The Nelson Hackett Project

An on-going project to explore the life and struggle of Nelson Hackett

Learn about a single man’s incredible struggle that activated a trans-Atlantic and biracial network of activists working to undermine the institution of slavery

Sometime in the middle of July 1841, Nelson Hackett fled both Arkansas and slavery, setting off an international dispute that would ensure that Canada remained a safe refuge for those escaping bondage in the United States.

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The Players

Thomas Clarkson
Thomas Clarkson

Thomas Clarkson

Thomas Clarkson fought to abolish slavery in the British Empire and the international slave trade before turning his attention to Nelson Hackett and the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.

Viscount Palmerston
Viscount Palmerston

Viscount Palmerston

Viscount Palmerston led the effort in the House of Commons to amend the Webster-Ashburton Treaty to protect fugitives from slavery from extradition. 

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Follow Hackett's Flight

A primary problem in trying to reconstruct Hackett’s flight is that there are few records of his words and thoughts. This problem is rooted in the racism that undergirded chattel slavery and created most of its archival record. Hackett’s flight is therefore reconstructed using other voices, including abolitionists (both white and black), journalists, colonial and elected officials, and slave owners and their apologists.

View the interactive mapView the full details of the journey

The Documents

Despatches-from-the-governor-general
“Canada: Copies of a Despatch from the Governor-General of Canada to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, of the 20th of January Last, Relative to the Surrender of Nelson Hackett, a Person of Colour, on the Demand of the Authorities of the United States, as a Fugitive from Justice,” (London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1842).

“Canada: Copies of a Despatch from the Governor-General of Canada to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, of the 20th of January Last, Relative to the Surrender of Nelson Hackett, a Person of Colour, on the Demand of the Authorities of the United States, as a Fugitive from Justice,” (London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1842).

  CANADA COPIES of a DESPATCH from the Governor-General of Canada to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, of the 20th January last, relative to the Surrender of Nelson Hackett, a Person of Colour, on the Demand of the Authorities of the United States, as a...

William C. Munro and Robert Banks, “The Extraordinary Conduct of the Governor of Canada,”Emancipator and Free American, April 28, 1842.

William C. Munro and Robert Banks, “The Extraordinary Conduct of the Governor of Canada,”Emancipator and Free American, April 28, 1842.

EXTRAORDINARY CONDUCT OF THE GOVERNOR OF CANADA Detroit, Feb. 28, 1842. The editor of the Liberator will confer a favor upon the colored citizens of this city, by giving the following preamble and resolutions a place in his columns, and preface it with such...

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