How Black People Built Wall Street Yet Were Treated as Chattel

When we think about Wall Street, the first thing that comes to mind is a room filled with men wearing suits, carrying suitcases or slips of paper, running to and fro, a chaotic scene as portrayed in The Wolf of Wall Street. And yet, few Americans understand the role slavery played in creating this marketplace — how their forced labor created this foundation of economic prosperity. Nevertheless, Wall Street, the financial district in New York City, was named after a wall built using enslaved labor. In December of 1711, the City Council <a href="https://maap.columbia.edu/place/22.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">passed a law</a> requiring "that all Negro and Indian slaves" available "be hired at the Market House at the Wall Street." Indeed, the irony wasn't lost on enslaved Africans that the Dutch were forcing them to build a defensive wall to keep out Indigenous tribes. In essence, to protect their empire. And yet, the violent nature of their oppression all but silenced this perspective. White colonists maintained control over enslaved Black people through violent means. A poignant reminder is the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-york-slave-revolt-1712-was-bloody-prelude-decades-hardship-180958665/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">1712 Slave Revolt</a>, which occurred only one year after the market opened. <a href="https://readcultured.com/how-black-people-built-wall-street-yet-were-treated-as-chattel-a1cf9938c696">Visit Now</a>