LITR 4232: American Renaissance
University of Houston-Clear Lake, spring 2003
Sample Student Research Project

Marie Brookreson
Dr. White
Literature 4232
17 April 2003

Slavery Built a Nation

Introduction

             When asked, most Americans would say that the time that slaves were held in the United States was the darkest time in our history.  One person “owning” another would defiantly rank as a troubled time in our past.  Slavery, as defined in The American Heritage Dictionary, is “the state of being a slave in a condition of hard work and subjection”(768).  Having to work for someone else and knowing that you would suffer, be beaten, poorly treated and grossly underpaid (if paid at all), had to have been a horrible experience.  Through history, books and movies we, as a more civilized nation, now see what was once common practice, to be a blemish on our great nation. 

            Slavery has been seen over the years in different eyes.  History gives us the “real” happenings, in timelines and historical context.  Books, written about slavery by both slaves and non-slaves, gives us personal experiences and tends to be more “hard hitting”.  Hollywood and the movie industry often romanticize slavery, giving it a “happy ending” with a nice ribbon around it.  In doing research I wanted to explore all these realms and decide for myself what slavery means to me, and how I wanted to view our nations “darkest hour”. 

 

History of Slavery in the United States

            One of the earliest slave trades took place in 1619 at Jamestown when a Dutchman traded his cargo of African slaves for food.  Although the number of African American slaves grew slowly at first, by the 1680s they had become essential to the economy of Virginia, and by the end of the 18th century over 650,000 Africans had been forcibly transported to America. 

            During the 1840’s and 50’s slavery was a common practice in the US, particularly in the Southern states.  “By the 1850s abolitionism was growing in the North, and when the antislavery Republican candidate A. Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the Southern states seceded to protect their right to keep slaves” (American Civil War 1).  On April 12 1861, the Civil War began and the fight for slave holding had begun.  During this long and gruesome war, many died for what they believed in and brothers fought each other for their right to “own”.  On April 3 1865, the war came to a close.  “The South was devastated. But the Union was preserved, and slavery was abolished” (American Civil War 2).

            Being a slave meant being the property of another individual.  There were rules that had to be obeyed and if not, the punishment was fierce.  Slaves were forbidden from carrying guns, taking food, striking their masters, and running away.   They were meant to follow their masters’ orders and show no objection.  If there was a show of protest, then the punishment was harsh.  Slaves who disobeyed could have been beaten, taken away from their families or even killed. 

            During the time that slave holding was a common practice there were some resistances.  Slaves would often think of a better life and would risk everything to achieve it.  Escaping was no easy task and it was often thought of as even more dangerous than being a slave. To live as a runaway required perfect escape routes and exact timing. Where to hide, finding food, leaving the family and children behind became primary issues for the escaping slaves.  But if a slave was able to gain his freedom and live, as he wanted to, that was the ultimate reward.

            Spanning over many centuries, slavery has certainly been a constant reminder of the “power” one person can have over another.  Whether right or wrong, slavery has certainly built and destroyed many nations and will certainly never be forgotten.

 

Slave Narratives

            A slave narrative is a personal account of slavery.  It is not enough to know the facts about slavery through a history view, but it is important to know insights from the slaves themselves.  Taping into the emotions of those who lived through this terrible time and knowing the “truth” about their living conditions, their lives and their punishment, we are able to delve deeper into our American past.

            “The slave narratives provided the most powerful voices contradicting the slaveholders’ favorable claims concerning slavery.  The narratives told of the horrors of family separation, the sexual abuse of black women, and the inhuman workload.  They told of free blacks being kidnapped and sold back into slavery.  They described the frequency and brutality of flogging and the severe living conditions of slave life.  They also told exciting tales of escape, heroism, betrayal, and tragedy.  The narratives captivated readers, portraying the fugitives as sympathetic, fascinating characters”(Judgment Day 1).

Through research I found many different narratives, some famous like Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown, and others not so famous who just wanted to tell their story.  I have selected a few to share and hope that it will further intrigue. 

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass is perhaps the most well known writer of a slave narrative.  Douglass was born into slavery in 1818.  He was the son of a slave woman and an unknown white man.  He was self-taught, reading and writing, and was able to account his life in his own words, by his own hands.  He escaped from slavery at the age of 18 and would become one of the abolitionist movement’s most effective narrators of slave life.  In the following passage he describes the brutality of being a slave and the circumstances that provoked it. 

”A mere look, word, or motion,--a mistake, accident or want of power,--are all matters for which a slave may be whipped at any time.  Does a slave look dissatisfied?  It is said, he has the devil in him, and it must be whipped out.  Does he speak loudly when spoken to by his master?  Then he is getting high-minded, and should be taken down a button-hole lower.  Does he forget to pull off his hat at the approach of a white person?  Then he is wanting in reverence, and should be whipped for it.  Does he ever venture to vindicate his conduct, when censured for it?  Then he is guilty of impudence,--one of the greatest crimes of which a slave can be guilty” (Slave Narratives 1).

Such accounts are common and extremely disturbing.  One can only imagine the life that African Americans had to struggle to live, and even then what kind of life was it?

Walter Calloway

I suspect that Walter Calloway is a name not to familiar.  During my research I ran across some narratives of some not so famous and often overlooked former slaves.  I wanted to include them in this study, because I thought it was important for their story to be told also.  The language that is used is often hard to read and understand, but with keeping in tradition of preservation, the natural form is kept. 

Walter Calloway was born in 1848 in Richmond, “Virginny”(Calloway 1).  He was sold to his master, John Calloway along with his “mammy an’ my older brudder”, at “Snodoun in Montgomery County, ten miles south of de town of Montgomery”.  He recounts that his slave life was “putry good, but we hab to wuk hard”. 

“Time I was ten years ole I was makin’ a reg’lar han’ ‘hin de plow.  Oh, yassuh, Marse John good ‘nough to us an’ we get plenty to eat, but he had a oberseer name Green Bush what sho’ whup us iffen we don’t do to suit him.  Yassuh, he might rough wid us be he didn’t do de whippen’ hisse’f.  He had a big black boy name Mose, mean as de devil an’ strong as a ox, and de oberseer let him do all de whuppin’.  An’, man, he could sho’ lay on dat rawhide lash.  He whupped a nigger gal’bout thirteen years old so hard she nearly die, an’ allus atterwa’ds she hab spells of fits or somp’n.  Dat make Marse John pow’ful mad, so he run dat oberseer off de place an’ Mose didn’t do no mo’ whuppin’”(Calloway 1). 

            Accounts made like this often lend themselves to a more “actual” life.  Walter Calloway wasn’t literate and didn’t know how to tell his “story”, but through his recollections we are given a even deeper look into what life was like. 

Two Accounts of Slavery by Women

Not wanting to leave out the fairer sex, I wanted to include recollections of women who had been slaves.  Tempe Herndon Durham was a slave in Chatham County to Master George and Mrs. Betsy Herndon.  She recounts here: “I was thirty-one years ole when de surrender come.  Dat makes me sho nuff ole”(Durham 1).  Below is an account of her life after slavery. 

“Freedom is all right, but de niggers was better off befo’ surrender, kaze den dey was looked after an’ dey didn’ get in no trouble fightin’ an’ killin’ like de do dese days.  If a nigger cut up an’ got sassy in slavery times, his Ole Marse give him a good whippin’ an’ he went way back an’ set down an’ ‘haved hese’f.  If he was sick, Mistis looked after him, an’ if he needed stor semicine, it was bought an’ give to him; he didn’ have to pay nothin’.  Dey didn’ even hat to think ‘bout clothes nor nothin’ like dat, dey was wove an’ made an’ give to dem.  Maybe everybody’s Marse and Mistis wazn’ good as Mrse George and Mis’ Betsy, but dey was de same as a mammy an’ pappy to us niggers”(Durham 2).

Charity Anderson was born in Belle’s Landing, Monroe County, Alabama.  She was the slave of Mr. Leslie Johnson. 

Her life as a slave was as nice as she can remember.  This is a sample of her story.

            “My old Marster was a good man, he treated all his slaves kind, and took care of dem, he wanted to leave dem hin chillun.  But honey chile, all white folks warn’t good to dere slaves, cause I’se seen pore niggers almos’ tore up by dogs, and whipped unmercifully, when dey did’nt do lack de white folks say.  But Thank God I had good white folks, dey sho’ did trus’ me to, I had charge of all de keys in the house and I waited on de Missy and de chillum.  I’se allus tried to treat everybody as good as I kin, and I uses my manners as good as I knows how, and de Lord sho’ has taken keer ob me”(Anderson 2). 

            Narratives such as these of former slaves are important to the literary world.  They are a defining point in African American literature and culture as well as the history of America itself.  “Slave narratives and their fictional descendants have played a major role in national debates about slavery, freedom, and American identity that have challenged the conscience and the historical consciousness of the United States ever since its founding” (Andrews 1).  By reading and reviewing slave narratives we are continually learning about one of the hardest eras in American history.

 

Slavery in Movies

            Unlike slave narratives, Hollywood has romanticized the institution of slavery and its aftermath.  Movies such as “Gone with the Wind”, “Birth of a Nation”, and “Beloved” has shown the good, bad and ultimately ugly side of slavery and its devastation.

            “Gone with the Wind” showed slavery both before and after the Civil War.  Before the war, the movie portrayed blacks as kindhearted and loving, there to serve their master.  During the movie there was never a negative scene of slavery, or if there was, it wasn’t shown for to long.  After the war, when the blacks were free they were either portrayed as stupid and dumb or evil and cruel.  Carpetbaggers were the enemy, and were shown as corrupt and hateful.  Although historically accurate in some aspects, “Gone with the Wind” was untimely a story of love and hardheadedness of one Southern gal.

            “Birth of a Nation”, by D.W. Griffith in 1915, is “a controversial, explicitly racist, but landmark American film masterpiece” (Tim Dirks 1).  Mainly set after the Civil War, Birth shows blacks as villains and the only way to control their behavior was to launch a white supremacy group known as the Ku Klux Klan.  A main topic of taboo in the film was that of interracial marriage and the threat that blacks would someday rule the whites.  Having to bring the scoundrel back to “his place”, the KKK would ride into victory and save the “poor white southern belles”.  Probably the saddest part of the experience of “Birth” is that after it’s release it rallied the KKK back into the spotlight and thus started the hatred all over again.

            “Beloved”, by Toni Morrison, is the hardest and most trying look at slavery to date.  This story depicts slavery in its cruelest and probably most realistic form. “While “Beloved” espouses truth in many ways (slavery, the dark spiritual world, a mother's love for her family, the dignity of black people as they struggled for freedom, etc.) it could open dark doors that should remain closed”(Trish Dick 1).  Both the book and movie are based on a true story and even though it is hard to watch and read at times, due to graphic content, is has certainly opened our eyes at what slavery can do in extreme situations. 

            Hollywood doesn’t like to be real, in my opinion; it makes its money on selling what we want to see.  And as sad as it may be, slavery and cruelty to others isn’t something that we want to relive.  But, we must ask ourselves why we feel this way and will it ever change.  Many people feel strong about the message of slavery and see the “silver screen” as medium for getting the story across, but without the support of the audiences it all goes to waste.

            Conclusion

            Slavery is a part of American history that we can’t take back or redo.  It has made us the strong nation that we are today, sad, as it is to say.  Through the readings of slave narratives, and portrayals through movies we get a better understanding of what life for these poor individuals was like.  We are able to grow and educate others so we can be better for it, and learn from our mistakes. 

            After doing my research I have felt a sense of bewilderment and astonishment of what others had to suffer through so that I could live in freedom.  I challenge myself as well as others to continue the education and never let the stories die.

 

Works Cited

Dick Trish. Rev. of “Beloved”. 12 April 2003. <http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/movies/pre2000/i-beloved.html>.

Documenting the American South. William L. Andrews. 2 April 2001. U of North Carolina. 14 April 2003. <http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/specialneh.html>.

Jordon, Travis. North Carolina District #3. “Tempe Herndon Durham”. 10 August 1997. 14 April 2003. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/durham1.html>.

Jordon, W.P. “Ole Joe Had Real “Ligion”. “Walter Calloway”. 10 August 1997. 14 April 2003. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/callowa1.html>.

Judgment Day. Online posting. 12 April 2003. <http://www.bs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2958.html>.

Kane, Matthew.  Slave Narratives. 2001. U of Houston. 12 April 2003. <http://homepage.ntlworld.com/matt_kane/slave%20narratives.htm>.

Lauter, Paul, et al., eds. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed.  New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002.

Okwu, Michael. “Slavery doesn’t sell on the big screen.” Online posting. 3 Dec. 1998. 13 April 2003.  <

Prine, Ila B. Federal Writers’ Project, Dist.2. “Charity Anderson”.  16 April 1937.  14 April 2003. <http://xroads.Virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/anderso1.html>.

The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed. New York: Doubleday Dell, 1994.