Local History Talk: Slavery of Indigenous Persons in Colonial New York and New Jersey

This virtual talk is presented by Linford D. Fisher, Associate Professor of History at Brown University.

Indigenous peoples played important roles in the histories of Dutch colonialism and the colonies that later became New York and New Jersey. This public talk delves into one aspect of these histories and interactions, namely, the enslavement (and, at times, transshipment) of local Indigenous populations. Drawing upon colonial records and newspaper ads, Fisher argues that enslaved Indigenous people were present in these places far longer than we might expect and in ways that suggest a more diverse enslaved and unfree labor force than we have previously imagined.