Slavery in New Jersey
Show #1302

Sunday April 6, 2008 at 9:30 am & 6:30 pm; Tuesday, April 8 at 11:30 pm

One New Jersey historian calls it "New Jersey's dirty little secret." Slavery, right here in the Garden State. It is a long and largely unknown chapter of state history, so when the Legislature issued a formal apology, it raised some questions ... and more than a little controversy. In this edition of Due Process, we examine the truth of slavery in New Jersey from its earliest colonial stage through the Civil War. In 1800, there were 14,000 slaves in this state, and slavery would not be abolished here until 1844 ... its illegality not a part of the State Constitution until 1866.

In a field piece that takes us from the apology dispute in the Assembly to a series of unheralded historic sites in South Brunswick, Newark and Montclair, Sandra King - with the help of Rutgers Historian Clement Price - uncovers the "secret" of New Jersey slavery and sets the stage for the studio debate. Raymond Brown's guests are Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, African Studies Professor. Barbara Wheeler and reparations advocate Diane Sammons.