the contemporary relevance of conceptual debt and peonage

The contemporary relevance of conceptual debt and peonage. - Keith Tivon Gregory

Keith Tivon [email protected] American Studies 101AC - Fall 2009

The contemporary relevance of conceptual debt and peonage.

A response to:

The Negro Peon: The life stories of undistinguished Americans as told by themselves.

Keith Tivon Gregory

The Age of Monopoly: American Culture 1865-1929

Professor Michael Cohen


The conceptual idea of debt and peonage remains relevant in today's contemporary American

society. If one is not educated in the legal aspects of debt, one may find themselves in a position of

legal standing which may seem unfair to the individual, but remain legally binding by the laws of

American society. The idea that any person can be, legally and mentally trapped in a circle of

ideological debt to another of higher social stature and power continues to be exploited. As learned

with the definition of capitalism, and a personal interpretation of American ideals, America was built

upon and operates on an an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital

goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the

distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market. This means that

legally established companies may hold the places of the institution if not a private individual of higher

social stature and legal power. Further more, black men were widely considered goods by economic

definition during a vast majority of American economic, industrial, and social developing periods. “The

tendency is here, born of slavery and quickened to renewed life by the crazy imperialism of the day, to

regard human beings as among the material resources of a land to be trained with an eye single to

future dividends.” 1

Personally, writing from the perspective of a black man in contemporary American society, the

understanding of the historical reference of debt and peonage is extremely important. The lack of

knowledge and education, leaves one at an extremely disadvantage in a capitalistic society. For the fact

remains that social ills still plague our society, and living life with the idea that racism and capitalism

do not intertwine would be very falsely based and likely purely ignorant on anyone's behalf. I would

not like to find myself in a situation of living a life of indebtedness, therefore I study the history and

1 . Du Bois, W. E. B., 1903. The Souls of Black Folks.: Of The Training of Black Men.Page 79


trends of my ancestors to learn from their mistakes. It is not expected of any social structure or school

system to teach financial responsibility, because the American society is rooted heavily within the free

market. “If the Negro was to learn, he must teach himself.”2

By understanding this history of the freedmen in American society, the history, which one

would not like to repeat, becomes apparent. Many factors combined to lock freedmen – and many

white landless workers --- into a legal system of debt peonage often termed 'another kind of slavery'. 3

Although various forms of peonage developed, all of them legally, it practically blocked any escape for

the poor tenant whom indebtedness was a way of life.4 In times now, one must be aware, that we are

living in a society where others consciously wish to capitalize their gains in wealth, on the work, lack

of knowledge, or misfortune of another. “The only difference between free laborers and the others was

that the free laborers could come and go as they pleased, at night.“5 Today many feel free to come and

go as they please at night, but many feel trapped in a system of economic debt which force them to

work day to day in a lifelong effort balance their accounts, and pay off their debts.

A quote that rings true to myself while reading the words of W.E.B. Du Bois: Of The training of

Black Men: “So here we stand among thoughts of human unity, even through conquest and slavery; the

inferiority of black men, even if forced by fraud; a shriek in the night for the freedom of men who

themselves are not yet sure of their right to demand it.”6

2 . Du Bois, W. E. B., 1903. The Souls of Black Folks.: Of the Training of Black Men. Page 813 . Daniel, P. 1972. The Shadow of Slavery: Peonage in the South, 1901-1969.4 . Hollis, Shirley. 2009. "Neither Slave nor Free: The Ideology of Capitalism and the Failure of Radical Reform in the American South"5 . Holt, Hamilton. 1906. The life stories of undistinguished Americans as told by themselves.

6 . Du Bois, W. E. B., 1903. The Souls of Black Folks.: of The Training of Black Men. Page 75


We live in a society that has specific freedoms in place which affords one the right to capitalize

on misfortune and ignorance of others, this is the free market. The morality of such a system likely has

been argued since it's inception centuries ago, however knowing that such a system is in place allows

one to consciously seek out to understand how that system operates one would assume. What

perpetuates such a system none the less into a spiraling tangled web of social inequity is the lack of

remedial education, which affords one the ability to enter into such systems of ownership educated,

willingly, and knowingly, well aware of the debt to be created from such an agreement. When entering

into contractual agreements, many are often exploited by the lack of knowledge in which the terms of

the contract are written. This was very much the case during times of debt peonage. Many men could

not read nor write, they simply were forced to make their mark on the dotted line. “He told us that,

after we had signed what he called a written acknowledgment of our debts, we might go and look for

new places. The storekeeper took us one by one and read to us statements of our accounts...We had

been told that we might go, if we signed the acknowledgements. We would have signed anything, just

to get away.” 7

Although federal reconstruction policies during the immediate postwar period were

conservative and primarily aimed at political reconstruction, the limits placed on economic

reconstruction by the dominant ideologies had far-reaching effects, particularly for the freed blacks.

The ideologies of private property and free labor meant that policies that were enacted did little in the

way of redistributing land, providing housing, tools, and other supplies so that the freed blacks could

establish themselves, or supplying temporary rations and supplies that would have allowed them to

7 . Holt, Hamilton. 1906. The life stories of undistinguished Americans as told by themselves.


make an economic or geographic transition with some dignity. 8 Post civil war, blacks were set with a

huge disadvantage in evening up the huge disparities in wealth, educations, sustainability and social

status. “We have vaguely said that Education will set this tangle straight, what have we uttered but a

truism? Training for life teaches living; but what training for profitable living together of black men

and white?...To-day we have climbed to the heights where we would open at least the outer courts of

knowledge to all”9 In contemporary time (2009), many are afforded the opportunity of education as

compared to past decades and eras in American history, in efforts to even the playing field, however

access to that education is not always as equal as many would wish for systematically.

The lack of education provided to freedmen in the past clearly lead to a helpless feeling of

participation in the greater American society. “The mass of the freedmen at the end of the war lacked

the intelligence so necessary to modern workingmen.” 10The feeling of being helpless often enters the

minds of many today when dealing with any aspect of the legal system. From civil economic situations,

to criminally charged and legal issues, many share the same sentiments of the Negro Peon;

helplessness. The understanding of where that feeling derives from, coupled with education,

knowledge, and wisdom will help navigate the obstacles that the conceptual ideas of debt and peonage

will place in anyone's path. “It was made plain to us by some white people we talked to that in the

contracts we had signed we had all agreed to be locked up in the stockade at night or at any other time

our employer saw fit. In other words, we had sold ourselves into slavery and what could we do about

it? The white folks had all the courts, all the guns, all the hounds, all the railroads, all the telegraph

wires, all the newspapers, all the money, and nearly all the land – and we had only our ignorance, our

8 . Hollis, Shirley. 2009. "Neither Slave nor Free: The Ideology of Capitalism and the Failure of Radical Reform in the American South".9 . Du Bois, W. E. B., 1903. The Souls of Black Folks.: Of The Training of Black Men. Page 7710 . Du Bois, W. E. B., 1903. The Souls of Black Folks.: Of The Training of Black Men. Page 80


poverty and our empty hands. We decided that the best thing to do was to shut our mouths, say nothing,

and go back to work.11

11 . Holt, Hamilton. 1906. The life stories of undistinguished Americans as told by themselves. Page117-118


Works Cited:

Daniel, P. 1972. The Shadow of Slavery: Peonage in the South, 1901-1969. Oxford University Press: New York

Du Bois, W. E. B., 1903. The Souls of Black Folks. Penguin Classics: Penguin Books 1996

Hollis, Shirley. 2009. "Neither Slave nor Free: The Ideology of Capitalism and the Failure of Radical Reform in the American South". Critical Sociology. 35 (1): 9-27.

Holt, Hamilton. 1906. The life stories of undistinguished Americans as told by themselves. New York: J. Pott & company.

the contemporary relevance of conceptual debt and peonage

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