"[It is] Almost impossible to get rid on an infant negro"
Thomas H. Perkins, complaining in his journal that slave infants were almost worthless. [1]
T. H. Perkins (1764-1854) became one of the richest men of his century through his two primary businesses: buying and selling humans and smuggling opium. He was a master at both.
By one account, he was among 100 of the wealthiest Americans who lived during the first two hundred years of the United States.[1] He entered the slave trade at the age of nineteen, choosing it over a Harvard education. He bought and sold enslaved people on speculation as well as on orders from customers. Even when the US Constitution forbade international slave trading after 1807, Perkins broke the law: he continuing his trade into the US, but now through smuggling. The business was that lucrative.
Because Haiti was “the most profitable colony in the world,” he based his business there.[2] The The Perkins firm was an important supplier for the plantation owners, who treated their enslaved so barbarously that they usually lived a mere seven years. The plantation owners decided it was cheaper to buy more people than to care for those they already had enslaved. Thus, the owners bought and enslaved an additional 20,000 people each year.
Perkins’ trading was illegal, as he was not French. As his partner wrote in his journal: “Smuggling was a regular systematic part of the trade.”[3] The very illegality of it pushed up the prices of what Perkins sold, which in turn led to higher profits.
Perkins’ agents routinely boarded the ships arriving from West Africa. The firm instructed one of their ship captains on who to buy:
By one account, he was among 100 of the wealthiest Americans who lived during the first two hundred years of the United States.[1] He entered the slave trade at the age of nineteen, choosing it over a Harvard education. He bought and sold enslaved people on speculation as well as on orders from customers. Even when the US Constitution forbade international slave trading after 1807, Perkins broke the law: he continuing his trade into the US, but now through smuggling. The business was that lucrative.
Because Haiti was “the most profitable colony in the world,” he based his business there.[2] The The Perkins firm was an important supplier for the plantation owners, who treated their enslaved so barbarously that they usually lived a mere seven years. The plantation owners decided it was cheaper to buy more people than to care for those they already had enslaved. Thus, the owners bought and enslaved an additional 20,000 people each year.
Perkins’ trading was illegal, as he was not French. As his partner wrote in his journal: “Smuggling was a regular systematic part of the trade.”[3] The very illegality of it pushed up the prices of what Perkins sold, which in turn led to higher profits.
Perkins’ agents routinely boarded the ships arriving from West Africa. The firm instructed one of their ship captains on who to buy:
“He is to take care that they are young and healthy without any defects in their Limbs, Teeth and Eyes & as few females as possible.”[4]
Perkins paid close attention to the value of the humans he bought, lamenting in his journal about one purchase his agent had made, writing that it is “Almost impossible to get rid of an infant negro.”[5] Perkins’ ships also sailed directly to West Africa to purchase enslaved people.
Slave Trading
Profiting from Slave-Grown Commodities
At the time, Haiti grew half of the world’s coffee and provided almost all of the sugar and molasses sold in the US. Perkins filled his ships heading north with slaves and goods produced by the enslaved, such as sugar, molasses and coffee. [6] Perkins’ ships returned south, now filled with food crops and more, because the plantation owners would not waste their good land to grow food and they needed to feed half a million enslaved people.
Bringing Home a “Beautifully Formed Woman,” “Submissive and Well-bred,” to serve his wife, according to chilling note in in his brother Samuel’s journal.[7] Thomas selected the name Rosette for her.[8]
Reparations the French Paid Him for Losses in Haiti
As the Haitian Revolution broke out, the Perkins’ firm did all it could to keep Haiti a white-controlled colony. His brother Samuel sometimes joined the French forces; the firm also provisioned the French soldiers. When it became clear that the French had lost, Samuel Perkins risked his life in order to obtain full reparations for the firms’ losses.[9] The Perkins firm was so powerful that, even though the firm’s trading in Haiti was illegal, the French paid him.
The Brookline Mansion that the Slave Trade Had Built
In 1799, Perkins bought a huge estate in Brookline. He raised the top of his hill by eight feet, then added a tower at its top, just to watch his ships coming and going. He then instructed his architect to build him a mansion in the style of Caribbean plantations.
At the time, Haiti grew half of the world’s coffee and provided almost all of the sugar and molasses sold in the US. Perkins filled his ships heading north with slaves and goods produced by the enslaved, such as sugar, molasses and coffee. [6] Perkins’ ships returned south, now filled with food crops and more, because the plantation owners would not waste their good land to grow food and they needed to feed half a million enslaved people.
Bringing Home a “Beautifully Formed Woman,” “Submissive and Well-bred,” to serve his wife, according to chilling note in in his brother Samuel’s journal.[7] Thomas selected the name Rosette for her.[8]
Reparations the French Paid Him for Losses in Haiti
As the Haitian Revolution broke out, the Perkins’ firm did all it could to keep Haiti a white-controlled colony. His brother Samuel sometimes joined the French forces; the firm also provisioned the French soldiers. When it became clear that the French had lost, Samuel Perkins risked his life in order to obtain full reparations for the firms’ losses.[9] The Perkins firm was so powerful that, even though the firm’s trading in Haiti was illegal, the French paid him.
The Brookline Mansion that the Slave Trade Had Built
In 1799, Perkins bought a huge estate in Brookline. He raised the top of his hill by eight feet, then added a tower at its top, just to watch his ships coming and going. He then instructed his architect to build him a mansion in the style of Caribbean plantations.
Slave Trading Prepared Perkins for Opium Smuggling
The Haitian Revolution began in 1793, with widespread slave revolts. The Perkins’ slave trading abruptly ended at that point, with Samuel Perkins hastily sailing out of Cap Francis to avoid being killed. When the family slave trading ended, their early opium trading expanded enormously, continuing for at least twenty-five years. During this time the emperor of China outlawed the importation of opium, but Perkins and others smuggled it in and increased their profit. Like the slave trade, the opium business was also enormously lucrative.
Thomas Perkins was already a savvy smuggler when he turned his focus onto China.
In 1789, while still slave trading, he travelled to China to reconnoiter the market. At first, he traded in luxury goods but soon recognized the potential of opium. In 1811, Perkins was the first American to enter the opium market. Opium became Perkins’ new source of wealth. The firm soon obtained a corner on the Turkish opium crop, lowering the cost of what they bought. At the time, the emperor had outlawed the importation of opium. As the Perkins’ opium was contraband, the firm could avoid port taxes and also charge more. In 1829, when Perkins was sixty-five, he wrote his Canton agent, to warn him that an especially large quantity—150,000 pounds—was on its way:
The Haitian Revolution began in 1793, with widespread slave revolts. The Perkins’ slave trading abruptly ended at that point, with Samuel Perkins hastily sailing out of Cap Francis to avoid being killed. When the family slave trading ended, their early opium trading expanded enormously, continuing for at least twenty-five years. During this time the emperor of China outlawed the importation of opium, but Perkins and others smuggled it in and increased their profit. Like the slave trade, the opium business was also enormously lucrative.
Thomas Perkins was already a savvy smuggler when he turned his focus onto China.
In 1789, while still slave trading, he travelled to China to reconnoiter the market. At first, he traded in luxury goods but soon recognized the potential of opium. In 1811, Perkins was the first American to enter the opium market. Opium became Perkins’ new source of wealth. The firm soon obtained a corner on the Turkish opium crop, lowering the cost of what they bought. At the time, the emperor had outlawed the importation of opium. As the Perkins’ opium was contraband, the firm could avoid port taxes and also charge more. In 1829, when Perkins was sixty-five, he wrote his Canton agent, to warn him that an especially large quantity—150,000 pounds—was on its way:
“I must take all the blame in going as far as we have. I thought it best to extend ourselves, to prevent intruders; ... I am mortified that the quantity that will go out in the spring so far surpasses y'r wishes" [10]
It is doubtful that Perkins was in fact “mortified,” as he happily continued to write that such a large shipment would be a big boost to their business. Altogether, the firm’s smuggling operation was wildly profitable, likely surpassing even the slave trade. Meanwhile, inside China, “the drug’s highly addictive qualities uprooted traditional Chinese society.” [11] By the 1830s, three million Chinese people were addicted. Thirty million more would become addicted before the end of the century, devastating the country.[12]
Shifting Views of Thomas H. Perkins
“Merchant” and “Philanthropist”. Until 2022, these were the two most common words used to describe Thomas Perkins. Together they create a lovely vision of a man of integrity and wealth, ready to serve his fellow humans. These two words sanitize Thomas H. Perkins and hide the truth.
On websites, plaques and in profiles, China has been occasionally mentioned, though rarely attached to the word “opium”. His slave trading has received virtually no mention at all, though he is lauded for four institutions that he helped establish: The Perkins School for the Blind, Mass General Hospital, the Boston Athenaeum and the Bunker Hill Monument.
The Perkins School for the Blind Takes a Fresh Look at Thomas Perkins:
Until the spring of 2022, the School’s website had extolled Thomas Perkins without a mention of slave trading or opium smuggling. The School described Perkins in glowing terms, with only a vague reference to his primary businesses:
Shifting Views of Thomas H. Perkins
“Merchant” and “Philanthropist”. Until 2022, these were the two most common words used to describe Thomas Perkins. Together they create a lovely vision of a man of integrity and wealth, ready to serve his fellow humans. These two words sanitize Thomas H. Perkins and hide the truth.
On websites, plaques and in profiles, China has been occasionally mentioned, though rarely attached to the word “opium”. His slave trading has received virtually no mention at all, though he is lauded for four institutions that he helped establish: The Perkins School for the Blind, Mass General Hospital, the Boston Athenaeum and the Bunker Hill Monument.
The Perkins School for the Blind Takes a Fresh Look at Thomas Perkins:
Until the spring of 2022, the School’s website had extolled Thomas Perkins without a mention of slave trading or opium smuggling. The School described Perkins in glowing terms, with only a vague reference to his primary businesses:
“Col. Perkins was a merchant prince, an eminent man of affairs whose business interests encircled the globe. His education, pursuits and position in life reflected the poise and character of his very remarkable and sagacious mother. Although prepared for college, he chose a mercantile career in preference and administered the business of his importing firm so successfully as to amass a fortune”
The Perkins School text concluded their published profile with this magnanimous tribute from his funeral in 1854:
“’One of the noblest specimens of humanity to which our city has ever given birth’"
In April 2022, the Perkins School contacted Hidden Brookline about our posting of their text. We had included it in a section titled “Whitewashing a slave trader.” The School wanted us to know they had now altered their profile of Perkins.
The School’s profile of Perkins can be found at the end of a very long page describing the School’s founders. The profile opens with these words:
“’One of the noblest specimens of humanity to which our city has ever given birth’"
In April 2022, the Perkins School contacted Hidden Brookline about our posting of their text. We had included it in a section titled “Whitewashing a slave trader.” The School wanted us to know they had now altered their profile of Perkins.
The School’s profile of Perkins can be found at the end of a very long page describing the School’s founders. The profile opens with these words:
“Thomas Handasyd Perkins (1764–1854), known as T.H. Perkins, was a Boston Brahmin and major figure in Boston during his lifetime. He was one of the first Boston merchants to become involved in the China trade and one of the most successful. Perkins used his wealth to invest in Massachusetts industry and devoted himself to many philanthropic causes. One of these causes was what would become known as the Perkins School for the Blind.”
Several paragraphs later, the School briefly acknowledges Perkins’ slave trading in Haiti followed by several sentences on his trade in “opium, a common medical treatment at the time” that the emperor had banned. The profile concludes with this acknowledgment:
As of early July 2022, it is not yet known whether the School will go beyond their quiet acknowledgment. As Harvard’s President Bacow stated about Harvard-- another huge recipient of Perkins’ largesse--“Slavery played a significant role. We have a moral responsibility to act to repair the damage of slavery and its legacy.” [13] Recently several institutions have covered aspects of Perkins’ slave and opium trading--among them Harvard University, the Boston Globe, and WBUR. [14] More coverage will very likely appear.
A more truthful history is emerging.
Notes and Citations
[1] Thomas Perkins is ranked #76 in The Wealthy One Hundred [of the first 200 years of American history], Michael Klepper, Robert Gunther. Carroll Publishing Group, 1996.
[2] New York Times, special report on Haiti, 5/26/2022 (accessed June 6, 2022)
[3] Thomas Perkins’ brother Samuel managed the trade in Haiti for the firm, writing in his journal that Early Recollections of Samuel Perkins, Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 103
[4] The Atlantic Slave Trade: Effects on the Economies and Societies. Joseph E. Inikori, Stanley L. Engerman, Duke University Press, 1992, p. 230-1. Italics in the original.
[5] Merchant Prince of Boston: Colonel T. H. Perkins. Carl Seeburg and Stanley Paterson. Harvard Studies in Business History. Harvard University Press, 1971., p. 41.
[6] In 1790, Haiti alone bought 80% of New England’s picked fish and 63% of the dried fish. They also bought needed livestock, flour and wood.
[7] Early Recollections of Samuel Perkins, 1838. Massachusetts Historical Society, p.83.
[8] Hidden Brookline welcomes further information on Thomas Perkins as an enslaver.
[9] “Boston Merchant Trade in Revolutionary Saint-Dominque”, Ben Grande. MA Thesis, Tufts University, 2016, chap 2.
[10] WBUR https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/07/31/opium-boston-history (accessed 6/17/2022)
[11] Ben Grande, op.cit. p. 105
[12] By 1830, three million Chinese were addicted. In 1890, 40 million were addicted www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR2008_100years_drug_control_origins.pdf (accessed 7/7/2022.
[13] From President Larry Bacow’s speech at the symposium on “Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery,” April 22, 2022. The Report on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery includes three full pages about Thomas Perkins and his firm. The Perkins School for the Blind is mentioned as another recipient of THP’s largesse. Additional information on Perkins’ slave trading in West Africa in what is now Ghana) is part of Harvard’s earlier report ”Harvard and Slavery: seeking a forgotten history,” by Sven Beckert, Katherine Stevens and the students of the Harvard and Slavery Research Seminar, 2011, p.12.
[14] https://legacyofslavery.harvard.edu/report (accessed 6/19/22). The Report contains three pages of text on Thomas Perkins and mentions his donation to the Perkins School for the Blind. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/20/opinion/how-elite-views-cultivated-harvards-early-days-fed-ideas- about-school-segregation/ (accessed 6/19/22) https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/07/31/opium-boston-history (accessed 6/19/22).
[2] New York Times, special report on Haiti, 5/26/2022 (accessed June 6, 2022)
[3] Thomas Perkins’ brother Samuel managed the trade in Haiti for the firm, writing in his journal that Early Recollections of Samuel Perkins, Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 103
[4] The Atlantic Slave Trade: Effects on the Economies and Societies. Joseph E. Inikori, Stanley L. Engerman, Duke University Press, 1992, p. 230-1. Italics in the original.
[5] Merchant Prince of Boston: Colonel T. H. Perkins. Carl Seeburg and Stanley Paterson. Harvard Studies in Business History. Harvard University Press, 1971., p. 41.
[6] In 1790, Haiti alone bought 80% of New England’s picked fish and 63% of the dried fish. They also bought needed livestock, flour and wood.
[7] Early Recollections of Samuel Perkins, 1838. Massachusetts Historical Society, p.83.
[8] Hidden Brookline welcomes further information on Thomas Perkins as an enslaver.
[9] “Boston Merchant Trade in Revolutionary Saint-Dominque”, Ben Grande. MA Thesis, Tufts University, 2016, chap 2.
[10] WBUR https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/07/31/opium-boston-history (accessed 6/17/2022)
[11] Ben Grande, op.cit. p. 105
[12] By 1830, three million Chinese were addicted. In 1890, 40 million were addicted www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR2008_100years_drug_control_origins.pdf (accessed 7/7/2022.
[13] From President Larry Bacow’s speech at the symposium on “Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery,” April 22, 2022. The Report on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery includes three full pages about Thomas Perkins and his firm. The Perkins School for the Blind is mentioned as another recipient of THP’s largesse. Additional information on Perkins’ slave trading in West Africa in what is now Ghana) is part of Harvard’s earlier report ”Harvard and Slavery: seeking a forgotten history,” by Sven Beckert, Katherine Stevens and the students of the Harvard and Slavery Research Seminar, 2011, p.12.
[14] https://legacyofslavery.harvard.edu/report (accessed 6/19/22). The Report contains three pages of text on Thomas Perkins and mentions his donation to the Perkins School for the Blind. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/20/opinion/how-elite-views-cultivated-harvards-early-days-fed-ideas- about-school-segregation/ (accessed 6/19/22) https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/07/31/opium-boston-history (accessed 6/19/22).