Unregistered
09-21-2020, 01:00 AM
https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/black-kings-governors-new-england/
From about 1750 to 1850, New England had at least 31 elected black kings and governors.
They were elected on ‘Negroes Hallowday’ or ‘Negroes Election Day,’ the most important day of the year. Black men held it annually on the same day the white men of New England gathered to vote for their leaders.
For New England’s African slaves, Election Day meant more than a rare break from toil and a chance to poke fun at their white masters. They could express pride in their African heritage. And they could elect black kings and governors to maintain discipline among the slaves. Better they do it than their white masters.
African-Americans elected a king in Portsmouth, N.H. So did the Massachusetts towns of Salem and Lynn.
One of New England’s black kings, Nero Brewster, had been born of royal lineage in Africa early in the 18th century. As a child, slavers captured him, took him to the American colonies and sold him to a wealthy tavern owner in Portsmouth, N.H.
Other black kings had royal African blood. Even before the Negro Election began in Lynn, Mass., African immigrants honored a prince of Africa named Pompey. Slavers had captured and sold him, but his master freed him when he grew too old to work.
Portsmouth’s Negro Election Day was probably typical of what happened throughout New England.
Black King Nero dressed in his finest clothes to lead a procession of slaves and freedmen from Portsmouth and neighboring towns. His honor guard, perhaps decked out in feathers, flowers and ribbons, accompanied him.
The parade started with the crack of a gunshot. Marchers made a happy racket with many African languages, more gunshots and music from tambourines, banjos, fiddles and drums. All the slaves wore their best clothes, often hand-me-downs from their masters, altered with an African flair. They borrowed swords, guns and even horses from their masters.
We can glean an idea of what their costumes looked like from a description of a runaway slave. He wore a Saxon blue jacket with bright green baize lining, slash sleeves and small metal buttons, a brown sleeveless jacket and scarlet breeches.
In Portsmouth and elsewhere, bondsmen deliberately played the fool in their gaudy Election Day costumes. White people looked on with enjoyment, belittling the slaves’ deportment and clothing as “fantastic.”
Black King Nero died a slave, and possibly as the last black king of Portsmouth.
https://i.imgur.com/kcwTjvW.png
From about 1750 to 1850, New England had at least 31 elected black kings and governors.
They were elected on ‘Negroes Hallowday’ or ‘Negroes Election Day,’ the most important day of the year. Black men held it annually on the same day the white men of New England gathered to vote for their leaders.
For New England’s African slaves, Election Day meant more than a rare break from toil and a chance to poke fun at their white masters. They could express pride in their African heritage. And they could elect black kings and governors to maintain discipline among the slaves. Better they do it than their white masters.
African-Americans elected a king in Portsmouth, N.H. So did the Massachusetts towns of Salem and Lynn.
One of New England’s black kings, Nero Brewster, had been born of royal lineage in Africa early in the 18th century. As a child, slavers captured him, took him to the American colonies and sold him to a wealthy tavern owner in Portsmouth, N.H.
Other black kings had royal African blood. Even before the Negro Election began in Lynn, Mass., African immigrants honored a prince of Africa named Pompey. Slavers had captured and sold him, but his master freed him when he grew too old to work.
Portsmouth’s Negro Election Day was probably typical of what happened throughout New England.
Black King Nero dressed in his finest clothes to lead a procession of slaves and freedmen from Portsmouth and neighboring towns. His honor guard, perhaps decked out in feathers, flowers and ribbons, accompanied him.
The parade started with the crack of a gunshot. Marchers made a happy racket with many African languages, more gunshots and music from tambourines, banjos, fiddles and drums. All the slaves wore their best clothes, often hand-me-downs from their masters, altered with an African flair. They borrowed swords, guns and even horses from their masters.
We can glean an idea of what their costumes looked like from a description of a runaway slave. He wore a Saxon blue jacket with bright green baize lining, slash sleeves and small metal buttons, a brown sleeveless jacket and scarlet breeches.
In Portsmouth and elsewhere, bondsmen deliberately played the fool in their gaudy Election Day costumes. White people looked on with enjoyment, belittling the slaves’ deportment and clothing as “fantastic.”
Black King Nero died a slave, and possibly as the last black king of Portsmouth.
https://i.imgur.com/kcwTjvW.png