Episode Details

ABC:LHS #089   

...slavery was an essential part of the colonial economy. The enslaved people of President George Washington have been in the news recently.

John and Bohl  Despite Philadelphia's northern location...Bohlen were German immigrants who made their fortunes in the New World dealing with "gin and slaves," according to their relatives.

Stephen Duncan was simultaneously a Pennsylvania businessman and a Natchez nabob, the owner of more than 2000 enslaved human beings.  

Robert Stewart Ralston was severely beaten by his former enslaved manservant whom he had freed, but retained in employment.

The largest trial for treason ever conducted in the United States was conducted in Philadelphia following the Christiana Resistance of 1851, an armed pushback against slave catchers sent to retrieve some self-emancipated African Americans.

OPTIONAL: I asked CoPilot, a Large Language Model assembler of information, to develop a counterfactual for me - What would the USA be like if slavery were abolished with the Constitution, and Immigration were limited after 1800. Although purely speculative, it is a fascinating read.