How was the African Burial Ground site in New York City discovered?
The burial ground was then lost under years of urban development and landfill, until workers rediscovered the burial ground in 1991 during an excavation of the land for a Federal Government office building. Excavations at the site revealed the remains of 419 Africans and over 500 individual artifacts.
What is so unique about the African burial Group in New York City?
The five to six acre site’s excavation and study was called “the most important historic urban archaeological project in the United States.” The Burial Ground site is New York’s earliest known African-American cemetery; studies show an estimated 15,000 African American people were buried here.
What happened to the remains at the African Burial Ground?
Despite the location of the burial ground on a 1755 map, archaeologists felt that 19th and 20th century development would have obliterated any remains of the cemetery. When excavations began in July 1991, several skeletal remains were recovered.
How old is the African Burial Ground?
The Burial Ground dates from the middle 1630s to 1795. Currently, the burial ground is the nation’s earliest and largest African burial ground rediscovered in the United States.
Is Wall Street built on African Burial Ground?
In October 1991, the excavation crew for a new $275 million federal building on lower Broadway unearthed more than 400 human skeletons. These bones turned out to be the remains of a small fraction of the slaves who had built much of the city’s infrastructure, including the wall that once defined Wall Street.
Who excavated the African Burial Ground?
The bulk of the African Burial Ground/290 Broadway site excavation was undertaken by Historic Conservation Inc.
How were slaves buried in America?
They lie underground, often with no marks to identify them. They’re often interred in out-of-the-way places, hidden from the public. In some cases, their neighbors are the ones they were forced to call “master.”
What did slaves build in New York?
They built the roads, the docks, and most of the important buildings of the early city – the first city hall, the first Dutch and English churches, Fraunces Tavern, the city prison and the city hospital. Slavery was no milder in the urban North than in the Deep South.
What kind of archaeology was the African Burial Ground?
Restricted from Christian churchyards within the city, Africans developed a burial ground consisting of a small plot of land located outside the city’s northern palisade. As the enslaved population grew, so did the Burial Ground, eventually covering five to six acres, or about five present-day city blocks.
Where were slaves usually buried?
Did New York own slaves?
Slavery continued to be an important source of the city’s labor force into the early 18th century, with 40 percent of white households owning slaves, making New York the largest slave-owning colony in the north.
How many bodies were exhumed from the African burial ground?
419 bodies
Although it is thought to have been founded by free Africans, it was not just free Africans who were buried beneath its soil. On just one corner of the graveyard, 419 bodies were exhumed with more than half believed to be enslaved people.
Did slaves have tombstones?
Among the tombstones of enslaved African-Americans Rainville has researched, only about 5 percent have been inscribed–and not always with the typical epitaphs we might expect. “Very often there are symbols or initials, almost like a form of code,” she says.
What year did slavery end in New York?
1827
The slave market on Wall Street closed in 1762 but men, women, and children continued to be bought and sold throughout the city. After the abolition of slavery, which became effective on July 4, 1827, New York’s shameful history of discrimination, racism, rigid segregation, and anti-black violence continued.
Where did New York slaves come from?
Beginning in the early 1850s, New York City became a key center for the Atlantic slave trade, which Congress had banned in 1807. The main slave traders arrived in Manhattan during this period from Brazil and Africa, and became known as the Portuguese Company.
What is the African Burial Ground National Monument?
African Burial Ground National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) A Sacred Space in Manhattan African Burial Ground is the oldest and largest known excavated burial ground in North America for both free and enslaved Africans. It protects the historic role slavery played in building New York Read More
What happened to the African Burial Ground in New York?
1992: President George H. Bush signed a law officially stopping the project to excavate the graves at the African Burial Ground. 1993 : African Burial Ground and the Commons Historic District are designated a New York City Landmark. 1993 : African Burial Ground is designated a National Historic Landmark.
Where is the oldest African Burial Ground in North America?
A Sacred Space in Manhattan. African Burial Ground is the oldest and largest known excavated burial ground in North America for both free and enslaved Africans.
Where can I find the address for African Burial Ground?
Mailing Address: African Burial Ground NM C/O Federal Hall National Memorial 26 Wall St New York , NY 10005 Phone: 212 238-4367 Contact Us Tools FAQ Site Index