Richard Fowler: In my book Henry and John Laurens: Tragic Heroes, I would like to examine the contradiction of Henry's anti-slavery sentiments alongside his ownership of slaves. Me: A topic worthy of study! Fowler: There are many possible reasons why Henry never freed his slaves despite some of his writings decrying slavery. Me: True - what do you think explains this discrepancy? Fowler: Have we considered that Henry's slaves didn't want to be freed? That they loved Henry, actually? Me: ...I'm sorry, WHAT?
Fowler goes on to write that Henry had "concern for what would happen to his slaves if they were freed into a society which would be hostile, and where they would have little chance of finding sufficient work to feed them and their families. Letters reveal that he had tried to free some of them, but that they begged to stay with him for fear of the dangerous consequences they would know if they were freed."
It is true that even freed Black people in the 18th century faced many challenges. Some enslaved people might have feared that freedom would separate them from family members still enslaved on the plantation or that they wouldn't be able to make a living, particularly if they remained in the South. They also could have feared being captured and sold back into slavery. However, Fowler seems to conflate fear of a society that was deeply prejudiced against Black people with preference for and acceptance of enslavement. Contradictory to what Fowler writes, these enslaved people likely wanted to be free but knew that freedom came with its own challenges for Black people. Additionally, any letters where Henry describes his slaves "beg[ging] to stay with him" are inherently biased. Certainly Henry would want to portray himself as a kind slave-owner who tried to free his slaves, and to my knowledge, we do not have direct accounts from any slaves that Henry apparently tried to free.
Additionally, the claim that Henry "never had a runaway" is objectively false. An enslaved man named Frederick escaped from Mepkin plantation when it was raided by the British Army. He was eventually captured and held in a jail in New York. None other than Alexander Hamilton of the New York Manumission Society contacted Henry Laurens about Frederick. The letter from Henry Laurens to Alexander Hamilton and other letters detailing Frederick's unfortunate return to South Carolina are contained in The Papers of Henry Laurens, Vol. 16, but this footnote from Vol. 15 summarizes the account well (p. 305):
[Frederick] was the subject of a brief correspondence between HL and Alexander Hamilton. Unfortunately, the first piece of this correspondence, Hamilton's letter to HL of April 6, 1785, is not extant. It included, according to HL, "Mr. Frederic's Narrative. a tissue of Lies." Frederic claimed that he had "carried arms & … acted in the Trenches" during the siege of Charleston, but HL asserted that he was actually at Mepkin. After the city fell, Frederick "joined the temporary Conquerors" along with his wife, whose name is not given. The wife later returned "thro' the persuasion of faithful Scaramouch" but Frederick was captured by an American vessel and taken to Georgetown, where he "broke thro' & escaped." He had not been heard from until the arrival of Hamilton's letter informing HL that Fredrick was "in the Jail of New York." Frederick also apparently claimed to have served John Laurens and to have been freed by him. These claims were contradicted by Scaramouche and Berry (Shrewsberry), who actually had been with JL. Frederick was, according to HL, "always a very good Lad before the War, contaminated no doubt by bad Examples in that dreadful Scene." HL then turned to the subject of Frederick's future, suggesting that unless he was to be free in New York, he should be returned to South Carolina, because "If he is to be freed from my claim, let him be a Slave to no other Man." HL to Alexander Hamilton, April 19, 1785, Kendall Collection.
Henry Laurens wrote to Jacob Read regarding Frederick on July 16, 1785 (TPoHL, Vol. 16, p. 579):
Under your obliging permission I presume to trouble you on the affair of my Negro Man Frederic, briefly related to you yesterday. a perusal of the inclosed Letter from a Committee of the Society for liberating Slaves in New York and of my Letter to Colonel Hamilton which may be seen in the hands of that Gentleman will give you a full state of the Case. I hereby vest you with full power to act therein on my behalf, by selling the said Negro for the best price to be obtained, or if practicable to ship him for Charleston will be best; the latter, for reasons obvious to you, will afford the most satisfaction. but the whole is submitted to your own discretion.
Frederick was ultimately returned to Henry, as described in this letter from Henry Laurens to Jacob Read dated September 15, 1785 (TPoHL, Vol. 16, pp. 596-597):
I am indebted & thank you for the obliging Letters which you have honored me with under the 10th. & 24th. August, as well for the trouble you took in the recovery of my Negro Man Frederic, who was delivered here by Capt. Tinker to whom I paid £3.13.6. Sterg: for his Freight & Charges & to George Reid Esqr. £9.8.2. Ster: for your Draught 40 5/16. Dollars for the expences of the same Negro in New York. I beg leave to repeat, that I thank & am obliged to you for your friendly Interposition on this Account, at the same time let me assure you I feel no kind of satisfaction from any prospect of pecuniary benefit to result from the acquisition, there he goes carrying a little dirt out of the Garden, not earning his Victuals, I feel a reluctance to sending him among his old fellow Servants who are now a happy orderly family & not less averse from selling him, for I certainly wish not to increase the number of Slaves, he therefore at present lies a burthen upon me, which I shall according to his Behavior remove after a few more Weeks of probation.
When presented with an escaped slave and an opportunity to free or sell him, Henry chose to have Frederick returned to slavery on his Mepkin plantation. This is not the decision of a man who truly "loves" his slaves and only has their best interests at heart. This was a decision based on perceived ownership, superiority, and vengeance.
