Lesson 4 | Maroons

Lesson 4
Urban "Lurking": City Maroons in Antebellum Baltimore

So far students have learned about marronage in rural landscapes, and historians contend that marronage typically ends there. Recent scholarship, however, has pushed the limits of marronage into urban spaces, arguing that urban maroons used similar networks observed in the surrounding Southern plantations. Within the Southern landscape, regardless of location, maroons internally rejected their enslavement and carved spaces of freedom within the cities, supporting themselves in the process – like those isolated communities in the Great Dismal Swamp.

In this lesson, students will examine the hidden networks maroons used to live independently in the cities. Students will first examine a representative map of a section of Baltimore city that demonstrates the interracial interactions and residences along with a data chart of the free and enslaved population of Blacks during its antebellum period. Using this data, students will briefly discuss and predict how runaway slaves could take advantage of these circumstances to successfully escape in the city. Then, students will read an article surveying Baltimore as a destination for runaway slaves. After that, students will analyze five runaway ads while annotating the opportunities available to maroons. Students will then choose one runaway to create an illustrated storyboard or written account of a day-in-the-life of an urban maroon.

Learning Objectives

analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources to evaluate the conditions of escape in urban environments
provide specific examples of how enslaved individuals exploited their surroundings and environment to permanently escape within the South.
provide specific examples of how historical actors facilitated escape for enslaved people in the South.

Background

Examining urban maroons allows us to observe the opportunities that escaped slaves utilized to blend into a bustling cityscape. Antebellum Baltimore and other Southern cities experienced rapid growth, and a massive workforce was necessary to sustain this development. Regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender, maroons could be found working alongside others in the city's docks, streets, stores, and brickyards. Despite concentrated racism in the antebellum Southern states, employers hired indiscriminately to keep labor costs low and profits high.

The presence of free Black communities in Southern cities also attracted maroons. Underground networks involving maroons, free and enslaved Blacks, and complicit whites helped maroons evade authorities and provided them with work and opportunities to sustain themselves. These networks were fluid, complex, and rejected the constraints of slavery.

Portraying urban escape as marronage highlights the potential for reevaluating the geographical spaces that determine marronage. By emphasizing marronage as an internal rejection of enslavement, geography becomes irrelevant. Maroons sought permanent freedom, whether in the woods, borderlands, northern communities, or markets. Marronage was not simply a means of escaping from slavery; it meant escaping within slavery.

allies

people who help and support somebody who is in a difficult situation

complicit

involved with other people in something wrong or illegal

urban

a town or city

Key Vocabulary

Lesson Toolbox

Summary of Activities

Students will analyze maps data, and runaway ads of antebellum Baltimore to explain the numerous opportunities available for maroons to escape and live in the city. Students will then imagine a day-in-the-life of an urban maroon by creating an illustrated storyboard or brief written account.

Duration

Preparation Time

15 minutes

Instructional Time

55 minutes

Advanced Preparation

Gather and prepare Fells Point Residence and Baltimore Census document for display.
Gather and prepare Urban Lurking: City Maroons in Antebellum Baltimore Reading.
Gather and prepare Urban Lurking: Maroon Profiles and the corresponding worksheet.

Prerequisite Knowledge

Students should know about:

economy and labor in southern antebellum cities
free African American communities in cities
experiences of enslaved people in southern cities

Materials Needed

pens or pencils
digital projector or screen

Procedures

Vocabulary Development

Use the Key Unit Vocabulary to introduce new words to students as you see appropriate.

Step 1

Display the Fells Point Residence and Baltimore Census document for display. Ask students to examine both documents to determine the possible opportunities available in the city for fugitive slaves. Guide student answers to include more employment opportunities, a large free Black community that could assist fugitives, and better opportunities to blend in due to the city’s high Black population.
Explain to students that they will examine what Baltimore was like during the early-to-mid 1800s and how it represented a safer spot for escape compared to other Northern cities. Other southern cities provided similar opportunities of escape for fugitives; like New Orleans and Charleston. Tell students that they will then examine runaway advertisements that highlight how escaped slaves might have survived in Baltimore. Students should ultimately grasp the concept that marronage relied on networks to sustain freedom on their own, regardless of location.

Step 2

Distribute copies of the article Urban “Lurking”: City Maroons in Antebellum Baltimore to students. You can choose to either read the article to the class or have students work individually, in pairs, or in groups. Students will underline and annotate opportunities cities offered for escaped slaves to live freely, sometimes dangerously close to authorities. After the reading, have students share their thoughts on the opportunities maroons took advantage of to live in the cities. Topics should include high populations of free Blacks and expanding industries and businesses that made work more available. Underground networks also existed that helped maroons forge free passes and find work and shelter. Also, if the maroon was skilled in a specific trade, they had better chances of finding secure work.

Step 3

Distribute copies of Urban Lurking: Maroon Profiles and Urban Maroons Profile Worksheet. Before advancing to the assignment, discuss how runaway ads were typically structured (the first paragraph of the document). You can choose to display a runaway ad for the whole class to examine and break down. An example is provided on the document.
Note: You might need to discuss how these ads were biased and reinforced negative stereotypes about Blacks. Also, it is important to discuss the prevalence of the word “negro” in many of these ads. Although this word was used to describe Blacks, it is considered offensive today.
Model how to analyze these sources by examining Candice’s runaway ad first. Call on students to answer questions about the ad, checking for understanding.
Students can either work individually or in pairs to analyze each ad, answering the prompts provided on the document and table on the worksheet provided. You can also have students participate in a Jigsaw activity where the class is divided into “expert” groups that analyze one assigned ad, completing the prompts provided to them. Then, they return to their “home” groups (with each member of the group representing a different runaway ad) to “teach” others what they learned. To keep group numbers down, I would suggest having two “expert” groups of the same runaway ads.
After all runaway ads are examined, have students discuss any similarities and/or differences they noticed as they analyzed the ads. Did most of these maroons have free relatives? What skills would make them more successful? Were they valuable to their slaveowner? Out of all of these, which enslaved person had the best chance of a successful escape? Why?

Step 4

After students discuss each maroon profile, ask students to choose one that interested them the most. Tell students they will create a visual storyboard or brief story about their everyday routine, using information from the runaway ad and their notes on the worksheet. Briefly review the scoring guide with the students. This can be assigned for homework if necessary.

Step 5 (Closure)

Tell students they have learned about many cases of marronage throughout this unit. Tell them that some historians debate whether escape in the city is marronage at all. Some historians argue that city maroons didn’t reject the dominant society and live in isolation like those in distant communities (like the Great Dismal Swamp). Advocates for urban marronage would argue that the underground networks of collaboration, solidarity, and communication represent a rejection of the dominant society, and can be classified as marronage. Ask them what they think about it. Does escape in the city represent marronage? Regardless of the debate, what do these past lessons teach us about slavery and escape? Was escape that easy and predetermined? Was the North always the beacon of escape? What was the most interesting thing you learned about escape that challenged your thinking?

Lesson 4 Urban "Lurking": City Maroons in Antebellum Baltimore