In an article titled, Slavery in Early New York, it describes how the British had once planned to make Manhattan the epicenter for slave trade. At the end of the seventieth century New York held a larger black population than any other North American city. To say New York was built off of slave labor would be an understatement. African ancestry became the key definition of whether a person was slave bound or not. At times indentured whites sought to differentiate themselves in any way from the slaves, asking slave owners to not train slaves in skilled labor. This was an attempt to distinguish themselves from the poor working class slaves who were destined for manual mindless labor, with poor working …show more content…
Outcry over slavery and the abolishment movement triggered a battleground to test the resilience of the abolition legislation and strength of Northern racism. On July, 30th 1836 city residents took to the streets with bricks and other weapons destroying abolitionist press in a night of riots. In another showing outburst of violence, it demonstrated the pent up anger over the lack of clarification over topics like; trade with the South, security of nation and city, individual and communal rights, and freedom. These riots began to shape public beliefs, yet many of the parties debating still held large divisions of opinions on certain subjects as stated. Political officials were still seen as authoritative and many of the movements and riots targeting these people in hopes of persuading them to join their cause. Many abolitionists were aware that many politicians had participated in anti-black riots their drive to spread the word of freedom never faulted. The riots in Cincinnati proved yet again of the separation of the people within the United States and their frustration for a resolve to the problem of freedom, slavery, and national security. These divides had grown due to the lack of pervasion of the politicians. Many people found themselves disgusted with what was going on in the north or south respectively and held strong opinions to back their