Many enslaved colonists took advantage of the War for Independence to try and secure their own freedom and liberty. Most Blacks sided with the British, as the British Army actively recruited men enslaved to Patriot masters and were seen as more likely to grant freedom. As many as 100,000 Blacks took advantage of the upheaval and opportunities to run away and many were killed as a result of the war. Far fewer, perhaps 5000, Black Americans served in the patriot forces on land and at sea.

Perhaps the best known Black Loyalist soldier is Colonel Tye. Titus, the man who would later be known as Colonel Tye, ran away from his master’s Monmouth County, NJ, farm in 1775. He would return to Monmouth County from his base with the British garrison on Staten Island, numerous times over the next five years to free enslaved men and women there, seize cattle, burn crops, and capture and kill patriot leaders and soldiers. Colonel Tye appears to have been one of the few militia leaders with whom British regulars would work with directly. He was wounded on a raid to capture a Patriot militia captain and ultimately died.

Of course the American Revolution did not end slavery in the United States or in New Jersey. The number of enslaved people in NJ continued to grow through the end of the 18th century. In 1804, NJ would be the last northern state to pass a law for the gradual emancipation of enslaved people.

Recovering the history and voices of those who were enslaved in America is a difficult task. Very few enslaved persons were permitted to learn how to read and write, let alone have the leisure time and access to pen and paper to commit their experiences to paper, or even write letters to friends and family. Similarly, enslaved persons did not have the material wealth to property or other lasting material goods that might provide evidence of their lives and experiences. Increasingly, historians have called upon archaeologists for help in uncovering (literally) fragmentary evidence of life for enslaved people through excavation and study of slave quarters in homes and on farms and plantations. Scholars also look to the history of African American culture--surviving folk tales, arts, and traditions--that speak to the surviving legacy of African culture and the emergence of a powerful African American culture within and despite the context of slavery. All too often, however, historians are left with documentary evidence written and recorded by the persons who claimed ownership over the enslaved. While these sources are not written by or reflect the perspective of the enslaved, it can be possible to tease out information on their lives, their material existence, and roles they played in American society. The sources here, while paltry, offer a tiny window into the experiences of people who are all too often invisible to history.

Enslaved labor has been recognized as crucial for the economic growth of New Jersey in the colonial and revolutionary eras. Enslaved persons possessed artisanal skills, performed agricultural and household labor, and enriched their masters in general.

Although specifics about the demographics of the labor force at Liberty Hall continue to elude scholars, we do know that Livingston relied upon both white and Black labor to maintain his home and ensure his leisure.

In his public role as governor, Livingston acknowledged that New Jersey slave owners had considerable economic motives for resisting calls for emancipation of the state’s enslaved persons. Especially after the War for Independence, the devastation of the state led to increased demands on labor, both Black and white. This, along with the continued growth of slavery in the decades after independence, shows that the use of enslaved labor was seen as profitable and necessary by white land owners.

Through this set of primary source documents, we can see the economic aspects of slavery and “ownership” of enslaved persons in the World of William Livingston.

As described in “Finding the Enslaved in the Sources,” historians frustratingly often must turn to archival documents written by those who claimed ownership over the enslaved to learn more about how enslavement was experienced. The letters included here, written by members of the Livingston and Kean families, address the institution of slavery as part of their everyday lives, from the perspective of how the enslaved entered into their (the “owners”) lived experiences. Nonetheless, the historian can learn about the lives of Abbe, Celia, and others who were enslaved in these letters, and how the institution of slavery shaped their lives. So as you read these sources, acknowledge that they were written by those who claimed ownership over the enslaved. But challenge yourself to ask questions of these sources about the perspective of enslaved persons. What do they tell us about their lives? Can you extrapolate their perspectives? experiences?

Like many of the Founding Fathers, William Livingston’s attitudes toward the institution of slavery are not easily explained or understood. Much of the established wealth of the Livingston family was derived from the trade in enslaved persons and from the staple crops produced by that enslaved labor. Among many other things, that wealth paid for Livignston’s education, provided his leisure, and lubricated his political and economic connections in New York and beyond.

By his account, William Livingston was more strongly in favor in manumission and emancipation than were most elite, white New Jerseyans. He professed to several correspondents a desire to establish laws for emancipation, but believed, correctly it would seem, that he did not have the support or the political capital to do so. At the Constitutional Convention as a committee chair, he secured a shorter continuation of the International Slave Trade than was finally adopted by the full convention.

In his personal life, Livingston seemingly had manumitted all of the Blacks enslaved to him by 178(6?) and wrote an effusive letter asking to join the New York Anti-Slavery Society, co-founded by his son-in-law, John Jay. Yet, he expressed no qualms when his recently widowed daughter, Kitty, asked to return to Liberty Hall and to bring with her enslaved men, women, and children.

Studying Livingston’s thoughts and actions on slavery is an especially powerful way to ‘do’ the work of the historian.