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LITR 4328 American Renaissance Research Posts 2015 (research post assignment) Research Post 2 |
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Cyndi
Perkins
The Power of the Slave Narrative
I find that the more I learn about slave narratives, the more I want to know. In
Dr. White’s American Renaissance class, as well as in a previous class I took, I
have learned so much about the genre and how it relates to other literature
produced at the same time. The main thing I have come to understand is how the
slave narrative can be considered romantic in nature due to the quest of the
main character to realize his or her dream of freedom. Whether the writer is a
former slave, such as Harriet Jacobs or Frederick Douglass, or the writer is a
white abolitionist, such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, these writers were on a
mission to forever eradicate the horrific institution of slavery from America. I
learned that these texts were written in such a way that they allowed for readers
far removed from the South, to truly understand what was happening as well as
care. Although I feel I have learned much about the subject of the slave
narrative, who wrote them and how it is written, I feel like I have not learned
enough about the Abolitionist movement. Specifically, I would like to know just
how the slave narratives were used to further the movement to end slavery in
America and what impact they had on the cause.
I first searched through Dr. White’s page to familiarize myself a little better
with what we have already learned in class. Dr. White suggested his page on
Frederick Douglass explaining what it was like for him when he first joined the
Abolitionist Movement (http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/texts/AfAm/slavenarrs/FDBondFree/FDBoFrCh23NarrThink.htm).
He was expected for several months to travel and give speeches about his
experience as a slave. He seemed to feel as if he was on display and mostly used
for his story and the sympathy or outrage it could create. He was not asked what
he thought about what had happened to him or other slaves that were still in
bondage and what should be done about it. He was only asked to relive it over
and over again for an audience. He even mentions that he was referred to as “it”
at one point and though he was risking his life as a runaway by telling his
story to an audience, even the Abolitionist working to free his people, seemed
uninterested it what he, as an intelligent man, could offer the cause. This was
an interesting beginning to my research. It reminded me of the conversation we
had in class about Lincoln and Douglass and how Douglass understood that Lincoln
“was preeminently
the white man’s President”
(http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/texts/AfAm/DouglassLincoln.htm).
Though the Abolitionists desperately wanted to end slavery, there seems to be
some evidence there was never really an intention for former slaves to be seen
as equal to whites.
For my next step I searched Google for how slave-narratives were utilized by the
Abolitionist movement. I found a page entitled “Slave Narratives and
Uncle Tom’s Cabin” hosted by PBS. It
gives a great description of slave narratives as “personal
accounts of what it was like to live in bondage” that “g[a]ve northerners their
closest look at slavery” as well as “provide[d] an undeniable counter to the
pro-slavery arguments and idyllic pictures of slavery described by slaveholders”
(Crotty, Woods and
Gaffney). I learned that the slave narratives were used to prove that
“African-Americans were people with mastery of language and the ability to write
their own history” and that while the narratives told horrific stories of abuse
by slave-owners, “they also told exciting tales of escape, heroism, betrayal and
tragedy” (Crotty, Woods, and Gaffney). It
seems these “narratives captivated readers, portraying the fugitives as
sympathetic, fascinating characters” which would motivate readers to read these
books, suggest them to friends, and hopefully to join the cause (Crotty, Woods,
and Gaffney). The page states that slave
“narratives also gave Northerners a glimpse into the life of slave communities:
the love between family members, the respect for elders, the bonds between
friends” and that “they described an enduring, truly African American culture,
which was expressed through music, folktales, and religion stories” (Crotty,
Woods, and Gaffney). The page also mentions
that “in addition to publishing their narratives, former slaves became
anti-slavery lecturers and went on tour” in the “North and in Europe” which
seems it would help listeners to connect a human face with human feelings with
these stories (Crotty, Woods, and Gaffney). I was able to gather all of the
information from just one article of the webpage. The immense amount of
information on slavery and Abolitionists I found there would be an amazing
resource for teachers.
I decided to return to a website I had previously used, at the National Humanities
Center, to see if it offered more insight and it did. The article, “Frederick
Douglass and Harriet Jacobs: American Slave Narratives” explains that “white
abolitionists urged slave writers to follow well-defined conventions and
formulas to produce what they saw as one of the most potent propaganda weapons
in their arsenal” as well as “insisted on adding their own authenticating
endorsements to the slaves’ narrations through prefaces and introductions”
(MacKethan). This no doubt, helped insure the northern public would not only be
sure to read and connect with the narratives, but also accept them as true so
that they could not ignore them. The article asserts that
thee African American authors “work[ed]
cautiously within the genre expectations developed by and for their white
audiences” but still “found ways to individualize their narratives and to speak
in their own voices in a quest for selfhood that had to be balanced against the
aims and values of their audiences” (MacKethan). Though these texts could be
considered formulaic and therefore simply pieces of propaganda, it seems the
writers were able to add personal detail so that not only their own story was
told, but that the readers would not get bored hearing a similar story over and
over again. The article also explains other elements important to the slave
narrative such as showing the slaves as literate since “pro-slavery writers
often declared” it “was impossible” for them to “read and write” (MacKethan).
Also, these writers needed to present their credentials as good Christians while
testifying to the hypocrisy of their supposedly pious owners” which would be a
very useful tactic in luring northerners to join the movement (MacKethan). This
article also compared Douglass’s and Jacobs experiences as slaves. I learned
that Jacobs book Incidents in the Life of
a Slave Girl was published too late for it to make as large an impact as
Douglass did on Abolition.
I then turned to JSTOR and cross-referenced “slave narrative” with “Abolition”
and found several interesting articles. One of the articles I read was entitled
“‘Goodby to Sambo’ The Contribution of Black Slave Narratives to the Abolition
Movement” by Paul D. Johnson. In this article, he explains that “slave
narratives had two main purposes” and that “one was to expose the workings of
slavery by cataloging the hardships, suffering and cruelties” (Johnson 79). The
second purpose “was to build a sympathetic picture of the narrator” by
“play[ing] up the sentimental or the sensational” (Johnson 79). Johnson felt
that those who read these slave narratives who believed that “slavery was
basically a sound institution, whose abuses were open to reform without
emancipating the Negro” were probably more likely to be persuaded when exposed
to a “sympathetic black narrator” (80). Johnson goes on to describe the
diversity of narratives from such authors as Frederick Douglass and William
Grimes exposing how many types of stories could be promoted. Johnson also
mentions that “for abolition societies who sponsored and promoted newspapers,
magazines, almanacs, tracts, and speeches, the slave narratives provided raw
materials and models” to further the cause (83). In fact, these autobiographical
accounts largely inspired the highly successful
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher
Stowe. Johnson’s concludes that since these narratives were “available to Mrs.
Stowe and to the abolition movement,” they were able to create more accurate and
sentimental images of the “Negro as an individual, of the society of which he
was a part, and of his future” (84). This explained to me that Abolitionists
used the slave narratives to reach as many as possible in order force them into
the conversation and hopefully persuade them to become anti-slavery. They did so
by playing on the heartstrings of the readers, hoping that they would identify
with the slaves, and join their side.
Another article I found interesting was called simply “Who Read the Slave
Narratives?” written by Charles H. Nichols. This article explained exactly who
read slave narratives and how they were reading them. Nichols states that the
slave narratives made an impact on the anti-slavery movement by “their wide
circulation, …their picture of slavery as seen by its victims, and…for their
revelation of the mind and personality of the enslaved” (149).
Johnson asserts that the stories were not just popular because they were
romantic, harrowing tales, but because of their “timeliness” (152). He explains
that the issue was being discussed by everyone during the decades before the
civil war. The Abolitionist were aware since slavery was a southern institution,
many Northerners would only have these slave narratives to inform them. The
article then shifts to the issue that many Northerners were concerned with
economic issues and what freeing the slaves would do to America. Johnson states
that the Abolitionist had no choice but to target “those who had no economic
interest in Negroes and cotton” which would be the people of the north (155).
The hope was that “sensitive readers…would begin to see that the Negroes were
not unlike themselves” and that they had “the ordinary feelings of human beings”
(Johnson 156). Unfortunately, Johnson theorizes, that “the narratives effected
less of a permanent change in American attitudes than might [have been] hoped”
(156). Though the Civil War was fought and won by the North and the slaves
freed, African-Americans were still not seen as equals. It seems that once the
Abolitionists succeeded in their goal, the African-American gaining equality
under the Constitution was not something they were concerned with. This
reflected back onto what Douglass said about Lincoln. The Abolitionists
apparently needed the slave narratives to further their cause, however, they
seemed much more concerned with the movement than they did with the individual
slaves.
Now I have a better understanding how slave narratives were used to inform the
public of the horrors of slavery as well as assert that slaves were human
beings. I also understand now how the auto-biographies of fugitive and freed
slaves offered inspiration for white Abolitionist novelist. I learned a great
deal about the history of the Abolitionist movement, as well as how, though the
Abolitionists were interested in freeing the slaves, they weren’t necessarily
interested in the slave’s wellbeing once freed. I have also learned the vastness
of this subject. There are so many interesting writers who were either freed or
fugitive slaves, such as Henry Bibb, Josiah Henson and William Grimes, that
inspired writers such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, who enormously impacted
Abolition. These true-life stories of men and women fighting for their lives
against a system that sees them as nothing more than property forced the
apathetic to experience their suffering, leaving them no choice but to get
involved.
Works Cited
Crotty, Patty,
Meredith Woods and
Dennis Gaffney. “Slave Narratives and
Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
Africans in America. PBS Online. Web.
1998. 19 April 2015.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2958.html
Johnson, Paul D. “‘Goodby to Sambo’ The Contribution of Black Slave Narratives
to the Abolition Movement”. Negro
American Literature Forum, 6.3 Autumn Ed. (1972): 79-84.
JSTOR. Web. 20 April 2015.
MacKethan, Lucinda. “Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs: American Slave
Narrators.” Freedoms Story, Teachers
Serve. National Humanities Center. Web. 19 April 20115.
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1609-1865/essays/douglassjacobs.htm
Nichols, Charles H. “Who Read the Slave Narratives?”.
The Phylon Quarterly, 20.2 2nd
Qtr. (1959). 149-162. JSTOR. Web. 20
April 2015.
White, Craig. Litr 4328 American
Renaissance. University of Houston Clear Lake, 2015. Web. 23 April 2015.
http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/4232/
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