Sophia Burthen Pooley:
Sophia was born into slavery in Fishkill, New York and sold to Joseph Brant the Mohawk leader who bought her at the age of 7, she worked for him until she was 12. it sounded like he treated her like family however his third wife was very hard on Sophia and used to beat her. Joseph sold Sophia when she was 12 for $100 to Samuel Hatt and Englishman who she lived with for 7years.

Sophia seemed to have a fairly decent life although she was a slave Brant treated her as family. She did however live a slaves life when Brant’s third wife would beat her and make her work as well as being sold and bought multiple times in her life.

Henry Lewis:
Escaped his owner is Newark, upper Canada fled to Schenectady, New York where he worked and saved money until he could buy his own freedom. In 1794 he wrote his old owner for his freedom.

Henry was one of the few slaves that were able to escape and buy their freedom. This did not happen often and I am sure it was terrifying for him to write his previous owner and risk being found in order for him to buy hos freedom.

Peggy:
Owned by Peter Russell and described but his sister Elizabeth Russell as “insolent”, “pilfering” and “lying”. Peggy and her children showed cases of difficult behavior which may have been a ploy for slaves to “get their own way”. This behavior is also known as “Slave Resistance”

Peggy and her children lived a rough life of slavery, being sold and beaten and being hated by their owners they rebelled which only made their lives harder however it seemed to help Peggy and her children feel as though they were “getting their way” by having a Resistance to slavery.

Dorinda Baker:
1804 her and her children became property of Robert Gray, who later in life wrote a will that if he were to die, Dorinda, her children, and her mom would be given their freedom along with money and some property. Later in the year after writing his will Robert Gray died in a shipwreck accident and Dorinda and her family became free and prospered.

Dorinda was giving a chance that not many slaves were given, after the passing of her owner, Dorinda and her family were given money property and freedom. This was not something all slaves were given.

What I learned about slavery:
Slaves could be bought and sold at their owners choice and although some slaves were treated like family and once their owners passed became free, many lived their entire lives in slavery and were forced to work difficult jobs and also were subject to being beaten by their owners or other people within the owners circle.

When slaves escaped their owners, the owners would put out a warning not to harbor the slaves or would put out a reward for the return of their slaves. Some slaves that were able to escape to a different country would work and save money then write to their previous owners in hopes that they would be allowed to buy their own freedom.

Slaves were sold as property, the advertisements for slaves would often look something like a car advertisement you would see in the paper today.

When Canada abolished the slave owning laws they didn’t completely do away with the laws instead they made it so eventually slavery would be no longer. It was also up to the slave owners that once the slaves were done being slaves they were in charge of their security and although some were willing to set the slaves up with money and property others made it so the although they were no longer slaves they would be dependent on their owner for an income.