african americans in the mid-1800s - mary beth docherty

African Americans in the Mid-1800sHow did African Americans face slavery and discrimination inthe mid-1800s?

Introduction

By 1850, the population of the United States had grown to just over 23million. This figure included 3.6 million African Americans, the greatmajority of whom lived in slavery. Harriet Powers, the woman whocreated the quilt you see here, was one of them.

Powers was born into slavery in Georgia in 1837, and like many slaves,she grew up hearing Bible stories. In her quilts, she used animals andfigures from Africa and the United States to illustrate those stories.

Not all African Americans were slaves. By mid-century, there wereabout half a million free blacks as well, including many former slaveswho had escaped to freedom.

Whether African Americans lived in slavery or freedom, discrimination(unequal treatment) shaped their lives. Throughout the country, whiteslooked down on blacks and ignored the contributions blacks made toAmerican life. They thought of the United States as “their country.”Such racist thinking later prompted African American scholar andreformer W. E. B. Du Bois to ask,

Your country? How came it to be yours? Before the Pilgrimslanded we were here. Here we brought you our three giftsand mingled them with yours; a gift of story and song, soft,stirring melody in an . . . unmelodious land; the gift ofsweat and brawn [physical strength] to beat back thewilderness . . . and lay the foundations of this vasteconomic empire . . . the third, a gift of the Spirit.

In this lesson, you will explore how African Americans faced andendured discrimination and slavery in the mid-1800s. You will also learnmore about the gifts that African Americans brought to America.

A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N S I N...

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A

Social StudiesVocabulary

discrimination

Nat Turner'sRebellion

oppression

racism

segregation

Underground Railroad


Level: A 2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute

1. North and South, Slave and Free

The experiences of African Americans in the mid-1800s depended onwhere they lived and whether they lived in slavery or freedom. Formerslave Frederick Douglass toured the North talking to white audiencesabout slavery, emphasizing his belief that the biggest differencebetween slaves and free blacks was their legal status. While free blackshad some rights by law, slaves did not. Whether free or slave, however,the lives of African Americans were shaped by racism, the belief thatone race is superior to another.

Slaves' Legal Status The law defined slaves as property, whichmeant slaveholders could legally do almost anything with their slaves.For example, they could buy and sell slaves, leave slaves to theirchildren or heirs, and could even settle bets using slaves as payment.Despite all the things owners could do, many states would not allowthem to grant their slaves freedom.

As property, slaves had none of the rights guaranteed by theConstitution that free people took for granted. “In law, the slave has nowife, no children, no country, no home,” Douglass said. “He can ownnothing, possess nothing, acquire nothing.”

Rural and Urban Slaves While most slaves worked on farms andplantations across the South, there were also about 140,000 slavesliving in towns and cities by 1860. Whether they were hired out, or sentto work in factories, mills, or workshops, the wages they earnedbelonged to their owners. Although most urban slaves still had to liveunder the watchful eyes of their owners, some were allowed to “liveout” on their own. Because of such freedom, observed Douglass, “A cityslave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation.”

Free Blacks in the South About half of all free African Americanslived in the South. Most worked as laborers, craftspeople, or householdservants in towns and cities.

Many white southerners viewed free blacks as a dangerous group thathad to be controlled so that, in the words of South Carolinaslaveholders, they would not create “discontent among our slaves.”Free blacks were forbidden to own guns, could not travel freelybetween towns or states, and were not allowed to work at certain jobs.Such restrictions led Douglass to conclude, “No colored man is reallyfree in a slaveholding state.”

Free Blacks in the North Even though African Americans in the



North lived freer lives, they still experienced discrimination, orunequal treatment, everywhere they turned. In many states, AfricanAmericans were denied the right to vote and had trouble finding goodjobs. In the 1850s, some 87 percent of free blacks in New York held low-paying jobs. “Why should I strive hard?” asked one young AfricanAmerican. “What are my prospects? . . . No one will employ me; whiteboys won't work with me.”

In addition to unequal treatment, policies of segregation separatedblacks from whites in nearly all public places. Black children were oftendenied entry into public schools, and states that did educate blackchildren set up separate schools for that purpose. A New Yorkerobserved around 1860,

Even the noblest black is denied that which is free to thevilest [worst] white. The omnibus, the [railroad] car, theballot-box, the jury box, the halls of legislation, the army,the public lands, the school, the church, the lecture room,the social circle, the [restaurant] table, are all eitherabsolutely or virtually denied to him.

Douglass discovered how deeply rooted this racism was when he triedto join a church in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and felt unwelcomed.“I tried all the other churches in New Bedford with the same result,” hewrote.

African Americans responded to discrimination by organizing to helpthemselves. In 1816, Richard Allen, a former slave, became the firstbishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The AME, which stillexists today, quickly became a center of African American life. Allenalso created organizations to improve the lives of blacks, such as theAfrican Society for the Education of Youth.

Other Northern blacks started their own schools, churches, and self-help organizations. In 1853, free blacks formed the National Council ofColored People to protest the unequal treatment they received. Suchtreatment, the council declared, “would humble the proudest, crush theenergies of the strongest, and retard the progress of the swiftest.” Thatblacks were neither humbled nor crushed by prejudice anddiscrimination was evidence of their courage and spirit.



2. The Economics of Slavery

Slaves were mostly owned by wealthier planters because the majorityof white southerners could not afford to buy them. Why, then, did theSouth remain so loyal to slavery? Part of the answer to that questionlies in the growth of the southern economy after the invention of thecotton gin in 1793.

The cotton gin made cotton a hugely profitable cash crop in the South.In 1790, the South produced just 3,000 bales of cotton, but theintroduction of the cotton gin caused production to soar to more than 4million bales a year by the 1860s. Cotton brought new wealth to theSouth. Slavery also helped northern industries thrive since factoriesdepended on raw materials produced in the South. Robert Fogel, ahistorian who has studied the economics of slavery, wrote,

If we treat the North and South as separate nations . . . theSouth would stand as the fourth most prosperous nation ofthe world in 1860 . . . more prosperous than France,Germany, Denmark, or any of the countries in Europe



except England.

Whether they owned slaves or not, white southerners understood thattheir economy depended on cotton. They also knew that cotton plantersdepended on slave labor to grow their profitable crop. For planters withfew or no slaves, however, the prospect of owning slaves became lesslikely as the price of slaves rose with their demand.

High prices created different outcomes for the men and women trappedin slavery. As prices went up, slaves became more valuable to theirowners. At the same time, the rising value of their slaves madeslaveholders less willing to listen to talk of ending slavery. In their eyes,freeing their slaves could only mean one thing: utter financial ruin.



3. Working Conditions of Slaves

Slaves worked on farms of various sizes. Owners and slaves workedside by side in the fields on small farms. However, on large plantations,planters hired overseers to supervise their slaves. Overseers were paidto “care for nothing but to make a large crop” and would often try toget the most work possible out of the slaves who worked in the fields.

About three-quarters of rural slaves were field hands who toiled fromdawn to dark tending crops. An English visitor described a field hand'sday:

He is called up in the morning at day break, and is seldomallowed time enough to swallow three mouthfuls of hominy[boiled corn], or hoecake [cornbread], but is driven outimmediately to the field to hard labor . . . About noon heeats his dinner, and he is seldom allowed an hour for thatpurpose . . . Then they return to severe labor, whichcontinues until dusk.



Even then, a slave's workday was not finished. After dark, there was stillwater to carry, wood to split, pigs to feed, corn to shuck, cotton toclean, and other chores to be done. One slave recalled,

I never know what it was to rest. I just work all the timefrom morning till late at night. I had to do everything therewas to do on the outside. Work in the field, chop wood, hoecorn, till sometime I feels like my back surely break.

Slaves who did not work in the fields were skilled seamstresses,carpenters, blacksmiths, or worked in the master's house as cooks orservants. When asked about her work, a house slave replied,

What kind of work I did? . . . I cooked, [then] I was housemaid, an' I raised I don't know how many [children] . . . Iwas always good when it come to [the] sick, so [that] wasmostly my job.

Most slaves began work at the age of six and continued until they died,ensuring that no matter how hard they worked, they could never lookforward to an easier life. As one man put it, “Slave young, slave long.”

4. Living Conditions of Slaves



Most masters viewed their slaves as they did their land—things to be“worn out, not improved.” They provided only what was needed to keeptheir slaves healthy enough to work, and most slaves lived crowdedtogether in rough cabins. One recalled,

We lodged in log huts, and on bare ground. Wooden floorswere an unknown luxury. In a single room were huddled,like cattle, ten or a dozen persons, men, women, andchildren . . . We had neither bedsteads, nor furniture of anydescription. Our beds were collections of straw and oldrags, thrown down in the corners.

Some slaves were fed well. “Not to give a slave enough to eat,”reported Frederick Douglass, “is regarded as . . . meanness [stinginess]even among slaveholders.” Some slaves received rations of cornmeal,bacon, and molasses, while others even kept gardens or hunted andfished to vary their diets. The owner described below fed his slaveswell:

Marse [master] Alec had plenty for his slaves to eat. Therewas meat, bread, collard greens, snap beans, 'taters, peas,all sorts of dried fruit, and just lots of milk and butter.

However, other slaveholders were not as concerned with their slaves'health and would deny them food. Slaves could go hungry for differentreasons such as punishment, food rationing, or as a means of control.

Slaves wore clothing made of coarse homespun linen or rough “Negrocloth,” which Northern textile mills made especially for slave clothes.Douglass reported that a field hand received a yearly allowance of “twocoarse linen shirts, one pair of linen trousers . . . one jacket, one pair oftrousers for winter, made of coarse Negro cloth, one pair of stockings,and one pair of shoes.” Children too young to work received “twocoarse linen shirts per year. When these failed them, they went naked”until the next year.

While slaves were poorly housed and clothed compared to most whitesoutherners, they were more likely to receive medical care.Slaveholders sometimes even hired doctors to treat sick or injuredslaves, but given doctors' limited medical knowledge, this careprobably did little to improve slaves' health.



5. Controlling Slaves

Slavery was a system of forced labor that required slaveholders to keepslaves firmly under control for the system to work. Some slaveholdersused harsh punishments—beating, whipping, branding, sexual violence,and other forms of torture—to maintain that control, but punishmentsoften backfired on slaveholders. A slave who had been badly whippedmight not be able to work for some time. Harsh punishments were alsolikely to make slaves feel more resentful and rebellious.

Slaveholders preferred to control their workforce by making slaves feeltotally dependent on their masters. They also kept their workers asignorant as possible about the world beyond the plantation. FrederickDouglass's master said that a slave “should know nothing but to obeyhis master—to do as it is told to do.”

Slaves who failed to learn this lesson were sometimes sent to slavebreakers. Such men were experts at turning independent, spiritedAfrican Americans into humble, obedient slaves. When he was ateenager, Douglass was sent to a slave breaker named Edward Covey.



Covey's method consisted of equal parts violence, fear, and overwork.Douglass received his first whipping soon after he arrived on Covey'sfarm, and afterward he was beaten so often that “aching bones and asore back were my constant companions.”

Covey's ability to instill fear in his slaves was as effective as hiswhippings. Slaves never knew when he might be watching them. “Hewould creep and crawl in ditches and gullies,” Douglass recalled, to spyon his workers.

Finally, Covey worked his slaves beyond endurance. Wrote Douglass,

We worked all weathers. It was never too hot or too cold; itcould never rain, blow, hail, or snow too hard for us to workin the field . . . The longest days were too short for him, andthe shortest nights too long for him. I was somewhatunmanageable when I first got there, but a few months ofthis discipline tamed me . . . I was broken in body, soul, andspirit . . . The dark night of slavery closed in upon me.

6. Resistance to Slavery



6. Resistance to Slavery

Despite the efforts of slaveholders to crush their slaves' spirits, slavesfound countless ways to resist their masters. As former slave HarrietJacobs wrote after escaping to freedom, “My master had power and lawon his side. I had a determined will. There is might [power] in each.”

Day-to-Day Resistance For most slaves, resistance took the form ofquiet, or passive, acts of rebellion. Field hands would pull down fences,break tools, and work so sloppily that they damaged crops, while houseslaves would sneak food out of the master's kitchen.

Slaves pretended to be dumb, clumsy, sick, or insane to get out ofwork. For example, one slave avoided working for years by claiming tobe nearly blind, only to regain his sight once freed.

In some instances, resistance turned deadly when house servants putpoison into slave owners' food. So many slaves set fire to their owners'homes and barns that the American Fire Insurance Company refused toinsure property in the South.

Open Defiance Quiet resistance sometimes flared into opendefiance. When pushed too hard, slaves refused to work, rejectedorders, or struck back violently. Owners often described slaves whoreacted in this way as “insolent” (disrespectful) or “unmanageable.”

Frederick Douglass reached his breaking point one day when the slavebreaker Covey began to beat him for no particular reason. Rather thantake the blows, as he had so many times before, Douglass fought back.He wrestled Covey to the ground, holding him “so firmly by the throatthat his blood followed my nails.” For Douglass, this moment was “theturning point in my career as a slave.”

My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bolddefiance took its place; and I now resolved that, howeverlong I might remain a slave in form, the day had passedwhen I could be a slave in fact. I did not hesitate to let it beknown of me, that the white man who expected to succeedin whipping, must also succeed in killing me.

Covey knew this and never laid a hand on Douglass again.

Running Away Some slaves tried to escape by running away tofreedom in the North. The risks were enormous, and slaveholders hiredprofessional slave catchers and their packs of bloodhounds to huntdown runaway slaves. Although a runaway risked being mauled by



dogs, brutally whipped, or even killed if caught, Douglass and countlessother slaves took the risk.

Slaves found many ways to escape bondage. Some walked to freedomin the North, hiding by day and traveling at night when they couldfollow the North Star. Others traveled north by boat or train, usingforged identity cards and clever disguises to get past watchful slavepatrols. A few runaways mailed themselves to freedom in boxes.

Thousands of runaways escaped to free states and to Canada with thehelp of the Underground Railroad, a secret network of free blacksand sympathetic whites. The members of the Underground Railroadprovided transportation and “safe houses” where runaways could hide.A number of guides, or “conductors,” risked their lives to help escapingslaves travel the “freedom train.” One of the most successful wasHarriet Tubman. Having escaped slavery herself, Tubman courageouslyreturned to the South approximately 20 times between 1850 and 1860,guiding more than 300 men, women, and children to freedom.

Rebellion At times, resistance erupted into violent rebellion. Slaverevolts occurred in cities, on plantations, and even on ships at sea. Fearof slave uprisings haunted slaveholders. Planters, wrote one visitor tothe South, “never lie down to sleep without . . . loaded pistols at theirsides.”

In 1822, authorities in Charleston, South Carolina, learned thatDenmark Vesey, a free black, was preparing to lead a sizable revolt ofslaves. Vesey, along with more than 30 slaves, was arrested andhanged.

Nine years later, in 1831, a slave named Nat Turner led a bloodyuprising in Virginia. In what became known as Nat Turner'sRebellion, Turner and his followers set out to kill every white personthey could find. Armed with axes and guns, they killed at least 57people over a period of two days.

Vesey's and Turner's rebellions panicked white southerners and, inresponse, Southern states passed strict slave codes that tightenedowners' control of their slaves and provided for harsher punishment ofslaves by authorities. As one frightened Virginian remarked, “A NatTurner might be in any family.”



7. Slave Families and Communities



Slavery made community and family life difficult because legally slavefamilies did not exist. Southern states did not recognize slavemarriages, and legal control of slave children rested with their mastersinstead of the children's parents. Owners could break up slave familiesat any time by selling a father, a mother, or a child to someone else. Ofall the things they endured, slaves most feared being sold away fromtheir loved ones.

Despite many families being torn apart, most slaves found support intheir families. Unable to marry legally, slaves created their ownweddings, which often involved the tradition of jumping over abroomstick. One slave recalled,

The preacher would say to the man, “Do you take thiswoman to be your wife?” He says, “Yes.” “Well, jump thebroom.” After he jumped, the preacher would say the sameto the woman. When she jumped, the preacher said, “Ipronounce you man and wife.”

Caring for children was never easy. Booker T. Washington's mother“snatched a few moments for our care in the early morning before herwork began, and at night after the day's work was done.” Still, parentsfound time to teach the lessons children would need to survive.

Silence around whites was one such lesson. Elijah Marrs recalled that“Mothers were necessarily compelled to be severe on their children tokeep them from talking too much.” Obedience was another lesson.William Webb's mother taught him “not to rebel against the men thatwere treating me like some dumb brute, making me work and refusingto let me learn.”

Parents also taught their children other essential lessons about caring,kindness, pride, and hope, as well as lessons about respectingthemselves and other members of the slave community, especiallyolder slaves. “There is not to be found, among any people,” wroteDouglass, “a more rigid enforcement of the law of respect to elders.”

These were the lessons that helped slaves, under the most difficultconditions, to create loving families and close communities. In doing so,they met the most basic of human needs—the need for a place to feelloved, respected, and safe.



8. Leisure Time Activities

Slaves toiled all week in fields that seemed to stretch “from one end ofthe earth to the other.” But, from Saturday night through Sunday, slavemasters sometimes let slaves choose what they wanted to do.

On some plantations, Saturday nights were a time for social events thatoften combined work related activities, like corn-husking or pea-shellingparties. One slave recalled,

I've seen many a corn huskin' at ole Major's farm when thecorn would be piled as high as the house. Two sets of menwould start huskin' from opposite sides of the heap. Itwould keep one man busy just getting the husks out of theway, and the corn would be thrown over the husker's headand filling the air like birds. The women usually had aquilting at those times, so they were pert and happy.

Although slave women had little free time to gather together and talk,quilting bees gave these women the rare opportunity to freely express



themselves using needle and cloth. The quilts they created were notonly beautiful, but also very much needed as bedding for their families.

After the sewing, men joined in for “quilting parties,” celebrations thatincluded music and dancing. Slaves created music out of almostanything that was available. “Stretch cowhides over cheese-boxes andyou had tambourines,” one former slave recalled. “Saw bones from offa cow, knock them together, and call it a drum. Or use broom straws,on fiddle-strings, and you had your entire orchestra.”

Sunday was a day for religion and recreation, and many slaves spentthe day going to church, eating, hunting, fishing, dancing, singing,telling tales, naming babies, playing games, and visiting with friends. InNew Orleans, hundreds of slaves gathered on Sunday afternoons inpublic spaces to dance, sing, and talk. All of these activities helpedAfrican Americans forget the sorrows of slavery.

9. Slave Churches

Many slaveholders encouraged their slaves to attend church on Sunday.Owners and white ministers preached the same message: “If youdisobey your earthly master, you offend your heavenly Master.”



Unsurprisingly, this was not a popular lesson among slaves. “Dat olewhite preacher [just] was telling us slaves to be good to our marsters,”recalled Cornelius Garner. “We ain't kerr'd a bit 'bout dat stuff he wastelling us 'cause we wanted to sing, pray, and serve God in our ownway.”

Instead, slaves created their own “invisible church” that broughttogether African roots and American needs. This invisible church met inslave quarters or secret forest clearings known as “hush arbors.” Oneslave reported that,

When [slaves] go round singing, “Steal Away to Jesus” thatmean there going to be a religious meeting that night. Themasters . . . didn't like them religious meetings, so usnaturally slips off at night, down in the bottoms orsomewheres. Sometimes us sing and pray all night.

Rather than teach about obedience, black preachers told the story ofMoses leading his people out of slavery in Egypt. Black worshipers sangspirituals that expressed their desire for freedom and faith in a betterworld to come. One black preacher wrote,

The singing was accompanied by a certain ecstasy ofmotion, clapping of hands, tossing of heads, which wouldcontinue without cessation [stopping] about half an hour . .. The old house partook of their ecstasy; it rang with theirjubilant shouts, and shook in all its joints.

Many slaves believed that their masters lacked true religious feeling.“You see,” explained one man, “religion needs a little motion—speciallyif you gwine [going to] feel de spirit.”

Religion helped slaves bear their suffering and still find joy in life. Intheir prayers and spirituals, they gave voice to their deepest longings,their greatest sorrows, and their highest hopes.



10. African American Culture

Africans arrived in the United States speaking many languages andfollowing many cultural traditions. Although they had to learn a newlanguage—English—and adopt a new way of life in order to survive,they did not forget their African roots. Across the South, slavescombined their old traditions and new realities to create a distinctiveAfrican American culture.

This combining of cultures is evident in Harriet Powers's story quilt. Insquare after square, Powers used animals from Africa and America toillustrate Bible stories that she learned as a slave on a Georgiaplantation. The doves in her quilt are symbols of the Holy Spirit found inChristian religion. As one spiritual expressed, “Had I the wings of adove, I'd fly away and be at rest.”

You can also hear this combining of cultures in the songs and spiritualssung by slaves. These songs throb with the rhythms and harmonies ofAfrica, but speak about the realities of slavery. Slaves sang about faith,love, work, and the kindness and cruelty of masters. They alsoexpressed their oppression, as in this song recorded by FrederickDouglass:



We raise de [the] wheat, dey gib [they give] us de corn; Webake de bread, dey gib us de cruss; We sif de meal, dey gibus de huss; We peel de meat, dey gib us de skin;

And dat's de way dey takes us in.

Slave dances were based on African traditions as well. Dancing helpedslaves to put aside their cares, express their feelings, and refresh theirspirits. According to one former slave, good dancers “could play a tunewith their feet, dancing largely to an inward music, a music that wasfelt, but not heard.”

African legends and folktales survived in the stories told by slaves. Forexample, Br'er Rabbit, the sly hero of many slave tales, was based onthe African trickster Shulo the Hare. In these stories, the small butclever brother rabbit always managed to outwit larger, but duller,brother bear or brother fox—just as slaves hoped to outwit their morepowerful masters.

Lesson Summary

In this lesson, you learned what life was like for AfricanAmericans during the mid-1800s.

North and South, Slave and Free African Americans had a greatimpact on the development of American life. The South's economy was



built on slave labor. Some blacks lived in freedom in the North andSouth, but were unable to escape racism and discrimination.

The Economics of Slavery Most white southerners did not ownslaves. Whether they owned slaves or not, whites understood that theSouth's economy depended on cotton and the slave labor needed togrow it.

Working and Living Conditions of Slaves All slaves workedconstantly —in the fields, as house servants, or at skilled trades. Mostslaves lived in simple, dirt-floor cabins.

Controlling Slaves and Resistance to Slavery Some slave ownersused harsh punishments to control slaves. Most slaves resisted slaveryusing quiet acts of rebellion, while some fought back openly. At greatrisk, many tried to run away. Some slaveholders would rather killrunaways than allow them to escape.

Slave Families, Leisure, and Churches Enslaved African Americanscreated families and communities under the most difficult conditions.Slaves spent Saturday nights at social events and worshiped in theirown churches on Sundays. They prayed and sang spirituals to helpthemselves find joy and hope in their hard lives.

African American Culture Africans brought many languages andcultural traditions to the United States. The combination of old and newcultural traditions was expressed through their quilts, songs, dances,and folktales.

Reading Further



Harriet Tubman, Moses of theUnderground Railroad

No one did more to help enslaved African Americans escapeslavery than Harriet Tubman. Although people would laterbegin to call her Moses for her role in guiding people tofreedom in the North, she would first have to get there herself.

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in eastern Maryland, sometimearound 1820. In the fall of 1849, when she heard that she would be soldto a new owner farther south, she decided to escape her life as a slave.

It was a difficult decision because it meant she would have to leave herfamily behind, including her husband, who refused to go. She also knewthat women rarely managed to escape on their own, and she would beseverely punished, perhaps even killed, if she were caught. But she feltshe had no choice, saying, “I had reasoned this out in my mind, therewas one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could nothave one, I would have the other.”

Like most slaves, Tubman had led a hard life. She had been whippedrepeatedly, forced to labor in the fields, and had once suffered a near-fatal injury when an overseer struck her in the head with a lead weight.Due to this injury, she would periodically and unexpectedly fall into adeep sleep throughout the rest of her life. But her experiences alsogave her the strength and survival skills she would need during herflight north.

Tubman left at night, under cover of darkness with no idea where shewas heading. Fortunately there were people to help her who were partof the Underground Railroad, the name people gave to a network ofsafe houses and escape routes leading to the North. The safe houseswere known as “stations” and the people who ran them as“stationmasters.” These men and women—and sometimes children—put their lives at risk to help slaves escape to freedom.

Not wanting to endanger those who helped her, Tubman never revealedthe details of her escape, but she probably took a route headingnortheast to Delaware and then to Pennsylvania. It was a journey shewould take many times later, when she had become the most famous“conductor” on the Underground Railroad.

Crossing to Freedom

Tubman's first stop was the home of a sympathetic white woman, who



told her how to find the nearest safe house. Tubman walked through thenight to get there, but when she arrived, a woman opened the door,handed her a broom, and told her to sweep the yard. This puzzledTubman until she realized that playing the part of a black servantwould help avoid suspicion.

When the woman's husband came home that evening, he hid Tubmanin his wagon, drove her out of town, and dropped her off with directionsto the next safe house. For the rest of her journey, Tubman went fromone “station” to the next at night and hid during the day.

Most of the time she traveled on foot, staying out of sight because sheknew that one careless mistake could lead to her capture. Slavecatchers were a real danger, so she avoided roads and listened for thesound of bloodhounds on her trail.

Even after she left Maryland and crossed into Delaware, she was still indanger. Although Delaware was a free state, slave catchers workedthere, and many people would turn over a fugitive for the rewardmoney.

Finally, she crossed the Pennsylvania border after two or three weekson the run. The Pennsylvania border was a dividing line between Northand South, signaling to Tubman that she was truly free. Years later sherecalled that moment:

I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. Therewas such a glory over everything. The sun came like goldthrough the trees and over the fields, and I felt like I was inheaven.

Refuge in Philadelphia

Tubman went to Philadelphia, which was then home to thousands ofAfrican Americans, including many escaped slaves. As a center for theUnderground Railroad, the city had a strong abolitionist communitythat allowed Tubman to quickly find work and settle into her new life.

But she would not remain at rest for long. She missed her family inMaryland and could not bear the idea that they were still living inslavery. “I was free,” she said, “and they should be free.”



Riding the Liberty Lines

Tubman decided to act after learning that one of her sister's daughters,a niece named Kizzy, was going to be sold south. Kizzy had twochildren, and Tubman was determined to rescue all three of them. Noone knows exactly how she did it, but in the fall of 1850, Harrietmanaged to slip into Maryland and bring all of them north.

The following spring, Tubman made another trip to rescue one of herbrothers. A few months later, she brought back a second brother, alongwith ten other people. Eventually she would rescue several familymembers, including her elderly parents, and take most of them toCanada, where they could not be seized by slave catchers and returnedto their owners.

Tubman could not have made these trips without the help of theUnderground Railroad. She followed routes, known as “liberty lines,”and made use of Underground Railroad safe houses, which somebelieve had tunnels and secret closets where fugitives could hide.

She also relied on “agents” such as Thomas Garrett and William Still.Garrett was a white stationmaster in Wilmington, Delaware, who helpedmore than 2,500 slaves escape from the South. Still, an AfricanAmerican, was an important leader of the antislavery movement inPhiladelphia. These and other members of the Underground Railroad



were critical to Tubman's success over the years.

Another secret to her success was the methods she used to evadedetection. She usually made her trips in the fall and winter, when thenights were long and people tended to stay indoors. She always set outon a Saturday night because Sunday was usually a slave's only day off,so slave owners might not miss absent slaves until Monday morning.When nearing a hiding place where fugitives were waiting, Tubmanwould sing a special song that was a kind of code to signal herpresence or to provide instructions.

Sometimes she wore disguises, such as men's clothing. Once, when sheencountered a former owner, she pulled her hat over her face andpretended to read a book. The man, who assumed his former slavecould not read, never realized who she was.

One admirer recalled, “She could elude patrols and pursuers with asmuch ease and unconcern as an eagle would soar through theheavens.” She also revealed her fearlessness when she developed abad toothache during one escape and eased the pain by knocking theaching teeth out with a pistol.

The Rescue of Joe Bailey

Between 1852 and 1860, Tubman made 19 separate trips into theSouth, and blacks soon began calling her Moses, the leader who guidedher people to freedom. As Moses's reputation grew, slave ownersdemanded the capture of this mysterious person who was leading theirslaves away. However, they did not know who Moses was or even thatshe was a woman.

On one trip in November 1856, Tubman brought five people north,including a man named Joe Bailey. Bailey was highly valued by hisowner, who offered $1,500 for his return. A $12,000 bounty was alsoplaced on the head of “Moses.”

After a risky escape from Maryland, Tubman and her party reached theoutskirts of Wilmington where Thomas Garrett hid them under awagonload of hay and helped them get through the city. From there,they went to Philadelphia and New York, on their way to Canada.

Bailey received a shock when a man in New York identified him from aposter advertising a reward for his capture, but the man fortunatelyrevealed himself to be an abolitionist. Nonetheless, Bailey wasovercome with fear that he would never make it out of the country and



failed to cheer up for the rest of the journey, even refusing to look atthe scenery as he passed by Niagara Falls and crossed into Canada.

At that point, Tubman shook him, saying, “Joe, you're free!” Baileylooked up, saw where he was, and burst into tears. Then he began tosing:

Glory to God and Jesus too;One more soul is safe!Oh, go and carry the news;One more soul got safe!

Tubman's Legacy

It is estimated that Harriet Tubman made almost 20 trips on theUnderground Railroad and freed more than 300 people. After all of herjourneys, she declared, “I never ran my train off the track, and I neverlost a passenger.” Tubman's last trip took place shortly before theoutbreak of the Civil War, in 1861.

During the war, she joined the Union cause as a nurse and a spy. Onone raid into South Carolina, she helped free several hundred slavesfrom captivity.

After the war, Tubman became a strong voice in the fight for women'srights and racial justice. But it was her daring work with theUnderground Railroad that made her a great hero and liberator of herpeople.



African Americans Fight Slavery

Slavery was not limited to America’s South. In fact, slavery existed in allparts of the world beginning in ancient Greek, Roman, and Islamiccivilizations.

There were different kinds of slavery in different societies. In America,slaves were considered chattel. That means slaves were property,owned by someone else and having no rights and almost no chance ofachieving freedom. The chattel slave’s children and grandchildren wereconsidered property, too, and could be bought and sold like a piece ofmachinery. Slavery was different in some other places such as in Africa,where someone might become a slave to pay a debt or to serve aspunishment for a crime. Though slavery was still cruel and strippedpeople of freedom, these slaves who were not chattel might not beslaves for life.

By the mid-1800s, slavery was well established in America. And, as inother parts of the world, people bravely fought to put an end to it.



For African American slaves, resistance was extraordinarily difficult.Some slaves carried out courageous acts of quiet resistance, such asgathering in groups or teaching one another to read. Some slaves roseup in open rebellion. Thousands ran to freedom in the North and West.The South responded by passing local and state laws includingrestrictions on freedom of assembly and ending the education ofenslaved and freed blacks.

Many African Americans who had escaped slavery, or who had beenborn free, fought slavery on a larger scale. Let's take a look at some ofthe ways African Americans took part in the fight against slavery.

Slave Rebellions

There were many early attempts at revolt and rebellion. They wereoften violent and unfortunately, rarely ended well. The Stono Rebellionin 1739 was a large uprising that took place even before the AmericanRevolution. Twenty slaves met at Stono River in South Carolina andtook up arms by stealing guns and powder from a firearms store. Onehistorian notes they marched and yelled “Liberty” as they headedsouth. It was believed that the Spanish were offering freedom in St.Augustine, Florida to destabilize British rule.

Many other slaves joined the cause along the way. Twenty white peoplewere killed and houses were burned. An innkeeper was spared becausehe was kind to his slaves. The rebel slaves totaled around 60 to 100when armed white planters caught up to the group and ended therebellion. Half the slaves were killed, or captured to be executed later.In response to the uprising, South Carolina passed laws the “NegroAct.” The act made it illegal for slaves to assemble, move abroad, earnmoney, raise food, and receive education. Owners were also permittedto kill rebellious slaves if necessary. Lawmakers also enacted a ban onthe import of slaves.

There were many more revolts after the Stono Rebellion. In 1800,Gabriel Prosser planned a three-prong attack against Richmond,Virginia. Prosser was a literate and highly intelligent blacksmith. Hewanted to create an independent black state. His followers wereinstructed to spare the lives of Frenchmen, Methodists, and Quakersduring the fighting. Their goal was to seize the arsenal and take controlof the powder.

However, rainstorms that flooded roads and washed out bridgesprevented Prosser and his army of 1,000 slaves (historians haveestimated there were even more) from carrying out the rebellion.



Before they could carry out the plans, two slaves who were not part ofProsser’s group told their owners about the uprising. Governor JamesMonroe was notified, and Prosser, along with about 34 other slaves,was captured. They were hanged as punishment. Lawmakers createdharsh laws and restrictions similar to those from the Stono Rebellion.

Speaking and Writing Against Slavery

Both black and white abolitionists spoke out against slavery inspeeches, sermons, articles, books, and pamphlets. In 1829, DavidWalker, a free African American man born in the South, published apamphlet called Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. Walkerpassionately attacked prejudice and the cruel injustice of slavery.Referring to whites, he wrote:

They think because they hold us in their infernal chains ofslavery,that we wish to be white, or of their color—but they aredreadfully deceived—we wish to be just as it pleased our Creator tohave madeus, and no avaricious and unmerciful wretches, have anybusiness to makeslaves of, or hold us in slavery. How would they like for usto makeslaves of, and hold them in cruel slavery, and murder themas they do us?

Walker urged slaves to fight for their own freedom. His fierce attack onslavery alarmed authorities in the South. Officials in several statesresponded by forbidding anyone from distributing abolitionist literature.

Other abolitionists sought peaceful ways to end slavery. In the 1830s,organizations such as the American Anti-Slavery Society were createdto promote emancipation. One of the society's tactics was to sendspeakers throughout the North to talk about the evils of slavery. Somespeakers were former slaves who spoke of their experiences. Otherswere professional public speakers.

Charles Lenox Remond, the son of free parents in Massachusetts, wasthe first African American public speaker for the society. A talentedspeaker, Remond traveled all over the North, arguing for immediateemancipation of the slaves. When he wasn't able to find ameetinghouse, he simply stopped on the street and gathered a crowd.This was a dangerous thing to do. Even in the North, his views



sometimes provoked violence.

Many other African Americans supported emancipation through theirwritings. Jermain Wesley Loguen, a former slave, published articles in anewspaper called the Weekly Anglo-African. Frederick Douglass ran anewspaper called the North Star. He also wrote an influential bookcalled Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Otherfirst-person accounts of slavery were dictated to abolitionists. TheAmerican Anti-Slavery Society used mass mailings to distribute theseaccounts.

Taking Direct Action: The Underground Railroad

Both black and white abolitionists were active in the UndergroundRailroad. As you have learned, the “railroad” was a secret network ofpeople who helped runaway slaves escape to freedom. Robert Purvis,an African American abolitionist, was extremely important to thesuccess of the Underground Railroad.

Purvis was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1810. His father was asuccessful cotton merchant and was white. His mother was part AfricanAmerican. When Purvis was nine, his parents brought him and his twobrothers north to Philadelphia. There he attended the PennsylvaniaAbolition Society's school.

When Purvis was 16, his father died, leaving him a fortune. Purvis usedhis wealth to further the cause of freedom for African Americans. Hewas a cofounder of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He also gaveboth money and time to help runaway slaves.

In 1831, Purvis married Harriet Forten, the daughter of an AfricanAmerican businessman and abolitionist. Together they threwthemselves into the antislavery struggle. Their home was a well-knownstop on the Underground Railroad. A trapdoor in their house concealeda secret room where runaway slaves could hide. They helped thousandsof slaves escape to freedom.

Petitioning Congress

Abolitionists, including African Americans, also fought slavery bysending petitions to Congress. A petition is a document signed by alarge number of people asking for some action to be taken.

In 1836, the House of Representatives voted a “gag rule” to prevent allconsideration of slavery in Congress. Under the rule, Congress set aside



all petitions and letters on the subject of slavery for the indefinitefuture.

The American Anti-Slavery Society fought the rule with a flood ofpetitions. By 1838, abolitionists had overwhelmed Congress withpetitions including more than 400,000 signatures. Many of thepetitioners were African Americans. Abolitionists argued that the gagrule violated their First Amendment right to petition their electedrepresentatives.

The petitioners found a champion in former president andMassachusetts representative John Quincy Adams. Adams led the fightagainst the gag rule in Congress. He finally defeated it in 1844.

Seeking Freedom from Courts

Many African Americans looked to the courts to grant their freedom. InSt. Louis, Missouri, African Americans filed nearly 300 “freedomlawsuits” between 1814 and 1860.

The case of Winny v. Whitesides was similar to many of the lawsuitsfiled during this time. Winny was the slave of Phoebe Whitesides. Winnybased her claim to freedom on the fact that Whitesides had taken herand her children to live in Illinois, a free state, before coming toMissouri, a slave state. The jury agreed and declared Winny and herchildren free persons.

The most well-known freedom lawsuit was the Dred Scott case. LikeWinny, Dred Scott claimed he should be free because he had lived in afree state. A St. Louis court granted Scott his freedom. The U.S.Supreme Court, however, overruled this decision in 1857. The Courtheld that the Constitution did not recognize slaves as citizens.Consequently, the Court said, Scott had no right to bring a legal case.The Dred Scott case fueled people's anger over slavery and helpedpave the way for the Civil War.

__________________________________________________

• "Article 1: Our Wretchedness in Consequence of Slavery" in Appeal tothe Coloured Citizens of the World.

Entire Selection: http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abesdwa1t.html

Accessed March, 2017



Slave Community and Family Structure

The difficulty of creating and keeping family and community bonds wasone of the many challenges slaves endured. Many narrative accounts ofslavery tell stories of how families were broken up before, during, andafter the Middle Passage. It was also a common practice forslaveholders to sell their slaves as punishment or when they no longerhad use for them. Despite being torn apart from family members, andlegal restrictions on their right to marry, slaves were able to formalternative community bonds. These alternative bonds formed the basisof varied family structures adopted by slaves in the antebellum South.

You will read excerpts from two different authors. Both authorsdescribe the hardships endured by African slaves in the Americas inrelation to family and community. As you read, think about thechallenges slaves faced in their effort to form family and communitybonds. In what ways were they able to or unable to combat thesedifficulties?

The first source you will read is The Interesting Narrative of the Life ofOlaudah Equiano; or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself.



Historians believe that Olaudah Equiano was born in present-dayNigeria in 1745. When he was 11 years old, Equiano was kidnapped byslavers and taken across the Middle Passage to the West Indies. By1766, Equiano had received an education and managed to purchase hisown freedom. He then settled in England and became a prominentabolitionist. His autobiography, written in support of abolition, wasaddressed to the British Parliament.

Source 1

The first passage from Equiano’s autobiography details the experienceEquiano had at a slave market shortly after his arrival in Barbados, anisland in the Caribbean. Equiano describes the chaos and noise of themarket, as well as the fear of the African slaves. After he describes theslave market and the separation that friends and relatives are forced toendure, he directly addresses his intended audience.

We were not many days in the merchant's custody beforewe were sold after their usual manner, which is this:—On asignal given,(as the beat of a drum) the buyers rush at onceinto the yard where the slaves are confined, and makechoice of that parcel they like best. The noise and clamourwith which this is attended, and the eagerness visible inthe countenances of the buyers, serve not a little toincrease the apprehensions of the terrified Africans, whomay well be supposed to consider them as the ministers ofthat destruction to which they think themselves devoted. Inthis manner, without scruple, are relations and friendsseparated, most of them never to see each other again.

I remember in the vessel in which I was brought over, in themen's apartment, there were several brothers, who, in thesale, were sold in different lots; and it was very moving onthis occasion to see and hear their cries at parting. O, yenominal Christians! might not an African ask you, learnedyou this from your God, who says unto you, Do unto allmen as you would men should do unto you? Is it notenough that we are torn from our country and friends totoil for your luxury and lust of gain? Must every tenderfeeling be likewise sacrificed to your avarice?

Are the dearest friends and relations, now rendered moredear by their separation from their kindred, still to beparted from each other, and thus prevented from cheeringthe gloom of slavery with the small comfort of being



together and mingling their sufferings and sorrows? Whyare parents to lose their children, brothers their sisters, orhusbands their wives? Surely this is a new refinement incruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for it,thus aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even tothe wretchedness of slavery.

In this next passage from his autobiography, Equiano describes how hewas “a witness to cruelties of every kind.” Slaves were often mistreatedby their owners, and female slaves were subjected to violence becauseof their gender. Equiano describes the “violent depredations on thechastity of the female slaves” as “almost a constant practice.” He alsolaments that because of his slave status, he was unable to offer anyhelp. As he reflects on the cruelty he was witness to, he comments onthe conflict these violent acts have with Christianity and humanity.

While I was thus employed by my master I was often awitness to cruelties of every kind, which were exercised onmy unhappy fellow slaves. I used frequently to havedifferent cargoes of new negroes in my care for sale; and itwas almost a constant practice with our clerks, and otherwhites, to commit violent depredations on the chastity ofthe female slaves; and these I was, though with reluctance,obliged to submit to at all times, being unable to help them.When we have had some of these slaves on board mymaster's vessels to carry them to other islands, or toAmerica, I have known our mates to commit these actsmost shamefully, to the disgrace, not of Christians only, butof men.

Source 2

The following excerpt describes the ways in which slaves were able toform alternative family structure. Many slave families did have a familystructure that was more traditional—a husband and wife with children—but some did not. The author, Katherine Franke, begins by providingreasons as to why this may be the case. Most importantly, slaves werebarred from entering into civil contracts, including marriage, because ofthe colonial view that slaves were not civilized.The idea that slaveslacked civilization formed the basis for the arguments that justified theinstitution of slavery.

The author notes that, despite the law, some slaves chose to livetogether as husband and wife, and had a ceremony to acknowledgetheir commitment. Other arrangements are also described, such as



couples who chose to live together without partaking in any kind ofwedding ceremony. Women are described as being able to bearchildren regardless of whether they were “married” to the father. Menare described as sometimes having two wives. Children did not alwaysaffect the status of these relationships.

Antebellum social rules and laws considered enslavedpeople morally and legally unfit to marry. They wereincapacitated from entering into civil contracts, of whichmarriage was one, and were regarded as lacking the moralfiber necessary to respect and honor the sanctity of themarital vows. Nevertheless, many slave couples livedtogether as husband and wife after undertaking weddingcelebrations as simple as jumping over a broomstick, or aselaborate as a “Scripture Wedding,” or grand banquetthrown for the entire community. These couples consideredthemselves married before the eyes of God, thecommunity, and, in some cases, their owners. But of coursethey were not married in the eyes of the law.

For many newly freed slaves in the latter half of thenineteenth century, the ability to marry was a powerfullyimportant aspect of freedom and of acceptance into civilsociety. . . .

She identifies her sources for the following section: ". . . I examinesecondary materials discussing the nature of slave society, as well asFreedmen's Bureau reports and war widow pension applicationscontaining transcripts of interviews with formerly enslaved women. . . ."

These materials reveal that while many enslaved peoplepreferred to live as husband and wife, thereby makinglifelong, monogamous commitments to one another, slavecommunities acknowledged other acceptablearrangements: “taking up,” “sweethearting,” livingtogether, and trial marriages. Couples who took up or weresweethearts were not necessarily monogamous, althoughthey could be. It was acceptable for enslaved women tobear children in all manner of relationships. . . .

Franke uses different sources for the second part of her investigation.She examined " . . . two sets of materials. . . .One group of sourcesconsists of affidavits made out by African American women in supportof their applications for war widows' pensions. . . . The second group iscomposed of reports filed by Freedmen's Bureau and other federal



agents describing their observations about the domestic customs ofAfrican American people."

. . . Black men were known to have more than one wife,sometimes with the consent of their owners. Some slavecouples considered themselves married in the absence ofany religious or public ceremony and simply decided to liveas husband and wife. Women drew a distinction betweenbeing married to a man and merely “having one,” andbearing children did not seem to affect this status. Someformerly enslaved couples underwent marriage ceremoniesafter emancipation even though they consideredthemselves married prior to the ceremonies, while othersfelt no need to further solemnize their relationships oncethey were legally permitted to do so.

__________________________________________________

• The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or GustavusVassa, the African, Written by Himself, 1789, Chapter 2, pp. 86–88.

Entire Selection:http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004837188.0001.001/1:8?rgn=div1;view=fulltext


• The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or GustavusVassa, the African, Written by Himself, 1789, Chapter 5, pp. 205–6.

Entire Selection:http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004837188.0001.001/1:11?rgn=div1;view=fulltext


• “Becoming a Citizen: Post-Bellum Regulation of African AmericanMarriage,” by Katherine Franke in Yale Journal of Law and theHumanities, 11 (1999): 251–309/p>

Entire Selection: digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1212&context=yjlh




Documents on the Slave Rebellions of Denmark Vesey andNat Turner

Historians weigh different kinds of evidence to reconstruct the past.Documents are one type of evidence. The fact that a document existsdoesn't mean that its contents are all true. Historians must decide howreliable and factual a particular document is.

This section presents several documents on two famous slave rebellionsin the United States. Read the documents carefully and then answer thenotebook questions at the end.

__________________________________________________

DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE DENMARK VESEYREBELLION

In 1822, Denmark Vesey was tried and convicted of planning a slaverevolt in and around Charleston, South Carolina. A prosperous freeblack, Vesey was married to a slave woman. He was turned in beforethe revolt could be carried out. Here are two documents aboutDenmark Vesey.

Document 1: A Magazine Article

"The Story of Denmark Vesey" by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a whiteabolitionist

Denmark Vesey had come very near figuring as a revolutionist in Hayti[Haiti], instead of South Carolina. Captain Vesey, an old resident ofCharleston, commanded a ship that traded between St. Thomas andCape Français, during our Revolutionary War, in the slave-transportation line. In the year 1781 he took on board a cargo of threehundred and ninety slaves, and sailed for the Cape. On the passage, heand his officers were much attracted by the beauty and intelligence of aboy of fourteen, whom they unanimously adopted into the cabin as apet. They gave him new clothes and a new name, Télémaque, whichwas afterwards gradually corrupted into Telmak and Denmark. Theyamused themselves with him until their arrival at Cape Français, andthen, “having no use for the boy,” sold their pet as if he had been amacaw or a monkey. Captain Vesey sailed for St. Thomas, andpresently making another trip to Cape Français, was surprised to hearfrom his consignee [the person receiving the delivery] that Télémaquewould be returned on his hands as being “unsound,”—not in theology



nor in morals, but in body,—subject to epileptic fits, in fact. Accordingto the custom of that place, the boy was examined by the cityphysician, who required Captain Vesey to take him back; and Denmarkserved him faithfully, with no trouble from epilepsy, for twenty years,travelling all over the world with him, and learning to speak variouslanguages. In 1800, he drew a prize of fifteen hundred dollars in theEast Bay Street Lottery, with which he bought his freedom from hismaster for six hundred dollars,—much less than his market value.

From that time, the official report says, he worked as a carpenter inCharleston, distinguished for physical strength and energy. “Amongthose of his color he was looked up to with awe and respect. His temperwas impetuous and domineering in the extreme, qualifying him for thedespotic rule of which he was ambitious. All his passions wereungovernable and savage; and to his numerous wives and children hedisplayed the haughty and capricious cruelty of an Eastern bashaw[pasha, a Turkish official].

“For several years before he disclosed his intentions to any one, heappears to have been constantly and assiduously engaged inendeavoring to embitter the minds of the colored population against thewhite.” He rendered himself perfectly familiar with all those parts of theScriptures which he thought he could pervert to his purpose; and wouldreadily quote them, to prove that slavery was contrary to the laws ofGod—that slaves were bound to attempt their emancipation, howevershocking and bloody might be the consequences—and that such effortswould not only be pleasing to the Almighty, but were absolutelyenjoined [demanded] and their success predicted in the Scriptures….One witness testified that Vesey had read to him from the Bible aboutthe deliverance of the Children of Israel…

“It is difficult to imagine,” says the sentence finally passed on DenmarkVesey [by the judge in the case], “what infatuation could haveprompted you to attempt an enterprise so wild and visionary. You werea free man, comely [good-looking], wealthy, and enjoyed every comfortcompatible with your situation. You had, therefore, much to risk andlittle to gain.” Is slavery, then, a thing so intrinsically detestable, that aman thus favored will engage in a plan thus desperate merely to rescuehis children from it?

Document 2: A Report

Negro Plot: An Account of the Late Intended Insurrection Among a Portionof the Blacks of the City of Charleston, South Carolina, by James Hamilton,white mayor of Charleston



On Thursday, the 30th of May last, about three o'clock in the afternoon,the intendant [an official] of Charleston was informed by a gentleman ofgreat respectability… that a favourite and confidential slave of his hadcommunicated to him, on his arrival in town, a conversation which hadtaken place at the market on the Saturday preceding, between himselfand a black man; which afforded strong reasons for believing that arevolt and insurrection were in contemplation among a proportion atleast of our black population. The corporation [a group of city officials]was forthwith summoned to meet at 5 o'clock, for the purpose ofhearing the narrative of the slave who had given this information to hismaster.… “On Saturday afternoon last (my master being out of town) Iwent to market; after finishing my business, I strolled down the wharfbelow the fish-market, from which I observed a small vessel in thestream with a singular flag; whilst looking at this object, a black man(Mr. Paul's William) came up to me and remarking the subject whichengaged my attention, said, I have often seen a flag with the number76 on it, but never with 96, before. After some trifling [insignificant]conversation on this point, he remarked with considerable earnestnessto me, Do you know something serious is about to take place? To whichI replied, No. Well, said he, there is, and many of us are determined toright ourselves! I asked him to explain himself; when he remarked,why, we are determined to shake off our bondage.

__________________________________________________

DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE NAT TURNER REBELLION

In 1831, Nat Turner led the most famous slave revolt in Americanhistory. Turner was a slave in Southampton County, Virginia. He and hisrecruits killed nearly 60 whites before the revolt was put down.

Document 3: A Newspaper Report

The Richmond Enquirer Reports on Nat Turner's Rebellion

Richmond, VirginiaAugust 30, 1831

So much curiosity has been excited in the state, and so muchexaggeration will go abroad, that we have determined to devote agreat portion of this day's paper to the strange events in the county ofSouthampton.... What strikes us as the most remarkable thing in thismatter is the horrible ferocity of these monsters. They remind one of aparcel of blood-thirsty wolves rushing down from the Alps; or rather like



a former incursion of the Indians upon the white settlements. Nothing isspared; neither age nor sex is respected—the helplessness of womenand children pleads in vain for mercy. The danger is thought to be over,but prudence still demands precaution. The lower country should be onthe alert. The case of Nat Turner warns us. No black man ought to bepermitted to turn a Preacher through the country. The law must beenforced or the tragedy of Southampton appeals to us in vain.…

A fact or two, before we continue our narrative. These wretches arenow estimated to have committed sixty-one murders! Not a whiteperson escaped at all the houses they visited except two. One was alittle child at Mrs. Waller's, about 7 or 8 years of age, who had sagacity[intelligence] enough to Creep up a chimney.

Document 4: A Government Proclamation

Proclamation by John Floyd, Governor of Virginia, September 17, 1831,later Secretary of War

Whereas the slave Nat, otherwise called Nat Turner, the contriver andleader of the late Insurrection in Southampton, is still going at large:Therefore I, John Floyd, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia havethought proper, and do hereby offer a reward of five hundred dollars toany person or persons who will apprehend [seize] and convey to the Jailof Southampton County, the said slave Nat: and I do moreover requireall officers civil and military, and exhort the good people of theCommonwealth to use their best endeavors to cause the said fugitive tobe apprehended, that he may be dealt with as the law directs.

Given under my hand as Governor, and under the lesser Seal of theCommonwealth at Richmond, this 17th. day of Septemr: 1831.

John Floyd

Document 5: A Letter

A Description of Nat Turner

Nat is between 30 & 35 [years old]—5 feet 6 or 8 inches high—weighsbetween 150 and 160 [lbs.]—rather bright complexion but not amulatto [having one white and one black parent]—broad-shouldered—large flat nose—large eyes—broad flat feet rather knock kneed—walkbrisk and active—hair on the top of the head very thin—no beardexcept on the upper lip and the tip of the chin. A scar on one of his



temples produced by the kick of a mule—also one on the back of hisneck by a bite—a large knot on one of the bones of his right arm, nearthe wrist, produced by a blow.

Document 6: Trial Document

Statement of Nat Turner to His Attorney, November 1831

And about this time I had a vision—and I saw white spirits and blackspirits engaged in battle, and the sun was darkened—the thunder rolledin the Heavens, and blood flowed in streams—and I heard a voicesaying, “Such is your luck, such you are called to see, and let it comerough or smooth, you must surely bear it.”

. . . shortly afterwards, while labouring in the field, I discovered drops ofblood on the corn, as though it were dew from heaven—and Icommunicated it to many, both white and black, in the neighbourhood—and I then found on the leaves in the woods hieroglyphic charactersand numbers, with the forms of men in different attitudes, portrayed inblood, and representing the figures I had seen before in the heavens.And now the Holy Ghost had revealed itself to me, and made plain themiracles it had shown me—For as the blood of Christ had been shed onthis earth, and had ascended to heaven for the salvation of sinners,and was now returning to earth again in the form of dew. . . . it wasplain to me that the Savior was about to lay down the yoke he hadborne for the sins of men, and the great day of judgment [the end ofthe world] was at hand.

. . . After this I rejoiced greatly, and gave thanks to God. And on the12th of May, 1828, I heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spiritinstantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christhad laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that Ishould take it on and fight against the Serpent, for the time was fastapproaching, when the first should be last and the last should be first.

Document 7: A Letter to a Government Official

“Citizens” to Governor John Floyd, August 28, 1831

Richmond Aug. 28, 31.

To: His Excellency John Floyd,

Governor of Virginia



Sir

There is at this moment a numerous meeting of the blacks from thisplace & the surrounding country, at the Rural Shades, for the purpose,as they allege, of Religious worship, the propriety of countenancing[allowing] such a meeting at this time is respectfully submitted to yourconsideration by several

Citizens

Document 8: A Citizens' Resolution

Resolutions of Inhabitants of Chesterfield County, Virginia, circa autumn1861

We the inhabitants of the upper end of Chesterfield County havingamongst us an enemy that is restless in their disposition; and savage intheir nature; and feeling alarmed at the fate of the Females andchildren of Southhampton, and not knownig how soon a like Tradegymay take place amongst us. We therefore enter into the followingresolutions. Viz.

Resolution the 1st: We resolve that if any attempt should be made; thatwe will as soon thereafter as possible remove our Families to theFollowing places.; Viz. To the House of William L. Overton. John Spear.and John Bass.

Resolution the 2th: We also resolve that we will petition the Governer ofthe State for a Sufficiency of arms and ammunition to arm the men inthe Neighbourhood—say probably five Muskets.

Resolution the 3rd: We resolve also that we will keep a strict patroleand we all agree that we will each bear his part of fatiegue.

Resolution the 4th: We also resolve that William Goode and William L.Overton be appointed to wait on the Governor for the purpose ofStating the Situation of the Neighbourhood, and request the arms &c.as before named, and we also agree to be equally bound with them forthe return of the said arms.

__________________________________________________

1. "The Story of Denmark Vesey" by Thomas Wentworth Higginson in



Atlantic Monthly,

Context/Entire Selection:https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1861/06/denmark-vesey/396239/


2. Negro Plot. An Account of the Late Intended Insurrection among aPortion of the Blacks of the City of Charleston, South Carolina, 1822.

Entire Selection:http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/hamilton/hamilton.html


3. "The Banditti" in The Richmond Enquirer, Virginia, August 30, 1831.

Entire Selection: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h499t.html


4. Proclamation by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, JohnB. Floyd, September 17, 1831.

Entire Selection:http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/deathliberty/natturner/proclamation25.htm


5. Description of Nat Turner for newspaper publication, authorunknown, September 14, 1831.

Entire Selection: https://www.lapiduscenter.org/in-search-of-nat-turner/


6. The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection inSouthampton, Va., as recorded by Thomas R. Gray, 1831, pp. 10–11.

Entire Selection: http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/turner/turner.html


7. Letter to Governor John Floyd by Citizens, Richmond, August 28,1831.



Entire Selection:http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/DeathLiberty/natturner/citizens27.htm


8. Resolutions by inhabitants of Chesterfield County, Virginia, circaautumn, 1831.

Entire Selection:http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/deathliberty/natturner/resolution28.htm


