African Burial Ground National Monument facts for kids
Quick facts for kids African Burial Ground National Monument |
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 African Burial Ground National Monument
Location in Manhattan
African Burial Ground National Monument
Location in New York City
African Burial Ground National Monument
Location in New York
African Burial Ground National Monument
Location in the United States
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| Location | 290 Broadway, New York, NY 10007 |
| Area | 0.35 acres (0.14 ha) |
| Created | February 27, 2006 |
| Visitors | 108,585 (in 2011) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | African Burial Ground National Monument |
| Designated: | April 19, 1993 |
| Reference #: | 93001597 |
| Architects: | Rodney Léon and Nicole Hollant Denis |
| Designated: | February 27, 2006 |
The African Burial Ground National Monument is a special place in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is located near Duane Street and African Burial Ground Way. This site holds the remains of over 419 Africans who were buried there in the late 1600s and 1700s.
This area was once the largest cemetery for people of African descent during the colonial era. Some of these people were free, but most were enslaved. Experts believe that between 10,000 and 20,000 people might have been buried here. In the 1700s, it was known as the "Negroes Burial Ground."
Finding and studying this burial ground was a very important historical project in the United States. It showed how much enslaved Africans helped build New York City. By the time of the American Revolutionary War, nearly a quarter of New York City's population was enslaved. New York had the second-highest number of enslaved Africans in the country, after Charleston, South Carolina.
Scholars and community leaders worked together to share the importance of this site. They also pushed for it to be protected. In 1993, it became a National Historic Landmark. Then, in 2006, President George W. Bush made it a National Monument.
In 2003, the United States Congress provided money for a memorial at the site. They also asked for the federal courthouse design to be changed to make room for it. Many designs were submitted for the memorial. It was officially opened in 2007. The memorial honors the role of Africans and African Americans in the history of New York City and the United States. A visitor center opened in 2010. It helps people learn about the site and African-American history in New York.
Contents
Africans in New York City's Early Days
How Slavery Began in New York
Slavery in the New York City area started around 1626. The Dutch West India Company brought the first enslaved Africans to New Netherland. These first men came from places like Angola, the Congo, and Guinea. Two years later, three enslaved women from Angola arrived. This was the start of slavery in what would become New York City. Slavery continued for 200 years.
The first slave auction in the city happened in 1655. It took place at Pearl Street and Wall Street. Even though the Dutch brought Africans as slaves, some could gain freedom. In 1643, some enslaved men asked the Dutch West India Company for their freedom. They were granted it and received land to build homes and farm. By the mid-1600s, farms owned by free Black people covered 130 acres. This area is now Washington Square Park. Enslaved Africans under Dutch rule had some rights. For example, they could not be whipped without reason.
Changes Under English Rule
In 1664, the English took over New Amsterdam and renamed it New York. The new English leaders changed the rules for slavery. At that time, about 40% of New Amsterdam's small population were enslaved Africans. The new rules were much stricter. They took away many of the rights enslaved people had under the Dutch.
In 1697, Trinity Church took control of the city's burial grounds. They passed a rule that Black people could not be buried in churchyards. This meant Africans could not be buried within the city limits. For most of the 1700s, the African burial ground was outside the city's northern boundary. This boundary was just north of what is now Chambers Street.
As New York City grew, more people owned slaves. In 1703, 42% of New York homes had slaves. This was more than in Philadelphia and Boston combined. Most households had only a few slaves, mainly for housework. By the 1740s, 20% of New York's population was enslaved, about 2,500 people. Enslaved people also worked as skilled workers in shipping, construction, and other jobs. By 1775, New York City had the most enslaved people of any northern colony.
After the Revolutionary War
During the American Revolutionary War, the British controlled New York City from 1776 to 1783. The British offered freedom to enslaved people who escaped from their American Patriot owners. Thousands of enslaved people came to the city seeking this freedom. In 1781, New York offered money to slave owners who let their slaves join the army. These slaves were promised freedom after the war.
By 1780, the African-American community in New York City grew to about 10,000 people. The city became a major center for free Black people in North America. After the war, the Americans wanted the British to return all the enslaved people who had escaped. But the British refused. They evacuated 3,000 freed people with their troops in 1783. These freed people were resettled in places like Nova Scotia and England. The British agreed to pay the Americans for each enslaved person lost instead. Other freed people left the city to avoid being captured again.
After the war, more enslaved people were freed by their owners. By 1790, about one-third of Black people in the city were free. The city's total population was 33,131.
In 1799, New York passed a law to slowly end slavery. Children born to enslaved mothers after July 4, 1799, were considered free. But they had to work as indentured servants for their mother's owner until they were 28 (for men) or 25 (for women). All people already enslaved before July 4, 1799, remained enslaved for life.
In 1817, New York's legislature declared that all children born to enslaved people after July 4, 1799, would be free. Slavery was completely ended in New York on July 4, 1827. This day is now known as New York's Emancipation Day. More than 10,000 enslaved people were freed in New York State. Black communities in New York City held parades to celebrate.
The early history of free and enslaved Black people in New York City was later forgotten. This happened as many European immigrants arrived in the 1800s. Also, most of today's African-American population in the city came from the South during the Great Migration in the 1900s.
History of the Burial Site
The "Negros Burial Ground"
In the late 1600s, New York Town residents used a burial ground that is now the north graveyard of Trinity Church. This public burial ground was open to everyone for a fee, including enslaved Africans. Some enslaved people were buried just south of this public ground to avoid the fee.
After Trinity Church became a parish church in 1697, it started taking control of land in Lower Manhattan. This included existing public burial grounds. When Trinity bought land for its church, they made a rule on October 25, 1697. It said that no Black person could be buried in the Trinity Churchyard after four weeks.
This rule meant that another burial area was needed for people of African descent. The "Negro's Burial Ground" was created on the edge of the town. It was just north of today's Chambers Street and west of the former Collect Pond. This area was part of a land grant given to Sara Roelofs. She was an interpreter between New York and Native American tribes. The land stayed part of her family until the late 1790s. Then, the ground level was raised with landfill for new buildings.
Old maps show this area as the "Negros Burial Ground." It was first used around 1712 for burials of enslaved and free people of African descent. The first burials might have been in the late 1690s, after Trinity Church banned African burials. The burial ground was in a shallow valley. It was outside the stockade that marked the city's northern border.
Development of the Site
After the city closed the cemetery in 1794, the area was planned for building. The land was raised with up to 25 feet (7.6 m) of landfill in the lowest spots. This covered the cemetery and helped preserve the burials. As the city grew over this filled land, the burial ground was mostly forgotten.
The first large building on the land was the A.T. Stewart Company Store. It was the country's first department store and opened in 1846. It was at the corner of Broadway and Chambers Street. Several skeletons were found when they started building the store.
In the early 1800s, a homeowner named James Gemmel found many human bones when digging his cellar. He thought it was a common burial ground. In 1897, when the building at 290 Broadway was torn down, workers found many human bones. Some people took bones as souvenirs.
Protests and Discoveries
The General Services Administration (GSA) planned to build a new federal building at 290 Broadway. They knew about the burial ground and planned to dig up the remains. Within a year, they removed the remains of 419 people. But it became clear that the burial ground was much larger than expected.
In 1992, activists protested how the GSA was handling the site. Some intact burials were broken during construction. The GSA stopped construction to study the site more carefully. They provided more money for archaeological digs. The site was important because it was between New York City Hall and the federal courts. Activists wanted to make sure this forgotten Black history was recognized.
Many people felt the GSA's original plan for studying the site was not good enough. Also, the African-American community in New York City was not asked for their ideas. After many protests from community members, politicians, and scholars, the House Subcommittee on Public Works held hearings in 1992. They heard from many critics of the GSA.
Several changes happened after these hearings. The study of the burial site was given to Michael Blakey and his team at Howard University. Howard University is a historically black college. This made sure that African-American students would help study the remains of their ancestors.
Results of the Protests
Because of the efforts of the African-American community, United States Congress passed a law in October 1992. President George H. W. Bush signed it. The law changed the building plan. It stopped construction on the part of the site where remains were found. It also set aside $3 million for a memorial there. The federal building project was redesigned to save part of the archaeological site.
The burial ground was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. This showed its importance to regional and national history. The GSA then planned to analyze the data, care for the remains, and educate the public. Activists also pushed for the burial ground to become a landmark. They gathered 100,000 signatures for the U.S. Department of the Interior. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1993. There was also growing support for a museum at the site. This museum would teach about African-American history in New York.
The discovery and the long debate received national attention. This made more people interested in public archaeology projects. An archaeologist from the Smithsonian Institution, Theresa Singleton, said that the media attention created a larger audience for this research. She noted that even some Black scholars had not seen African-American archaeology as important before, but that had changed.
Governments and developers learned that they needed to include local communities in their digs. This is especially true when human remains are involved. The findings at the burial ground showed how much was lost due to slavery. Before this, African Americans were not often recognized as a major part of early New York history.
Studies at the Site
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In total, the remains of over 400 men, women, and children of African descent were found. They were buried individually in wooden boxes. There were no mass burials. Nearly half of them were children under 12. This shows how high the death rate was at that time. Historians believe that over the years, as many as 15,000 to 20,000 Africans were buried in Lower Manhattan. This was the largest colonial-era cemetery for enslaved African people. It is also possibly the largest and oldest collection of American colonial remains of any ethnic group. Some burials included items related to African traditions.
The work of digging up and studying the remains was called the "most important historic urban archaeological project in the United States." These remains represent the thousands of people buried there. They show the important role Africans played in building New York City and the United States. Because of its importance, the site was named a National Historic Landmark on April 19, 1993.
The Howard University team worked with the community. They identified four main questions to answer from studying the remains:
- Where did the buried people come from?
- How did African cultures change into African-American identities?
- What was life like for enslaved people in the Americas?
- How did people resist being enslaved?
Before the monument was built, the burial ground had been damaged. Archaeologists found a lot of industrial waste and broken pottery during their dig. They believe the burial ground was used as a dump by Europeans in the 1700s. The site was also robbed and looted during this time.
Some bodies had items buried with them. This was part of personal and cultural traditions. For example, a silver pendant was found with a child's remains. Some skulls showed teeth that had been filed. This was an African cultural practice. Howard University did forensic studies. They looked at the remains to learn about nutrition, diseases, and living conditions for enslaved and free Black people.
After the studies, the remains were reburied at the site in October 2003. This ceremony was called the "Rites of Ancestral Return." It was a very emotional event that involved many cities. Thousands of people attended the reburial and commemoration.
The Memorial Site
Building and Dedication
The GSA held a competition for the memorial design. Over 60 ideas were submitted. The winning design was by Rodney Leon and Nicole Hollant-Denis. It was chosen in June 2004.
The memorial is a 25-foot (7.6 m) granite monument. It shows a map of the Atlantic Ocean within a "Circle of Diaspora." This refers to the Middle Passage, the journey enslaved people took from Africa to North America. The memorial uses stone from South Africa and North America. This symbolizes the two worlds coming together. The Door of Return part of the memorial refers to "The Door of No Return." This was the name given to slave ports in West Africa. From these ports, many people were taken from their homeland and never returned. The memorial helps connect African Americans to their ancestors' origins.
On February 27, 2006, President George W. Bush officially named the burial site the 123rd National Monument. The National Park Service now manages the site. The memorial was dedicated on October 5, 2007. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and poet Maya Angelou were there. As part of the ceremony, Elk Street was officially renamed African Burial Ground Way.
Visitor Center
In February 2010, a visitor center opened for the African Burial Ground National Monument. It is located in the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway. This building was built over part of the archaeological site.
The visitor center has a permanent exhibit called "Reclaiming Our History." It explains why the burial site is so important. The exhibit includes a life-sized scene showing a funeral for an adult and a child. Other parts of the exhibit explore the lives of Africans in early New York. It also shows how the community successfully preserved the burial ground. The visitor center has a theater and a shop. The National Park Service runs the center. They also organize cultural events at the site throughout the year.
Lasting Impact
The discovery of the African Burial Ground led to its designation as a National Historic Landmark and National Monument. It also changed how people think about early African-American history in New York and the nation. Many new books have been written on this topic. In 2005, the New-York Historical Society held its first exhibit ever on slavery in New York. It was so popular that it was extended for a long time.
When the visitor center opened in 2010, Edward Rothstein wrote about how public understanding of slavery in New York City had changed. He noted that in the 1700s, enslaved people made up about a quarter of New York's workforce. This made New York one of the largest slave-holding cities in the colonies.
See also
In Spanish: Monumento nacional Cementerio Africano para niños
