revolt — a not un-

common phenomenon in the Spanish and

Portuguese colonies — was an intimidating

prospect. But potentially even more threaten-

ing to Quakers was the likelihood that such

revolts could test Quaker commitment to paci-

fism as a way of life. In effect the German-

towners were saying that slavery was not only

morally wrong but its presence created a situa-

tion which would ultimately challenge a basic

tenet of the Society of Friends, possibly de-

stroying in the process the source of that

group's moral authority. Self-interest was an

important motivation for the protest because

some of the Germantowners were beginning

to identify themselves with the Society of

Friends as is manifest in the audience chosen

for the protest. A second motive — concern

for the plight of the African — is not as

uncomplicated or unambiguous as historians

would have us believe.

The text of the protest provides brief

glimpses of the Germantowners' attitude

towards Africans. A central concept is the

notion of servitude. Coming from Central

Europe the Germantowners were well ac-

quainted with servitude. Seldom still existed

there as well as the ever present danger of

enslavement from marauding Turks. This

experiential background lent added fervor to

the protest's denunciation of involuntary

servitude:7

There is a saying that we shall do to all men,

licke we will be done our selves; making no

difference of what generation, descent or

Colour they are. And those who steal or robb

men, and those who buy or purchase them,

are they not all alicke? Here is liberty of con-

science, whch is right & reasonable/likewise

liberty of ye body./ But to bring men hither,

or to robb and sell them against their will, we

stand against.

These are strong sentiments indeed.

But what sort of men were these enslaved

Africans? As noted above, the German-

towners believed many of them to be

"wicked" and "stubborn." This mildly nega-

[ 24 ]

tive characterization is strengthened by a tell-

ing reference to the Africans: "Now tho' they

are black, we cannot conceive there is more

liberty to have them slaves, as it is to have

other white ones."8 Color is a critical issue for

the Germantowners. Their demand is for fair

treatment despite the Africans' skin color — at

least a tacit recognition that skin color can

negatively affect social status. Equally interest-

ing is the term used to identify the Africans.

African identity has been a controversial

subject for centuries. Racism decreed an infer-

ior role for all people of color and therefore

as recently as 1941 in his The Myth of the Negro

Past Melville J. Herskovits felt compelled to

defend the notion that Egyptians were Afri-

cans and that dark-skinned races were capa-

ble of creating great civilizations such as the

Egyptian. The Germantowners were obviously

aware of the danger of using race to stigma-

tize individuals but nevertheless referred to

Africans as "negers."

The word "neger" uses, of course, color as

the sole designation of racial group. Other

racial groups are identified by a region where

they allegedly originated. The etymology of

"neger" is also very instructive. A quick glance

in Grimm's Deutsches Wörterbuch confirms that

the word used most frequently to refer to Afri-

cans by Germans before 1800 was "Mohr."9

There was, however, some confusion in the

use of the term since it was applied indiscrim-

inately to refer to Ethiopians, Turks, North

Africans, and to a lesser extent to dark-

skinned Sub-Saharan peoples — the latter

groups were relatively unknown in Europe

before 1600. It is worth noting that according

to Grimm the term "Neger" first came into

common German usage near the end of the

eighteenth century when it found its way as a

French loan word into Johann Christoph

Adelung's dictionary.

The Germantowners' use of the word

"neger" could indicate either English or

Dutch influence. The Oxford English Dic-

tionary documents the use of the word

"negro" as early as 1555 when it was used as a

synonym for "Ethiopian."10 Whatever the

source of their term, the Germantowners'

usage clearly indicates at least tacit accept-

ance of the ethnocentrism then current in

contacts between Europeans and dark-

skinned races. More significantly, it signals an

ambivalence in the perception of Africans

that would influence future contacts between

the two groups.

The Protest's latent ambivalence stems in

part from the fact that it was intended for

internal rather than public discussion. The

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's minutes show

clearly that for almost three generations the

question of slavery was discussed in the

Monthly Meetings without any resolution

until the two decades before the Revolution-

ary War when the Quaker leadership in Penn-

sylvania successfully curtailed Quaker in-

volvement in the slave trade by disowning all

offenders against this self-imposed ban.

A similar development among Maryland's

Friends was not completed until 1780,11 the

year in which Pennsylvania began the process

of phasing out its slave population by enact-

ing the Gradual Abolition Act.

German involvement in this early anti-

slavery activity was minimal. Indeed in 1844

when the existence of the Protest was "dis-

covered",12 Quakers presented it as a Quaker

document and as early evidence of their anti-

slavery activity. That action ignored, of

course, the fact that the protest was directed

against Quaker merchants who bought, sold,

and used slaves. With the exception of an

editorial in Christopher Sauer II's German-

town newspaper "Pennsylvania Berichte"

from 1761, evidence of German-Black rela-

tions can be extrapolated only by an analysis

of diverse information sources such as church

records, newspapers, court records, census

returns, and — in the case of Frederick

County, Maryland — Jacob Engelbrecht's

marvelously detailed record of daily life in

Frederick during the Antebellum Period.

Let us then extract some information from

these sources. Surveying the entire period

under discussion, one is stuck not just by the

coexistence of Blacks and Germans but also

by the variety of their interactions. Moravian,

Lutheran, and Reformed Church records

[ 25 ]

from both Pennsylvania and Maryland doc-

ument a significant Black presence. It is not

always clear whether the Blacks listed in those

records were accepted as members of the var-

ious congregations, but they were unques-

tionably baptized, married, and buried by the

clergymen of those churches. A few brief ci-

tations from several churches in both states

can perhaps illustrate the range and depth of

Black involvement in German churches dur-

ing the period.

The Moravian settlement at Bethelhem,

Pennsylvania, exemplifies one aspect of Afro-

German interaction that was transatlantic in

nature. Among the residents there in the

1740's was:13

Andrew, alias York, alias Ofodobendo

Wooma, a native of Ibo, Guinea. Baptized at

Bethelhem 1746, and presented to Span-

genberg by Thomas Noble of New York. He

married Magdalen alias Beulah Brockden, a

native of Great Popo, Guinea. Died at Bethel-

hem, March 1779.

This terse notice is complemented by a refer-

ence to another Andrew.14 The second

Andrew apparently played an important role

in the history of the Moravians. A slave on St.

Thomas in the Danish West Indies, Andrew

came to Denmark as the possession of a Court

Laurwig around 1730. There Count Zinzen-

dorf, spiritual leader of the Moravians,

reportedly made his acquaintance and had

him brought to his estate at Herrnhut.

In Herrnhut Andrew so eloquently repre-

sented the plight of his people on St. Thomas

that the Moravians reportedly were moved to

begin missionary and philanthropic work that

would take them to Greenland, Lapland,

Africa, and the Americas. In the New World,

especially in North America, settlements such

as Bethelhem, Nazareth, and Winston Salem

were established as operational bases from

which the Moravians launched their fre-

quently perilous missions to christianize and

educate Indians and Africans. Thus a triangle

exchange came into being. Through their

missions Moravians and their Africans con-

verts moved from the West Indies to Pennsyl-

vania, to Germany, and back. Andrew from St.

Thomas, for example, lived for a time in

Bethelhem and then accompanied Zinzen-

dorf on his return to Germany in 1743 and

died the next year in Marienborn.15

Even Moravian philanthropy had over-

tones of ambivalence. In volume one of "The

Bethelhem Diary," the minutes of the meet-

ings of the congregation council between

174244, the protocol for October 31/Novem-

ber 11, 1742, contains a very revealing

passage:16

It was further proposed to get rid of our white

hired hands, because to present they have

behaved so arrogantly and insolently. And

should we be compelled to keep hired hands,

it would be preferable to buy Negroes from St.

Thomas and employ them as regular servants

who would receive wages, to show Pennsylva-

nia and a conscientious author, who in his

writing has opposed slavekeeping, how one

can treat even Negroes.

We would always simply deceive ourselves

should we have dealings with such people

with the laudable intention of converting

them.

No one becomes converted in a state of

servitude; such folk seek their own advantage

and harbor false designs.

If one should wish to help people pay off

their debts one should do so out of pity and as

an act of mercy, and then let them go their

way again.

This homespun pragmatism is perhaps a

humane way of not exploiting the misfor-

tunes of others, but it gives an unsympathetic

view of Blacks. This Moravian brother, and

perhaps the entire council, obviously consid-

ered Blacks to be a deprived and thus

depraved species. Such an attitude, steeped as

it is in an ambivalent sense of charity, might

easily be transformed into hostility should the

objects of that charity and pity not adhere to

the giver's expected behavioral norms.

Even more importantly, the Moravian

experience in Bethelhem leads us to a most

complex problem: German involvement in

slavery. Were Germans slaveholders? If so

then to what extent? If one considers the early

German settlement areas in Pennsylvania

and Maryland, namely, Lancaster, York,

Frederick, and Washington Counties, then we

must affirm that Germans were indeed slave-

holders but not major slaveholders. Admit-

tedly, the existing data for those areas during

the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is

[ 26 ]

too sketchy to render a definitive answer but

even a cursory glance at the 1790 Census

reveals an interesting contradiction of tradi-

tional assumptions about Germans and

slaveholding.

In Pennsylvania in 1790, York and Lancas-

ter Counties had the largest and third largest

slave populations. In fact, 22% of all the slaves

held in the Commonwealth were housed in

the two counties considered today to be the

heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch country. In

Maryland, whose slave population in 1790 of

103,036 ranked third among the sixteen

states, only 4.8% of that population was found

in those counties with a significant German

population as a result of eighteenth century

migrations. However, the total of 4,927 slaves

in Frederick and Washington Counties con-

trasts markedly with York and Lancaster's

total of 847. Of course, not all of the slave-

owners in the four counties were German,

but a survey of the census comparing slave

ownership and German surname shows that

in Lancaster and York Boroughs 24 of 59 and

15 of 30 slaves, that is, 41% and 50% respec-

tively of the salves in those boroughs were

owned by individuals with German surnames.

Census returns for Frederick County, Mary-

land's earliest German settlement area, unfor-

tunately do not reflect governmental subdivi-

sions but 115 slaveholders with German

surnames owned 282 slaves of 7.8% of the

total slave population in the County. In

Washington County 63 slaveholders with

German surnames owned 248 slaves or 19% of

the County total of 1,286. Slavery was an aspect

of Afro-German relations in Pennsylvania

and Maryland but what was its origin and

what conclusions can be drawn about the

nature of the relationship between master

and slave?

Perhaps the earliest reference to German

slaveholding in Pennsylvania is a letter writ-

ten by Cornelius Bom, a former resident of

Philadelphia who joined the Germantown

settlement. Writing to Rotterdam in 1684 Bom

commented on his living arrangements in

Germantown by noting: "I have no regular

servants except one Negro whom I had

bought."17 Bom's purchase was not an iso-

lated event From 1684 to the appearance of

Sauer's editorial in 1761 there are numerous

documented references to Germans and Afri-

cans in a master-slave relationship. For

example, the German Lutheran pioneer John

Caspar Stoever recorded his baptism of

"Johannes Jung's Negro children" on July 23,

1733 in Schifenthill (Montgomery County?).

Their names were Sybilla, Daniel, Margare-

tha, Ludwig, Jacob, and Johannes and their

ages 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 5 months.18

One of the more unusual cases of German

slaveholding is that of Gideon Moor,19 the

slave of Rev. George Michael Weiss, who pas-

tored at — among others — the New Gosho-

hoppen Reformed Church in Montgomery

County. His master died in 1761 and was fol-

lowed a few years later by his mistress. From

the late 1760's up to the eve of the Revolution-

ary War, Gideon and the Goshohoppen con-

gregation were embroiled in one law suit after

another. Gideon claimed that his mistress had

willed her house to him which the congrega-

tion refuted. There followed a series of nui-

sance actions filed by Gideon such as trespass,

malicious mischief, etc. Finally in 1776

Gideon's lawyers tried a new tactic: they pro-

posed to prove his right to the property by

questioning the validity of the church's tide to

the land. Unfortunately, there seems to be no

record of how the dispute was settled.

A similar set of circumstances can be found

in Maryland. Frederick County's Monocracy

Lutheran Church records contain a reference

to a baptism on May 31,1749 of Jacob, son of

"Richard Wosle, Negro,"20 but potentially

more sensational are two references to a cer-

tain James who was "of Ethiopian nationality

in service with Johannes Hoffmann." This

James has two sons baptized on April 13,1743:

one named Samuel and one who was the

illegitimate offspring of a liaison with "the

white servant girl, Eva Margaretha (surname

not given), member of the so-called Reformed

church standing in service with him at

Johannes Hoffman."21 In Colonial America

fornication and bastardy were punishable

offenses; miscegenation was also.

The above entries can be multiplied sev-

eral times over and found replicated in the

[ 27 ]

German congregations at Graceham (Mary-

land), Lancaster, York, Hagerstown, etc. It

is not surprising therefore that in his Febru-

ary 13, 1761, editorial Christopher Sauer

commented.

It has been noted with dismay that Germans

[in the area] have gotten involved in the

inhumane practice of buying negros because

they can no longer have German servants.22

Sauer's consternation was engendered in part

by German involvement in the slave trade.

Equally lamentable to his mind was the

expansion of the trade itself, Quaker mer-

chants seemed on the verge of establishing a

direct link to Africa that might guarantee a

veritable flood of slaves. Three ships had

been sent directly to Africa perhaps in the

hope of reducing the time and expense

involved in having Africans "seasoned" in the

West Indies. Should this scheme be success-

ful, Sauer feared conditions similar to those in

the Carolinas would soon obtain in Pennsyl-

vania. According to Sauer's report White

Carolinians were so outnumbered by Afri-

cans that they could not sleep at night for fear

of slave insurrections. It is interesting to note

the parallels between Sauer's warning and the

premonition of the Germantown protesters

about the dangers of the slave trade.

Clearly, Black and Germans experienced

each other at close quarters. Such contacts

much have had some impact on attitudes and

perceptions. Here again the dearth of in-

depth documentation and an overabundance

of minutiae hinder generalization. Obviously

nothing definitive can be said about Afro-

German relations until more research is con-

ducted on individual responses to such con-

tacts. Increasing the sample can perhaps

establish patterns which in turn can lead to

hypotheses about group behavior. Three

final sources of information provide at least

initial movement in that direction.

Eighteenth and nineteenth century news-

papers from Maryland and Pennsylvania pro-

vide useful insights into everyday interactions

of Germans and Blacks. Some, but unfortu-

nately not all historians have long since dis-

carded the myth of slavery's essential benevo-

lence. Apologists for slavery betray their own

ethnocentrism when they attempt to portray

forceful abduction, sale, and involuntary ser-

vitude as Christian benevolence vis-a vis a

primitive race. Such logic files in the face of all

we know about the level of culture and civili-

zation in West Africa before and during the

period of European colonial expansion. Also

the number of runaway slave advertisements

demonstrate the willingness of many Blacks

to escape bondage whenever the opportunity

presented itself.

Maryland newspapers for the Post-Revolu-

tionary War period are a gold mine of infor-

mation for local history enthusiasts, genealo-

gists, and researchers interested in Black

history. A typical example of the sort of

information to be found is contained in this

advertisement from the Maryland Journal and

Baltimore Advertiser of December 1,1789:23

Eight Dollars Reward

RAN AWAY, from the subscriber on the Night

of the 18th Inst. a NEGRO WENCH called

ELEANOR, alias NELL, but supposed will

change her Name, and, probably, call herself

LINDY: She is about 20 years of Age, about 5

Feet 3 Inches high, stout made, bold Look,

swallow Complexion, short wooly Hair,

which is very knotty, has a scar on one of her

Cheeks, near the Temple, walks very brisk,

understands and can speak German; has a

soft Voice, and speaks fast, fond of Dress, and

has a great Variety of Clothes with her [....]

George P. Keeports

Baltimore, November 29,1789

The important bit of information in this

notice is something that researchers have lar-

gely ignored. In some cases a significant part

of the acculturation process for Afro-

Americans has been the contact with ethnic

groups and a resultant need to acquire profi-

ciency in languages other than English.

Where is the research on the Black enclaves

that were proficient in Pennsylvania German?

Newspaper advertisements can also shed

light on the nature of the master-slave rela-

tionship. An appropriate example is the fol-

lowing notice from the October 1, 1788, edi-

tion of the Neue Unpartheyische Lancaster

Zeitung:

For Sale at a good price with favorable terms

A negress and two beautiful children,

A boy and a girl (both duly registered accord-

[ 28 ]

ing to the law). The woman is a slave for life,

the children are indentured to serve until the

age of 28. The woman is herself only 25 years

old, able to serve in either the city or the

country, she can speak both English and

German. Several types of grain, flour, whis-

key, or other produce will be accepted at the

prevailing market price as payment and the

terms made easy for the buyer. Interested

parties can inquire as to price and terms. Ask

for the undersigned at the Lancaster

Courthouse.

Salomon Etting

N.B. The negress would prefer to be sold to a

German farmer who lives reasonably close to

Lancaster.24

Generalizations are not feasible on the basis

of this one advertisement but here is proof

that the slavery experience was not uniform.

The slave's opinion was not only solicited but

also considered in the plans to sell her and

her family. Furthermore, her preference of a

German farmer as a future master is signifi-

cant and indicates a positive attitude at least of

this slave towards Germans. Obviously, more

material must be gathered before a valid

hypothesis can be formulated.

Our third and final source of information is

The Diary of Jacob Engelbrecht (1818-1878).

The three volume edition of the diary edited

by Prof. William R. Quynn provides a plethora

of everyday events in Frederick during six

decades. Many of the events which Engel-

brecht noticed or participated in also had

relevance for Black history. For example in

December 5,1820, he wrote in his diary a list

of various Blacks who lived in Frederick

Town. This list documents who owned

slaves:25

SchleyS Jacob Livers Steiners Moses Graham

& Philip Mercer

Bradley TylerS Daniel Anderson Shrivers

Abraham Brightwell

HelfensteinS William Brown Bealls Robert

Magruder TaneyS

Romico Price & Cyrus Jenkins MurdockS Wm.

Warfield RossS

Frederick Hillman PottsS Cornelius Thompson

Here as elsewhere in his diary Engelbrecht's

comments are objective and devoid of editor-

ializing. Occasionally, however, his true feel-

ings do rise to the surface.

On October 19,1822, at 9:00 AM he wrote

the following remarkable entry in his diary:26

"We hold these truths to be self=evident, that

all men are born FREE, that they have been

endowed by their creator with certain un=

alienable rights among which are Life, Liberty

and the pursuit of happiness" Declera. of

Independence, I was forceably Struck by the

above Sentence, this morning, at Seeing a

drove of fellow beings whose chance of birth

hath put them in perpetual Slavery — I mean

a set of "Soul-drivers" who in two instances,

two & two hand-cuffed together — Shame,

Shame for this land of Liberty— "Remember

God the revenger reigns"

Engelbrecht's anti-slavery sentiment which

surfaces so forcefully here led him to support

the Union cause forty years later. Throughout

his long life he maintained many friendships

among Frederick's Black community as is evi-

dent in the last entry in the diary made by

Englebrecht's son on the occasion of his

father's death and funeral. It was noted that:

"a large number of Colored persons came to

pay their last respect, a class among whom he

had many friends."27

Despite his obvious empathy for Blacks

there are still unexplained lapses, ambiguities

which seem to suggest an ambivalence

towards Blacks in certain circumstances. On

several occasions Englebrecht came forward

as a witness to corroborate that this or that

Black individual was indeed a free person.

Yet, though he frequently refers to Blacks as

"Negroes" or "Colored friends" later in the

diary — and here the editor is perhaps at fault

— one finds references to "Darky."28 Also in

1823 after observing the public whipping of a

black man convicted of theft Englebrecht's

almost gleeful remark on the punishment:

"His dose consisted of 25 pills which were

administered by Dr. Jacob Myers Constable

'Honesty is the best policy' "29 contrasts stran-

gely with the empathy displayed elsewhere.

Equally anomalous is Engelbrecht's lack of

comment on an event that occurred in Febru-

ary 1826. Jacob C. Nicholson, a resident of

Frederick, punished one of his Black inden-

tured servants, a certain James Toogood age

seven, by incarcerating him overnight in a

cold closet. Because he was naked, except for

a shirt, Toogood's legs and feet froze and he

[ 29 ]

died eight days later. An inquest was held in

Frederick Court and after almost ten hours of

deliberation Nicolson and his wife, who had

been tried as an accessory, were both found

not guilty of manslaughter. Other than

recording the facts, Engelbrecht voiced no

opinions.

Similarly, throughout his diary there are

many references to events among Frederick's

free Black community: church events, activi-

ties of various Black organizations such as the

masons and beneficial societies, and mar-

riages or deaths in the community. Yet, two

events that had the greatest impact on free

Blacks during the Antebellum period receive

only cursory attention from Engelbrecht.

Those events were the urban riots and the

activities of the American Colonization

Society. On August 14, 1835, for example, it

was reported:30

They had a kind of mob in Baltimore last week

— about the "Poultney Bank" business — it

happened between 7. & 10. of this month.& on

Monday or tuesday night, they had a small

Spree in Washington, about the "Nigg" busi-

ness Torn down Several black school houses

& burnt a black Church & c.

The "'Nigg' business" is a reference in this

case to the infamous "Snowhill Riot" of 1835

which sough to destroy the advances made by

free Blacks in Washington, D.C. through wan-

ton destruction of property and random vio-

lence directed at individuals. Englebrecht's

comments are remarkably casual.

Just as casual are his references to the

organization of a branch of the Colonization

Society of Friedrick. Although an auxiliary

was organized there in 1831, as early as August

13,1825 Engelbrecht reported being present

at a lecture given in Frederick's German

Reformed Church by Rev. Ralph R. Gurley,

agent of the American Colonization Society.

Lectures given ten days later by Gurley and

Francis Scott Key at the church presumably

also dealt with the program for returning free

Blacks to Africa but Englebrecht was more

concerned with Key's excessively long speech

than with its content.

The only interesting note which is offered

on the entire colonization scheme is found in

the September 21,1838 entry in which Engel-

brecht describes how a free Black named

Thomas Jackson, formerly owned by Ritchie

of Frederick, spoke at the Lutheran church on

his experiences in Maryland's African colony

since 1831. Still the objective observer, Engle-

brecht remarked on Jackson:" he will find it

difficult, to get those of his own Color, to

believe his Statements, too many of them have

no faith in the Colonization Scheme."31 But

where does our diarist stand? The answer is

silence until April 18,1853 where we find the

note that "Cornelius Campbell (of Robt) &

wife Mary Thomas. Ford & wife Rebecca

Thom Smith all colored" were leaving that

afternoon to sail for Liberia.

The ambivalence and contradictions which

we have found in the diary of Jacob Engel-

brecht are typical of the entire development

of Afro-German relations since the German-

town Protest. During the almost two centuries

between the formulation of the protest and

the outbreak of the Civil War it is not possible

to refer to Germans as an ethnic group united

by commonalities of language, religion, and

custom. Similarly, it is impossible to comment

on Afro-German relations as group interac-

tions; instead we find a myriad of individual

responses in which numerous discrepancies

and contradiction are present. The response

of German-speaking individuals of the first

migration to the African presence varied from

group to group.

Wealth and standing were an important

factor in so far as only wealthy and socially

prominent members of the Lutheran and

Reformed churches could afford to own

slaves. Moravians, however, bought slaves

and made them indentured servants with

results such as we have seen. The pietistic

groups such as Dunkards, Amish, and

Brethren have no documentable evidence of

a stand on slavery and their preference to

shun worldly matters removes them from

consideration on this issue. Given our current

information we can only conclude that Afro-

German relations before the Civil War in the

older German settlement areas can only be

fully understood if we divorce ourselves from

the ideology imposed by an incorrect inter-

pretation of the Germantown Protest. The

[ 30 ]

Protest was the laudable result of a few con-

scientious individuals who were able to wed

self-interest and a humanitarian concern for

a subjugated race. In the process they were

able to overcome an ethnocentrism which

affected not only their time but themselves as

well. Their descendants and successors have

not always been able to measure up to their

achievement.

— Leroy T. Hopkins

Millersville State University

NOTES

1

cf. LaVern J. Rippley, The German Americans (Lanham:

University Press of America, 1984), 163f.; Dieter Cunz, The

Maryland Germans (Princeton U. Press, 1948), 284.

2

Helen Tunnicliff Catterall (ed.), Judicial Cases concern-

ing American Slavery and the Negro, Vol. IV: Cases from the

Courts of New England, the Middle States, and the District of

Columbia, 1926 edition repr. (New York: Negro Universi-

ties Press, 1968), 8.

3

Joseph E. Illick, Colonial Pennsylvania: A History (New

York: Scribner, 1976), 63.

4

Louisa M. Waddell (ed.), "The Germantown Protest,"

Unity from Diversity (Harrisburg: Penna. Historical and

Museum Commission, 1980), 36f.

5

The historical record is not entirely clear but the

assientos or trade monopolies were given to entrepre-

neurs from many countries, including Germany. With the

ascendancy of Holland and England as sea powers the

entire transatlantic slave trade became the sole property

of one power.

6

Waddell, Germantown Protest.

7

ibid.

8

ibid.

9

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (eds.), Deutsches Wörterbuch,

6. Band: "L.M." (bearbeitet von Dr. Moriz Heyne)(Leip-

zig: S. Hirzel, 1885), Sp. 2472-2473.

10

The Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. VI "L-M" and Vol.

VII "N-O" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933), p. 645 and

p. 82, resp.

11

Kenneth L. Carroll, "Maryland Quakers and Slavery,"

in Quaker History, Vol. 72 (Spring 1983), No. 1, 41.

12

The Friend. A Religious and Literary Journal 17, No. 16

(March 13,1844), 125.

13

W. C. Reichel (trans.), A Register of the Members of the

Moravian Church . . . (Nazareth: 1873), 365.

14

J. Taylor Hamilton, A History of the Church known as the

Moravian Church (Bethelhem: 1900), 50.

15

Reichel, Register, 333.

16

Kenneth G. Hamilton (ed.), The Bethelhem Diary, Vol. I:

1742-1744 (Bethelhem: Archives of the Morvian Church,

1971), 105f.

17

in Samuel Pennypacker, "The Settlement of German-

town," Pennsylvania Magazine IV (1880), 25f.

18

John Casper Stoever, Early Lutheran Baptism and Mar-

riages in Southeastern Pennsylvania (Baltimore: Genealogi-

cal Publ., 1982), 5.

19

"Gideon Moore: Slaves, Freedom and Litigant," The

Penn Germania, l, No. 5 (May 1912), 365-368.

20

Frederick S. Weiser (trans.), Maryland German Church

Records, Vol. 3: Monocacy Lutheran Congregation and

Evangelical Lutheran Church, Baptisms 1742-1779, Fred-

erick, Frederick County, 10.

21

ibid, 16.

22

Pennsylvanische Berichte oder Sammlung wichtiger Nach-

richten aus Natur-und Kirchen-Reich, 250, p. l, col. l f.

Original text: Es ist mit grossem Jammer wahrgenommen

worden, daß die teutsche Nation sich nun auch gefallen

läßt, in den unmenschlichen Handel des Negerkauffens

sich einzulassen, weil sie keine teutsche Serven mehr

haben können.

23

Lathan A. Windley (ed.), Runaway Slave Advertise-

ments. A Documentary History from the 1730s to 1790, Vol. 2:

Maryland (Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1983), 399.

24

Unpartheyische Lancaster Zeitung und Anzeigs-Nachrich-

ten, Nr. 61, Mittwoch, den 1. Oktober 1787.

25

William R. Quynn (ed.), The Diary of Jacob Englebrecht,

1818-78 (Historical Society of Frederick County: 1976),

Vol. I: 1818-32, p. 38.

26

ibid, 179.

27

ibid., Vol. Ill: 1858-78, p. 523.

28

ibid., Vol. II: 1832-1858, p. 215 and p. 236.

Es ist um billigen Preißund sehr billige

Zahlungstermine zu Verkaufen

Eine negerfrau und 2 schöne Kinder,

Ein Knabe und ein Mädchen, (alle gehörig in der Amts-

stube nach einer Acte der Assembly registrirt). Die Frau

ist ein Sclav auf ihre Lebzeit, die Kinder sind verbunden

zu stehen bis sie 28 Jahr alt sind, sie ist nur 25 Jahr alt,

schickt sich in die Stadt oder aufs Land, sie kann sowohl

Deutsch als Englisch sprechen. Einige Art Getreide,

Flauer, Whisky oder andere Landes=Produktionen

werden nach dem Marketpreiß in Zahlung angeommen und

die Bedingungen dem Käufer erleichtert werden. Wer

Lust hat sie und die Kinder zu kaufen, kan den Preiß und

die Zahlungstermine erfahren bey dem Endsbenannten

wohnhaft bey dem Courthaus in Lancaster

Salomon Etting

N.B. Sie wolle über an einen Deutschen Bauer der nicht

zu weit von Lancaster wohnt, verkauft seyn

29

ibid.,VoI.I,p.220.

30

ibid.,Vo\. II, p. 171.

31

ibid., p. 317.

[ 31 ]