The Escape for Liberation
On July 15th 1805 Leonard Neale, who was the president of Georgetown College at the time, wrote a letter addressed to Reverend Francis Neale, the brother of Leonard Neale. The subject of this letter is slavery, more specifically the slaves who were portrayed as fugitives by the Jesuits.The Jesuits addressed the slaves as fugitives because one of them, who was named Spalding, had run away. In addition, two other unnamed slaves had escaped from their owners and President Neale was informing his brother of some finances relevant to the Neale family and the incidents that occured regarding the enslaved people.
In the first page of the letter addressed to Francis Neale, Leonard Neale informs his brother that $1200 are needed for expenses to do with an affair at Annapolis and a loan has been authorised to pay the expenses. Moreover, Leonard makes Reverend Francis aware of the fact that he was not able to divide lands relevant to their family accordingly with their Fathers will. He also declares that a man referred to as Doctor Dyson will not claim any part of the hillside above the Neales’s house. The document is relevant to the Georgetown Institution as the exploitation and trading of the slaves will enable the Neale’s to attain profit, which sheds light on the issue at hand; the institution I’m enrolled in contributed and supported the Atlantic slave trade. The second page of the letter is directed at the slaves, one is said to be married, one is said to be in the infirmary and the last one mentioned was Spalding, who had escaped. In a sense, Spalding chose to liberate himself from the appalling actions and decisions constructed by Georgetown College. Leonard affirms to his brother and makes him aware of the fact that Spalding is being searched for, once he is found he will be lodged in Washington Jail, Spalding freeing himself from Georgetown allowed the possibility of him losing his own freedom again but this time at his own expense. The reason this is significant is because Georgetown’s present core values don’t align with the foundation of its history. In the end of the letter Leonard instructs his brother to get rid of an unhappy girl and to keep a slave named Steven at St.Inigoes.
The source is of high importance as it highlights the day-to-day struggles the Jesuit inflicted upon the slaves and the horrific experiances they lived through. Spalding , who has escaped for the sake of his freedom and liberty, is subjected to doing time in a Jail, whilst a girl who seems to be unsatisfied with her living conditions is being disposed of as some sort of property. Many slaves were treated in an immoral and unjust way, the source reveals the deep details behind every slave’s experiance, it also exposes men like President Leonard Neale and his brother Revrend Francis Neale, who are viewed as noble men and died without facing the reprucssions and consequences of their unethical actions. The source reveals more details regarding the hardships of the slaves in the early 19th century as well as the prejudices they encountered. Additionally, the source makes it clear that people that are pro-slavery and possess a higher place in society are not subjected to any rebervirations, this normalised the poor treatment of the slaves across Washington communities. Lastly and most importantly, Spalding running away is him essentially ending his enslavement by fleeing his enslavers and liberating himself from the atrocities of the Jesuits as well as the Georgetown Institution. Considering that slavery was abolished half a decade after Spalding’s escape, Georgetown’s foundation continued to prosper and develop through the exploitation and utilization of the slaves laboured by Georgetown College. This is precisely why Spalding has runned away is interconnected with the question of how slavery ended at Georgetown, experiances and stories like Spalding’s influenced the collapse of the slave trade and ensured that those of similar skin as Leonard Neale are held accountable for their crimes against the slaves.
Bibliography:
Maryland Province Archives, “"Spalding has runned away": Leonard Neale to Francis Neale on the management of the Missions, July 15, 1805,” Georgetown Slavery Archive, accessed December 6, 2021, https://slaveryarchive.georgetown.edu/items/show/112.