1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. 4 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 2: Wilson. 5 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,600 Speaker 1: So I got reminded of today's episode because it's been, 6 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: you know, kind of lingering in the background for a 7 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: while while I was researching something else. And I'm sure 8 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,159 Speaker 1: this has happened to you where you're looking at a 9 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: historical paper online and then you see a headline in 10 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: another column and you go, oh, yeah, those two things 11 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: were happening around the same time. 12 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:33,840 Speaker 2: Yep. 13 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,480 Speaker 1: So this is the Christiana Incident. Sometimes it's also called 14 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: the Christiana Riot. It has other names as well, But 15 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: it offers a kind of unique snapshot of the US 16 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,879 Speaker 1: when the country was sorting into states where slavery was 17 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: upheld and states that had abolished it, and what the 18 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: resulting discord and racist tension really looked like at the 19 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: borders between those sides of the conflict in the mid 20 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: eighteen fifties. And this also offers insights into the lives 21 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: of the people most impacted by the practice of slavery, 22 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: black people, both enslaved and free. This is really considered 23 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: an important moment in the pre Civil War years of 24 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: the US because it led to the first legal test 25 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: of the Fugitive Slave Law of eighteen fifty which we'll 26 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: talk about in some detail. And in addition to looking 27 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: at the ways this impacted people's lives, the immediate aftermath 28 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 1: of the events at Christiania in eighteen fifty one also 29 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: gives us a glimpse into how the press, even in 30 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: abolitionist states, talked about and framed the violence in regard 31 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: to race. So that's what we're going to talk about today. 32 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 2: In eighteen forty nine, Noah Buley, Nelson Ford, George Hammond, 33 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 2: and Joshua Hammond all escaped enslavement from Edward Gorsitch's farm 34 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 2: in Baltimore County, Maryland. They made their way to Christiana, Pennsylvania, 35 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 2: a borough in Lancaster County. They found haven in the 36 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 2: hall of a man named William Parker, who had also 37 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 2: escaped enslavement, and he had made a life for himself 38 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 2: in Pennsylvania. He's really important to this story, so we're 39 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 2: going to take a minute to talk more about his history. 40 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 2: So William Parker was born on a Maryland plantation owned 41 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 2: by Major William Brogden and the plantation known as Rodown 42 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 2: was where his mother, Luisa Simms, was enslaved. Parker shared 43 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 2: his story with The Atlantic later in his life. We'll 44 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 2: talk about that down the road. And he never mentioned 45 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 2: a father in that story. It's a little unclear if 46 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 2: his narrative is intended to point to Major Brogden as 47 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 2: his father. That seems possible, although that is not his 48 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 2: last name, and we don't know where the name Parker 49 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 2: comes from in that case. But he wrote of Brogden quote, 50 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 2: my old master died while I was very young, so 51 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 2: I know little about him, except from statements received from 52 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 2: my fellow slaves or casual remarks made in my hearing 53 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 2: from time to time by white persons. I conclude that 54 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 2: he was in no way peculiar, but should be classed 55 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 2: with those slaveholders who are not remarkable, either for the 56 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 2: severity or the indulgence they extend to their people. Luisa 57 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 2: also died when William was a little boy, and at 58 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 2: that point his grandmother, who was also enslaved at wrote 59 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 2: Down as the cook for the main house, was his 60 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 2: nearest relative. She cared for him, but because she was 61 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 2: in demand at the house for so much of the day. 62 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 2: She only saw William very briefly. The rest of the time, 63 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 2: he was looked after by other enslaved people, who he 64 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 2: said were abusive to him until he learned to fight back. 65 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 2: After Major Brogden died, the plantation continued for several years 66 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 2: before the major's two sons split the property, and William 67 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 2: then became enslaved by David Brogden. Parker's account of life 68 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 2: enslaved by the Brogdens offers a lot of insight into 69 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 2: the various ways that enslaved people were dehumanized. For example, 70 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 2: he wrote quote slaveholders are particular to keep the pedigree 71 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 2: and age of favorite horses and dogs, but are quite 72 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 2: indifferent about the age of their servants until they want 73 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 2: to purchase. He also talks about specific instances of people 74 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 2: being sold off and the casual ways that families were separated. 75 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 2: Something he said that they all treated like a funeral 76 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 2: because they knew they were never going to see those 77 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 2: loved ones again. From the time he was young, William, 78 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 2: after having seen his first sale of enslaved people that 79 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 2: he had grown up with, plotted an escape. He had 80 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 2: tried to convince other young men to join him at 81 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 2: various times, but they were all generally too fearful of 82 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 2: the very real risks of running away, so he and 83 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 2: his brother Charles began just quietly planning to escape just 84 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 2: between themselves. Parker also wrote about how he actually wanted 85 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 2: to wait to leave until David Brogden mistreated him in 86 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 2: some way, noting quote, I was ignorant enough to think 87 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 2: that something besides the fact that I was a slave 88 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 2: was necess to exonerate me from blame in running away. 89 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 2: A cross word, a blow, a good fright, anything would do. 90 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 2: After a physical altercation with Brogden, in which William defended 91 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 2: himself and inflicted some sort of injury that we don't 92 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 2: specifically know what, William and his brother Charles just ram 93 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 2: He talked about how, even as a fugitive, the promise 94 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 2: of freedom quote lends wings to the feet, buoys up 95 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 2: the spirit within. The passage through Baltimore to Philadelphia was 96 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 2: trickier than the two men anticipated because they didn't realize 97 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 2: how quickly the news of their escape and the warrant 98 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 2: for their capture would spread. But they made it to 99 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 2: Pennsylvania and took various odd jobs to make money. William 100 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 2: wrote quote, I thought of my fellow servants left behind, 101 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,599 Speaker 2: bound in the chains of slavery, and I was free. 102 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 2: I thought that if I had the power, they should 103 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,160 Speaker 2: soon be as free as I was. And I formed 104 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 2: a resolution that I would assist in liberating everyone within 105 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 2: reach at the risk of my life, and that I 106 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 2: would devise some plan for their entire liberation. He was 107 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 2: able to see William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas speak together. 108 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 2: Parker had met Douglas when both men were enslaved, and 109 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 2: he was moved and inspired to see that he had 110 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 2: become an important voice in the abolitionist movement. Freshly inspired, 111 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 2: one of the things that Parker did was banned together 112 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 2: with other formerly enslaved people, to start a mutual protection group. 113 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 2: There were often kidnappers in the area looking for black 114 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 2: people to drag to slave states, hoping for a payoff, 115 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 2: whether those people had been enslaved previously or not. Before 116 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 2: the Christiania incident we're talking about today, Parker was involved 117 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 2: in a number of conflicts that often included physical altercations, 118 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,720 Speaker 2: as he and others in their protection group fought with 119 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:56,599 Speaker 2: kidnappers to get black captives away from them. When the 120 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 2: wife of a friend suggested that maybe they shouldn't be 121 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 2: so ready to fight, and that they could perhaps avoid 122 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 2: trouble instead of getting into it. Parker later said that 123 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 2: he told her quote, we must have trouble before we 124 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 2: could have peace. He was very frank in telling his 125 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 2: life story that these altercations often resulted in injuries and 126 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 2: even deaths for both kidnappers and protectors, but that even 127 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 2: knowing that could happen, their group always answered the call 128 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 2: when someone raised the alert that people were in danger 129 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 2: of being snatched. On one occasion, Parker and his group 130 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 2: learned that a black man who lived near Christiana had 131 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 2: been taking people who had run from enslavement into his 132 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 2: own home and then gaining their trust enough to get 133 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 2: their stories, and then turning and relaying their location to 134 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 2: their enslavers so that they could be recaptured. And William's 135 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 2: words quote at last, the betrayer's connection with these transactions 136 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 2: was clearly tracked, and it was decided to force him 137 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 2: to quit the nefarious business. This man was actually difficult 138 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 2: for Parker and his associates to corner, so after a 139 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 2: long run of failures, they decided to burn his home 140 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 2: to the ground, which they did. This is a pretty 141 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,559 Speaker 2: good indicator of just how serious William Parker was about 142 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 2: ending enslavement for as many people as possible and through 143 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 2: whatever means. It took. 144 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: Christiana, where Parker lived and where the four men who 145 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: had escaped Gorsuch's enslavement sought safety, is about seventy miles 146 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: from Baltimore and a little less than twenty five miles 147 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: from the Maryland state line. At the time, Maryland was 148 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: a slave state, So though there was inherent danger for 149 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 1: Parker in living there, he also recognized that Christiana, which 150 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: had a large Quaker and abolitionist population, could serve as 151 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: a refuge for people escaping enslavement In Maryland. Parker and 152 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: his wife, Eliza Ann Howard, who had also been enslaved, 153 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: rented a two story home that welcomed people in need 154 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: of shelter. 155 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 2: Coming up, we'll talk about the Fugitive Slave Act of 156 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 2: eighteen fifty, but first we'll pause or a sponsor break. 157 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 1: On September eighteenth, eighteen fifty, a piece of legislation that 158 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: has come up many times on the show was made 159 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 1: law by Congress. That was the Fugitive Slave Act, which then, 160 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 1: of course became the fugitive slave law. This was not 161 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: the first fugitive slave legislation, there had been one in 162 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety three, but the eighteen fifty Act, part of 163 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,319 Speaker 1: the Compromise of eighteen fifty, which sought to relieve some 164 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: of the tension between North and South over the issue 165 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 1: of slavery, gave a lot more agency and power to 166 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: enslavers and rendered some of the legal workarounds that had 167 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: been found to thwart the seventeen ninety three law useless. 168 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: This act stated that if a person quote held to 169 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: service or labor i e. Enslaved or to escape, that 170 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: the quote person or persons to whom such service or 171 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: labor may be due, or his her or their agent 172 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: or attorney, duly authorized by power of attorney in writing, 173 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: acknowledged and certified under the seal of some legal officer 174 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: or court of the state or territory in which the 175 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: say may be executed, may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person. 176 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: This could be done quote by seizing and arresting such fugitive, 177 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: where the same could be done without process, and by 178 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: taking or causing such person to be taken forthwith before 179 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: such court, judge or Commissioner, whose duty it shall be 180 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: to hear and determine the case of such claimant in 181 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: a summary manner. The law clearly stated that the testimony 182 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: of the apprehended person would not be admitted into evidence, 183 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: and that they could be taken back to the state 184 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: they ran from, even if they were captured in a 185 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: state that did not have legal enslavement. 186 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:54,839 Speaker 2: The act also noted that it was illegal to help 187 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 2: anyone escape from enslavement. This is relevant to today's story. 188 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 2: Read that section quote that any person who shall knowingly 189 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 2: and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent 190 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:12,959 Speaker 2: or attorney, or any person or person's lawfully assisting him, her, 191 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 2: or them from arresting such a fugitive from service or labor, 192 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:21,840 Speaker 2: either with or without process, as aforsaid, or shall rescue 193 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 2: or attempt to rescue such fugitive from service or labor 194 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 2: from the custody of such claimant, his or her agent 195 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 2: or attorney, or other person or person's lawfully assisting as aforesaid, 196 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 2: when so arrested, pursue it to the authority herein given 197 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 2: and declared, or shall aid a bet or assist such 198 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 2: person so owing service or labor as aforesaid, directly or 199 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 2: indirectly to escape from such claimant, his agent or attorney, 200 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 2: or other person or persons legally authorized as aforesaid, or 201 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 2: shall harbor or conceal such fugitive so as to prevent 202 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 2: the discovery and arrest of such person after notice or 203 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 2: knowledge of the fact that such person was a fugitive 204 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 2: from service or labor, as aforesaid, shall or either of 205 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 2: set offenses be subject to a fine not exceeding one 206 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 2: thousand dollars and imprisonment not exceeding six months. 207 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 1: With the fugitive slave law in place, Edward Gorsuch believed 208 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: that he had a right to retrieve the four men 209 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: who had escaped from his farm in eighteen forty nine, 210 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,440 Speaker 1: and so on September ninth, eighteen fifty one, he arrived 211 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: in Philadelphia to get all the paperwork in order to 212 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: follow up on a tip that the men were being 213 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 1: sheltered nearby. He went to a judge invokes a Fugitive 214 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: Slave Act and asked for warrants to get beuley Ford 215 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: and the Hammonds, and he received those warrants. The US 216 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: Deputy Marshall HH Klein was authorized to arrest the men 217 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: and two Philadelphia police officers, John Agent and Thompson Tully, 218 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: were brought onto the team by Gorsicch to back up climb. 219 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 2: The group did not initially head to William Parker's home together. 220 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 2: They split up and then reconvened at Gap, Pennsylvania, which 221 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 2: is a little less than three miles north of Christiana. 222 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 2: There's some confusing back and forth as the men all 223 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 2: tried to meet back up, but by one am on 224 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 2: September eleventh, they had all arrived at Gap and set 225 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 2: out for Christiana together on foot. In addition to the 226 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 2: men already mentioned, the party included Gorsich's son Dickinson and 227 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 2: his nephew Joshua, as well as three other men acquainted 228 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 2: with the Gorsics family. Those were Nathan Nelson, Thomas Pearce, 229 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 2: and Nicholas Hutchings. They also had a guide who met 230 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 2: them as they approached Christiana. That guide, William Paget, had 231 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 2: given Gorsich information about where to find the escaped men 232 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 2: in exchange for payment. He did not stay with the 233 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:57,080 Speaker 2: group once they reached their destination of Parker's home. That 234 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 2: is probably because Paget, who was a white farm hand, 235 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:06,000 Speaker 2: eventually was revealed to have been a person who would 236 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 2: feign to be friendly to black people who had escaped 237 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 2: enslavement and then get their stories, and then he would 238 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 2: sell them out. So he probably did not want anyone 239 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 2: at William Parker's home to see him. According to Parker's account, 240 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 2: he had heard that slaveholders were planning to show up 241 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 2: at his house, but he also didn't think much of 242 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 2: it because he heard that literally all the time. He 243 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 2: was so involved in this fight that there was always 244 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 2: someone coming to get him. But there was also another 245 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 2: group of people heading to his house. Because while William 246 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 2: Parker had not been convinced of the imminent arrival of 247 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 2: the Gorsach Posse, many people in Philadelphia were, and they 248 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:49,160 Speaker 2: had been organizing their own counter attack. There had been 249 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 2: numerous instances in the twelve months since the Fugitive Slave 250 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:56,280 Speaker 2: Act was passed of people being taken from Christiania, never 251 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 2: to be heard from again, and no follow up ever 252 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 2: presented as to what had become of them, and that 253 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 2: had put the area's residence on very high alert. Since 254 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 2: the passing of the eighteen fifty Fugitive Slave Law, a 255 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 2: resistance force against kidnappers who planned to invoke it had 256 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 2: been organizing and they knew that Parker's house was a target. 257 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 2: According to Parker, this group was known as the Special 258 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 2: Secret Committee, and a member of this group, Samuel Williams, 259 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 2: had done some very impressive and really courageous spy work 260 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 2: in tailing Kleine as he made his way through Pennsylvania, 261 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 2: and Samuel also got close enough to the Gorsach gang 262 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 2: to gather all of the pertinent information about their plans 263 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 2: at Parker's farm, and then he carried that information back 264 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 2: to the organized group. When the Gorsach posse approached the house, 265 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 2: they found the group who had assembled to keep them 266 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 2: from kidnapping anyone, but the Gorsach group yelled for the 267 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 2: escaped men to come out. When nobody did, there were 268 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 2: threats that they would burn the house down and shoot 269 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 2: everybody inside, but still no one emerged. At this point, 270 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 2: there were seven people in the house, William Parker and 271 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 2: his wife Eliza, Eliza's sister Hannah, Hannah's husband Alexander Abraham Johnson, 272 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 2: and two of the men Gorsuch was hunting, Nelson Ford 273 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 2: and Joshua Hammond. After making several demands that the escaped 274 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 2: men come out, Gorsich and his men advanced toward the home, 275 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 2: and at that point they saw a black man running 276 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 2: from it. Gorsuch believed it had been one of the 277 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 2: men he wished to apprehend, and Cleine pursued him, although 278 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 2: then Kleine fell when he encountered an obstacle in the yard. 279 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 2: Several other members of Gorsich's group entered the house through 280 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 2: the open door and continue their demands that the sought 281 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 2: after men come down, but again nobody did. They attempted 282 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,560 Speaker 2: to climb the stairs, but they were met with a 283 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 2: fish gig that is a tool that looks kind of 284 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 2: like a trident, and then an axe was allegedly thrown 285 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 2: down at them, and they went outside at that point 286 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 2: and yelled up at the second story windows, although Kleine, 287 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,919 Speaker 2: who had recovered his balance and come into the house, 288 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 2: tried shooting up the stairs, but he didn't hit anything 289 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,400 Speaker 2: of note. According to Parker's version of events, he had 290 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 2: been the one who actually met them on the stairs. 291 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 2: He doesn't mention holding this fish gig, but he did 292 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,360 Speaker 2: tell them to leave. The Gorsach party once again asserted 293 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 2: their legal right to be there and to pursue the 294 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 2: men who had escaped enslavement. As all of this was 295 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 2: playing out, a black passerby saw this commotion, and when 296 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 2: he tried to approach the scene, somebody brandished a gun 297 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,640 Speaker 2: at him. He left, but he spread the news as 298 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:43,680 Speaker 2: quickly as he could that there were kidnappers at William 299 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 2: Parker's house, and soon more men started to arrive on 300 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 2: the scene, carrying a variety of makeshift weapons. In addition 301 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 2: to the mostly black crowd, there were two white Quakers, 302 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:59,160 Speaker 2: Castner Hanway and Elijah Lewis, who arrived on site. Hanway 303 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 2: was a miller and Lewis was a shopkeeper. The members 304 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 2: of Gorsuch's group had mixed reads of what their intent was. 305 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 2: Klein believed they were there to help with the seizure 306 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 2: of the escaped men, but they did not. Hanway actually 307 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,879 Speaker 2: tried to disperse both sides of the dispute, telling Klein 308 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 2: that if they proceeded with their plan, it would likely 309 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 2: go very badly. He also tried to motion to the 310 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 2: assembled black crowd to back down. According to accounts relayed later, 311 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,440 Speaker 2: Klein took off into an adjacent field, calling to the 312 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 2: other members of the Gorsach group to retreat, but Edward 313 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 2: Gorsich would not, and was adamant that he was going 314 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:43,199 Speaker 2: to retrieve his property. The tension of the situation escalated. 315 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,359 Speaker 1: And soon there was a violent melee. This whole thing 316 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 1: from when Gorsich and his group arrived to when it 317 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,199 Speaker 1: was all over was less than two hours, but the 318 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 1: details of what precisely happened during the ensuing fight were 319 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: very inconsistent from account to account. Will probably never know 320 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: exactly how everything played out. 321 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 2: In a moment, we'll talk about the way this incident 322 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 2: was initially reported and how the ensuing trial played out. 323 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 2: But first we will hear from the sponsors that keep 324 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 2: Stuffy Miss in history class going. Here's how the early 325 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,880 Speaker 2: reports in newspapers recounted the scene in the days immediately 326 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 2: following this conflict. This one that we're reading is from 327 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 2: the Boston Evening transcript quote, A fearful fugitive slave riot 328 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 2: occurred at Christiania, Lancaster County, yesterday morning. Mister Gorsuch, the 329 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,360 Speaker 2: owner of the slave, was killed and his son mortally wounded. 330 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 2: Several other persons were injured. The officers were driven from 331 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 2: the ground by eighty armed negroes. That number of armed 332 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 2: black men was wildly different from account to account, and 333 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 2: when I say wildly, some account say fifteen, some say 334 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 2: two hundred. That's a big range. 335 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: The largest end of the scale actually probably wasn't realistic 336 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: given the number of black people living in the area, 337 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: like those numbers just could not have assembled. And some 338 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: estimates based on who would have been living nearby and 339 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: able to mobilize in the short period of time that 340 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,880 Speaker 1: this conflict took place, taking into account a planned group 341 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 1: that also came to protect the enslaved people, put the 342 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: number closer to like maybe two or three dozen men. 343 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 1: Additional details that appeared in early news coverage make it 344 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:39,200 Speaker 1: clear that the information journalists received was not entirely accurate. 345 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,199 Speaker 1: For example, that same account says that Gorsuch was hunting 346 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: two men, not four, and that his two sons were 347 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,440 Speaker 1: with him rather than a son and a nephew. One 348 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: update to this story stated that Dickinson Gorsich had also 349 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: been killed. That was incorrect, although he did sustain serious injuries. 350 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: Black men assembled are also described as all carrying guns, 351 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: but in reality, there were just a couple of guns. 352 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: Most of them were carrying things like axes and corn knives, 353 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: things they could just pick up on. Really short notice. 354 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: Some accounts stated that a horn had been blown in 355 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: the house, which called between sixty and eighty armed black 356 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,199 Speaker 1: men out of the woods. There was a horn, and 357 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,399 Speaker 1: it was blown by Parker's wife, Eliza, both to warn 358 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: people and to call for help. She was shot at 359 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: as soon as she started blowing it, but the bullets 360 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,120 Speaker 1: missed and she kept going ducking down in the window 361 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 1: for safety. So these first ride ups, which informed early 362 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: opinions on what had happened, had a range of errors, 363 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: some of them relatively harmless, but others that really misrepresented 364 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: the situation. And because Edward Gorsuch had been killed, authorities 365 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: were eager to arrest someone that they could charge with 366 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:57,159 Speaker 1: the murder. 367 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,360 Speaker 2: It was also reported that the murderer was definitely one 368 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 2: of the men who had escaped from Gorsich in Maryland. 369 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 2: Two weeks later, The New York Times ran an account 370 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 2: of the events at Christiania as told by Gorsich's son, 371 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 2: stating quote, it is written by the son of mister Gorsich, 372 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,360 Speaker 2: who is a clergyman and a man of good standing 373 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:22,200 Speaker 2: and character. His narrative is undoubtedly reliable and presents an 374 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:27,440 Speaker 2: accurate statement of all the circumstances of this atrocious outrage. 375 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,400 Speaker 2: The affair was even worse than what we had suspected. 376 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 2: It was evidently a conspiracy planned beforehand to resist the 377 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,919 Speaker 2: officers of the law and the execution of their duty. 378 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 2: And even then it was not confined to the negroes, 379 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,159 Speaker 2: but was apparently under the guidance and control of whites. So, 380 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 2: according to Dickinson Gorsuch's version of the story, as relaid 381 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 2: by the New York Times, when a Quaker white man 382 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 2: rode up on a horse, this was Castner Hanway, who, 383 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:57,199 Speaker 2: by the way, rode up on a horse because he 384 00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 2: really was not in great health and couldn't walk the 385 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 2: short distance to the house that this arrival inspired the 386 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:08,400 Speaker 2: crowd quote with renewed hostility. Dickinson also claimed that Hanway 387 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 2: threatened the officers after he refused to help them apprehend 388 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 2: the fugitive men, and this narrative carried with it a 389 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:22,439 Speaker 2: decidedly anti abolitionist take quote, no plea of conscience or 390 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 2: regard for divine law will be made by the perpetrators 391 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,920 Speaker 2: of this outrage. A man would be adjudged insane who 392 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:34,080 Speaker 2: should seriously claim that God's law required him to murder 393 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 2: men charged with the execution of the laws of the land. 394 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:40,639 Speaker 2: The write up goes on to claim that the writer 395 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,879 Speaker 2: respects that different people have different values, noting, however, that 396 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 2: quote the laws excuse the Quakers who plead regard for 397 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 2: a higher law as a reason for not obeying the 398 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 2: law which enjoins the performance of military duty. But it 399 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 2: would scarcely tolerate an armed attempt on the part of 400 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 2: the Quakers to prevent anybody else from obeying the law. 401 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,679 Speaker 2: The truth is, as we said, we do not know 402 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 2: with certainty exactly how things played out in the conflict, 403 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,880 Speaker 2: as accounts differ greatly. But even in those examples we've 404 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:15,360 Speaker 2: been reading, right, it sounds almost like in the warning 405 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,919 Speaker 2: that Hanway gave to the Gorsach people to go away, 406 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,640 Speaker 2: he was trying to say, if you believe one version, hey, 407 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,959 Speaker 2: this is not going to go well. For everyone's safety, 408 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 2: you should leave. And in the Dickinson version he was 409 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,880 Speaker 2: threatening them that they had to leave. So what gets 410 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 2: interesting is that even accounts given by the same witness 411 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,919 Speaker 2: changed in some instances. So US Deputy Marshall Henry Klein, 412 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 2: who as we've been talking about, was part of the 413 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:49,159 Speaker 2: crew that Gorsetch rode into Christiana with gave testimony on 414 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 2: the stand that Castner Hanway had started the violence by 415 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,360 Speaker 2: riling up the black resistors, but that story changed when 416 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 2: he was cross examined. Once he was asked more pointed questions, 417 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 2: the truth came out he had actually hidden in the 418 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,680 Speaker 2: cornfield when things got contentious, so he didn't really see 419 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:13,719 Speaker 2: what happened. After that bit of detail emerged, Hanway's defense 420 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 2: team had literally dozens of character witnesses who were willing 421 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,119 Speaker 2: to state that Klein was known to be an habitual liar, 422 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 2: a known kidnapper of black people for his own benefit, 423 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 2: and a completely untrustworthy person. And the trial in which 424 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 2: all of that came out was the treason trial of 425 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 2: Castner Hanway. He and two other Quakers, Elijah Lewis and 426 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 2: Jeremiah Scarlett, had been arrested and charged, as well as 427 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:45,040 Speaker 2: twenty five black men. There were a total of thirty 428 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,239 Speaker 2: nine indictments, but not all of those named on the 429 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:52,040 Speaker 2: indictments could be found. It was believed those outside the 430 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 2: twenty eight in custody had escaped. To be clear, there 431 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 2: were a lot more arrests than that, because once the 432 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 2: dust had self professed quote, slave catchers came out of 433 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,359 Speaker 2: the woodwork. They captured any person of color they saw 434 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 2: in the hopes that they could profit from it. But 435 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 2: other than the thirty one people mentioned, no charges were 436 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 2: made against the dozens of others taken in. William Parker 437 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 2: had made his way to Canada to avoid arrest. Hanway, Lewis, 438 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,199 Speaker 2: and Scarlett were allowed to spend their days together in 439 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 2: a cell. In the two months in change that they 440 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 2: were held before the trial. They had a lot of 441 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 2: regular visitors who brought them food and kept them company. 442 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,120 Speaker 2: The black detainees, by contrast, were not allowed to socialize 443 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 2: even with one another. The plan was to try all 444 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 2: of these people for treason against the United States. If 445 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,520 Speaker 2: acquitted on that charge, there would be a second round 446 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,879 Speaker 2: of charges of murder, and then, if acquitted, a third 447 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,120 Speaker 2: charge of obstructing the marshal and aiding enslaved people in escape. 448 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 2: But the prosecution had opted to try each defendant separately, 449 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 2: and Hanway's trial was first, as he had been characterized 450 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 2: as the ring leader of the group that overtook Gorsich 451 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,119 Speaker 2: and his crew. The thinking on the part of the 452 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 2: prosecution was that if they could get a guilty verdict 453 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:13,640 Speaker 2: against him. 454 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,680 Speaker 1: A white man and a Quaker, the rest of their 455 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: work was going to be easy, but this strategy backfired. 456 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: Abolitionist Thatdius Stevens was the head of the defense team. 457 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: The prosecution was led by US District Attorney John w Ashmead. 458 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: This trial played out over three weeks, starting November twenty 459 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:37,479 Speaker 1: fourth and running until December sixteenth. The opening statement of 460 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,200 Speaker 1: the defense lays the groundwork to discredit the treason charge 461 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,680 Speaker 1: for all of the men arrested for the incident in Christiana, 462 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,919 Speaker 1: although the primary setup establishes that Castner Hanway was not 463 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:53,160 Speaker 1: responsible for any of it. Quote, this defendant gentleman, is 464 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 1: not here, through his council, to defend those sad deeds 465 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: which disgraced the sweet and peaceful valley near Christiani on 466 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:04,199 Speaker 1: the ninth of September last, or by one unkind or 467 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: reproachful word to open again the yet fresh wounds of 468 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: any member of that family which suffered so deeply there. 469 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:14,760 Speaker 1: It is no part of his defense to defend those 470 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: who took part in that conflict. His defense is simply 471 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: that he was in no way a party to these outrages, 472 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,880 Speaker 1: but as a precaution, I shall pass beyond this line, 473 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: and added to this will open to you that, however 474 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,719 Speaker 1: grave and serious may be and is the offense of 475 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: those who took part in those outrages, yet it does 476 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:39,239 Speaker 1: not amount to the offense charged in the indictment on 477 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: the borders of Lancaster County. Their realty is a band 478 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: of miscreants who are well known to the laws and 479 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 1: well known to the records of the penitentiary in this state. 480 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: They are professional kidnappers. These men, by a series of 481 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:58,719 Speaker 1: lawless and diabolical outrages, have invaded the peace of this valley, 482 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: begetting and every household and a general sense of insecurity 483 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:08,440 Speaker 1: in every home. Treason shall consist only in levying war 484 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 1: against the United States. Do the facts of the case 485 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: sustain the charge? 486 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 2: Sir? Did you hear it that three harmless, non resisting 487 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 2: Quakers and eight and thirty wretched, miserable, penniless negroes, armed 488 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 2: with corn cutters, clubs, and a few muskets, and headed 489 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 2: by a miller in a felt hat, without a coat, 490 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 2: without arms, and mounted on a sorrel nag, levied war 491 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,720 Speaker 2: against the United States. Blessed be God that our union 492 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 2: has survived the shock. I love a little sarcasm. The 493 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 2: prosecution saw witness after witness failed to help their case 494 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 2: on the stand. Most of them were caught in lies, 495 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 2: just as Klein had been. While the various witnesses called 496 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 2: by both sides told different versions of the story, a 497 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 2: few facts were consistent throughout, and most damning was that 498 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 2: it had actually been or such as group that had 499 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 2: been the first to become violent. When the court proceedings concluded, 500 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,120 Speaker 2: the jury only deliberated for fifteen minutes before coming back 501 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 2: with a not guilty verdict for Hanway, and the opposite 502 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,719 Speaker 2: of the prosecution's plan played out from there. Because Klein 503 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 2: had been the lynchpin of their entire case and their 504 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:24,080 Speaker 2: plan going forward with all of the subsequent charges, and 505 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 2: when he was discredited in the first trial and no 506 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 2: other hard evidence had been presented, there really wasn't anything 507 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 2: to move forward with. The grand jury dismissed all remaining 508 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 2: charges and all of the men who had been charged 509 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 2: were released by January sixteenth, eighteen fifty two. The result 510 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 2: of the trial incensed many Southerners, who felt it was 511 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 2: always unfairly biased because it took place in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. 512 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 2: There had already been a sentiment that the Fugitive Slave 513 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 2: Law was a case of the federal government infringing on states' rights, 514 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 2: but as the prosecution failed to establish any real evidence 515 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 2: for their narrative in the case against Tanway or any 516 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 2: of the defendants, really that point is almost moot. Just 517 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 2: the same, the controversy over the outcome only added to 518 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:18,040 Speaker 2: the already tense relations between the northern and Southern states. 519 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,160 Speaker 2: It's sometimes called the first Battle of the Civil War. 520 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 2: In a surprising coda to this story, Edward Gorsuch's son Dickinson, 521 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 2: who as we mentioned, had been really seriously injured, was 522 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 2: nursed back to health by a Christiana Quaker named Levi Pownall, 523 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,920 Speaker 2: and over the course of receiving Pownall's care, it appears 524 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 2: that Dickinson actually had a fairly significant change of heart 525 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 2: regarding the situation, and he eventually sought to reconcile with 526 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 2: the people that his family had fought against, and he 527 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 2: reportedly enjoyed a pretty positive relationship with many of Christiana's 528 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 2: citizens up until his death. In eighteen eighty two, William 529 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 2: Parker relocated to Buxton, cam and settled there while he 530 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 2: had initially run away from Christiana without Eliza. The two 531 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 2: of them were reunited in Canada, although he eventually left 532 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,680 Speaker 2: Eliza for another woman, and eighteen sixty six The Atlantic 533 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 2: Monthly published his life story in two parts. That is 534 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 2: the piece which we quoted from a good bit in 535 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:20,840 Speaker 2: the early part of this, and I will say there 536 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 2: are some general notations about like we don't know how 537 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 2: accurate his version is or not, But to me it's 538 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 2: his lived experience and thus becomes a pretty important narrative 539 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 2: of what was going on at the time. As for 540 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 2: the four men whose escape started the whole thing, Noah 541 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 2: Bulee Nelson for George Hammond and Joshua Hammond, what happened 542 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 2: to them after the incident is not known. They were 543 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 2: not captured, and it is often speculated that they followed 544 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 2: William Parker to Canada. 545 00:32:55,720 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, this story is so so ceaselessly interesting to me. 546 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 1: I particularly am fascinated by the press coverage. But in 547 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: the meantime I have very unrelated listener mail. This is 548 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 1: from our listener James, who writes, Hi, Holly and Tracy. First, 549 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 1: let me say I love your show. I've been listening 550 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:22,200 Speaker 1: since high school, right around the time the show became yours. 551 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:24,040 Speaker 1: I used to listen on the bus on my way 552 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,280 Speaker 1: to school. Now I listen while I clean stalls and 553 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 1: portion out. Hey, you make the dullest and hardest tasks 554 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 1: go by so fast. I honestly don't know how I 555 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,360 Speaker 1: would make it through my longest work days without your help. 556 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,080 Speaker 1: About a year ago, I got divorced. I remember your divorce. 557 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: Ranch's episode came out about a month after the topic 558 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: had been broached between my now ex wife and I. 559 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: As stressed out and depressed as I was, the episode 560 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,520 Speaker 1: inspired me. I couldn't take the time off of work 561 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 1: to go to Nevada for six weeks, but I did 562 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: take a few days and took off for the coast 563 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 1: all alone, my first trip by myself in six years. 564 00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: It was a big step for me at the time, 565 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:00,920 Speaker 1: and I'm happy to say I'm doing much better these days, 566 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: and I'm very happy to be an independent person again. 567 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:06,920 Speaker 1: I'm so glad you were doing well since my divorce. 568 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:10,440 Speaker 1: I've had a second Spotify profile sitting around collecting dust. 569 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,320 Speaker 1: When you released your episode on yan Arison, I was 570 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,800 Speaker 1: struck with inspiration. I sent my grandma up on Spotify 571 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: and I'm happy to report this. She's becoming an avid listener. 572 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 1: She's been telling all her elderly friends about your show 573 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:25,799 Speaker 1: and was thrilled to discover a distant personal connection to 574 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,960 Speaker 1: Joan Arison. One of her lifelong friends has Icelandic ancestry 575 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:34,080 Speaker 1: and claims as many do Joan Arison as a direct ancestor. 576 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,360 Speaker 1: I have attached my pet tax to Bambino sphinxes. The 577 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,200 Speaker 1: big Siamese is Quirk, my fat little boy, built like 578 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:45,240 Speaker 1: a bulldog and easily confused. The Tortoiseshell is Dax, my frail, 579 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,440 Speaker 1: middle aged old lady eternally grumpy unless she's in a lap. 580 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,880 Speaker 1: Also a picture of Evi and Xander grazing two of 581 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:55,960 Speaker 1: my favorite horses at the Thoroughbred Sanctuary. I love these 582 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:58,840 Speaker 1: pet tax pictures. I love these names for your cats. Hello, 583 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:03,400 Speaker 1: little Star Trek reference makes me happy, and the horses 584 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:06,560 Speaker 1: are absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing this 585 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:10,280 Speaker 1: story with us. I love the idea that you turned 586 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:15,319 Speaker 1: your grandma on to new things and new ways to 587 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:17,640 Speaker 1: talk about history. I love it so much. So I'm 588 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:19,800 Speaker 1: glad you're doing well, James, and I will be thinking 589 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,239 Speaker 1: of you if you would like to write to us, 590 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: you can do so at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 591 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:27,279 Speaker 1: If you would like to subscribe to the show and 592 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,160 Speaker 1: you haven't gotten around to it yet, I promise is 593 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 1: so easy. You can do that on the iHeartRadio app, 594 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:35,240 Speaker 1: or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. 595 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:42,200 Speaker 2: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 596 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 597 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,280 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.