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Greek Slave Movement

By Demetrios Constantinos Andrianis
Oct. 21, 2022


The Greek slave movement began in Boston. It was instigated by the Greek War of Independence. Countless Greek refugees came to the United States namely John Celivergos Zachos, Gregory Anthony Perdicaris, and Evangelinos Apostolides Sophocles. Some refugees were freed or runaway slaves such as Christophorus Plato Castanis, Halet Logotheti, Joseph Stephanini, and George Colvocoresses. According to an eyewitness account of Olivier.1 It was very restricted to travel around the Ottoman Empire. Travelers were required to obtain special permission.2 After the Greek War of Independence. Ottoman ports became more accessible for trade and Americans witnessed the horrors of Greek slavery. American abolitionists used the movement to abolish American slavery. Regrettably, the term white slavery was established. The South argued that white slaves were not the same as black slaves.
American newspapers began to publish articles about Greek slavery. Countless men, women, and children were sold at different markets.3 According to the American media, slaves in Constantinople were of all races and cultural denominations.4 A young slave named Garafilia Molhabi was purchased by an American and brought back to the United States. A prominent Bostonian aristocratic family adopted her. Regrettably, she died of Tuberculosis. The young freed Greek slave girl became a media sensation. American painter and miniaturist Ann Hall created a miniature portrait of the little girl. Edward Gallaudet popularized the portrait when he created an engraving and printed numerous copies of the portrait. The engraving circulated throughout the United States. Well-known writer Lydia Sigourney wrote an epic poem entitled Garafilia Mohalby. The poem was published in 1831 and 1835. The publications were The Youth's Keepsake A Christmas and New Year's Present and Zinzendorff, and other poems. The poem became extremely popular.
By the year 1843, famous American poet Hannah Flagg Gould was inspired by Ann Hall's miniature portrait. She had an engraving. She wrote a poem entitled Garafilia's Picture. The poem was featured in her book The Golden Vase A Gift for the Young.5 Garafilia's popularity led to the creation of the world-renowned Greek Slave Statue. American sculptor Hiram Powers completed his model of the Greek Slave Statue in 1843. By the late 1840s, it was touring all over the world. Another American author named Sarah Josepha Hale featured an article in a Woman's Record Or, Sketches of All Distinguished Women about Garafilia.6 By the 1850s, Carl Hause commissioned close friend Carl Gartner to compose a mazurka for piano in honor the Greek slave girl Garafilia.7 Carl Gartner and Carl Hause comprised a popular trio in the Boston area; they also taught music.8 Ships were also named after the Greek slave girl Garafilia.9. The ships were at different ports all over the world. Regrettably, a slave ship was also named after the innocent slave girl.10 Parents also name their children Garafilia.11 The Greek slave was popular amoung artists around the world. French painter and sculptor Jean-Léon Gérôme created a painting known as The Slave Market.

Greek Slave Market


Greek American runaway slave Christophorus Plato Castanis published his book ''The Greek Exile; or, A Narrative of the Captivity and Escape of Christophorus Plato''. The book features an account of his experience as a slave. The book became popular in the United States and abroad.12 World-renowned author Harriet Beecher Stowe was inspired by the Greek slave Garafilia. She alludes to using the Greek slave girl as motivation for Uncle Tom's Cabin. She wrote: I was in Smyrna when our American consul ransomed a beautiful Greek girl in the slave-market. I saw her come aboard the brig 'Suffolk,' when she came on board to be sent to America for her education.13 The Greek slave media tools were used as a platform to promote the abolition of slavery. Jonathan Peckham Miller and Samuel Gridley Howe fought for Greece's independence but were also American abolitionists. Greek American abolitionists John Celivergos Zachos and Photius Fisk were pivotal in abolishing American slavery. By the 1860s the American Civil War led to the end of American slavery. Howe, Zachos, and Fisk were all active participants. Regrettably, the Greek slave movement ended in the early 20th century. Ottoman slavery was not abolished until the 1920s. Greece obtained its final territories by the middle of the 20th century. Although Greek slavery no longer exists. Slavery is still active in many parts of the world today.

References

  1. Guillaume Antoine Olivier, Travels in the Ottoman empire, Egypt, and Persia, Undertaken by Order of the Government of France. During the First Six years of the Republic (London, UK: A. Strahan, 1801)

  2. Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, A Voyage Into the Levant Performed by Command of the late French King Containing The Ancient and Modern State of the Islands of the Archipelago; as also Constantinople, the Coasts of the Black Sea, Armenia, Georgia, the Frontiers of Persia and Asia Minor. Volume 2 (London, UK: D. Midwinter, 1741)

  3. "The Slave Market at Constantinople," Vermont Gazette, Volume 20, No. 39 (Bennington, VT), Sept. 8, 1829, 1

  4. "The Little Greek Boy," American Traveller Vol. 3 No. 55 (Boston, MA), January 8, 1828, 2

  5. Hannah Flagg Gould, The Golden Vase A Gift for the Young (Boston, MA: Benjamin B. Mussey, Wm A. Hal & Co Printers, 1843), 214

  6. Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, Woman's Record Or, Sketches of All Distinguished Women, from the Beginning Till A.D. (New York, NY: Harper Brothers Publishers, 1853), 431

  7. Carl Gartner, Garafilia (Boston, MA: Nathan Richardson at the Musical Exchange, 1855), 1

  8. John S. Dwight, Nathan Dwights Journal of Music, The German Trio Carl Gartner, Carl Hause, H Jungnickle (Boston, MA: Edward L Balch May 19, 1855), 55

  9. William De Witt Alexander, A Brief History of the Hawaiian People, (New York, NY: American Book Company, 1891), 217

  10. "U.S. Government," United States Congressional Serial Set Volume 543 (Washington, DC: US Congress 1849), 147

  11. John Adams Vinton, The Vinton Memorial, Comprising a Genealogy of the Descendants of John Vinton of Lynn 1648 (Boston, MA: S.K. Whipple and Company 1858), 287

  12. Christophorus Plato Castanis, The Greek Exile, or, a Narrative of the Captivity and Escape of Christophorus Plato Castanis (Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Grambo, & Co, 1851), 135

  13. Harriet Beecher Stowe, A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin: Presenting the Original Facts (London, UK: Samson Low Son & Co, 1853), 377

Bibliography

  • G. A. Perdicaris, The Greece of the Greeks, Vol. I (New York: Paine & Burgess, 1846)