Then I'll Be Free To Travel Home

"THEN I'LL BE FREE TO TRAVEL HOME": PREVIEW/OVERVIEW: (1626-1863). Segment #1 traces the historical arc of the long African-American battle against northern slavery and for full, first-class citizenship. It chronicles the contributions the original Africans who founded the New York African Burial ground - and their descendants - made to the survival and development of New York and the nation from the 1600s to the New York City Draft Riots of 1863. It is also a history of larger-than-life "freedom fighters" on many levels and of many races, who challenged slavery to change the course of this nation from its earliest Colonial days. This is that story as it unfolded in the northeastern part of what would eventually become the United States of America.

PREQUEL: EARLY CONTACTS - JUAN "JAN" RODRIGUES, THE FIRST FREE AFRICAN IN THE HUDSON VALLEY (1612-1614). Before slavery rears its ugly head in North America, Africans and people of African descent traverse the northeastern part of the continent as free entrepreneurs - traders, guides and interpreters; men such as Matthieu Da Costa, and "Jan" Rodrigues. Who they were - especially Rodrigues - how they interacted with the Europeans and Native Americans, their value and impact, are the heart of Segment #2, and aptly set the stage for the next segment.

SURVIVAL: ELEVEN AFRICANS AND THE SURVIVAL OF THE NEW NETHERLANDS COLONY (1624-1664). The New Netherlands Colony is founded by the Dutch West India Company as a profit-making venture in 1624. The original Dutch Settlers are unhappy, huddled at the lower end of the more southerly of the two Manhattan Islands. They want to trap and collect furs, get rich quick and return home. The Colony is not prospering. Eleven Africans are brought to the Colony and put to work for the Dutch West India Company. The Colony's fortune improves. How these Africans survive, grow, prosper and significantly contribute to the survival, economic development and prosperity of New Netherlands is the heart of Segment #3.

ALMOST FREE: SUSSANA ANTHONY ROBERTS, SOLOMON PIETERS, AND THE PUSH FOR PERSONAL AND ECONOMIC FREEDOM (1664-1712). By 1664 the African population in New Netherlands has significantly increased. The "Original Eleven" and their children are not only property owners, but one second-generation member is a renowned Barber-Surgeon (i.e. Medical Practitioner), one is a business-woman entrepreneur with multiple property holdings, and they have had access to educational opportunities provided by their Dutch owner-employers. They can also earn or buy their freedom. Segment #4 discusses how all of this changed with the British takeover in August of 1664.

EARLY SLAVE RESISTANCE: NEW ENGLAND/NEW YORK 1712, ETC. The prevalent, accepted myth is that enslaved Africans in North America pretty much docilely accepted their enslavement. The evidence is quite to the contrary. The number of revolts and runaways - especially in the north - are early, and significant. (The NY Colonial Legislature passed a law mandating the death penalty for any slave found 40 miles north of Albany). Highlighting that early struggle, and how it literally paved the way for what would, almost a hundred years later, come to be known as the Underground Railroad, makes for an enlightening Segment #5.

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES: MORE REVOLTS, "CONSPIRACIES," AND RUNAWAYS (1712-1775). As the British campaign for a global empire played out on the North American Continent - Queen Anne's War, The French & Indian Wars, and so on - the stage and stakes for revolts and rebellions continued to increase for the enslaved Africans and their Colonial enslavers. Even as the Colonists edge and stumble towards their own revolution, they grow more paranoid about a possible Black Revolt amongst them. The so-called "Great Negro Conspiracy of 1741" in the City of New York captures it well, and is the cornerstone of Segment #6.

THE REBELLION WITHIN THE REBELLION: HUDDY AND TYE (1775-1783). "There's a famous quote by a Lutheran Priest, which says 'Everyone recognizes that the Blacks favor the British. If the British win, they will gain their freedom.'" (Prof. Graham Hodges). The British promise said freedom immediately, knowing they need the enslaved Africans in order to defeat the rebellious Colonists. The American Colonists' two-fold dilemma: how to reconcile preaching/fighting for "liberty and justice for all" while still trying to keep enslaved Africans as property; and secondly, can they defeat the British without the help of the Africans in their midst? How it all plays out - as seen primarily through the efforts/conflicts of two larger-than-life antagonists (Huddy & Tye) and the subsequent effects, make for a dynamic Segment #7.

SELF-DETERMINATION: THE RISE OF THE BLACK CHURCH, THE BLACK PRESS AND THE FIGHT FOR EDUCATION (1783-1830). The war changes the entire colonial social landscape. Once rigid class and economic lines now blur, and the Colonists' fight for freedom plants the seed for the eventual death of slavery. Chafing at discriminatory segregating practices, Blacks form their own institutions - churches, schools, theaters, insurance and employment agencies, literary societies, magazines and newspapers - and with a number of white allies, battle for education, economic progress and an end to slavery. Segment #8 reflects it all.

SPLITS AND RIFTS: RUGGLES, DOUGLASS AND THE RISE OF THE ABOLITIONIST AND BACK TO AFRICA MOVEMENTS, & THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (1830-1854). With a number of white allies, African-Americans press the cause of abolition; they also form an aggressive nationalistic "Black Convention Movement" strongly pushing the cause of their rights as residents and citizens of the United States of America. An opposition "Back to Africa" movement also takes flight, advocating that only in Africa will Blacks ever find true freedom, true peace and a real home. All this abolitionism, escape-to-freedom, and political ferment, is vividly captured in Segment #9.

CATHERINE "KATIE" FERGUSON, THE JENNINGS FAMILY, AND THE BATTLE FOR FULL FIRST-CLASS CITIZENSHIP (1830-1854). The standard sources of the period chronicle well-known personalities, usually male. Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth are often mentioned, but many unsung others contribute greatly to the struggle for freedom, dignity, and full, first-class citizenship. Each church has its African Dorcas Society aiding and succoring runaway escapees. A young Sunday school teacher, Elizabeth Jennings, is physically tossed from a public transportation car for her challenge to the "whites only" policy - later suing and, with Chester A. Arthur as her Attorney, winning. Catherine "Katie" Ferguson cares for the orphaned homeless. All this and more comprise the heart and soul of Segment #10.

SIGNS OF WAR: THE ABOLITIONIST SPLIT: JOHN BROWN/FREDRICK DOUGLASS & HARPER'S FERRY. Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, the Tappan Brothers, and other abolitionists, black and white, reach a crossroads on just how militant the Abolitionist Movement should be. On the high seas the British Navy aggressively pursues and neutralizes practitioners of the transatlantic slave trade, but despite national and international bans, slave ships with their human cargo still move in and out of North American ports with relative impunity. With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in (1850), John Brown determines that time for talk is over. He tries to enlist Frederick Douglass as an active participant in his planned raid. Douglass declines, and tries, unsuccessfully, to dissuade Brown. All this and more is captured in Segment #11.

LINCOLN'S DILEMMA: SAVING THE UNION OR FREEING THE SLAVES? (THE NEW YORK CITY DRAFT RIOTS & THE BATTLE OF FT. WAGNER - JULY 1863). Lincoln was elected with a minority of the popular vote; his main concern was preserving the Union. Many of his war policies were highly unpopular - not just in the South, but even in New York - whose mercantile-and-maritime economy was strongly tied to the southern plantation owners and their crops. The Emancipation Proclamation only attempted to free slaves in the rebel Confederacy, not the non-seceding Border States. But, when coupled with the Conscription Act of 1863 (first ever national Draft) it still made for some very unhappy individuals, north and south. How all these political, war-time issues unfold and play out nationally and locally (as exemplified by the NY City Draft Riots and Battle for Ft. Wagner) makes for an informative and fascinating Segment #12.

THE BATTLE TO PRESERVE AND HONOR THE NEW YORK AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND. Trying to start construction in 1992 on a major archaeological discovery-site, not only violated federal guidelines; it also dishonored and disrespected a large segment of the community. "The mother of all controversies" naturally ensued. It continues to this day. The bodies removed from the Burial Ground for scientific research were originally scheduled to be returned and re-interred at the Burial Ground in 1999. They were finally returned in October 2003. The concluding segment of the series will chronicle how, in a classic David-Goliath struggle of civic activism, a grassroots coalition of people of all races battled the Federal bureaucracy to rescue and preserve a sacred, now historical Landmark. It will document the current status of this struggle, and draw parallels between the long, historic struggle for freedom, dignity, and full first-class citizenship, with the current battle to properly preserve, honor and memorialize this major, sacred, archaeological discovery. It will also highlight how that New York struggle also inspired other grassroots preservationists to take-up and champion their own local causes.