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Part 1: Black Chapel Hill though the Civil War

Intellectually, Chapel Hill was against slavery but this did not promote the idea of freeing slaves. On the contrary it was very unlikely that a slave was set free in Chapel Hill. Black people were viewed as children and treated as such, a clear example being the relationship between Cornelia Phillips Spencer and the slaves she cared for (Aunt Ginny and Dilsey Craig). Having understood this dynamic, Chapel Hill was special in that it had a very exclusive relationship to slavery, which created a “Blackness” that remains very unique.

Chapel Hill lacked large plantations like many slave owning states that bordered the area so those who did own slaves were considered wealthy or of high socio-economic status. Blackness in Chapel Hill in the antebellum period was defined as their relationship to the university considering that the town was basically the university. Whites also had an important relationship to the University, as it also defined Whiteness during that period to an extent.

As mentioned before, the number of slaves a person owned in Chapel Hill was seen as a determinant for their status in society but this status came with some connection to the university. Those who owned slaves in Chapel Hill were in some way deeply invested in the University whether it was directly or indirectly because of the implications that came with slave owning. A person who might not have ordinarily owned slaves would purchase them to fit in such as Joseph Caldwell. Joseph Caldwell was the first person officially titled President of UNC who resigned in 1812. The link between Whites in Chapel Hill owning slaves and the success of the University is a profound relationship that gave created an entirely new meaning for Blackness in the south during this time.

The majority of slaves in Chapel Hill were used for the university; slaves were rented out for students, to build campus, or/and to tend to the family of the university...