Harriet Ann Jacobs
LITR
4232: American Renaissance
University
of Houston-Clear Lake, spring 2002
Index to Student Research Projects
Diana
Ellis-Smith
Dr. White
Literature 4232
18 April 2002
Journal
of Slavery, Slaves, and Narratives
Introduction
Even
though the institution of slavery was abolished over a hundred years ago, we are
constantly reminded of this national tragedy. The horrid reality attacks us from all angles and through
many different mediums. Countless
books, magazine and newspaper articles have been written trying desperately to
interpret the intricacies of what has come to be known as the Peculiar
Institution. Even former President
Clinton addressed an empathetic nation and shared his shame of slavery. From its inception, slavery has shackled all humanity in
every corner of the world. To this
day blacks still resent and demand reparation, whites still apologize, and our
great nation still feels oppressed by its legacy of slavery.
As with all that is terrible and ugly though,
there exists in opposition something wondrous and beautiful.
The blackest coal when pressured produces the magnificent diamond.
The raging heat of a forest fire allows the seedlings of new pine trees
to emerge from the scorched earth. Escaping
the iron harness of slavery comes the unchained voice of anti-slavery sentiment.
These are the voices of male and female slaves, who share their personal
stories of tragedy and heartache. They
stand, no longer as victims, but as representatives of the injustice being done.
The contributions of these slave narratives to our literature are not one
or two rare jewels, but rather a compelling new genre that was forged from
hardship, pain, blood, sweat, and tears. These
narratives are truly passionate works of lasting literary and historical value.
History of
Slavery
Is slavery America’s sin?
The answer to this question is definitely no.
The institution of slavery, which is defined in Grolier Multimedia
Encyclopedia as a societal institution based on ownership, dominance, and
exploitation of one human being by another, has appeared almost universally
throughout history – from ancient Greece or 19th century America to
various African and American Indian societies.
It is neither gender nor ethnic specific and is not unique to any
particular economy. The specific
function the slave served is all that differentiated one from another.
The diverse role of the slaves ranged from warrior or government official
to tutor or victim of ritual sacrifice. It
is evident that societies of the Western Hemisphere favored male slaves for
their inherent ability to perform heavy labor, while many African and Near
Eastern cultures preferred women to serve as wives and concubines or provide the
labor of agricultural producers.
The first African slaves, about twenty in number, touched American soil
in 1619. They were put ashore in Jamestown, Virginia and classed with
white indentured servants brought from England. The indentured servants, typically poor individuals or shady
characters trying to escape imprisonment, agreed to work for a specified number
of years in exchange for transportation to the New World.
This filled the bulk of the labor needs throughout most of the 17th
century. If additional laborers were needed, the most obvious choice
and one that the settlers attempted to enslave were the native Indians.
This proved a useless endeavor, though; male Indians would flatly refuse
to do any type of agricultural work because it was considered women’s work.
Not until about 1680 did the need to import
Africans arise. This is a direct
result of a rise in demand for useful laborers and a decrease in the number of
migrants arriving in America as indentured servants. As landowners began to look elsewhere, the African slaves
began to look more attractive. Not
only were they held permanently and status was passed from females to their
children, but it also proved more cost effective in the long run. By being self-perpetuating, the “initial investment in
slaves brought a lifetime of labor” (Kolchin 13).
Also, unlike the white indentured servants, blacks offered less
successful levels of flight. Being
black they were automatically considered slaves unless it could be proven
otherwise. In effect, racial
distinction facilitated enslavement.
There were three basic stereotypes that the English harbored about Africans to facilitate their enslavement. First, they were black, which was seen as immoral and dirty, unlike white, which was equated with purity, godliness and morality. Second, they were considered savages since their culture was different and ultimately seen as inferior. Lastly they were heathens. In fact, the most important attribute was their lack of Christian faith. Not only did it place them in mortal danger, but some planters withheld Christian teachings in fear their conversion might require their emancipation. Those fears were soon put to rest though when legislation was past making it legal to own Christian slaves.
Africans were introduced into slavery in a
variety of ways. The largest number
were prisoners of war, followed closely by those sentenced for either criminal
activity or indebtedness. White
traders did their share of kidnapping Africans but they also bought them from
other Africans who made it their business to supply white traders with human
chattel. Once sold the slave
experience was one of horror, loss, and tremendous suffering.
Initially they lost everything they held dear including possessions,
homes, loved ones, and freedom. The
captives are chained, paraded and sold to strangers that spoke an
incomprehensible language, and then they were branded and dragged off to
awaiting ships.
The voyage or “middle passage” was no less horrid. Everyone was crammed in the storage bay so closely together they could hardly move by what came to be known as the “tight packers” (Kolchin 21). Unless good weather permitted, the slaves were often kept below decks and many suffered from a disease the traders’ labeled “fixed melancholy” (Kolchin 21). This was characterized by sufferers becoming morose, moody and unresponsive, starring into space, refusing to eat, and in very extreme cases committing suicide by jumping overboard. The final process included the actual selling of the captives at a public auction, in which the prospective buyers would poke, prod, and manhandle the merchandise. This elicited feelings of impending doom, humiliation, and anger in a people unable to comprehend what was happening.
Whether sent to work as house servants in the northern states or shipped off to life on the southern plantations, the unique experience of the slaves and the distinctive environment in which they lived conditioned the creation of African American culture. The growth of American black families as opposed to imported Africans, as well as the growth of socioeconomic differentiation and occupational diversity within the slave body all played vital roles in the creation of a new generation of American people. The subjection of these people to slavery was the driving force behind our nation’s greatest war and, ironically, was the cause of African identity among blacks. With no realization of the origin, we all enjoy the influences of African American inspired food, music, art, and literature.
History of Slave
Narratives
From the first load of slaves in 1619 to the death of the last former slave in the 1970s, some six thousand North American slaves told their stories in writing or written interviews. Most of these were brief accounts published in periodicals, collections, or other books, but “approximately 150 of them were separately published as books or pamphlets ranging from eight pages to two volumes” (Taylor xv). These separately published narratives fall into three distinct periods. During the 1770s through the 1820s the stories were mostly adventures or spiritual journeys and the narrators referred to themselves as Africans, not slaves. Beginning in 1824, however, the slave narratives began to show signs of a genre that used “autobiographical form to enlighten the world about the facts of slavery” (Taylor xv). Over the years, the stories began to take on elements more closely related to novels, with those published after 1852 including fictionalized dialogue.
The abolitionist slave narratives – about 80 in number - written and published between 1836 through the end of the Civil War in 1865 all exhibit similar features. They usually include a preface; the first sentence begins, “I was born…”; the plot includes the selling and separation of a slave from his family; there is a proud, strong slave refusing the indignity of being whipped; several attempts to escape, at least one of which is successful; and the conclusion with an appendix of some sort. Interestingly enough, though, because all the narrators’ voices are individual and unique, they avoid being formulaic. Literary critic, Theodore Parker, noted this originality amid what he deemed the “bleakness of the American literary landscape” (Castronovo 523) when he wrote, “There is one portion of our permanent literature it may be called, which is wholly independent and original…So we have one series of literary productions that could be written by none but Americans, and only here; I mean the lives of the Fugitive Slaves” (Castronovo 523).
Post Civil War narratives underwent a fundamental change. The tone of anger and righteousness became muted and the plots ended with the narrators adjusting to their newfound freedom. Certain aspects of slave life began to seem quaint, in keeping with the Sambo tales and minstrel shows popular at the time. The change in purpose had some impact on the way these narratives were presented, because rather than trying to convince their audiences of the evils of slavery, they were now trying to recount a balanced picture of their lives. Basically, the emphasis on freedom changed to an emphasis on progress.
As historical sources, slave narratives
document slave life primarily in the American South from the perspective of
first-hand experience. In the 1840s
and 50s they began to reveal the struggles of people in the North, as people
from the South recorded the disparities between America’s ideal of freedom and
its reality. Sadly, for the first
half of this century, the slave narratives were believed biased and
fictionalized. It wasn’t until
the 1970s that scholars began to recognize them for the rich source of history
they provided in regards to plantation life and what it meant to be a slave.
The documentation concerning where the slaves lived, what and when they
ate, the detailed regimen of daily life, down to the brand of whips used to scar
their backs were systematically spelled out in these narratives. This wealth of documentary material offers a unique view of
the horror and influence of an institution that dominated our country for two
hundred years.
Slave Narratives
(1818-1895)
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence.”
Frederick Douglass, “a slave, orator, autobiographer, editor, activist, and statesman was the most famous African American of the nineteenth century” (Taylor 524). In his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, he relates to readers the inhumane treatment of slaves living on plantations in the south. It has stood the test of time and is the most studied slave narrative. This is due in part to its reputation as the most representative of the slave experience and its expression of the ideals of American freedom; self-determination, self-education, and political activism.
Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland sometime in 1818, though the exact date of his birth is unknown to him. This was the case for many slaves, as Douglass recounts, “I do not remember to have met a slave who could tell of his birthday” (Lauter, 1824). His mother’s name was Harriet Bailey and his father was an unknown white man, who Douglass heard on several occasions could have been his master, but no definitive proof was ever presented. Douglass knew his mother’s name but he knew little else of her, they were separated when he was an infant. He knew she was a slave but had virtually no contact with her while she was alive.
During the early years of his childhood, Douglass was kept on Colonel Edward Lloyd’s plantation. Here he witnessed the brute and savage treatment of other slaves at the hands of several overseers, but was not subjected to any his self. An example of this extreme barbarity was the brutal and bloody whipping of his Aunt Hester, which Douglass witnessed. He recalls hiding in a closet afterwards fearful that he would surely be next in line. At the tender age of seven he was transferred to Hugh Auld’s plantation where he would begin to live life as a real slave. This move to Baltimore was one of hope for Douglass, though, because he believed a slave from Baltimore held more chance of eventual freedom than one from the country.
While staying with the Auld’s Douglass learned to read and write. His instruction began with Mrs. Auld, but after her husband found out he forbade her to continue, so he turned to the boys from the neighborhood. Douglass devised a plan, which tricked them into helping him while making them believe they were showing how smart they were. Gaining this ability made Douglass realize that literacy was the pathway to freedom and he began to read everything he could get his hands on, including material concerning the opposition to slavery and the possibility of emancipation. His being able to think for himself made his life as a slave more unbearable because he desired freedom with no hope of attaining it. He now understood why Mr. Auld was so against his learning to read.
After serving for about seven years at Hugh Auld’s plantation, Douglass was transferred to different places. He went to Thomas Auld’s plantation, but was sent to Mr. Covey’s because Mr. Auld believed that the city had almost ruined him and he was proving to be most unsuitable. Since Mr. Covey had a reputation for being the best at breaking slaves, it was arranged for Douglass to remain with him for one year. It was here that Douglass endured the most vicious treatment. He claims that in his first six months there, not a week went by without a whipping and all the slaves were forced to work in the field regardless of the weather. Finally the day came that Douglass could stand the abuse no more, he stood his ground in defiance against Mr. Covey and won. Douglass was then sent to Mr. Freeland’s plantation, but was sent back to Mr. Auld’s after a failed attempt to escape. Three years later, Douglass attempted to escape again and succeeded.
Freedom brought disappoint to Douglass. He soon realized that men in the North also held racial prejudices against black men, and he struggled to make his own path in life. He worked for a time at a shipyard, but was beaten severely by some of the white carpenters and almost lost his eye. He was soon assisted by persons in defense of the anti-slavery cause and was able to eventually marry and secure employment and establish a life for his family. It was not long before he became acquainted with the abolitionists and eagerly joined forces with them.
Douglass took great pains to comment on experiences and ideas that most readers would have been blinded to otherwise. The issues he presented were religious hypocrisy, harsh reality of the inhumane treatment of slaves, dispelling the myth that slaves sing because they are content, and the truth behind giving the slaves holiday time. Jeannine DeLombard appropriately states that, “Douglass’ Narrative marshals the visual power of the injured black body to convey the brutality of the South’s peculiar institution” (DeLombard 245).
Harriet
Ann Jacobs
(1813-1897)
“When he told me that I was made for his use, made to obey his
command in every thing; that I was nothing but a slave, whose will must
and should surrender to his, never before had my puny arm felt half so
strong.”