Comprehensive Study Notes on George Moses Horton, Benjamin Hedrick, and 19th-Century UNC History

George Moses Horton: Early Life, Arrival, and Self-Hire Agreement

  • Arrival and Campus Context (~1818):

    • George Moses Horton arrived in Chapel Hill around the year 1818, having walked from Chatham County, located directly south of campus.
    • When Horton arrived, campus structures included East (now Old East) and the newly constructed South Building. West (now Old West) was added later during the 1820s.
    • While local stories mythologize long walks by figures like Kent and James, Horton's physical journey from Chatham County to Chapel Hill represents an actual historical long walk.

  • Purpose and Barriers:

    • Horton traveled to Chapel Hill with the goal of obtaining an education.
    • He was barred from attending classes at the university because he was an African American man and was actively enslaved.

  • Self-Hire Financial Structure:

    • Horton was not a runaway; instead, he negotiated a specific financial arrangement with his enslaver to "hire his time out."
    • Under this agreement, Horton paid a fixed percentage of his earnings back to his enslaver.
    • This business deal allowed Horton to reside in Chapel Hill, remain independent from direct supervision by his enslaver, and earn his own living.

  • Transition in Vocation:

    • Horton initially earned income by selling produce to university students.
    • He soon transitioned his line of work completely to selling custom poetry to the student body.

UNC Student Culture and Horton's Dictation Enterprise

  • Demographics and Behavior of 1820s UNC Students:

    • The student population in the 1820s was entirely male, white, and privileged.
    • Far from being refined or dignified, the students were extremely rowdy and wild, engaging in disruptive behavior that surpassed modern fraternity culture.
    • Student activities included getting into physical fights, tipping over outhouses and cows, harassing enslaved people, drinking heavily, and on at least one occasion, physically beating up a professor.

  • Motivation for Purchasing Poetry:

    • Students purchased poetry not out of deep artistic appreciation or refined sensibilities, but to woo and court women.
    • Customary courtship at the time involved writing love poems to romantic interests ("tip top southern belles").
    • Because the students lacked the literary talent to compose poetry themselves, they hired Horton to compose poems on their behalf.

  • Oral Composition and Dictation Method:

    • Horton possessed exceptional literary talent and composed complex poems entirely in his head.
    • During the 1810s and 1820s, Horton did not know how to write ("put quilled to parchment"); he learned how to write on paper later in the 1830s.
    • Horton would go directly to student dormitories—including East, South, and later West—and dictate his poems from memory.
    • The students wrote down the poems in their own handwriting so they could send them to women as their own work.
    • Horton famously noted: "I wrote poetry for all the tip top southern belles."

Encouragement, Major Publications, and Legal Realities

  • Support from Faculty Spouse:

    • A faculty spouse recognized and encouraged Horton's poetic talents.
    • She assisted Horton by getting his poetry published in northern newspapers as well as in the Raleigh Register.
    • She proposed that Horton publish a full book of poetry to raise the funds necessary to purchase his freedom from his enslaver.

  • Publication of The Hope of Liberty (1829):

    • In 1829, Horton published his first poetry collection, titled The Hope of Liberty.
    • This publication made George Moses Horton the very first African American to publish a book of poetry in the United States.
    • Historical Distinction: Phyllis Wheatley of Boston published a poetry collection prior to Horton, but her book was published in England. Horton was the first to have his book published directly within the United States.

  • Self-Purchase Legal Framework and Outcome:

    • Self-purchase was legally permissible in that era only if the enslaver agreed to it and state law permitted the transaction.
    • The Hope of Liberty failed to sell enough copies to generate the required funds.
    • Furthermore, Horton's enslaver explicitly refused to sell him, forcing Horton to remain enslaved in Chapel Hill.

  • 1845 Poetry Collection and Political Shift:

    • Horton published a second book of poetry in 1845.
    • The 1845 collection differed significantly from the 1829 work; while the 1829 book directly criticized the institution of slavery, the 1845 book omitted criticisms of slavery entirely.
    • By 1845, political and social conditions in the South had severely deteriorated, with white Southerners increasingly defending slavery as a "positive good," making explicit anti-slavery writings highly dangerous to publish.

UNC Growth, the First American Gold Rush, and Institutional Status

  • 1850s Economic Expansion:

    • The 1850s are sometimes referenced as a "golden age" for UNC, fueled in part by wealth associated with regional gold production.
    • The first gold rush in the United States occurred in North Carolina—predating the California Gold Rush—and is honored today at Reed Gold Mine State Park.

  • National Ranking:

    • By the 1850s, UNC had grown to become the second-largest university in the United States, behind only Yale University.

Professor Benjamin Hedrick and Mid-19th Century Political Repression

  • The 1856 Presidential Election Incident:

    • In 1856, a student asked UNC Professor Benjamin Hedrick which candidate he planned to vote for in the upcoming United States presidential election.
    • Hedrick answered that he would like to vote for John C. Frémont, but noted that Frémont was not placed on the official election ballot in North Carolina.

  • Political Context of John C. Frémont:

    • John C. Frémont was a famous Western explorer and served as the very first presidential candidate for the newly formed Republican Party.
    • The Republican political platform ran on the slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free men, and Frémont."
    • Expressing support for Frémont was considered extremely radical and unacceptable among white North Carolinians in the 1850s.

  • Consequences for Hedrick:

    • Following his statement and his subsequent refusal to retract his views, Hedrick was promptly fired from his professorship at UNC.
    • Though he was terminated, he avoided mob violence such as being tarred and feathered or run out of town on a rail.

Campus Memorialization and Historical Contrast

  • Recognition of George Moses Horton:

    • Despite being one of the most remarkable figures associated with the university in the 19th century, Horton remained unhonored on campus for over a century.
    • In 2007, a dormitory located on the far southern edge of campus was officially named in honor of George Moses Horton.

  • Recognition of Benjamin Hedrick:

    • Benjamin Hedrick has no building or structure named after him on the university campus.

  • Disparity in Campus Naming Practices:

    • While Horton and Hedrick—two of the most notable 19th-century anti-slavery figures connected to the university—received little to no physical recognition, numerous campus buildings continue to be named after 19th-century white enslavers.