- But slavery in New Hampshire? Onlookers like Jack Panopoulos are surprised. "Generally, you tend to think — or I did — that it was more of a southern problem," he says.
That's a misconception that Georgia-based artist and sculptor Jerome Meadows, who designed the memorial, says he hopes his work will recast. "The setting creates a context in which to re-imagine or shift your focus from the misrepresentation into the reality of what actually is here," he says.
Unfortunately slavery existed in just about every part of the original 13 states at the founding. Northern states lacked a cash crop so there was less need for a large agrarian labor force. However, many New England merchants participated in the slave trade as well. Most northern states banned slavery by 1800, but in many states it was a gradual emancipation so even in some states like New York and Pennsylvania, there were a few legal slaves well into the 1800s.