Fugitives, Whaling, and the Antebellum Coasting Trade:

The Case of New Bedford, Massachusetts

Outline for Place in Massachusetts History Presentation

Kathryn Grover New Bedford Historian

  1. Statistical view of population of color in New Bedford, 1850
    1. Comparisons to other northern port cities, 1850
      1. percent born in slave states
      2. percent nonwhite population of total population
      3. percent nonwhite population change, 1850-60
  2. Triangulating primary sources on possible slave-state origins
  3. The antebellum Atlantic coastal trade
    1. difficulty of overland travel along southern Atlantic coast vs. facility of waterborne travel
    2. vitality and nature of New Bedford coastal trade with southern ports
    3. kin, political, and economic connections between southeastern MA and southern merchants
  4. Ubiquity of people of color in maritime trades, North and South
    1. existence of documented fugitive assistants among maritime workers in North and South
    2. fugitives’ awareness of maritime, customs, coastal trade routes, sympathetic crew and captains to plan escapes
  5. Extent of fugitive traffic as reported in southern press and secondary historical accounts
  6. Extent of fugitive presence, as reported by contemporaries, in New Bedford, 1830s-1850s
  7. Documented presence of fugitives on New Bedford whaling vessels to 1863