Reflection of the archives

Jonathan Brown

CODES

09 February 2024

The main point we studied in the archive was the origin of Henry Shaw’s estates, specifically his house. His history in the archives contained loans, dates, recipes and equity which shows how he gained his properties by abusing the disadvantage of being black in the 1800s’. Black families like the Meachums were victims of Henry Shaw because Shaw loaned them 2,700(nearly $100,000 in 2024) knowing black families didn’t make enough to pay him back. When the Meachums went bankrupt trying to pay Shaw back, J.B. Meachum had to sign his house away as equity which then became Shaw’s personal house. Shaw also added 10% interest on most of his loans which was almost unplayable for most black families. Black families were in a tough spot in the 1800s’ because they needed money but there were people like Shaw who took it as an opportunity to expand their personal wealth and properties. To expand on Shaw’s involvement with the diminishment of black people, we observed the receipts of slaves bought by Shaw. In these documents black people were described as “property” and bought as assets because they were viewed as less than human in the early 1800s’. I’m interested in diving deeper into the archives in the future to gather more information on the impact and history of Henry Shaw.