Slavery Was Here, Too
Dear Oakland Residents,
Did you know that your property was once owned by a slave owner and that your same property was once farmed by slave labor?
Yup, it’s true.
And did you know that the very founding and settling of what is now Oakland was accomplished by virtue of slave ownership?
Yup, it’s also true. In fact there are a few slave graveyards still in Oakland. So, let’s start from the beginning and explore the facts.
Prior to 1664 the Dutch laid claim to all of New Jersey and New York State up to Albany and including New York City. This area, like the rest of the colonized America, was what could be called today as an economic development zone for the colonizers: The Dutch, English and the Spanish. America had great natural resources needed by the Europeans and equally presented an opportunity for a new market to sell their wares. But there was just one problem. There were no people here to trade with the Indians, clear the land, create towns and trading posts and send animal skins, lumber and trees to Europe.
The solution was slavery and the Dutch introduced slavery into America in 1663. And indeed, Perth Amboy became the slave selling capital of the Northeast. To implement their economic plan, the Dutch developed a law to encourage settlements in the wilds of New Jersey using slave ownership as the basis for free land. When the British took over, they read and really liked the Dutch law and kept it to continue their own exploitation of America’s natural resources. By 1800 there were 12,422 slaves in New Jersey, with Bergen County far and away being the area with the most slaves.
In a nutshell, the slaves-for-free land law said that if one was to clear and settle an area in the forest, they would receive (free) 120 acres of land of their choice for every slave they owned and an additional 60 acres of free land for every child, old or infirmed person and even for servants.
It was this law that provided the motivation of Oakland’s original Dutch settlers to leave civilization behind and begin their lives anew here in the then wilds of the Oakland area.
If one thinks about it, questions arise as to who gets how much free land when Oakland’s first settlers arrived. The answer was decided by law based upon the number of slaves the individual settler brought with him to settle the area. Relative to the 1664 Dutch/British law, if a family settled in Oakland in 1690 with a husband and wife, 2 grandparents, 3 kids and 2 servants, they would be entitled to 660 acres of free land.
The popular belief that 10 families came to this area in 1690 with their wagons and mules in tow and built their cabins along Ramapo Valley Road is simply urban legend. Additionally, missing from the legend is the fact that they came here with their slaves following behind their wagons.
It's not a proud moment of the past, but nonetheless it an Oakland history fact.
Kevin Heffernan has lived in Oakland since 1979. He is a member of the New Jersey Historical Society and has given presentations on Oakland history to local organizations and associations. He is author of "A History of Oakland: The Story of Our Village."