The New York City Council voted today to pass legislation from Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams which would require the city to place a historical marker at the site of the city’s first slave market, located at what is today the intersection of Wall and Pearl Streets in lower Manhattan. This recognition, and the ways in which it would inform New Yorkers about the history of suffering and oppression inflicted on enslaved people, is part of an ongoing effort to educate people about the injustices in our city’s past and inform the pursuit of equity in the future.
The legislation was part of a package of other bills from the Council related to New York City’s history with the slave trade, including ones from Council Member Crystal Hudson to establish a Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation process, from Council Member Farah Louis to study a potential reparations framework, and from Council Member Nantasha Williams to establish a ‘freedom trail’ in the city and specifically in Lower Manhattan. Together, these bills are vital in ensuring that the city does not erase or sanitize its history, and that it will continue a commitment to the essential work of advancing racial justice efforts
“As so many places across the country are choosing to ignore or suppress our history rather than teach it, it’s vital that New York City grapple with and learn from the parts of our past we too often try not to think about,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “The wealth of Wall Street banks was built on the backs of the human beings sold on that very spot, and we have a moral obligation to accurately acknowledge this slave market’s tragic history, the pain of enslaved people in our city, and the role slavery had in New York’s economy, one which has echoed painfully across generations. I thank my colleagues on the Council for ensuring that we do this the right way, helping inform New Yorkers as we still struggle with the impact of damage done across centuries."
The Public Advocate's legislation, Int 0833-A, will ensure that the city places a sign at Pearl and Wall Street, which is the correct location of where the first slave trade took place in 1711. The sign will also include an inscription that describes the role of the slave market in the city’s economy; the role of the city’s government in establishing the market; and the use of the market in the sale of African and Indigenous persons.
Slavery was introduced to Manhattan in 1626, and in 1711, a market that auctioned enslaved people of African ancestry was established by a Common Council law on November 30, 1711. This slave market was in use until 1762, when roughly one in five people in New York City was enslaved and nearly half of Manhattan households included an enslaved person. Even after New York State abolished slavery in 1827, the use of slave labor elsewhere to produce materials for New York’s economy continued
The Public Advocate initially began this effort as a Council Member, with the de Blasio administration agreeing to place a marker without a legislative requirement. However, the site of that signage is not accurate to the specific historical location of the slave market. This legislation clarifies the site and provides guidance on the information to be shared on the marker itself.
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