Pearl incident Totally Explained

Everything about Pearl Incident totally explained

The Pearl Incident was the largest recorded escape attempt by slaves in the United States. On April 15, 1848, seventy-six slaves attempted to escape Washington D.C.

People involved

Washington DC allowed the ownership and trading of slaves. One of the people who despised slavery and was desperate for money was Daniel Drayton. He was offered money to transport slaves to freedom. “He encountered Edward Sayres,” the pilot of “the Pearl." Once payment was shown, he agreed to participate and prepared to set sail. “In the darkness of the night seventy-six colored men, women, and children found their way to the schooner." On Saturday, April 15, their freedom was at hand thanks to Drayton, Sayres and English, the cook. The boat, the Salem, found the Pearl on Monday morning and took the slaves and men back to Washington DC.

Aftermath in DC

A public outcry erupted, and the mob searched for people to blame. One such man was Dr. Gamaliel Bailey, the publisher of the anti-slavery newspaper, the National Era, who the slave owners suspected of aiding in the Pearl incident. A mob of slave owners almost destroyed the newspaper building. Once the mob dissipated, the slave owners debated how to punish their slaves. They sold all “the seventy-six blacks (men, women, and children) to Georgia and Louisiana agents.”

Trial

Drayton, Sayres, and English were put on trial, with Horace Mann as their main lawyer. Author Richard C. Rohrs and Daniel Drayton successfully explain the court process. The trials commenced the following July, where both Drayton and Sayres were charged. English was released, and after appeals were filed and charges were reduced, Drayton and Sayres were convicted and went to jail due to their inability to pay their fines. After four years in jail, Senator Charles Sumner sent a letter to President Fillmore, asking him to pardon the men. The President agreed to the pardon in 1852.

Footnotes

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