Henrietta Wood – A Case for Reparations
By
John C Abercrombie
This is day 28 of the 31-day series paying tribute to amazing Black women we all should know
Many people’s eyes glaze over when the subject of reparations is raised. Many see it as a windfall for people who have not contributed to the success of the country. These are people who have not been exposed to the horrors of slavery and the importance to the prosperity of the country.
Henrietta Wood is an extremely interesting story because it exposes many of the trials and tribulations of being enslaved. We now look at the previously unknown story of Henrietta Wood.
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Many people’s eyes glaze over when the subject of reparations is raised. Many see it as a windfall for people who have not contributed to the success of the country. These are people who have not been exposed to the horrors of slavery and the importance to the prosperity of the country.
Henrietta Wood is an extremely interesting story because it exposes many of the trials and tribulations of being enslaved. We now look at the previously unknown story of Henrietta Wood.
Wood was born in slavery around 1818 and 1820. The exact time is unknown, and we see this in the case of many enslaved people because they were considered as property and not human beings. Do you know the age of every piece of furniture you own? Same here.
She was sold as a teenager while in Kentucky to William Cirode and moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. When Cirode who was French decided to return to France his wife Jane Cirode brought Wood to Ohio and registered her as a free person in 1848 where she worked as a domestic in the area of Cincinnati.
Greed was at the base of slavery as it supplied free labor and allowed many to prosper greatly. In 1853, that greed reared its ugly head again. Josephine and Robert White wanted to profit from Henrietta Wood, and they enlisted Zebulon Ward a deputy sheriff in Covington, Kentucky to kidnap Wood and sell her. Several factors are at play here. The 1850 Fugitive Slave Law required people, even those opposed to slavery to help capture and return people who were charged with (not convicted) of being a runaway. We also see a situation where Ohio is a free state, yet just across the river is Kentucky a slave state.
They came up with a plan where her employer asked Wood to accompany her to Kentucky where she was captured and returned to slavery. Under the terms of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Wood was NOT entitled to a trial or the ability to testify on her own behalf. Wood persisted in telling her story to anyone who would listen and after 2 years an innkeeper filed suit on her behalf. The lawsuit took 2 additional years and was ultimately dismissed because Wood could not produce the manumission papers in Kentucky.
Following the trial, Wood remained enslaved and was taken to Natchez, Mississippi and sold to Gerard Brandon the son of a former Mississippi governor and worked under cruel conditions in cotton fields and in the hoe of Brandon’s plantation. While there, she gave birth to Arthur.
The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves not in the United States, but the new nation the Confederated States of America. Thus Brandon, like many others forced the slaves to march 400 miles to Texas. This brings up the significance of Juneteenth as it was on this date that news that they were free reached some of the slaves in Texas. Unfortunately, it was not until later that Wood learned of freedom. She remained enslaved until 1869 before being returned to the Cincinnati area.
The process of justice is often move terribly slow. Wood falsely returned to slavery in 1853, however it was 1870 when she was ablet to file a case against Zebulon Ward and 1878 before the case was tried.
Zebulon Ward became rich using slavery. He became the Warden of the Kentucky prison system and was able to force slaves to produce goods and take one half of the profits. He then made a deal to enrich himself even more before making the same deal with 2 other states.
Many believe that this is a problem of old, but it is not. There are many for profit prisons in the United States and there are many people making profit off of inmates. Laws are enforced to keep the prisons full and also strip citizenship rights from those treated unfairly in the system.
Wood had sued for $20,000.00 but was awarded $2,500.00. The all-White, all-male jury saw the inequity in people being denied freedom, being enslaved, beaten and treated cruelly, separated from families and worse.
When you read books like Slavery’s Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development (Early American Studies)
You begin to see the value that not only America, but the world has gained on the backs of slaves.
Realizing the value of slavery and in an attempt to rectify the problem the solution of 40 acres and a mule was considered as fair compensation for the horrors of slavery, however, Andrew Johnson backed away and gave the ill gotten land back to the lawbreakers.
In some cases, slaveowners were compensated by the government for the loss of their slaves and again, the slaves got nothing.
We continue to see laws that are unequal in the treatment of formerly enslaved persons. Even Social Security was established in the early 20th century excluding domestic and farm labor from the system. Most Blacks had been forced into these jobs for generations.
There is a reason we are not taught about people such as the amazing Henrietta Wood. The story exposes the horrors of slavery and recognizes the value of the work stolen from people.
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Chicago and the largest slavery reparations settlement in US history
The first-ever successful lawsuit brought by a slave was filed by Henrietta Wood.
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Sweet Taste of Liberty:
A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History The unforgettable saga of one enslaved woman’s fight for justice–and reparations Born into slavery, Henrietta Wood was taken to Cincinnati and legally freed in 1848. In 1853, a Kentucky deputy sheriff named Zebulon Ward colluded with Wood’s employer, abducted her, and sold her back into bondage. She remained enslaved throughout the Civil War, giving birth to a son in Mississippi and never forgetting who had put her in this position.
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Stolen:
Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home A gripping and true story about five boys who were kidnapped in the North and smuggled into slavery in the Deep South—and their daring attempt to escape and bring their captors to justice, reminiscent of Twelve Years a Slave and Never Caught. Philadelphia, 1825: five young, free black boys fall into the clutches of the most fearsome gang of kidnappers and slavers in the United States. Lured onto a small ship with the promise of food and pay, they are instead met with blindfolds, ropes, and knives. Over four long months, their kidnappers drive them overland into the Cotton Kingdom to be sold as slaves. Determined to resist, the boys form a tight brotherhood as they struggle to free themselves and find their way home.
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Episode Seven: Henrietta Wood
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Episode Eight: Zebulon Ward
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Sweet Taste of Liberty
lecture by Caleb McDaniel Born into slavery, Henrietta Wood was taken to Cincinnati and legally freed in 1848. In 1853, a Kentucky deputy sheriff named Zebulon Ward colluded with Wood’s employer, abducted her, and sold her back into bondage. She remained enslaved throughout the Civil War, giving birth to a son in Mississippi and never forgetting who had put her in this position.
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Henrietta Wood Reparations
Not found in the history books, but slavery reparations have been paid in the United States. Consider the story of Henrietta Wood who won the largest award for slavery “restitutions” ever paid out.
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The case of Henrietta Wood is unique but it is not the only one that shows how Black people have been denied compensation for their service. There are also many reasons to consider the long range impact. Such as “Redlining”, the denial of banks for financing home ownership and refinancing etc… the list goes on and on. These injustices have had long ranging and it is time to examine the full range of disparity.