African Burial Ground Research Paper

The African Burial Ground National Monument and Museum (NPS) is New York’s earliest known African American cemetery, which dates back to 1626. The burial ground was in-active use from 1626 to 1794. The African Burial Ground was the setting for thousands of funerals during the time period. The families that would lay their loved ones to rest would do so with dignity and respect in a ceremony that was rich in traditions. These ceremonies would weave together traditions from their African homeland and new Christian traditions. The site contains the remains of 419 African American men, women and children in what was the largest colonial-era cemetery for free and enslaved Africans. The burial ground was closed in the 1790s, and was later divided into different sections to be put up for sale. The site was then covered with numerous layers of building developments until it was rediscovered in 1991. All other burial sites had already been destroyed over the years by the construction of other buildings. In 1993, the site was designated a National Historic Landmark and it was declared a National Monument in 2006.

Prior to the excavation for the Ted Weiss Federal Building, researchers conducted a General Services Administration survey on the land at 290 Broadway.

This showed records of an African Burial Ground beneath the site. Many believed that after 200+ years, no remains would be left. To the archeologists’ surprise in 1991, a large amount of untouched, preserved human remains that were protected by up to 25 feet of soil was uncovered. Nearly 40% of the people that were buried at this site were under the age of 15. Most of the children buried died before the age of two. This shows the rough conditions that the slaves had to endure during their

lifetime.
The rediscovery of the burial ground highlighted the forgotten history of the African slaves in colonial New York City. About 10-15 million Africans were captured and transported worldwide as part of the Transatlantic Slave Trade from the 1500s to the 1800s. Thousands of Africans were forced to make the long journey across the Atlantic to provide unpaid labor. Slavery in New Amsterdam developed without clearly defined laws. Once the British took over in 1664, they expanded the slave trade. As more enslaved people were shipped to New York, the African population swelled. By the middle of the 1700s, New York’s African community made up 20% of the population. At that time, New York had the second-largest number of slaves in the nation after Charleston, South Carolina. Individuals who grew up in Africa and were later enslaved had healthier childhoods than those born into slavery in New York. Those who survived the voyage to North America had to routinely haul 80-100 pounds on a daily basis. This kind of grinding labor made enslaved Africans worn before their time. Once enslaved, malnutrition and disease were common. In colonial New York, slaves from Africa died almost daily of physical strain, malnutrition, punishment, diseases, and rarely of old age. Death would typically come between 30 and 45 years, and women usually died at a younger age than men. European men and women at the time lived to an old age up to 10 times more often than Africans.
The African Americans were banned from being buried within New York’s public cemeteries in 1697. This prohibition prompted the African Americans to establish their own cemetery, marked on maps at the time as “Negros Burial Ground”. The burial ground was first recorded was being used around 1712. This burial ground was located on what was then the outskirts of New York City. The area was a part of a land grant to Cornelius van Borsum for his wife’s services as an interpreter for the city and the Native American tribes in the area. The land remained in van Borsum’s wife’s estate until the late 1790s and then the city divided up the land and put it up for sale. As time went on, the burial ground became lost in history until its rediscovery in 1991. It remains unknown exactly what had occurred in this site from its closing in the 1790s to its rediscovery prior to the development of the Ted Weiss Federal Building, aside from the division and sale of that land.
What I found to be most interesting about the museum was learning about the effect that the unveiling of the burial site had on the African-American community all across the country. One year after the site was discovered in 1991, African-Americans held a 26 –hour vigil at the African Burial Ground to prove that after all the years that had passed, it was still an important spiritual site for the community. In 1993, candlelight ceremonies followed the remains from the burial ground to the laboratory at Howard University in Washington, DC for research. Ten years later in 2003, the remains of the 419 discovered at the burial site return back to the original site from Howard University with a six-day ceremonial journey. Thousands of members of the community gathered across the east coast in commemorative events in Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia and Jersey City, with a final public tribute in New York. Although none of the members of the community knew any of the individuals’ whose remains were excavated, they all felt that they needed to stand up and protect the 419 men, women and children. This showed how all the individuals of the African-American community still feel a connection with their ancestors and wish to keep them at peace. The spiritual connection the community still has to this day is what interested me the most. This was especially evident with a group of African-American Christians that came all the way from Howard University to pray and hold a service over where the remains lay in remembrance of their lives.
There are many parts of history that has been lost in time. Although the African Burial Ground was forgotten about for over 200+ years, it does not mean that it is not a part of American history. Visiting sites like the African Burial Ground Monument and Museum enhance the acquisition of a student’s knowledge of American history. By going to sites like these, students are able to see and learn parts of history that are not taught in the classroom. This assignment is about taking our leaning into our own hands, going out and learning what interests us. There are significant differences between having history taught to students to having students go and learn things for themselves in sites like these. This is because historic places have provocative stories to tell that cannot be conveyed with justice in a classroom. By visiting locations, people feel a deeper connection with the subject at hand rather than just learning about it and forgetting it immediately after an exam.