Aspects of Slavery and Freedom Seeking in North Carolina
Earth-Labor-The Dynamics of Hiring Out
In a lot of cases, enslaved people and slaveholders desired to hire out among people they knew. For the enslaved people, this often provided more independence than being hired to an industry or some unknown person, and this added security to their loan that their property would not be abused for slaveholders.
The hire out occurrence depended on a lot of factors. Sometimes the reasons were plantation specific, whereas sometimes it depended on the year and on the region in other instances. For instance, Wilma Dunaway, a historian, noted that slaveholders in the mountain region hired out with greater frequency in contrast to other regions.
Profits gained from enslaved people being hired out for slaveholders sometimes went to supplement the loss from agricultural mistakes, some saved the money, whereas some used the money to educate their children (either by hiring a tutor or sending them to an academy).
Hiring out was also a common thing among slaves if they were inherited in the form of a property by an underage slaveholder. Managers of estates would hire out an enslaved person for multiple years until the slaveholder came of age.
In 1843, John S. Easton wrote his will, leaving his wife six slaves outright and loaning her four others. He ordered that all his other slaves should “be hired out in common” and the proceeds should go toward the upkeep and education of his children. Easton died in 1846, and his son and executor Henry P. Easton found the hiring instructions “ambiguous.” The clause could mean that Henry, as an executor, would hold the legacies until the youngest child had completed her education or turned twenty-one or that each child would receive their legacy when they came of age. Henry asked the court to determine the meaning of the clause so he could proceed in his duties as executor. See this petition HERE
Some enslaved persons were fortunate enough to hire out their own time—a practice that is not completely legal but customarily performed by slaveholders. Enslaved people who controlled their own time had a considerable amount of autonomy in relation to enslaved people on the plantation or they were hired out otherwise. Enslaved people who hired out their own time sought to work or contract business for themselves and would agree to pay their slaveholder a percentage of their earning, which was usually the lion’s share.
Although customary, enslaved people hiring out their own time was not always welcomed. In fact, there was a law passed to stifle slaves’ practice of hiring out their time in 1794; however, the law was not generally enforced. Moreover, a hired slave in any capacity was not always enjoyed, owing to the competition that hired out slaves had with whites. When enslaved people were hired out, sometimes it caused tension among whites and blacks as well as between slaveholders and non-slaveholders. For example, see petition HERE
Those who hired themselves out, at times, were able to save money and bought their freedom. There are several such cases of enslaved people doing so. Joseph Hostler, an enslaved barber, bought his freedom, as did Toney, and the most famous example of this case was Moses Grandy, who after being hired out and saving money to buy his freedom, was then twice robbed of his money and freedom. Eventually, he was purchased by a friend who allowed Moses to hire out his time to buy his freedom. He eventually secured more money to buy the freedom of some of his family members and freed them as well. See petitions for more examples HERE and HERE
For the most part, enslaved persons with skills comprised the majority of those hired out. The chief day of making hiring contracts was January 1, also known as “hiring day”. “Hiring day” was often more bitter than sweet. After much celebration, enslaved people enjoyed Christmas time off. As Friday Jones put it,
“Then comes New Year's eve; and they [enslaved people] gather together their little alls, or more properly speaking, their little nothings, and wait anxiously for the dawning of day. At the appointed hour, the grounds are thronged with men, women, and children, waiting, like criminals, to hear their doom pronounced. The slave is sure to know who is the most humane, or cruel master, within forty miles of him. Those who were to be hired out as a further distance than forty miles had no without a clue where they were going, how they would be treated, and more importantly if they would have the opportunity to see their family after contracts were made.”
Historian Freddie Parker also noted the importance of hiring out day. He wrote,
“It was customary in those days for those having slaves to let, to take them to some prominent place, such as a point where two roads crossed, on the first day of the New Year, and at a given hour of the day the slaves would be put up at auction, and let to the highest bidders for one year; there was generally quite a gathering on these occasions, both of slaves and of white people. It was always understood that a person hiring a slave must furnish board and clothes in addition to paying a certain sum of money per year, and also agreeing not to misuse the slave in any way that would injure his or her value. It was also understood that if a slave was not treated properly the person owning or having charge of the slave could take it away, in which case the money paid for the slave's hire for the year would be forfeited.”
Nevertheless, at times, there were some advantages to being hired out. It afforded many enslaved people greater geographical knowledge, deeper understanding of potential resources, and, most importantly, a better understanding of the institution of slavery. This is evidenced by the fact that several enslaved people ran away while they were hired out. For example, Dick, a Wilmington BrickLayer and Plasterer, who worked in most of the counties of the eastern part of the state, ran away in ‘his carriage.’ It seems likely that Dick did not run away in his first year of his being hired out. The fact that he had his own carriage demonstrates that Dick became very familiar with slavery and associated resources and geography in North Carolina and struck out when the time was right. Those who became familiar with the inner workings of the business of the white world used that knowledge to pursue territorial freedom, and they shared that knowledge with the slave community as well.