January 28, 2025 • 38 mins
Dr. Jacqueline Beatty joins host Kathryn Gehred to discuss The Petition of Belinda from 1783 in which Belinda Sutton petitions The Massachusetts General Court for the funds left to her by her enslaver Isaac Royall after he fled the colonies during the Revolutionary War. Beatty and Gehred discuss Sutton’s use of poetic language to describe her kidnapping and enslavement.
Dr. Jacqueline Beatty is an Associate Professor of History at York College of Pennsylvania, where she teaches courses in Early American, Women’s and Gender, and Public History. Her book, In Dependence: Women and the Patriarchal State in Revolutionary America explores the ways in which women in Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston manipulated their legal, social, and economic positions of dependence and turned these constraints into vehicles of female empowerment.
Find the official transcript here.
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant is a production of R2 Studios part of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.
Digital Archive of Massachusetts Anti-Slavery and Anti-Segregation Petitions, Massachusetts Archives, Boston MA, 2015, "Massachusetts Archives Collection. v.239-Revolution Resolves, 1783. SC1/series 45X, Petition of Belinda", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/0GMCO, Harvard Dataverse, V4.
The Royall House and Slave Quarters - https://royallhouse.org/
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Episode Transcript
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Kathryn Gehred (00:05):
Hello and welcome to Your Most Obedient &
Humble Servant. This is awomen's history podcast where we
feature 18th and early 19thcentury women's letters that
don't get as much attention aswe think they should. I'm your
host. Kathryn Gehred. I'm soexcited to welcome Dr. Jacqeline
Beatty to the podcast. Dr.Beatty is an associate professor
of history at York College ofPennsylvania. In 2023 she
published her bookIn Dependence: Women and the Patriarchal State (00:27):
undefined
in Revolutionary America, whichis absolutely excellent. So
hello, Jackie. Welcome to theshow.
Jacqueline Beatty (00:36):
Thanks. Thanks for having me.
Kathryn Gehred (00:37):
Before we jump into talking about the letter. I
want to talk a little bit aboutyour book. Would you give me
sort of your short elevatorpitch for it.
Jacqueline Beatty (00:45):
Sure. So what I was investigating in my book
was the ways in which women wereable to exploit and manipulate
assumptions about theirdependence, various forms of
dependence. So that's economic,legal, social, cultural, to work
to their advantage. And I wasinvestigating petitions to state
(01:08):
legislatures largely, but alsocourt documents, to see the ways
in which they employed thislanguage of women's dependence,
helplessness, vulnerability, tobasically demand things from the
state. In the end, what I foundis that they really latched on
to this language of rights thatwas on the rise during the
(01:29):
American Revolution and becameconscious of themselves as
rights bearing individuals,which is a necessary step before
kind of moving towardscollective action in the
antebellum period.
Kathryn Gehred (01:42):
First of all, super interesting argument. My
background, I worked as aneditor of the Papers of Martha
Washington. And I do think it'sinteresting, because there's a
lot of times people talkingabout Martha Washington as sort
of a role model or whatever. Butif you look at her writings, she
would never say something likethat about herself. She would
talk about herself like as awife has somebody who's
dependent. So to see your takewas really interesting and
(02:03):
refreshing for me, because Idon't think it necessarily has
to be either or somebody couldbe a really interesting figure
and not necessarily have to be agirl boss. But the way of using
this position that they occupiedin 18th century as a way of
wielding power is sofascinating. Did you find that
it's something that white womenwere able to wield more than
black women, absolutely.
Jacqueline Beatty (02:23):
Yeah.
Kathryn Gehred (02:23):
What were the differences with that?
Jacqueline Beatty (02:25):
Yeah. I mean, you have to kind of take an
intersectional approach to thesesources, because both race and
class come into play in thiscontext, the assumptions of
women who need the protectionand assistance of men, the
assumption is that those aremore elite or kind of upper
middling white women, so womenwho are kind of in the lower
(02:49):
working classes, as well asblack women and indigenous
women, have to employ differentkinds of strategies. But it also
means that their employment ofdependents and the outcomes of
their petitions have, I think,greater significance when they
are not afforded the assumptionof that protection of white men
(03:11):
and the white patriarchal state.What inspired your argument?
What did you latch on to? So Iwas working on this book when I
was in graduate school. It waspart of my dissertation, and I
have always been very interestedin the constructions of gender,
especially as they inform powerdynamics in society and culture.
Woody Holton had written anarticle about Abigail Adams and
(03:35):
her bond speculation work, andit was really interesting
because Adams was able to arguethat what she was doing was
okay, even though she was kindof jumping into the masculine
sphere of finance and bondspeculation, because it was an
extension of her role as a wifeand mother and work for her
family. And I was like, well,that's really savvy. I'm sure
(03:57):
she thought part of it wasnonsense, right? We know a lot
about Abigail Adams and herideology, but I was kind of
captivated by that. And when Iwas on my very first research
trip down in Columbia, SouthCarolina, at their state
archives, I spoke to anarchivist, and he said, you
know, you should look at thesepetitions to the General
Assembly. And I did, and theywere incredible. And I just kind
(04:19):
of fell in love with thosesources as a way to understand
women's experiences of wartime,and you know, how they thought
of themselves as citizens andwhat the state owed them,
especially during these momentsof crisis.
Kathryn Gehred (04:31):
One of my favorite moments when I was
reading more about Abigail Adamswas because, you know, I'd seen
the musical 1776 as many peoplehave there was the whole song
where she's writing about, like,saltpeter and pins, and it's
this, like, cute little thing.But then when you find out more
about Abigail Adams, like, she'sinterested in pins because she's
selling them at a hugely higherrate. She's, like, taking
(04:52):
advantage of the wartime lack ofpins to, like, make money for
herself. I was like, Abigail,
Jacqueline Beatty (04:58):
Yeah.
Kathryn Gehred (04:58):
What?
Jacqueline Beatty (04:59):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, she's pretty incredible.
You know, everybody always citesthe, remember the ladies letter
that she writes to her husband,John. But what I find more
compelling, you know, hisresponse that is very dismissive
and frustrating of her thetyranny of the petticoat or
something like that. And thenshe writes to her friend, and
she's like, can you believe whathe just said to me? Right? So
(05:19):
she's really leaning on herfemale friends and just eye
rolling at him through letterwriting, which is great.
Kathryn Gehred (05:25):
I made a promise to myself when I started this
podcast that I would not do theremember the ladies. Yeah, this
is a little overdone, but, butit's great if you haven't read
it, reading, it's so good. Soactually, you led us with a
really great segue into talkingabout the actual document we're
talking about today. So this isa not a letter, the way a lot of
the letters I cover are, this isa petition. Could you tell me a
(05:47):
little bit about thesepetitions, like, what are they?
How do they work?
Jacqueline Beatty (05:50):
Yeah, I think when you know, those of us who
live in the 21st century thinkabout petitions. We think about,
you know, people who go door todoor for a cause and are
collecting signatures, or, youknow, the more modern version,
are online petitions, right? Andkind of go fund me type things.
Petitions are very different inthe 18th century, and they have
English roots. And the idea wasthat a subject of the crown
(06:15):
could write a petition toParliament, in this case, right
to a legislative body, askingfor some kind of redress for an
individual grievance or issue.So there were collective
petitions, but it was much morecommon for an individual to use
this medium as a method ofredress. So this obviously gets
(06:35):
translated and brought over tothe colonies this strategy and
there are petitions to colonialassemblies later, to state
legislatures during and afterthe revolution. There are also
petitions to the ContinentalCongress during and after the
war, and to actual Congressright once the Constitution is
(06:55):
ratified and that body exists asthe 19th century wears on, a lot
more collective petitions arise,but they come out of this
tradition of individualpetitioning, mostly for
individual redress. The formatis kind of formulaic. I
sometimes refer to it as beingkind of like Mad Libs, where you
(07:17):
insert your name and yourproblem and what you would like
from the government. So I thinksome folks kind of give pushback
when we talk about petitions andthe meaning that can be drawn
from them. But when you've readlike thousands of them, as I
have, I can note thedistinctions pretty quickly, and
obviously what they all have incommon is the tone of
(07:40):
supplication to an authority,but men and women do this
differently. It's very genderedand performative that way. And
you know, they kind of statetheir problem, but especially in
a source like the one we'regoing to talk about today, you
really get to know thepetitioner in a way that you
might not otherwise, becauseoften the people that are
(08:01):
petitioning for assistance haveno other place to turn. Many of
them are desperate, and theyreally paint compelling
narrative. They understand thattheir audience is this kind of
body of elite white men inpower, and they have to be
deferential and recognize theauthority of the government and
supplicate themselves in thatway, but some of them get a
(08:24):
little salty also. So it'sreally fun to see their
personalities come through. Butit also really gives a lens to
understanding the difficultiesof living through these
conflicts and establishing a newstate as well. As, you know,
really demonstrating theexperience of people who we
(08:46):
might otherwise never learnabout because they don't leave
behind any other written record.So they're, they're really
fantastic sources.
Kathryn Gehred (08:53):
Yeah, that's interesting, because a lot of
the times with this podcast, Ido a lot of letters between
sisters and mothers and mothersand all of that, where somebody
is really free and sort ofchatty, this is like the exact
opposite of that, yes, but itstill tells you a lot, like
there's still a lot ofinformation in there. So
specifically, the one we'retalking about today, this is
from a 1783 petition from awoman named Belinda Sutton. So
(09:16):
who was Belinda?
Jacqueline Beatty (09:17):
So Belinda was a woman who was kidnapped
from West Africa and broughtinto slavery, specifically in
Massachusetts, and was enslavedby the royal family outside of
Boston. I mean, you refer to heras Belinda Sutton. We can kind
of get to that she was marriedat some point in the 1780s we're
(09:38):
not exactly sure. Well, yourefer to her as Belinda, as she
would have been known during herenslavement, she labored in the
royal household for severaldecades. I want to say, I think
in her petition, she mentions40-50, years that she was
Yeah, so it's unclear. A lot of scholars think
enslaved to this family, and wecan talk about slavery. History
(10:00):
in Massachusetts in thiscontext, because 1783 is an
actually that a man named PrinceHall helped Belinda to draft
important year for slavery andabolition in in the state of
Massachusetts as well. IsaacRoyall was the head of the
family to whom she was enslaved,and Isaac Royall was a loyalist.
this petition. Prince Hall was aBlack activist in the Boston
He ended up fleeingMassachusetts during the
(10:22):
revolution, and he later wrote awill, I believe, in 1781, where
community and an anti slaveryactivist at that as folks will
he provided a certain amount ofmoney and annuity for Belinda
be able to tell from thelanguage of the petition. So it
after his death. During hislife, while he was absent,
right? He had a friend who stilllived in Massachusetts who was
taking care of that, and heessentially said in his will,
(10:45):
really depended on thesituation. Some women had
provided Belinda with theopportunity to choose her
freedom, and that there shouldbe, I would have to look up the
language, but something like acertain amount of money provided
assistance from lawyers andother officials who could help
to her in her freedom so thatshe would not become dependent
on the state. Essentially, shewould not be on the public dole,
them write and submit thesedocuments. Some petitions were
(11:05):
which was what a lot of citizenswere worried about. So he kind
of provided that for her in hiswill, and for a time, his friend
was making such payments. Butthe problem was that, as often
submitted orally and taken down,as you kind of alluded to, by a
happened with loyalists duringthe revolution is that the state
confiscated his property. I havea number of situations like this
(11:26):
in the book, so what Belinda hasto do to recover those annuity
clerk of the court. And many ofthe petitions have that kind of
payments is tell the state whathappened and advocate for
herself.
Kathryn Gehred (11:36):
We've had petitions on the podcast before,
and in that case, it was someonesort of speaking in front of an
beautiful script written by bythe clerk of the assembly, I
audience and someone writingdown the words as they heard
them. And sometimes they're notexactly accurate, but sometimes
they're direct quotes. What wasthis situation like?
should say, and then are eithersigned by the petitioner in a
I was wondering, it seems as though the Royal
(12:00):
space or there is an x whichindicates that the petitioner
either could not write or couldnot read or write. So they would
(12:22):
have had to hear the petition inorder to sign onto it, if they
family seemed to be putting somesort of effort into paying her
were not literate, as we assumein the case of Belinda, because
(12:45):
she marked her petition with anX so she at least could not
write her name, she may also nothave been able to read any of
(13:07):
the petition.
money. I wasn't sure if therewas any chance that she had
gotten some kind of aneducation?
Jacqueline Beatty (13:22):
Yeah, unfortunately, we don't know a
lot about Belinda's life beforethis petition, as is the case
with many enslaved people. Ithink what's interesting is that
we know a lot more about Belindathan most other enslaved people
in the 18th century because ofher petitions and her self
advocacy. But even what we knowis fairly limited, and we make
(13:45):
kind of educated guesses aboutcertain things based on context,
like the fact that Prince Hallwas likely to have helped her
draft this petition.
Kathryn Gehred (13:53):
So at the moment that she's writing this
petition, do we know what'sgoing on in her life?
Jacqueline Beatty (13:58):
It's not clear exactly what's going on in
her life. But I think 1783 whenher first petition is submitted,
is a really important year inthe state of Massachusetts
regarding slavery. Each statewas kind of given the task by
the Continental Congress torewrite constitutions after
independence, and John Adamsfamously drafted the
(14:20):
Massachusetts State Constitutionin 1780 the Constitution did not
abolish slavery, but the waythat slavery scholars kind of
quibble about whether it wasofficially abolished this way,
but the demise of slavery inMassachusetts came through the
courts. There were several legalchallenges by enslaved people
(14:43):
themselves that were challengingtheir enslavement, many of them
using the language of therevolution, freedom, rights,
equality, which is reallycompelling. I think the two most
famous cases are those of clockWalker and mum bett or Elizabeth
Freeman as. She named herselfafter slavery. So those cases
(15:03):
were, I believe, in 1781 and1783 so from that point, it was
kind of understood that thecourt had basically decreed that
slavery was illegal in the stateof Massachusetts on the basis of
the language of theConstitution, the language that
John Adams wrote was thelanguage that enslaved people
(15:26):
used to challenge the veryexistence of slavery in that
state. So I wonder, although wedon't know for sure, if that had
anything to do with the contentand the tone of Belinda's
petition. All right, shepetitions at this time because
she's looking for the money thatshe is owed based on Royals will
(15:46):
but as I'm sure we'll talkabout, the language is quite
pointed. Is maybe a delicate wayto put it, but it's
extraordinarily vivid in itsdepiction of the effect of
slavery on an individual likeBelinda, and then when you
compound it to include allenslaved people in the United
States, it's that much morepowerful, I think.
Kathryn Gehred (16:08):
Thank you. I think that's a great setup
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Jacqueline Beatty (16:11):
To the Honourable the senate and House
of Representatives in GeneralCourt assembled.
The Petition of Belinda anAfrican, humbly shews.
That seventy years have rolledaway, since she on the banks of
the Rio da Valta, received herexistence—the mountained covered
with spicy forests, the valleysloaded with the richest fruits,
spontaneously produced; joinedto that happy temperature of air
(16:34):
which excludes excess; wouldhave yielded her the most
compleat felicity, had not hermind received early impressions
of the cruelty of men, whosefaces were like the moon, and
whose bows and arrows were likethe thunder and the lightning of
the Clouds. -the idea of these,the most dreadful of all
Enemies, filled her Infantslumbers with horror, and her
(16:55):
noon tide moments with evilapprehensions! - but her
affrighted imagination, in itsmost alarming extension, never
represented distresses equal towhat she hath since really
experienced. For before she hadtwelve years enjoyed the
fragrance of her native groves,and e’er she realized, that
Europeans placed their happinessin the yellow dust which she
(17:16):
carelessly marked with herinfant footsteps- even when she,
in a sacred grove, with eachhand in that of a tender Parent,
was paying her devotions to thegreat Orisa who made all things-
an armed band of white men,driving many of her coutnrymen
in chains, rushed into thehallowed shade! - could the
tears, the sighs, andsupplications, nursing from the
(17:38):
Tortured Parental affection,have blunted the keen edge of
avarice, she might have beenrescued from Agony, which many
of her Countrys children havefelt, but which none hath ever
described—In vain she lifted herSupplicating voice to an
insulted father, and herguiltless hands to a dishonored
Deity! She was ravished from thebosom of her Country, from the
(17:58):
arms of her friends, while theadvanced age of her Parents,
rendering them unfit forservitude, cruelly separated her
from them forever!
Scenes which her imagination hadnever conceived of—a floating
World—the sporting monsters ofthe deep and the familiar
meetings of Billows and clouds,strove, but in vain to divert
her melancholly attention, fromthree hundred affricans in
(18:21):
chains, suffering the mostexcruciating torments, and some
of them rejoicing that the pangsof death come like a balm to
their wounds.
Once more her eyes were blestwith a Continent- but alas! How
unlike the land where shereceived her being! Here all
things appeared unpropitious-she learned to catch the ideas,
marked by the sounds oflanguage, only to know that her
(18:43):
doom was Slavery, from whichdeath alone was to Emancipate
her. What did it avail her, thatthe walls of her Lord were hung
with Splendor, and that the dusttroden underfoot in her native
country crowded his Gates withSordid worshipers- the Laws had
rendered her incapable ofreceiving property- and though
she was free moral agent,accountable for her actions, yet
(19:05):
she never had a moment at herown disposal!
Fifty years her faithful handshave been compelled to ignoble
servitude for the benefit of anIsaac Royall, until, as if
nations must be agitated, andthe world convulsed for the
preservation of that freedomwhich the almighty father
intended for all the human race,the present war was commenced,
(19:26):
the terror of men armed in thecause of freedom, compelled her
master to fly- and to breatheaway his life in a Land, where,
Lawless domination sitsenthroned, pouring bloody
outrage and cruelty on all whodare to be free.
The face of your Petitioner, isnow marked with the furrows of
time, and her frame feeblybinding under the oppression of
(19:46):
years, while she, by the Laws ofthe Land, is denied the
enjoyment of more morsel of thatimmense wealth, apart whereof
hath been accumulated by her ownindustry, and the whole
augmented by her servitude.
Wherefore, casting herself atthe feet of your honours, as to
a body of men, formed for theextirpation of vassalage, for
(20:06):
the reward of virtue, and thejust returns of honest industry-
she prays, that such allowancemay be made her out of the
Estate of Colonel Royall, aswill prevent her, and her more
infirm daughter, from misery inthe greatest extreme, and
scatter comfort over the shortand downward path of their
Lives. And she will ever Pray
Her mark [X] Belinda
Unknown (20:28):
Boston 14th February 1783
Kathryn Gehred (20:29):
Like snaps.
Jacqueline Beatty (20:30):
Yeah.
Kathryn Gehred (20:31):
So good.
Jacqueline Beatty (20:32):
Yes.
Kathryn Gehred (20:33):
This is beautiful language. The first
thing that strikes me with thisis it's almost poetically
beautiful language, and itdefinitely sounds like she was
involved in some kind of antislavery work like this sounds
sort of like abolitionistlanguage. So you mentioned
earlier Prince hall that shemight have worked with with
this. Does this sound likesomething that was the type of
(20:53):
language he was using at thistime?
Jacqueline Beatty (20:55):
Yes, I think that's the reason why many
scholars believe that she hadassistance and had assistance
from someone who was involved inanti slavery activism is, you
know, the language I just read,right? It's not that Belinda
wouldn't have felt this. Andobviously this is her personal
story. She has clear memories ofbeing ripped away from her
(21:17):
parents at the age of 12, as thepetition indicates, I'm struck
by the vivid nature of thedescription her infant footsteps
in the dust, and the kind offloating world, the experience
of being on a boat across theocean for the first time, the
(21:38):
European men whose faces werelike the moon, and whose bows
and arrows had the sounds ofthunder, right, describing their
their guns, their weapons.There's a sense of innocence in
that language as well, becauseshe's really kind of recounting
her feelings as a child beingtaken away and into slavery, and
(22:00):
how that felt, and how sheinterpreted what was happening
to her.
Unknown (22:05):
That's an aspect of slavery in the United States
that I feel like, even like proslave holders had a hard time
finding defensible when you talkabout, like, kidnapping people
from their country and bringingthem over. And I agree with you
the part where she talks aboutthe boat, I thought was like,
you couldn't make this up. Thisis something that somebody's
Kathryn Gehred (22:32):
And like the monsters of the deep and all of
that, like somebody who'd neverseen sharks and whales before,
describing them like so well putin like you say evocative.
Jacqueline Beatty (22:47):
say something like this to a body of men, some
of whom would have beenenslavers themselves, and
remembering,
certainly all of them wereimplicitly involved, right? All
Americans were implicitlyinvolved in the continuation of
slavery. So it's pretty gutsy tothrow this at their feet.
Kathryn Gehred (23:04):
Yeah
Jacqueline Beatty (23:05):
it's not, not very supplicating for the first
90% of the petition, which isfine, good for her.
Kathryn Gehred (23:12):
This may be like off base, but one of the things
that sort of struck me when shewas talking about it is she says
things like valleys loaded withthe richest fruit spontaneously
produced. It reminds me of theway people talk about, like,
Hawaii pre contact.
Jacqueline Beatty (23:24):
Yeah
Kathryn Gehred (23:25):
There's, you know, like fruit food is falling
from the trees. Like it isn't aculture that's talking about you
have to work, work, workconstantly, labor, labor, labor,
labor. The whole, like,Protestant work ethic doesn't
exist. I feel like if you werewriting something that was
really like, supplicating topeople in power, you'd be
saying, like, Oh, that was bad.And and you've brought me over
here to this new better life,right? No, she's saying like
that ruled. No, like that wasgreat, yeah. And then I've been
(23:48):
brought over to work, work,work, work, work, constantly,
and talk about that aspect ofslavery
Jacqueline Beatty (23:53):
Yeah. There's no language of talking about
civilization or Christianity orany of that. In fact, there's
references to the religion thatshe practiced with her family
before being kidnapped intoslavery. It's not just talking
about the life that she wastaken away from, but the culture
and the world that she was takenaway from this kind of, like
sustainable agriculture and likepeaceful existence, and very
(24:18):
much the opposite of kind of howyou describe it this like
ordered and structuredagriculture that is focused on
cash crops and cultivating theland for profit. It's not
present until she is enslaved,right? And it's the polar
opposite of what she'sdescribing before she's
kidnapped.
Kathryn Gehred (24:38):
She even says, my dishonored deity, and she's
not saying yeah, and for 1783even, like in 1883 I'd be
surprised to see somebody usingthis language. So it just feels
really powerful. And she'smaking things from her
perspective, and she's centeringher own perspective in a way
that I just think is so uniqueand fantastic.
Jacqueline Beatty (24:57):
Her ask is very very deep and very buried,
right? She doesn't necessarilyneed to do any of this, and in
fact, it's distinct anddifferent from certainly, what
her white counterparts aredoing. But even the few other
petitions we have from blackwomen or the way that we see
them interacting with the stateshe's like, You know what? I'm
(25:17):
going to use this opportunity,along with Prince Hall's likely
assistance to just go after theinstitution of slavery and show
you what hell it has wrought inmy life and everyone else's
before I come back to the factthat actually I am also owed
this money based on a legaldocument written by a white man
(25:38):
that has not necessarilyanything to do with this
experience, but I'm gonna giveyou both.
Kathryn Gehred (25:42):
Yeah, she's basically asking for freedom.
She's talking aboutemancipation, but then also give
me the money that I am owed.
Jacqueline Beatty (25:50):
Right, and she's already a free woman at
this point, but she's kind ofsaying obliquely, this is why
all enslaved people should befreed. She has had the freedom
to speak these words now, andbecause the state of
Massachusetts has moved awayfrom the institution of slavery,
she's not gonna necessarily rockany boats legally in the state,
(26:13):
but, yeah, it's still very braveto submit something like this
and then make your mark so thatyou are affirming that this is
how you feel.
Kathryn Gehred (26:21):
Just thinking about all these people's faces,
Jacqueline Beatty (26:24):
Yeah
Kathryn Gehred (26:25):
hearing this read to them.
Jacqueline Beatty (26:26):
Yes. Love to be a fly on the wall in that
room.
Kathryn Gehred (26:29):
So to sort of fit with the argument of your
book, Are there aspects of thisposition that you find to be
using this language ofdependence? How is she using her
dependent state?
Jacqueline Beatty (26:41):
Yes. So the last kind of two, we call them
paragraphs, but they're reallytwo long sentences here, where
she talks about her face beingmarked with the furrows of time,
right? So she's quite old, herframe feebly, bending under the
oppression of years. But thenalso talking about her daughter,
who is infirm, and she kind ofmakes the indication that her
(27:02):
daughter is more ill than sheis, but it's also kind of
wrapped in blame, also for thelegislature and the law not
holding up their end of thebargain. She's like, oh, I'm so
old and tired and physicallyweak, and my daughter is ill,
and you won't even give me whatis owed to me that's kind of
(27:22):
alternating between supplicationand depicting herself as someone
who is helpless in thesituation, which belies the
majority of the language of thepiece, right? This is what I
find so compelling about a lotof these petitions, is that the
language doesn't really matchthe act, the very act of these
(27:46):
women advocating for themselvesin front of a body that does not
consider them full or equalcitizens, especially in the case
of black women, is incrediblypowerful, but they use the
language and assumptions oftheir powerlessness to do that,
because if they just come outguns a blazing in every single
petition and upset that kind ofdelicate balance of what
(28:09):
womanhood is perceived to be inthis society, then they're not
going to have the sympathy ofthe body. And there are many
instances of that as well wherewomen just have at it and
essentially either screamingabout their husbands or
screaming about the state orboth. And you know, their
petitions are ignored or deniedbecause they are not kind of
checking this box and performinghelpless femininity. I was
(28:31):
struck a little bit when thepart where she talks about her
master, she sort of brings inthe language of the American
Revolution a little bit, which Ithought was really interesting.
Kathryn Gehred (28:40):
Yes, the way she talks about the king him
choosing to go back to England,where lawless Davidian sits
enthroned, pouring bloodyoutrage and cruelty on all who
dare to be free. So good.
Jacqueline Beatty (28:52):
There are these moments in these petitions
where the petitioner knows whothey're speaking to, right? This
is a group of revolutionariessitting in this body in 1783 who
would love to hear anyone goafter the king. He's the tyrant,
lawless dominion on the throne,who comes after anyone with
(29:14):
bloody outrage, anyone who wantsfreedom, which includes them,
but also includes her right. Soshe kind of has common cause
here, but puts it in the contextof, like this righteous cause of
the revolution. But there's alsosubtle digs at them too, and at
the revolution more broadly,right? The World convulsed for
the preservation of that freedomwhich the Almighty Father
(29:36):
intended for all the human race,just being like, Oh, I hear, I
hear your cries for freedom likeI raise you one. And you know,
make it universal in this case,and not just about taxation and
representation for white guys ofproperty.
Kathryn Gehred (29:52):
It made me think of the Samuel Johnson quote
where he says, How is it that wehear the loudest yelps
forlLiberty among the drivers ofnegroes?
Jacqueline Beatty (29:59):
That's right.
Kathryn Gehred (29:59):
Right? The first time I read that, it did sort
of, like, blow my mind a littlebit, because I'd sort of been
thinking of things like, youknow, way back then, nobody was
even thinking about this, likeit was just this was the way
things were. And the more youread documents from the 18th
century, that's just not true.
Jacqueline Beatty (30:13):
No
Kathryn Gehred (30:13):
people were challenging it from the very,
very beginning. And this isBelinda doing exactly that in
1783,
Jacqueline Beatty (30:19):
Exactly.
Kathryn Gehred (30:21):
Okay. It's a fabulous petition. She's
strategic. She's using languageof abolition. She's bringing up
the war that is sort of stillongoing in 1783 Did she win her
petition? Did she get her money?
Jacqueline Beatty (30:33):
So yes and no, I had to take notes over
here because there's so manyfollow ups in this situation. So
the legislature did approve herpetition, but we know from
subsequent petitions that theydidn't actually follow through
with executing the order toprovide her with that money. So
she has four other petitionsafter this, one in 1783 in 1785
(31:00):
she petitions being like,basically, you know, you said
this in 1783 I still haven'tseen my money. It would be nice
if you followed through withthis. In 1787 she petitions
again and is granted a one yearallowance. In 1788 she petitions
for three years back pay, whichindicates to us that they are
(31:21):
not following through on theirpromise. And the last petition
we have of hers is in 1793 withmore evidence that what they
affirmed did not actually occur.And unfortunately, we don't
really know what is happening inBelinda's life in this 10 years
of repeated petitioning, besidesthe fact that at some point she
(31:44):
gets married and claims thissurname, Sutton, and I think by
1799 the royal estate indicatesthat there are no servants
living on the property anymore,or no servants Living who be
taking money out of the estatesaccounts. So I think we are led
(32:04):
to believe with that, thatSutton did not survive beyond
1799 there's a lot that we don'tknow. What we do know is that
she kept petitioning right fivetimes total within a span of a
decade, and had to keepadvocating for herself, because
despite the Massachusettslegislature affirming that she
had a right to this money, shewasn't getting it. This is not
(32:28):
uncommon either. I think there'sa lot of frustration in kind of
reading through some of thesepetitions and desperately
searching for answers. Sometimesthere are documents that exist
that affirm that payments weremade or, you know, whatever the
request that women petitionersmade, those were granted.
Sometimes the journals of theselegislators would say, You know
(32:50):
what, we're gonna we're gonnatable this for tomorrow, or
we're gonna send it to thiscommittee, and then they're
gonna report back to us. Andsearching and searching and
searching through thesedocuments, it's just kind of
like a pocket veto, right? Itgoes away. Either they forget
about it or they intentionallyjust like, let it go, and we
don't know really what happenedto a lot of these people based
on these petitions. So it's veryfrustrating when there is no
(33:14):
neat bow at the end. But it'sespecially frustrating in a
situation like this, where thelegislature agrees with Belinda
on the facts of the case, andyet they do not follow through
to help her.
Kathryn Gehred (33:26):
Yeah, I feel like that's kind of a recurring
theme with these sort ofcontinental governments and
paying anybody, yeah? Liketrying to pay the soldiers, like
paying literally anyone, right?Seems extremely complicated.
Jacqueline Beatty (33:39):
Well, the 1780s were also a bit of an
economic mess, to be fair
Kathryn Gehred (33:42):
But but still, this is money that is clearly it
was intended for her. Itrightfully belongs to her, and
just the fact that she had tofight and fight and fight and
fight to get it is justfrustrating. But I'm so happy
that these documents exist togive us this little insight into
(34:03):
Belinda's life and the time.But, yeah, sorry, Belinda, that
sucks.
Jacqueline Beatty (34:07):
Yeah, it does. There are also, I should
say, some scholars who arguethat this is kind of the first
real evidence of a formerlyenslaved person demanding
reparations for enslavement. Idon't know where I fall. I kind
of go back and forth about this,because the money that she is
owed out of royals estate wasnot given as kind of payment for
(34:32):
her work while she was enslaved,but the language that she uses
in this petition that we Read,the language that probably
Prince Hall helps her craftsuggests that she is owed money
for the labor of herenslavement. So it depends on
your perspective, whose shoesyou're filling, right? If you're
(34:54):
the state of Massachusetts,you're probably not going to say
that this is reparations forslavery. It's just like this is
in his. Will, and we have toprovide it, but I don't know.
You know, Belinda and PrinceHall may have had other ideas
that the money in Royalsaccount, she probably rightly
thought like he owed her,because she labored for Him for
50 years, for half a century,and made him wealthy.
Kathryn Gehred (35:18):
Thank you so much for bringing this document
to my attention and for sharingit. If there's one sort of
takeaway that you want people towalk away from this episode
with, what would it be?
Jacqueline Beatty (35:29):
I think major takeaway from this document, and
from all the documents that Ilooked at for the book, is
basically that there are a lotof ways to express power, even
if you are in a position insociety that others deem
powerless, right, that no one iswithout power. There are
different amounts of power.There are different ways to
(35:51):
express power to differenteffect, but no one in the
society was without power. And Ithink more importantly, no one
in society was kind of acceptinga position of powerlessness
without advocating forthemselves in unique ways. There
are ways in which theconstrictions of the patriarchal
(36:15):
state and kind of whitesupremacy in American history
really constrict the way thatpeople can express power, but
many people do so within thoseconfines, and some people, like
the women I write about, do sousing those confines right and
undermining them in the process.So I think maybe even in this
(36:37):
political environment, it'simportant for people to remember
that there are a lot of ways tohave agency in a democratic
society, even if you feel kindof helpless and powerless. And
that's a good thing. That feelsgood to hear yes, people in much
worse straights in the 18thcentury were doing it so so can
we that's great if people areinterested in learning more
(36:59):
about Belinda's life and themany other petitions that she
submitted the Royal Housewebsite has transcriptions of
this petition. They have somehistorical context and secondary
source material on theirwebsite, and they also link out
to a database of petitionssubmitted by free and enslaved
(37:20):
black residents of Massachusettsthat folks at Harvard put
together almost 10 years ago.And it's free and open access,
and you can see the originalstoo, which are really beautiful.
So if you're interested inlearning more, I would point
folks to the Royal House andslave quarters website.
Kathryn Gehred (37:38):
Awesome. Yeah, I will definitely put a link to
that in the show notes. Andcheck all this out and read
everything you can aboutBelinda, because she's
fascinating. So to my listeners,thank you so much for listening,
and I am, as ever, your mostobedient and humble servant.
Thank you very much.
(38:05):
Your Most Obedient & HumbleServant is a production of R2
Studios, part of the RoyRosenzweig Center for History
and New Media at George MasonUniversity. I'm Kathryn Gehred,
the creator and host of thispodcast, Jeanette Patrick and
Jim Ambuske are the executiveproducers. Special thanks to
Virginia Humanities for allowingme to use the recording studio.
(38:28):
If you enjoyed this episode,please tell a friend and be sure
to rate and review the series inyour podcast app. For more great
history podcasts, head tor2studios.org. Thanks for
listening.
Hello and welcome to Your Most Obedient &
Humble Servant. This is awomen's history podcast where we
feature 18th and early 19thcentury women's letters that
don't get as much attention aswe think they should. I'm your
host. Kathryn Gehred. I'm soexcited to welcome Dr. Jacqeline
Beatty to the podcast. Dr.Beatty is an associate professor
of history at York College ofPennsylvania. In 2023 she
published her bookIn Dependence: Women and the Patriarchal State (00:27):
undefined
in Revolutionary America, whichis absolutely excellent. So
hello, Jackie. Welcome to theshow.
Jacqueline Beatty (00:36):
Thanks. Thanks for having me.
Kathryn Gehred (00:37):
Before we jump into talking about the letter. I
want to talk a little bit aboutyour book. Would you give me
sort of your short elevatorpitch for it.
Jacqueline Beatty (00:45):
Sure. So what I was investigating in my book
was the ways in which women wereable to exploit and manipulate
assumptions about theirdependence, various forms of
dependence. So that's economic,legal, social, cultural, to work
to their advantage. And I wasinvestigating petitions to state
(01:08):
legislatures largely, but alsocourt documents, to see the ways
in which they employed thislanguage of women's dependence,
helplessness, vulnerability, tobasically demand things from the
state. In the end, what I foundis that they really latched on
to this language of rights thatwas on the rise during the
(01:29):
American Revolution and becameconscious of themselves as
rights bearing individuals,which is a necessary step before
kind of moving towardscollective action in the
antebellum period.
Kathryn Gehred (01:42):
First of all, super interesting argument. My
background, I worked as aneditor of the Papers of Martha
Washington. And I do think it'sinteresting, because there's a
lot of times people talkingabout Martha Washington as sort
of a role model or whatever. Butif you look at her writings, she
would never say something likethat about herself. She would
talk about herself like as awife has somebody who's
dependent. So to see your takewas really interesting and
(02:03):
refreshing for me, because Idon't think it necessarily has
to be either or somebody couldbe a really interesting figure
and not necessarily have to be agirl boss. But the way of using
this position that they occupiedin 18th century as a way of
wielding power is sofascinating. Did you find that
it's something that white womenwere able to wield more than
black women, absolutely.
Jacqueline Beatty (02:23):
Yeah.
Kathryn Gehred (02:23):
What were the differences with that?
Jacqueline Beatty (02:25):
Yeah. I mean, you have to kind of take an
intersectional approach to thesesources, because both race and
class come into play in thiscontext, the assumptions of
women who need the protectionand assistance of men, the
assumption is that those aremore elite or kind of upper
middling white women, so womenwho are kind of in the lower
(02:49):
working classes, as well asblack women and indigenous
women, have to employ differentkinds of strategies. But it also
means that their employment ofdependents and the outcomes of
their petitions have, I think,greater significance when they
are not afforded the assumptionof that protection of white men
(03:11):
and the white patriarchal state.What inspired your argument?
What did you latch on to? So Iwas working on this book when I
was in graduate school. It waspart of my dissertation, and I
have always been very interestedin the constructions of gender,
especially as they inform powerdynamics in society and culture.
Woody Holton had written anarticle about Abigail Adams and
(03:35):
her bond speculation work, andit was really interesting
because Adams was able to arguethat what she was doing was
okay, even though she was kindof jumping into the masculine
sphere of finance and bondspeculation, because it was an
extension of her role as a wifeand mother and work for her
family. And I was like, well,that's really savvy. I'm sure
(03:57):
she thought part of it wasnonsense, right? We know a lot
about Abigail Adams and herideology, but I was kind of
captivated by that. And when Iwas on my very first research
trip down in Columbia, SouthCarolina, at their state
archives, I spoke to anarchivist, and he said, you
know, you should look at thesepetitions to the General
Assembly. And I did, and theywere incredible. And I just kind
(04:19):
of fell in love with thosesources as a way to understand
women's experiences of wartime,and you know, how they thought
of themselves as citizens andwhat the state owed them,
especially during these momentsof crisis.
Kathryn Gehred (04:31):
One of my favorite moments when I was
reading more about Abigail Adamswas because, you know, I'd seen
the musical 1776 as many peoplehave there was the whole song
where she's writing about, like,saltpeter and pins, and it's
this, like, cute little thing.But then when you find out more
about Abigail Adams, like, she'sinterested in pins because she's
selling them at a hugely higherrate. She's, like, taking
(04:52):
advantage of the wartime lack ofpins to, like, make money for
herself. I was like, Abigail,
Jacqueline Beatty (04:58):
Yeah.
Kathryn Gehred (04:58):
What?
Jacqueline Beatty (04:59):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, she's pretty incredible.
You know, everybody always citesthe, remember the ladies letter
that she writes to her husband,John. But what I find more
compelling, you know, hisresponse that is very dismissive
and frustrating of her thetyranny of the petticoat or
something like that. And thenshe writes to her friend, and
she's like, can you believe whathe just said to me? Right? So
(05:19):
she's really leaning on herfemale friends and just eye
rolling at him through letterwriting, which is great.
Kathryn Gehred (05:25):
I made a promise to myself when I started this
podcast that I would not do theremember the ladies. Yeah, this
is a little overdone, but, butit's great if you haven't read
it, reading, it's so good. Soactually, you led us with a
really great segue into talkingabout the actual document we're
talking about today. So this isa not a letter, the way a lot of
the letters I cover are, this isa petition. Could you tell me a
(05:47):
little bit about thesepetitions, like, what are they?
How do they work?
Jacqueline Beatty (05:50):
Yeah, I think when you know, those of us who
live in the 21st century thinkabout petitions. We think about,
you know, people who go door todoor for a cause and are
collecting signatures, or, youknow, the more modern version,
are online petitions, right? Andkind of go fund me type things.
Petitions are very different inthe 18th century, and they have
English roots. And the idea wasthat a subject of the crown
(06:15):
could write a petition toParliament, in this case, right
to a legislative body, askingfor some kind of redress for an
individual grievance or issue.So there were collective
petitions, but it was much morecommon for an individual to use
this medium as a method ofredress. So this obviously gets
(06:35):
translated and brought over tothe colonies this strategy and
there are petitions to colonialassemblies later, to state
legislatures during and afterthe revolution. There are also
petitions to the ContinentalCongress during and after the
war, and to actual Congressright once the Constitution is
(06:55):
ratified and that body exists asthe 19th century wears on, a lot
more collective petitions arise,but they come out of this
tradition of individualpetitioning, mostly for
individual redress. The formatis kind of formulaic. I
sometimes refer to it as beingkind of like Mad Libs, where you
(07:17):
insert your name and yourproblem and what you would like
from the government. So I thinksome folks kind of give pushback
when we talk about petitions andthe meaning that can be drawn
from them. But when you've readlike thousands of them, as I
have, I can note thedistinctions pretty quickly, and
obviously what they all have incommon is the tone of
(07:40):
supplication to an authority,but men and women do this
differently. It's very genderedand performative that way. And
you know, they kind of statetheir problem, but especially in
a source like the one we'regoing to talk about today, you
really get to know thepetitioner in a way that you
might not otherwise, becauseoften the people that are
(08:01):
petitioning for assistance haveno other place to turn. Many of
them are desperate, and theyreally paint compelling
narrative. They understand thattheir audience is this kind of
body of elite white men inpower, and they have to be
deferential and recognize theauthority of the government and
supplicate themselves in thatway, but some of them get a
(08:24):
little salty also. So it'sreally fun to see their
personalities come through. Butit also really gives a lens to
understanding the difficultiesof living through these
conflicts and establishing a newstate as well. As, you know,
really demonstrating theexperience of people who we
(08:46):
might otherwise never learnabout because they don't leave
behind any other written record.So they're, they're really
fantastic sources.
Kathryn Gehred (08:53):
Yeah, that's interesting, because a lot of
the times with this podcast, Ido a lot of letters between
sisters and mothers and mothersand all of that, where somebody
is really free and sort ofchatty, this is like the exact
opposite of that, yes, but itstill tells you a lot, like
there's still a lot ofinformation in there. So
specifically, the one we'retalking about today, this is
from a 1783 petition from awoman named Belinda Sutton. So
(09:16):
who was Belinda?
Jacqueline Beatty (09:17):
So Belinda was a woman who was kidnapped
from West Africa and broughtinto slavery, specifically in
Massachusetts, and was enslavedby the royal family outside of
Boston. I mean, you refer to heras Belinda Sutton. We can kind
of get to that she was marriedat some point in the 1780s we're
(09:38):
not exactly sure. Well, yourefer to her as Belinda, as she
would have been known during herenslavement, she labored in the
royal household for severaldecades. I want to say, I think
in her petition, she mentions40-50, years that she was
Yeah, so it's unclear. A lot of scholars think
enslaved to this family, and wecan talk about slavery. History
(10:00):
in Massachusetts in thiscontext, because 1783 is an
actually that a man named PrinceHall helped Belinda to draft
important year for slavery andabolition in in the state of
Massachusetts as well. IsaacRoyall was the head of the
family to whom she was enslaved,and Isaac Royall was a loyalist.
this petition. Prince Hall was aBlack activist in the Boston
He ended up fleeingMassachusetts during the
(10:22):
revolution, and he later wrote awill, I believe, in 1781, where
community and an anti slaveryactivist at that as folks will
he provided a certain amount ofmoney and annuity for Belinda
be able to tell from thelanguage of the petition. So it
after his death. During hislife, while he was absent,
right? He had a friend who stilllived in Massachusetts who was
taking care of that, and heessentially said in his will,
(10:45):
really depended on thesituation. Some women had
provided Belinda with theopportunity to choose her
freedom, and that there shouldbe, I would have to look up the
language, but something like acertain amount of money provided
assistance from lawyers andother officials who could help
to her in her freedom so thatshe would not become dependent
on the state. Essentially, shewould not be on the public dole,
them write and submit thesedocuments. Some petitions were
(11:05):
which was what a lot of citizenswere worried about. So he kind
of provided that for her in hiswill, and for a time, his friend
was making such payments. Butthe problem was that, as often
submitted orally and taken down,as you kind of alluded to, by a
happened with loyalists duringthe revolution is that the state
confiscated his property. I havea number of situations like this
(11:26):
in the book, so what Belinda hasto do to recover those annuity
clerk of the court. And many ofthe petitions have that kind of
payments is tell the state whathappened and advocate for
herself.
Kathryn Gehred (11:36):
We've had petitions on the podcast before,
and in that case, it was someonesort of speaking in front of an
beautiful script written by bythe clerk of the assembly, I
audience and someone writingdown the words as they heard
them. And sometimes they're notexactly accurate, but sometimes
they're direct quotes. What wasthis situation like?
should say, and then are eithersigned by the petitioner in a
I was wondering, it seems as though the Royal
(12:00):
space or there is an x whichindicates that the petitioner
either could not write or couldnot read or write. So they would
(12:22):
have had to hear the petition inorder to sign onto it, if they
family seemed to be putting somesort of effort into paying her
were not literate, as we assumein the case of Belinda, because
(12:45):
she marked her petition with anX so she at least could not
write her name, she may also nothave been able to read any of
(13:07):
the petition.
money. I wasn't sure if therewas any chance that she had
gotten some kind of aneducation?
Jacqueline Beatty (13:22):
Yeah, unfortunately, we don't know a
lot about Belinda's life beforethis petition, as is the case
with many enslaved people. Ithink what's interesting is that
we know a lot more about Belindathan most other enslaved people
in the 18th century because ofher petitions and her self
advocacy. But even what we knowis fairly limited, and we make
(13:45):
kind of educated guesses aboutcertain things based on context,
like the fact that Prince Hallwas likely to have helped her
draft this petition.
Kathryn Gehred (13:53):
So at the moment that she's writing this
petition, do we know what'sgoing on in her life?
Jacqueline Beatty (13:58):
It's not clear exactly what's going on in
her life. But I think 1783 whenher first petition is submitted,
is a really important year inthe state of Massachusetts
regarding slavery. Each statewas kind of given the task by
the Continental Congress torewrite constitutions after
independence, and John Adamsfamously drafted the
(14:20):
Massachusetts State Constitutionin 1780 the Constitution did not
abolish slavery, but the waythat slavery scholars kind of
quibble about whether it wasofficially abolished this way,
but the demise of slavery inMassachusetts came through the
courts. There were several legalchallenges by enslaved people
(14:43):
themselves that were challengingtheir enslavement, many of them
using the language of therevolution, freedom, rights,
equality, which is reallycompelling. I think the two most
famous cases are those of clockWalker and mum bett or Elizabeth
Freeman as. She named herselfafter slavery. So those cases
(15:03):
were, I believe, in 1781 and1783 so from that point, it was
kind of understood that thecourt had basically decreed that
slavery was illegal in the stateof Massachusetts on the basis of
the language of theConstitution, the language that
John Adams wrote was thelanguage that enslaved people
(15:26):
used to challenge the veryexistence of slavery in that
state. So I wonder, although wedon't know for sure, if that had
anything to do with the contentand the tone of Belinda's
petition. All right, shepetitions at this time because
she's looking for the money thatshe is owed based on Royals will
(15:46):
but as I'm sure we'll talkabout, the language is quite
pointed. Is maybe a delicate wayto put it, but it's
extraordinarily vivid in itsdepiction of the effect of
slavery on an individual likeBelinda, and then when you
compound it to include allenslaved people in the United
States, it's that much morepowerful, I think.
Kathryn Gehred (16:08):
Thank you. I think that's a great setup
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Jacqueline Beatty (16:11):
To the Honourable the senate and House
of Representatives in GeneralCourt assembled.
The Petition of Belinda anAfrican, humbly shews.
That seventy years have rolledaway, since she on the banks of
the Rio da Valta, received herexistence—the mountained covered
with spicy forests, the valleysloaded with the richest fruits,
spontaneously produced; joinedto that happy temperature of air
(16:34):
which excludes excess; wouldhave yielded her the most
compleat felicity, had not hermind received early impressions
of the cruelty of men, whosefaces were like the moon, and
whose bows and arrows were likethe thunder and the lightning of
the Clouds. -the idea of these,the most dreadful of all
Enemies, filled her Infantslumbers with horror, and her
(16:55):
noon tide moments with evilapprehensions! - but her
affrighted imagination, in itsmost alarming extension, never
represented distresses equal towhat she hath since really
experienced. For before she hadtwelve years enjoyed the
fragrance of her native groves,and e’er she realized, that
Europeans placed their happinessin the yellow dust which she
(17:16):
carelessly marked with herinfant footsteps- even when she,
in a sacred grove, with eachhand in that of a tender Parent,
was paying her devotions to thegreat Orisa who made all things-
an armed band of white men,driving many of her coutnrymen
in chains, rushed into thehallowed shade! - could the
tears, the sighs, andsupplications, nursing from the
(17:38):
Tortured Parental affection,have blunted the keen edge of
avarice, she might have beenrescued from Agony, which many
of her Countrys children havefelt, but which none hath ever
described—In vain she lifted herSupplicating voice to an
insulted father, and herguiltless hands to a dishonored
Deity! She was ravished from thebosom of her Country, from the
(17:58):
arms of her friends, while theadvanced age of her Parents,
rendering them unfit forservitude, cruelly separated her
from them forever!
Scenes which her imagination hadnever conceived of—a floating
World—the sporting monsters ofthe deep and the familiar
meetings of Billows and clouds,strove, but in vain to divert
her melancholly attention, fromthree hundred affricans in
(18:21):
chains, suffering the mostexcruciating torments, and some
of them rejoicing that the pangsof death come like a balm to
their wounds.
Once more her eyes were blestwith a Continent- but alas! How
unlike the land where shereceived her being! Here all
things appeared unpropitious-she learned to catch the ideas,
marked by the sounds oflanguage, only to know that her
(18:43):
doom was Slavery, from whichdeath alone was to Emancipate
her. What did it avail her, thatthe walls of her Lord were hung
with Splendor, and that the dusttroden underfoot in her native
country crowded his Gates withSordid worshipers- the Laws had
rendered her incapable ofreceiving property- and though
she was free moral agent,accountable for her actions, yet
(19:05):
she never had a moment at herown disposal!
Fifty years her faithful handshave been compelled to ignoble
servitude for the benefit of anIsaac Royall, until, as if
nations must be agitated, andthe world convulsed for the
preservation of that freedomwhich the almighty father
intended for all the human race,the present war was commenced,
(19:26):
the terror of men armed in thecause of freedom, compelled her
master to fly- and to breatheaway his life in a Land, where,
Lawless domination sitsenthroned, pouring bloody
outrage and cruelty on all whodare to be free.
The face of your Petitioner, isnow marked with the furrows of
time, and her frame feeblybinding under the oppression of
(19:46):
years, while she, by the Laws ofthe Land, is denied the
enjoyment of more morsel of thatimmense wealth, apart whereof
hath been accumulated by her ownindustry, and the whole
augmented by her servitude.
Wherefore, casting herself atthe feet of your honours, as to
a body of men, formed for theextirpation of vassalage, for
(20:06):
the reward of virtue, and thejust returns of honest industry-
she prays, that such allowancemay be made her out of the
Estate of Colonel Royall, aswill prevent her, and her more
infirm daughter, from misery inthe greatest extreme, and
scatter comfort over the shortand downward path of their
Lives. And she will ever Pray
Her mark [X] Belinda
Unknown (20:28):
Boston 14th February 1783
Kathryn Gehred (20:29):
Like snaps.
Jacqueline Beatty (20:30):
Yeah.
Kathryn Gehred (20:31):
So good.
Jacqueline Beatty (20:32):
Yes.
Kathryn Gehred (20:33):
This is beautiful language. The first
thing that strikes me with thisis it's almost poetically
beautiful language, and itdefinitely sounds like she was
involved in some kind of antislavery work like this sounds
sort of like abolitionistlanguage. So you mentioned
earlier Prince hall that shemight have worked with with
this. Does this sound likesomething that was the type of
(20:53):
language he was using at thistime?
Jacqueline Beatty (20:55):
Yes, I think that's the reason why many
scholars believe that she hadassistance and had assistance
from someone who was involved inanti slavery activism is, you
know, the language I just read,right? It's not that Belinda
wouldn't have felt this. Andobviously this is her personal
story. She has clear memories ofbeing ripped away from her
(21:17):
parents at the age of 12, as thepetition indicates, I'm struck
by the vivid nature of thedescription her infant footsteps
in the dust, and the kind offloating world, the experience
of being on a boat across theocean for the first time, the
(21:38):
European men whose faces werelike the moon, and whose bows
and arrows had the sounds ofthunder, right, describing their
their guns, their weapons.There's a sense of innocence in
that language as well, becauseshe's really kind of recounting
her feelings as a child beingtaken away and into slavery, and
(22:00):
how that felt, and how sheinterpreted what was happening
to her.
Unknown (22:05):
That's an aspect of slavery in the United States
that I feel like, even like proslave holders had a hard time
finding defensible when you talkabout, like, kidnapping people
from their country and bringingthem over. And I agree with you
the part where she talks aboutthe boat, I thought was like,
you couldn't make this up. Thisis something that somebody's
Kathryn Gehred (22:32):
And like the monsters of the deep and all of
that, like somebody who'd neverseen sharks and whales before,
describing them like so well putin like you say evocative.
Jacqueline Beatty (22:47):
say something like this to a body of men, some
of whom would have beenenslavers themselves, and
remembering,
certainly all of them wereimplicitly involved, right? All
Americans were implicitlyinvolved in the continuation of
slavery. So it's pretty gutsy tothrow this at their feet.
Kathryn Gehred (23:04):
Yeah
Jacqueline Beatty (23:05):
it's not, not very supplicating for the first
90% of the petition, which isfine, good for her.
Kathryn Gehred (23:12):
This may be like off base, but one of the things
that sort of struck me when shewas talking about it is she says
things like valleys loaded withthe richest fruit spontaneously
produced. It reminds me of theway people talk about, like,
Hawaii pre contact.
Jacqueline Beatty (23:24):
Yeah
Kathryn Gehred (23:25):
There's, you know, like fruit food is falling
from the trees. Like it isn't aculture that's talking about you
have to work, work, workconstantly, labor, labor, labor,
labor. The whole, like,Protestant work ethic doesn't
exist. I feel like if you werewriting something that was
really like, supplicating topeople in power, you'd be
saying, like, Oh, that was bad.And and you've brought me over
here to this new better life,right? No, she's saying like
that ruled. No, like that wasgreat, yeah. And then I've been
(23:48):
brought over to work, work,work, work, work, constantly,
and talk about that aspect ofslavery
Jacqueline Beatty (23:53):
Yeah. There's no language of talking about
civilization or Christianity orany of that. In fact, there's
references to the religion thatshe practiced with her family
before being kidnapped intoslavery. It's not just talking
about the life that she wastaken away from, but the culture
and the world that she was takenaway from this kind of, like
sustainable agriculture and likepeaceful existence, and very
(24:18):
much the opposite of kind of howyou describe it this like
ordered and structuredagriculture that is focused on
cash crops and cultivating theland for profit. It's not
present until she is enslaved,right? And it's the polar
opposite of what she'sdescribing before she's
kidnapped.
Kathryn Gehred (24:38):
She even says, my dishonored deity, and she's
not saying yeah, and for 1783even, like in 1883 I'd be
surprised to see somebody usingthis language. So it just feels
really powerful. And she'smaking things from her
perspective, and she's centeringher own perspective in a way
that I just think is so uniqueand fantastic.
Jacqueline Beatty (24:57):
Her ask is very very deep and very buried,
right? She doesn't necessarilyneed to do any of this, and in
fact, it's distinct anddifferent from certainly, what
her white counterparts aredoing. But even the few other
petitions we have from blackwomen or the way that we see
them interacting with the stateshe's like, You know what? I'm
(25:17):
going to use this opportunity,along with Prince Hall's likely
assistance to just go after theinstitution of slavery and show
you what hell it has wrought inmy life and everyone else's
before I come back to the factthat actually I am also owed
this money based on a legaldocument written by a white man
(25:38):
that has not necessarilyanything to do with this
experience, but I'm gonna giveyou both.
Kathryn Gehred (25:42):
Yeah, she's basically asking for freedom.
She's talking aboutemancipation, but then also give
me the money that I am owed.
Jacqueline Beatty (25:50):
Right, and she's already a free woman at
this point, but she's kind ofsaying obliquely, this is why
all enslaved people should befreed. She has had the freedom
to speak these words now, andbecause the state of
Massachusetts has moved awayfrom the institution of slavery,
she's not gonna necessarily rockany boats legally in the state,
(26:13):
but, yeah, it's still very braveto submit something like this
and then make your mark so thatyou are affirming that this is
how you feel.
Kathryn Gehred (26:21):
Just thinking about all these people's faces,
Jacqueline Beatty (26:24):
Yeah
Kathryn Gehred (26:25):
hearing this read to them.
Jacqueline Beatty (26:26):
Yes. Love to be a fly on the wall in that
room.
Kathryn Gehred (26:29):
So to sort of fit with the argument of your
book, Are there aspects of thisposition that you find to be
using this language ofdependence? How is she using her
dependent state?
Jacqueline Beatty (26:41):
Yes. So the last kind of two, we call them
paragraphs, but they're reallytwo long sentences here, where
she talks about her face beingmarked with the furrows of time,
right? So she's quite old, herframe feebly, bending under the
oppression of years. But thenalso talking about her daughter,
who is infirm, and she kind ofmakes the indication that her
(27:02):
daughter is more ill than sheis, but it's also kind of
wrapped in blame, also for thelegislature and the law not
holding up their end of thebargain. She's like, oh, I'm so
old and tired and physicallyweak, and my daughter is ill,
and you won't even give me whatis owed to me that's kind of
(27:22):
alternating between supplicationand depicting herself as someone
who is helpless in thesituation, which belies the
majority of the language of thepiece, right? This is what I
find so compelling about a lotof these petitions, is that the
language doesn't really matchthe act, the very act of these
(27:46):
women advocating for themselvesin front of a body that does not
consider them full or equalcitizens, especially in the case
of black women, is incrediblypowerful, but they use the
language and assumptions oftheir powerlessness to do that,
because if they just come outguns a blazing in every single
petition and upset that kind ofdelicate balance of what
(28:09):
womanhood is perceived to be inthis society, then they're not
going to have the sympathy ofthe body. And there are many
instances of that as well wherewomen just have at it and
essentially either screamingabout their husbands or
screaming about the state orboth. And you know, their
petitions are ignored or deniedbecause they are not kind of
checking this box and performinghelpless femininity. I was
(28:31):
struck a little bit when thepart where she talks about her
master, she sort of brings inthe language of the American
Revolution a little bit, which Ithought was really interesting.
Kathryn Gehred (28:40):
Yes, the way she talks about the king him
choosing to go back to England,where lawless Davidian sits
enthroned, pouring bloodyoutrage and cruelty on all who
dare to be free. So good.
Jacqueline Beatty (28:52):
There are these moments in these petitions
where the petitioner knows whothey're speaking to, right? This
is a group of revolutionariessitting in this body in 1783 who
would love to hear anyone goafter the king. He's the tyrant,
lawless dominion on the throne,who comes after anyone with
(29:14):
bloody outrage, anyone who wantsfreedom, which includes them,
but also includes her right. Soshe kind of has common cause
here, but puts it in the contextof, like this righteous cause of
the revolution. But there's alsosubtle digs at them too, and at
the revolution more broadly,right? The World convulsed for
the preservation of that freedomwhich the Almighty Father
(29:36):
intended for all the human race,just being like, Oh, I hear, I
hear your cries for freedom likeI raise you one. And you know,
make it universal in this case,and not just about taxation and
representation for white guys ofproperty.
Kathryn Gehred (29:52):
It made me think of the Samuel Johnson quote
where he says, How is it that wehear the loudest yelps
forlLiberty among the drivers ofnegroes?
Jacqueline Beatty (29:59):
That's right.
Kathryn Gehred (29:59):
Right? The first time I read that, it did sort
of, like, blow my mind a littlebit, because I'd sort of been
thinking of things like, youknow, way back then, nobody was
even thinking about this, likeit was just this was the way
things were. And the more youread documents from the 18th
century, that's just not true.
Jacqueline Beatty (30:13):
No
Kathryn Gehred (30:13):
people were challenging it from the very,
very beginning. And this isBelinda doing exactly that in
1783,
Jacqueline Beatty (30:19):
Exactly.
Kathryn Gehred (30:21):
Okay. It's a fabulous petition. She's
strategic. She's using languageof abolition. She's bringing up
the war that is sort of stillongoing in 1783 Did she win her
petition? Did she get her money?
Jacqueline Beatty (30:33):
So yes and no, I had to take notes over
here because there's so manyfollow ups in this situation. So
the legislature did approve herpetition, but we know from
subsequent petitions that theydidn't actually follow through
with executing the order toprovide her with that money. So
she has four other petitionsafter this, one in 1783 in 1785
(31:00):
she petitions being like,basically, you know, you said
this in 1783 I still haven'tseen my money. It would be nice
if you followed through withthis. In 1787 she petitions
again and is granted a one yearallowance. In 1788 she petitions
for three years back pay, whichindicates to us that they are
(31:21):
not following through on theirpromise. And the last petition
we have of hers is in 1793 withmore evidence that what they
affirmed did not actually occur.And unfortunately, we don't
really know what is happening inBelinda's life in this 10 years
of repeated petitioning, besidesthe fact that at some point she
(31:44):
gets married and claims thissurname, Sutton, and I think by
1799 the royal estate indicatesthat there are no servants
living on the property anymore,or no servants Living who be
taking money out of the estatesaccounts. So I think we are led
(32:04):
to believe with that, thatSutton did not survive beyond
1799 there's a lot that we don'tknow. What we do know is that
she kept petitioning right fivetimes total within a span of a
decade, and had to keepadvocating for herself, because
despite the Massachusettslegislature affirming that she
had a right to this money, shewasn't getting it. This is not
(32:28):
uncommon either. I think there'sa lot of frustration in kind of
reading through some of thesepetitions and desperately
searching for answers. Sometimesthere are documents that exist
that affirm that payments weremade or, you know, whatever the
request that women petitionersmade, those were granted.
Sometimes the journals of theselegislators would say, You know
(32:50):
what, we're gonna we're gonnatable this for tomorrow, or
we're gonna send it to thiscommittee, and then they're
gonna report back to us. Andsearching and searching and
searching through thesedocuments, it's just kind of
like a pocket veto, right? Itgoes away. Either they forget
about it or they intentionallyjust like, let it go, and we
don't know really what happenedto a lot of these people based
on these petitions. So it's veryfrustrating when there is no
(33:14):
neat bow at the end. But it'sespecially frustrating in a
situation like this, where thelegislature agrees with Belinda
on the facts of the case, andyet they do not follow through
to help her.
Kathryn Gehred (33:26):
Yeah, I feel like that's kind of a recurring
theme with these sort ofcontinental governments and
paying anybody, yeah? Liketrying to pay the soldiers, like
paying literally anyone, right?Seems extremely complicated.
Jacqueline Beatty (33:39):
Well, the 1780s were also a bit of an
economic mess, to be fair
Kathryn Gehred (33:42):
But but still, this is money that is clearly it
was intended for her. Itrightfully belongs to her, and
just the fact that she had tofight and fight and fight and
fight to get it is justfrustrating. But I'm so happy
that these documents exist togive us this little insight into
(34:03):
Belinda's life and the time.But, yeah, sorry, Belinda, that
sucks.
Jacqueline Beatty (34:07):
Yeah, it does. There are also, I should
say, some scholars who arguethat this is kind of the first
real evidence of a formerlyenslaved person demanding
reparations for enslavement. Idon't know where I fall. I kind
of go back and forth about this,because the money that she is
owed out of royals estate wasnot given as kind of payment for
(34:32):
her work while she was enslaved,but the language that she uses
in this petition that we Read,the language that probably
Prince Hall helps her craftsuggests that she is owed money
for the labor of herenslavement. So it depends on
your perspective, whose shoesyou're filling, right? If you're
(34:54):
the state of Massachusetts,you're probably not going to say
that this is reparations forslavery. It's just like this is
in his. Will, and we have toprovide it, but I don't know.
You know, Belinda and PrinceHall may have had other ideas
that the money in Royalsaccount, she probably rightly
thought like he owed her,because she labored for Him for
50 years, for half a century,and made him wealthy.
Kathryn Gehred (35:18):
Thank you so much for bringing this document
to my attention and for sharingit. If there's one sort of
takeaway that you want people towalk away from this episode
with, what would it be?
Jacqueline Beatty (35:29):
I think major takeaway from this document, and
from all the documents that Ilooked at for the book, is
basically that there are a lotof ways to express power, even
if you are in a position insociety that others deem
powerless, right, that no one iswithout power. There are
different amounts of power.There are different ways to
(35:51):
express power to differenteffect, but no one in the
society was without power. And Ithink more importantly, no one
in society was kind of acceptinga position of powerlessness
without advocating forthemselves in unique ways. There
are ways in which theconstrictions of the patriarchal
(36:15):
state and kind of whitesupremacy in American history
really constrict the way thatpeople can express power, but
many people do so within thoseconfines, and some people, like
the women I write about, do sousing those confines right and
undermining them in the process.So I think maybe even in this
(36:37):
political environment, it'simportant for people to remember
that there are a lot of ways tohave agency in a democratic
society, even if you feel kindof helpless and powerless. And
that's a good thing. That feelsgood to hear yes, people in much
worse straights in the 18thcentury were doing it so so can
we that's great if people areinterested in learning more
(36:59):
about Belinda's life and themany other petitions that she
submitted the Royal Housewebsite has transcriptions of
this petition. They have somehistorical context and secondary
source material on theirwebsite, and they also link out
to a database of petitionssubmitted by free and enslaved
(37:20):
black residents of Massachusettsthat folks at Harvard put
together almost 10 years ago.And it's free and open access,
and you can see the originalstoo, which are really beautiful.
So if you're interested inlearning more, I would point
folks to the Royal House andslave quarters website.
Kathryn Gehred (37:38):
Awesome. Yeah, I will definitely put a link to
that in the show notes. Andcheck all this out and read
everything you can aboutBelinda, because she's
fascinating. So to my listeners,thank you so much for listening,
and I am, as ever, your mostobedient and humble servant.
Thank you very much.
(38:05):
Your Most Obedient & HumbleServant is a production of R2
Studios, part of the RoyRosenzweig Center for History
and New Media at George MasonUniversity. I'm Kathryn Gehred,
the creator and host of thispodcast, Jeanette Patrick and
Jim Ambuske are the executiveproducers. Special thanks to
Virginia Humanities for allowingme to use the recording studio.
(38:28):
If you enjoyed this episode,please tell a friend and be sure
to rate and review the series inyour podcast app. For more great
history podcasts, head tor2studios.org. Thanks for
listening.
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