From Sundown to Sunup: The Making of the Black Community

History

.

Sociology]

$2.95

CONTRIBUTIONS

IN

AFRO-AMERICAN

AND

AFRICAN

STUDIES,

No.

1 1

FROM

SUNDOWN

TO

SUNUP

The

Making

of

the

Black

Community

George

P.

Rawick

George

P.

Rawick’s

From

Sundown

to

Sunup

traces

the

history

of

Afro-Americans,

and

in

doing

so

shatters

many

of

the

myths

that

have

surrounded

the

subject.

Contrary

to

the

common

assumption

that

the

enslaved

Afro-Americans

were

passive

subjects,

they

were,

Rawick

demonstrates,

active

and

vital

subjects

of

their

own

history.

He

cites

as

evidence

the

abundant

records

left

by

ex-slaves

—

the

slave

narratives

as

recorded

by

the

Federal

Writers

Project

of

the

Works

Progress

Administration

and

Fisk

Univer-

sity

in

the

1920s

and

1930s

—

which

show

that

they

developed

their

own

social

structure

and

an

awareness

of

their

situation

and

the

means

necessary

to

survive

within

it.

“Rawick

. . .

plunges

us

into

the

life

and

culture

that

the

slaves

created

for

themselves.

.

.

.

[He]

presents

a

picture

of

plantation

life

from

the

viewpoint

of

the

slave

quarters,

and

his

bold

and

provocative

readings

of

the

narratives

go

a

long

way

toward

an

understanding

of

the

master-slave

relationship.

.

.

.

Rawick

seeks

to

explain

how

the

slaves

made

their

own

world

and

resisted

the

pressures

to

become

creatures

of

their

mas-

ters’

wills.

At

his

best

he

is

brilliant,

and

he

is

always

thoughtful

and

challenging.

His

singular

contribution

has

been

to

demonstrate

the

ex-

tent

to

which

the

slaves

drew

on

their

African

heritage,

on

their

contact

with

Indians

and

whites,

both

poor

and

rich,

and

especially

on

their

own

plantation

experience

to

shape

a

world’s

view

of

their

own.”

~Eugene

D.

Genovese

New

York

Review

of

Books

“George

Rawick’s

FROM

SUNDOWN

TO

SUNUP

is

by

far

the

most

successful

recent

book

about

slave

culture.

.

.

.

[He]

does

not

deny

that

slavery

had

negative

psychological

effects

on

slaves,

but

after

reading

this

book,

it

will

be

hard

to

accept

the

idea

that

slavery

was

so

totali-

tarian

an

institution

that

the

slave

became

a

childlike

‘Sambo,'

depen-

dent

on,

and

submissive

to,

his

master.

. . .

As

impressive

as

Rawick's

analysis

of

slave

life

is

his

interpretation

of

American

racism.“

Eric

Foner

University

Review

George

P.

Rawick

is

Professor,

Learning

Resources

Development

i~‘at'ulty

at

Empire

State

College,

State

University

of

New

York.

lie

has

been

Associate

Professor

of

Sociology,

Washington

University.

St.

Louis,

Missouri

and

at

several

other

universities.

As

a

Social

Sciciicv

Researrli

(‘ouncil

postdoctoral

fellow

he

studied

sociology

and

anlliropology.

Publisher’s

Note

George

P.

Rawick‘s

From

Sundown

to

Sunup;

The

Making

of

the

Black

Community

is

an

original

monograph

and

the

first

volume

of

The

American

Slave:

A

Composite

Auto-

biography,

a

nineteen-volume

publication

edited

by

Pro-

fessor

Rawick.

Volumes

2-19

contain

the

personal

accounts

of

2,000

ex—slaves

as

recorded

in

interviews

compiled

by

the

Federal

Writers’

Project

of

the

Works

Progress

Administra-

tion

and

Fisk

University

in

the

19205

and

1930s.

The

con-

tents

of

The

American

Slave

are

detailed

opposite

the

title

page

of

this

book.

Although

From

Sundown

to

Sunup

is

ideally

suited

to

be

used

in

conjunction

with

the

slave

narratives,

as

an

original

and

substantive

essay

on

slavery,

it

can

be

read

indepen-

dently

of

the

narratives.

'

FROM

SUNDOWN

TO

SUNUP

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Volume

Otvu-hwn

7

8

9

IO

ll

I2

Is

I4

I5

16

I7

18

THE

AMERICAN

SLAVE:

A

COMPOSITE

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Series

One

:

From

Sundown

to

Sunup:

The

Making

of

the

Black

Community

:

South

Carolina

Narratives,

Parts

1

and

2

:

South

Carolina

Narratives,

Parts

3

and

4

:

Texas

Narratives,

Parts

1

and

2

:

Texas

Narratives,

Parts

3

and

4

:

Alabama

and

Indiana

Narratives

:

Oklahoma

and

Mississippi

Narratives

Series

Two

:

Arkansas

Narratives,

Parts

1

and

2

:

Arkansas

Narratives,

Parts

3

and

4

:

Arkansas

Narratives,

Parts

5

and

6

:

Arkansas

Narratives,

Part

7,

and

Missouri

Narratives

:

Georgia

Narratives,

Parts

r

and

2

:

Georgia

Narratives,

Parts

3

and

4

:

North

Carolina

Narratives,

Parts

1

and

2

:

North

Carolina

Narratives,

Parts

3

and

4

:

Kansas,

Kentucky,

Maryland,

Ohio,

Virginia,

and

Tennessee

Narratives

:

Florida

Narratives

:

Unwritten

History

of

Slavery

(Fisk

University)

19:

God

Struck

Me

Dead

(Fisk

University)

THE

AMERICAN

SLAVE:

A

COMPOSITE

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

FROM

SUNDOWN

TO

SUNUP

The

Making

of

the

Black

Community

GEORGE

P.

RAWICK

Contributions

in

Afro-American

and

African

Studies

Number

ll

(1

RI*‘.I7.NW()()l)

PUBLISHING

COMPANY

Wl".S'

l'P(

)R'l',

(I()Nl\lIi(TI‘lCUT

I972

1—i———

Library

of

Congress

Cataloging

in

Publication

Data

Rawick,

George

P

1929-

From

sundown

to

sunup.

(The

American

slave:

a

composite

autobiography,

v.

1)

(Contributions

in

Afro-American

and

African

studies,

no.

1

1)

Bibliography:

p.

l.

Slavery

in

the

United

States-History.

I.

Title.

II.

Series:

Contributions

in

Afro-American

and

African

studies,

no.

ll.

E44I.A58

vol.

1

301.45

1'96073

71-105986

ISBN

0-8371-6299-8

Copyright

©

1972

by

George

P.

Rawick

All

rights

reserved.

No

portion

of

this

book

may

be

reproduced,

by

any

process

or

technique,

without

the

express

written

consent

of

the

author

and

publisher.

Library

of

Congress

Catalog

Card

Number:

71-105986

ISBN

0-8371-3314-9

(Set)

ISBN

0-8371-6299-8

(Vol.

I

cloth)

ISBN

0-8371-6747-7

(V01.

I

pbk.

}

Volume

I

first

published

I972

Paperback

edition

I973

Greenwood

Press,

Inc.

88

Post

Road

West

Westport,

Connecticut

06881

Primed

in

the

United

States

of

America

20

I9

18171615

I413

I2

ll

FOR

MICHELLE

YUFF

Y

GOLDMAN

AND

MY

SONS

JULES

DANIEL

AND

CHE

CALLE

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

ix

Introduction

PART

I:

The

Sociology

of

Slavery

in

the

United

States

|

Master

and

Slave

3

2

The

Role

of

Africa

in

the

Making

of

the

American

Black

People

14

3

The

Religion

of

the

Slaves

30

4

Master

and

Slave:

Treatment

53

5

The

Black

Family

Under

Slavery

77

6

Master

and

Slave:

Resistance

95

PART

II:

The

Sociology

of

European

and

American

Racism

7

Racism

and

Slavery

125

8

Racism

and

the

Making

of

American

Society

I50

vii

viii

/

CONTENTS

Appendixes

Editor’s

Introduction

to

Volumes

2-19

Front

Matter

of

the

Work

Projects

Administration

Project

Bibliography

Index

163

167

179

ZOI

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The

inﬂuence

and

assistance

of

many

people

made

this

present

work

possible,

although

I

am,

of

course,

solely

responsible

for

the

judg-

ments

and

for

the

execution

of

the

work.

The

work

extended

over

a

decade

and

there

were

many

more

inﬂuences

upon

its

creation

than

I

will

be

able

to

acknowledge.

The

many

students

and

friends

with

whom

I

have

discussed

this

work

or

who

indirectly

aided

in

its

conception

and

execution

must

go

unnamed,

but

ultimately

I

owe

much

to

them

for

their

questions

and

comments.

In

a

wider

sense,

this

wprk

owes

a

great

deal

to

the

black

community

itself,

which

during

the

years

in

which

I

worked

on

this

project

was

astonishing

the

world

with

its

militant

challenge

to

its

own

con-

tinued

oppression.

However,

certain

people

must

be

mentioned,

for

my

debt

to

them

is

so

great

that

I

can

only

here

discharge

it

in

some

small

measure.

As

an

undergraduate

at

Oberlin

College

in

the

1940s,

I

learned

what

historical

research

was

about

and

what

it

was

for

from

Profes-

sors

Harvey

K.

Goldberg

and

Thomas

LeDuc.

In

graduate

school

at

the

University

of

Wisconsin,

Professor

Merle

Curti

taught

me

American

history.

My

gratitude

to

him

is

great.

At

Wisconsin

I

also

worked

under

Professor

Hans

H.

Gerth,

who

taught

me

how

to.

think

sociologically

and

to

transcend

the

American

intellectual

horizon.

Anthropological

and

ethno-historical

interests

were

enriched

by

my

friend

and

colleague

Professor

Robert

K.

Thomas

of

Monteith

College

of

Wayne

State

University.

From

him

l

learned

that

“cul-

ix

x

/

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ture”

was

a

process—not

a

sterile

repetition

of

the

behavior

of

the

past,

but

the

creative

transformation

by

people

of

that

past.

His

comments

on

the

manuscript

of

this

book

were

most

useful.

For

most

of

the

twentieth

century,

C.

L.

R.

James

of

Trinidad,

Europe,

and

the

United

States

has

left

a

profound

mark

on

both

political

and

cultural

work.

His

writings

and

lectures

on

history,

politics,

and

culture,

with

their

profound

insight

into

the

activities

of

ordinary

people,

were

before

me

throughout

my

work.

I

cannot

overstate

my

debt

to

him.

The

evidence

of

the

inﬂuence

of

Martin

Glaberman

appears

throughout

this

work.

His

personal

encouragement

was

of

great

importance

at

many

crucial

points;

his

reading

of

the

ﬁnal

manu-

script

was

the

most

recent

of

his

many

acts

of

aid

to

this

work.

He

has

been

friend,

colleague,

and

mentor.

I

am

also

appreciative

of

the

work

on

slavery

of

William

Gorman.

A

number

of

other

friends

must

be

mentioned

as

having

particu-

larly

aided

me

in

my

work.

I

can

only

acknowledge

in

a

small

way

my

gratitude

to

Daniel

and

Mary

Ann

Clawson,

Stuart

House,

Dianne

Luthmers

and

Albert

Luthmers,

Barry

Thompson,

Preston

Schiller,

William

Watson,

and

Robert

Wicke.

Two

people helped

in

the

preparation

of

the

manuscript.

I

wish

to

thank

Penelope

Dexter

and

Mary

Peters

for

their

intelligent

and

generous

assistance.

My

sociological

and

ethnographic

interests

and

skills

were

broad-

ened

and

deepened

during

the

year

1957-1958

which

I

spent

at

Cornell

University

under

the

auspices

of

a

Social

Science

Research

Council

postgraduate

fellowship

in

sociology

and

anthropology.

I

hope

that

the

SSRC

will

accept

this

work

as

the

ﬁnal

report

which

I

have

owed

them

for

over

twelve

years.

The

Faculty

Research

Grant

Committee

of

Oakland

University

made

a

series

of

grants

that

greatly

facilitated

the

work.

The

staff

of

the

Schomburg

Collection

in

New

York

City

rendered

their

usual

intelligent

aid

and

assistance.

Secretarial

help

partially

pro-

vided

by

the

Department

of

Sociology

of

Washington

University

made

possible

the

completion

of

the

manuscript.

Professors

Eugene

Genovese

and

Sidney

Mintz

read

sections

of

the

manuscript

at

various

stages

and

helped

clarify

and

deepen

many

points.

Professor

Norman

Klein

saved

me

from

signiﬁcant

errors

in

my

discussion

of

West

African

development.

Professor

John

Szwed

volunteered

many

helpful

suggestions

and

I

am

grateful

to

him.

I

am

also

grateful

to

Julius

Lester

for

taking

time

from

a

very

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

/

xi

crowded

schedule

to

read

my

manuscript

and

for

his

most

helpful

comments.

Of

course,

they

are

neither

responsible

for

any

errors

that

may

be

found

in

the

book

nor,

necessarily,

for

any

of

my

judgments.

Material

from

Harold

Courlander,

The

Drum

and

the

Hoe:

Life

and

Lore

of

the

Haitian

People,

originally

published

by

the

Uni-

versity

of

California

Press,

is

reprinted

by

permission

of

the

Regents

of

the

University

of

California.

The

encouragement

and

help

of

my

publisher,

Herbert

Cohen

of

Greenwood

Publishing

Company,

made

the

total

work

possible.

His

patience

and

hard

work

has

been

in

the

ﬁnest

tradition

of

book

publishing.

Elisabeth

Krabisch

and

Linda

Weinraub

of

Green-

weod

Publishing

Company

saved

me

from

disaster

at

one

crucial

moment

and

made

important

contributions

in

the

preparation

of

the

ﬁnal

manuscript.

In

the

deepest

intellectual

and

personal

way

this

work

was

made

possible

by

the

aid,

encouragement,

hard-headed

criticism,

and

sug-

gestions

of

Michelle

Yuffy

Goldman.

This

book

is

dedicated

to

her

and

to

my

two

young

sons,

Jules

Daniel

and

Che

Calle.

INTRODUCTION

Black

history

in

the

United

States

must

be

viewed

as

an

integral,

if

usually

antagonistic,

part

of

the

history

of

the

American

people.

Without

understanding

the

historical

development

of

black

society,

culture,

and

community,

comprehension

of

the

totality

of

America’s

development

is

impossible.

Slavery

was

a

fundamental

part

of

the

history

of

the

whole

American

people,

just

as

its

aftermath

continues

to

pose

a

fundamental

question

for

our

national

life.

Most

discussion

of

American

development

has

ignored,

side-

stepped,

or

treated

as

a

minor

theme

slavery

and

its

aftermath.

Em-

phasis

has

been

placed,

instead,

upon

geographic

conditions,

upon

technological

achievements

and

the

organization

of

industry,

upon

ideological

uniqueness,

and

upon

governmental

practice

and

consti-

tutional

theory.

The

history

of

American

society

has

been

subordi-

nated

to

the

history

of

the

American

state;

the

reality

of

the

Ameri-

can

people

to

ideologically

determined

abstractions.

The

history

of

the

American

people

has

been

subordinated

to

the

history

of

industrial

technology,

of

capitalism,

and

of

related

values

and

institu-

tional

arrangements.

There

has

been

as

a

consequence

very

little

written

social

history

of

the

American

people,

and

what

there

has

been

has

usually

avoided

discussion

of

either

class

conﬂict

or

the

subordination

of

blacks

to

whites.

Thus,

for

example,

labor

historians

have

usually

focused

upon

the

institutional

development

of

trade

unions,

rather

than

upon

the

activities

of

working

people.

No

one

has

written

a

“Making

of

the

/\|nerican

Working

Class,"

but

there

have

been

many

serious

xiii

xiv

/

INTRODUCTION

works

on

the

institutional

history

of

particular

trade

union

organizations.

If

white

workers

have

rarely

appeared

in

the

annals

and

chronicles

of

the

American

people,

blacks

have

appeared

hardly

at

all.

And

the

black

slave

himself

has

been

virtually

absent

from

the

written

history

other

than

as

the

victim

of

white

aggression

or

the

recipient

of

white

paternalism.

The

black

slave

usually

has

been

portrayed

as

the

victim

who

never

enters

his

own

history

as

its

subject,

but

only

as

the

object

over

which

abstract

forces

and

glorious

armies

fought.

Historians

have

justiﬁed

this

absence

of

slave

voices

in

the

history

of

slavery

and

the

American

people

by

insisting

that,

after

all,

the

slaves

left

no

records,

accomplished

little

that

was

“noteworthy,”

and

therefore

did

not

have

much

of

a

history.

In

an

article

in

the

inﬂuential

popularizer

of

American

history,

American

Heritage

magazine,

Peter

Chew

wrote:

A

subjugated

people,

reduced

to

and

held

in

a

condition

little

better

than

that

of

domestic

animals,

is

not

likely

to

make

much

his-

tory

.

.

.

.

As

uneducated

slaves,

blacks

were

obviously

in

no

position

to

lead

noteworthy

careers:

they

could

not

become

doctors,

lawyers,

military

leaders,

architects,

engineers,

statesmen.‘

While

slavery

has

left

an

indelible

mark

on

American

life,

the

slaves

themselves

have

rarely

been

heard

telling

their

own

stories.

The

masters

not

only

ruled

the

past

in

fact;

they

now

rule

its

written

history.

Like

the

rest

of

the

population

which

did

not

lead

“notable”

lives,

the

slaves

appear

usually

only

as

faceless

and

name-

less

people

murmuring

and

mumbling

offstage.

At

best,

only

the

loud

and

demanding

voice

of

an

exceptional

slave,

such

as

the

great

black

abolitionist

leader

Frederick

Douglass,

is

heard,

and

then

only

above

the

din

of

the

speeches

of

politicians,

statesmen,

and

ideolo-

gists

of

all

persuasions.

The

history

of

black

Americans

has

been

treated

by

most

historians

as

a

specialized,

exotic

subject,

not

as

a

central

focus

for

the

study

of

the

development

of

the

American

people.

But

it

is

not

enough

to

assert

that

the

history

of

black

people

has

never

been

made

integral

to

the

history

of

the

American

people,

or

that

the

voices

of

the

slaves

have

rarely

been

heard.

There

must

be

sources

that

demonstrate

that

white

society

cannot

be

understood

without

seeing

its

symbiotic

relationship

to

black

society,

sources

in

which

the

slaves

speak

for

themselves.

But

we

have

been

told

INTRODUCTION

/

xv

very

often

that

slaves

were

illiterate

and

therefore

left

no

records.

And

even

those

historians

most

interested

in

ﬁnding

the

slaves’

own

accounts

have

so

far

depended

upon

those

books

left

by

occasional,

and

exceptional,

runaway

slaves.

Yet

there

is

a

large

body

of

previously

untapped

material

which

directly

expresses

the

views

of

slavery

held

by

those

who

had

been

slaves.

It

is

largely

upon

these

records

that

this

work

is

based,

selec-

tions

from

which

comprise

the

collection

of

materials

that

this

work

introduces.

What

are

these

sources?

First,

there

were

the

scores

of

slave

autobiographies

published

before

the

Civil

War

or

shortly

thereafter.’

While

they

are

of

un-

even

quality,

they

are

at

least

no

less

signiﬁcant

than

the

special

pleadings

of

the

slaveowners

and

white

abolitionists

whose

writings

historians

always

have

dealt

with

seriously.

Further,

there

were

thousands

of

interviews

with

ex-slaves

recorded

in

the

1920s

and

1930s

by

several

groups

of

investigators,

by

private

scholars,

and

under

the

auspices

of

the

federal

government,

all

of

which

have

received

only

scant

attention

by

historians.“

There

were

at

least

eighty

published

slave

narratives

which

ap-

peared

before

the

Civil

War

and

probably

many

more.

These

fell

generally

into

three

types:

those

which

were

written

by

former

slaves

who

had

made

their

way

to

freedom;

those

obviously

written

by

an

amanuensis

but

clearly

and

accurately

reﬂecting

the

experi-

ences

of

the

narrator;

and

those

which

were

either

thoroughly

ghostwritten

by

a

well-known

abolitionist

or

were

outright

for-

geries.

While

there

were

examples

of

the

last

type

written

by

such

men

as

John

Greenleaf

Whittier

and

Richard

Hildreth,

most

of

the

slave

narratives

were

clearly

of

the

ﬁrst

two

types.‘

In

addition

to

the

narratives

published

before

the

Civil

War,

there

was

a

thin

but

steady

stream

that

followed

in

the

four

decades

after

the

war.

These

often

were

written

by

black

ministers

as

fund-

raising

devices

for

themselves

and

their

churches;

consequently,

they

tend

to

be

very

moderate

in

their

views

of

the

slave

experience,

reﬂecting

the

required

ideological

posture

blacks

had

to

assume

in order

to

get

money

out

of

whites.

Of

the

interviews,

the

outstanding

ones

are

the

Slave

Narrative

Co-llection

of

the

Federal

Writers’

Project

of

the

Works

Projects

Administration

compiled

during

the

years

1936-1938.

This

collec-

tion

consists

of

over

|o,ooo

pages

of

typescript,

containing

over

z,ooo

interviews

with

ex-slaves.“

'l‘he

Federal

Writers’

Project

inter-

views

were

the

culmination

of

several

intlepentlent

eflorts

during

xvi

/

INTRODUCTION

the

late

19zos

and

early

1930s

to

preserve

the

life

stories

of

ex-slaves.

The

ﬁrst

two

major

projects

were

begun

in

1929

at

Southern

University

in

Louisiana

and

at

Fisk

University

in

Tennessee,

both

outstanding

black

institutions.

At

Southern,

under

the

direction

of

the

historian

John

B.

Cade,

interviews

were

taken

which

culminated

in

the

publication

of

an

article

entitled

“Out

of

the

Mouths

of

Ex-Slaves”

in

The

Ioumal

of

Negro

History.”

Cade

did

another

collection

of

interviews

of

some

400

ex-slaves

from

thirteen

states;

these

have

never

been

fully

published.

The

two

volumes

of

the

Fisk

University

study

are

reprinted

with

the

permission

of

Fisk

University

as

Volumes

18

and

19

in

the

second

series

of

the

present

project.

In

1934,

Lawrence

D.

Reddick,

then

a

member

of

the

faculty

of

Kentucky

State

College,

who

had

worked

on

the

Fisk

University

project,

presented

a

proposal

to

the

Federal

Emergency

Relief

Ad-

ministration

which

would

employ

500

black

white-collar

workers

to

interview

ex-slaves.

In

1934

some

2

50

interviews

were

taken

in

Indiana

and

Kentucky.

These

also

have

never

been

published.’

The

culmination

of

these

various

independent

efforts

to

preserve

the

life

stories

of

ex-slaves

was

the

comprehensive

program

of

inter-

viewing

inaugurated

and

carried

through

under

the

auspices

of

the

Federal

Writers’

Project

of

the

Works

Projects

Administration

dur-

ing

the

years

1936

to

1938.8

For

a

brief

but

crucial

period,

the

outstanding

American

folklorist

John

A.

Lomax

was

director

of

this

enormous

project,

which

ultimately

produced

over

1o,ooo

pages

of

typescript

containing

over

z,ooo

interviews

with

ex-slaves.”

Out

of

this

project

came

such

varied

activities

as

the

publication

of

These

Are

Our

Lives--a

series

of

life

histories

of

inhabitants,

mostly

white,

of

the

southeastern

United

States,

as

well

as

the

slave

narra-

tives

whose

publication

is

the

central

focus

of

the

project

this

vol-

ume

introduces.

The

actual

inauguration

of

the

slave

narrative

project

in

the

Writers’

Project

series

began

on

the

local

and

regional

level.

Only

after

there

had

been

a

number

of

independent

pilot

studies,

sig-

niﬁeantly

projects

in

Georgia

and

Florida,

did

Lomax

inaugurate

a

systematic

national

project.“

The

interviews

were

taken

in

seventeen

states

and

were

then

deposited

in

seventeen

volumes

in

thirty-three

parts

in

the

Rare

Books

Division

of

the

Library

of

Congress

from

which

they

have

been

available

on

microﬁlm.

There

has

been

a

highly

selective

print-

ing

of

parts

of

these

interviews,

organizeil

not

as

full-length

indi-

INTRODUCTION

/

xvii

vidual

narratives,

but

as

information

about

topics,

edited

by

B.

A

Botkin,

who

himself

had been one

of

the

administrators

of

the

origi

nal

project.

A

hardcover

edition

of

his

book

appeared

in

1945

and

a

paperback

edition

in

1958."

Selections

from

the

Virginia

narratives

were

published,

carefully

edited,

and

the

original

inter-

views

are

deeply

buried

under

the

interpretive

material;

the

Louisiana

narratives

were

used

in

the

preparation

of

a

book

on

Louisiana

folklore,

and

the

Savannah

Writers’

Project

put

out

a

book

based

on

the

narratives.

In

1968,

Julius

Lester,

former

Field

Secretary

of

the

Student

Non-Violent

Coordinating

Committee,

published

a

book

of

selections

from

the

slave

narratives

and

other

related

material."

I

am

indebted

to

Norman

Yetman

for

his

careful

study

of

the

background

of

the

slave

narrative

collection

which

appeared

both

as

an

article

in

the

American

Quarterly

in

1967

and

in

a

slightly

different

form

in

his

recent

volume,

Voices

from

Slavery.

Professor

Yetman’s

selections

in

this

volume

of

1oo

of

the

WPA

narratives,

while

excellent,

also

have

been

edited.

At

times,

in

order

“to

improve

readability

and

continuity,”

he

has

rewritten

sentences

and

deleted

others;

he

has

eliminated

the

different

“dialect”

spellings

in

“an

attempt

to

achieve

some

uniformity”;

he

has

eliminated

“those

com-

ments

.

.

.

that

concerned

the

informant’s

situation

when

inter-

viewed”;

and

he

has

usually

deleted

all

the

material

included

in

the

interviews

that

deal

with

events

that

occurred

after

the

Civil

War.“

In

order

to

allow

the

full

beneﬁt

of

the

items

that

Professor

Yetman

has

deleted,

I

have

left

the

interviews

exactly

as

they

were

recorded,

thus

permitting

future

scholars

to

handle

the

narratives

as

they

see

ﬁt.

Often

the

informant’s

situation

at

the

time

inter-

viewed

has

considerable

bearing

on

his

personal

memory

of

slavery.

For

example,

old

people

living

in

poverty

in

the

midst

of

the

Great

Depression

of

the

193os

very

often

looked

back

upon

slavery

with

some

positive

glances,

because

at

least

under

slavery

they

had

enough

to

eat.

I

have

also

retained

all

the

editorial

marks;

often,

these

marks

reveal

the

differences

among

the

interviewers,

in

terms

of

style

and

bias.

In

addition,

I

have

retained

the

attempts

at

rendering

regional

black

speech

dialects;

no

matter

how

inept

these

attempts

may

have

been,

they

are

evidence

of

a

matter

of

considerable

impor-

tancc:

the

tlevelopment

of

American

speech.

Moreover,

I

have

left

in

all

the

|'efe|'eiices

to

events

after

the

Civil

VVar

because

oral

xviii

/

INTRODUCTION

liislol‘y

records,

if

they

are

to

have

scholarly

use,

must

not

be

al-

tered.

They

are

documents

about

the

entire

life

of

the

individual

being

interviewed,

including

his

situation

at

the

time

interviewed.“

I

am

struck,

moreover,

by

the

fact

that

many

ex-slaves

clearly

did

not

distinguish

between

the

experience

under

slavery

and

that

after

abolition.

The

plantation

system

did

not

change

drastically

for

most

ex-slaves

after

the

end

of

slavery,

and

many

continued

to

live

and

work

on

the

same

plantations

where

they

formerly

had

been

slaves.

Indeed,

when

interviewed

in

the

1930s

some

were

still

living

on

the

same

plantation

or

very

near

to

it,

even

though

they

might

have

owned

the

portion

of

the

plantation

they

worked.

I

believe

that

evidence

of

this

important

continuity

between

slavery

and

freedom

must

be

made

available

if

we

are

to

understand

the

depths

of

the

system

of

American

racism."

Approximately

2

percent

of

the

total

ex-slave

population

in

the

United

States

in

1937

were

interviewed.

(There

is

room

for

a

con-

siderable

margin

of

error

in

this

ﬁgure,

based

as

it

is

on

estimates

derived

from

1930

census

ﬁgures.)1°

Almost

all

those

interviewed

had

experienced

slavery

within

the

states

of

the

Confederacy

and

still

resided

there;

very

few

had

been

freedmen

before

the

Civil

War.

The

slave

holdings

of

the

ex-slaves’

owners

varied

consider-

ably,

ranging

from

over

a

thousand

slaves

to

situations

in

which

the

informant

was

the

only

slave

owned

by

the

master.

However,

there

is

very

little

about

the

sample

that

is

random,

and

it

would

be

unwise

to

make

statistically

precise

calculations

about

the

material.

The

method

of

selection

of

the

ex-slaves

inter-

viewed

was

by

pure

happenstance,

which

not

only

does

not

assure

randomness,

but

introduces

self-selection

as

a

factor.

It

is

clear

from

the

interviews

themselves

that

very

often

the

ex-slaves

being

inter-

viewed

were

either

volunteers

or

were

known

previously

by

the

interviewer.

This

does

not

mean,

however,

that

there

is

no

use

for

these

mate-

rials,

particularly

if

methodologies

are

devised

to

utilize

them.

They

are

essentially

no

different

from

any

other

oral

history

collection

in

which

both

self-selection

and

selection

by

the

interviewer,

rather

than

randomness,

was

the

principle

of

selection.

If

we

carefully

avoid

drawing

conclusions

that

demand

precision

from

these

mate-

rials,

they

can

be

very

useful.

If

:1

collection

of

materials

not

readily

available

before

and

cer-

tainly

rarely

used

is

placed

before

the

public,

it

is

primarily

because

INTRODUCTION

/

xix

these

materials

can

become

the

basis

for

a

new

understanding

of

the

signiﬁcant

and

usable

past.

This

collection

of

slave

narratives

and

interviews

is

no

exception.

The

value

of

such

narratives

and

interviews

does

not

generally

lie

in

their

descriptions

of

great

histori-

eal

events.

While

we

might

learn

something

from

them

of

the

poli-

ties

of

the

antebellum

South,

of

the

economic

development

of

the

nation,

and

of

its

intellectual

life,

such

information

does

not

domi-

nate

these

works.

Instead,

they

reveal

the

day-to-day

life

of

people,

their

customs,

their

values,

their

ideas,

hopes,

aspirations,

and

fears.

We

can

derive

from

them

a

picture

of

slave

society

and

social

struc-

turc

and

of

the

interaction

between

black

and

white.

We

can

see

in

them

the

outlines

of

the

slave

community,

that

network

of

com-

munication

systems

whereby

people

were

enabled

to

live.

And

we

can

study

through

them

the

development

of

the

community.

From

these

materials

we

can

see

how

the

black

slave,

forced

to

abandon

his

African

past

and

its

institutions

and

to

adapt

himself

to

being

a

slave

under

white

masters

in

a

new

land,

formed

an

Afro—Ameri-

ean

way

of

life

that

combined

the

thought

patterns

of

the

African

heritage

with

the

social

forms

and

social

conditions

of

the

new

land.

Rather

than

becoming

“deculturized,”

the

slaves

used

what

they

brought

with

them

from

Africa

to

meet

the

new

conditions;

they

created

new

social

forms

and

behavior

patterns

which

syn-

eretized

African

and

New

World

elements

under

the

particular

conditions

of

slave

life

in

the

United

States.

In

the

narratives

we

can

ﬁnd

ways

of

understanding

and

dealing

with

the

slaves’

daily

accommodations

to

their

conditions

and,

as

well,

with

their

resis-

tances

and

rebellions.

We

can

learn

a

great

deal

about

the

treatment

of

the

slaves

and

the

consequences

of

such

treatment.

The

emphasis

throughout

this

work

will

be

on

the

creation

of

the

black

community

under

slavery,

a

process

which

largely

went

on

outside

of

work

relations.

Up

until

now

the

focus

in

the

discus-

sion

of

American

slavery

has

been

on

what

went

on

from

sunup

to

sundown.

It

is

hoped

that

this

work

will

shift

the

emphasis

to

the

full

life

of

the

slaves,

to

those

aspects

of

their

reality

in

which

they

had

greater

autonomy

than

at

work.

While

from

sunup

to

sundown

the

American

slave

worked

for

another

and

was

harshly

exploited,

from

sundown

to

sunup

he

lived

for

himself

and

created

the

behavioral

and

institutional

basis

which

prevented

him

from

becoming

the

absolute

victim.

Otir

task

is

primarily

sociological

and

ethnological.

Only

the

com-

l)llICtl

methods

of

historians,

sociologists,

and

anthropologists

can

xx

/

INTRODUCTION

lulp

its

develop

these

materials

in

ways

that

illuminate

black

Ameri-

tau

~.<

)('l(‘l

y,

community,

and

culture.

This

present

essay

is

a

ﬁrst

um-iupt

to

use

these

materials

in

this

way.

Its

primary

function

is

to

raise

questions,

to

make

what

will

eventually

probably

be

seen

as

crude

attempts

to

develop

an

appropriate

methodology

for

such

work,

and

to

present

a

general

outline

of

American

slave

so-

ciety,

community,

and

culture.

There

is

no

claim

that

what

will

be

presented

is

a

total

picture

of

slave

life

in

the

United

States.

Intellectual

life,

if

it

is

to

be

at

all

fruitful,

is

ultimately

a

collec-

tive

‘undertaking.

If

this

work

will

act

as

a

catalyst

in

the

develop-

ment

of

a

social

history

of

the

American

people,

then

its

writing

and

publication

will

be

warranted,

even

if

many

or

most

of

its

speciﬁc

conclusions

will

be

rejected

or

modiﬁed

by

future

work.

Consequently,

at

times

I

have

offered

interpretations

that

go

far

beyond

the

data

immediately

available.

I

hope

others

will

be

encour-

aged

to

challenge,

modify,

or

further

these

views.

Only

in

this

way

will

we

begin

to

get

a

history

of

the

American

people

that

gives

us

a

sense

of

life

as

it

was

lived

from

the

bottom

up.

Notes

1.

Peter

Chew,

“Black

History

or

Black

Mythology,”

American

Heritage

20

(August

1969):7.

z.

See

the

bibliography

of

primary

sources

of

this

book.

There

have

been

many

recent

reprints

of

some

of

these

narratives,

but

the

bulk

of

them

have

not

been

reprinted.

There

are

two

works

which

rely

exclusively

on

the

printed

slave

narratives

for

their

accounts

of

slavery.

For

a

very

useful,

straightforward

account

based

on

the

published

slave

narratives,

see

Charles

Nichols,

Many

Thousands

Gone:

The

Ex-slaves’

Account

of

Their

Bondage

and

Freedom.

For

a

well-meaning

but

patronizing

and

pedestrian

utilization

of

the

narratives,

see

Stanley

Feldstein,

Once

a

Slave:

T

e

Slaves’

View

of

Slavery

(New

York,

1971).

3.

The

series

which

this

volume

introduces

will

contain

at

least

two

collections:

the

narratives

of

the

ex-slaves

interviewed

by.

the

Federal

Writers’

Project

of

the

WPA

in

the

mid—193os

and

the

two

volumes

of

interviews

collected

at

Fisk

University

in

the

19zos

and

published

in

mimeographed

form

in

1945.

Other

similar

material

may

eventually

be

added.

4.

Richard

Hildreth,

Archy

Moore,

The

White

Slave:

or

Memoirs

of

a

Fugitive.

Charles

Nichols,

in

Many

Thousands

Gone,

p.

xiii,

writes

of

a

book

edited

by

the

poet

Whittier:

The

Narrative

of

Iamer

Williams,

An

American

Slave

Who

Was

For

Several

Years

a

Driver

on

a

Cotton

Plantation

in

Alabama

was

dictated

to

John

Greenleaf

Whittier

and

published

by

the

American

Antislavery

Society

in

1838.

A

short

time

after

the

narrative

appeared,

the

editor

of

The

Alabama

Beacon

asserted

that

no

such

plantation

or

planter

as

Williams

mentioned

was

to

be

found

anywhere

in

Alabama.

It

was

then

rumoured

INTRODUCTION

/

xxi

that

Whittier

had

been

hoodwinked

by

a

free

Negro

pretending

to

be

a

fugitive

slave.

By

the

time

of

the

exposé,

James

Williams

had

gone

to

England,

and

the

Antislavery

Society

suppressed

the

book.

5.

These

narratives

will

be

referred

to

throughout

as

Federal

Writers’

Project,

Slave

Narratives,

A

Folk

History

of

Slavery

in

the

United

States

from

Interviews

with

Former

Slaves.

In

abbreviated

form

it

will

be

FWPSN,

followed

by

the

state

in

which

the

ex-slave

lived.

6.

John

B.

Cade,

“Out

of

the

Mouths

of

Ex-Slaves,”

The

]ourna'l

of

Negro

History

zo

(1935):z94-337.

7.

See

Norman

R.

Yetman,

ed.,

Voices

from

Slavery,

pp.

344-346.

8.

Only

the

state

of

Louisiana

did

not

participate

directly

in

this

project.

However,

somewhat

later,

narratives

were

collected

in

Louisiana,

which

were

employed

in

the

writing

of

Louisiana

Writers

Project,

Gumbo

Ya—Ya.

The

records

of

the

Virginia

project

were

used

in

the

writing

of

Virginia

Writers’

Project,

The

Negro

in

Virginia

(New

York,

1940).

9.

Yetman,

ed.,

Voices

from

Slavery,

pp.

350-351.

10.

See

Norman

Yetman,

“The

Background

of

the

Slave

Narrative

Collec-

tion,”

American

Quarterly

19

(1967):534-553

and

Yetman,

ed.,

Voices

from

$hw@ry,

PP-

339-355-

11.

B.

A.

Botkin,

ed.,

Lay

My

Burden

Down.

12.

Julius

Lester,

ed.,

To

Be

a

Slave.

13.

Yetman,

ed.,

Voices

from

Slavery,

p.

3

50.

14.

The

slave

narratives

written

during

the

1930s

contain

many

interesting

reﬂections

on

black

life

during

Reconstruction

and

in

the

years

of

the

Great

Depression

of

the

1930s.

15.

See

Chapter

7

of

this

book.

16.

Yetman,

ed.,

Voices

from

Slavery,

p.

z.

meant

I

—————

TIIE

SOCIOLOGY

OE

SLAVERY

IN

TI-IE

UNITED

STATES

MASTER

AND

SLAVE

American

Negro

slavery

was

a

human

institution,

albeit

an

exceed-

ingly

inhumane

one.

Yet

rarely

has

the

discussion

of

slavery

in

North

America

proceeded

from

this

premise.

Rather,

almost

all

historians

have

presented

the

black

slaves

as

dehumanized

victims,

without

culture,

history,

community,

change,

or

development.

This

assumption

that

the

slave

was

a

total

victim

is

at

its

heart

elitist

and

untenable.

What

ﬂows

from

it

is

the

view

that

the

slave

could

not

help

himself

because

he

had

no

culture,

history,

com-

munity,

or

opportunity

for

change

and

development

and

that,

conse-

quently,

he

had

to

be

liberated

by

those

whose

history

had

fortu-

nately

left

them

intact

and

thus

in

human

terms

better

equipped

to

help

him.

But

if

the

slave

had

a

history,

then

his

behavior

changed

over

time

as

he

learned

from

the

past

and

met

new

experiences.

Men,

however,

do

not

move

in

their

own

behalf

or

make

revolutions

for

light

and

transient

reasons.

Only

when

they

no

longer

can

stand

the

contradictions

in

their

own

personalities

do

they

move

in

a

sharp

and

decisive

fashion.

The

victim

is

always

in

the

process

of

becoming

the

rebel,

because

the

contradictions

demand

this

resolution.

As

the

German

philosopher

Hegel

understood

in

the

famous

pas-

sage

on

master

and

slave

in

The

Phenomenology

of

Mind,

the

slave

lights

against

the

master

by

wrestling

with

his

own

internal

con-

lliets.

The

will

of

the

master

and

the

will

of

the

slave

both

appear

as

a

contratliction

\vithin

the

slave.‘

3

4

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

We

can

see

this

process

working

in

many

accounts

left

by

ex-

slaves

telling

of

their

ﬂight

from

slavery.

Even

when

writing

their

stories

as

abolitionist

propaganda,

they

indicate

their

fears,

self-

doubts,

even

guilt,

about

running

away.

The

greatest

of

all

abolition-

ist

leaders,

the

ex-slave

Frederick

Douglass,

indicates

this

am-

bivalence

in

his

autobiography,

Narrative

of

the

Life

of

Frederick

Douglass:

An

American

Slave.

“Slaves,”

he

writes,

“when

inquired

of

as

to

their

condition

and

the

character

of

their

masters,

almost

universally

say

they

are

contented,

and

that

their

masters

are

kind.”2

After

attributing

this

in

part

to

the

fear

of

the

presence

of

spies,

he

goes

on

to

indicate

an

even

more

profound

reason:

I

have

been

frequently

asked,

when

a

slave,

if

I

had

a

kind

master,

and

do

not

remember

ever

to

have

given

a

negative

answer;

nor

did

I,

in

pursuing

this

course,

consider

myself

as

uttering

what

was

absolutely

false;

for

I

always

measured

the

kindness

of

my

master

by

the

standard

of

kindness

set

up

among

slaveholders

around

us.

Moreover,

slaves

are

like

other

people,

and

imbibe

prejudices

quite

common

to

others.

They

think

their

own

better

than

that

of

others.

Many,

under

the

inﬂuence

of

this

prejudice,

think

their

own

masters

are

better

than

the

masters

of

other

slaves;

and

this,

too

in

some

cases,

when

the

very

reverse

is

true.

Indeed,

it

is

not

uncommon

for

slaves

even

to

fall

out

and

quarrel

among

themselves

about

the

relative

goodness

of

their

masters,

each

contending

for

the

superior

goodness

of

his

own

over

that

of

the

others.

At

the

very

same

time,

they

mutually

execrate

their

masters

when

viewed

separately.

It

was

so

on

our

plantation.

When

Colonel

Lloyd’s

slaves

met

the

slaves

of

Jacob

Jepson,

they

seldom

parted

without

a

quarrel

about

their

masters;

Colonel

Lloyd’s

slaves

contending

that

he

was

the

richest,

and

Mr.

Jepson’s

slaves

that

he

was

the

smartest,

and

most

of

a

man.

Colonel

Lloyd’s

slaves

would

boast

his

ability

to

buy

and

sell

Jacob

Jepson.

Mr.

Jepson’s

slaves

would

boast

his

ability

to

whip

Colonel

Lloyd.

These

quarrels

would

almost

always

end

in

a

ﬁght

between

the

parties,

and

those

that

whipped

were

supposed

to

have

gained

the

point

at

issue.

They

seemed

to

think

that

the

greatness

of

their

masters

was

transferable

to

themselves.

It

was

con-

sidered

as

being

bad

enough

to

be

a

slave;

but

to

be

a

poor

man's

slave

was

deemed

a

disgrace

indeed.’

Most

of

Douglass’

book

deals

with

the

years

of

preparation

that

he

went

through

in

order

to

be

ready

to

run

away.

At

all

times

MASTER

AND

SLAVE

/

5

he

was

unsure

of

himself.

Even

after

making

his

way

to

freedom

in

New

York

City

he

reports

that

shortly

after

arriving

there,

.

. .

I

was

again

seized

with

a

feeling

of

great

insecurity

and

loneli-

ness.

I

was

yet

liable

to

be

taken

back,

and

subjected

to

all

the

tortures

of

slavery.

This

in

itself

was

enough

to

damp

the

ardor

of

my

enthusiasm.

But

the

loneliness

overcame

me.

There

I

was

in

the

midst

of

thousands,

and

yet

a

perfect

stranger;

without

home

and

without

friends,

in

the

midst

of

thousands

of

my

own

brethren-

children

of

a

common

Father,

and

yet

I

dared

not

to

unfold

to

any

one

of

them

my

sad

condition.‘

Douglass

felt

all

of

this

probably

even

more

keenly

because

in

fact

he

never

had had

a

home.

His

father

had

been

a

plantation

owner

with

whom

he

had

no

relationship

and

he

had

seen

his

mother

four

or

ﬁve

times

since

infancy.

Nevertheless,

the

ex-slave

Fred-

erick

Douglass,

without

either

mother

or

father,

became

a

powerful,

influential

leader

in

the

struggle

against

slavery.

But

Douglass’

achievement

must

be

set

into

the

context

that

while

tens

of

thousands

of

other

slaves,

in

tribute

to

human

courage,

did

indeed

follow

the

North

Star

to

New

England,

the

upper

Mid-

west,

and

Canada,

many

thousands

more

either

failed

in

their

at-

tempts

to

escape

or

never

made

the

effort.

After

having

examined

the

situation

and

themselves,

many

decided

not

to

go.

For

thousands

of

others

the

thought

of

ﬂight

was

more

than

could

even

be

entertained.

Running

away

from

slavery

was

objectively

diﬂicult.

It

entailed

a

journey

of

hundreds,

even

a

thousand

miles

from

the

Deep

South,

on

foot,

with

only

the

food

one

managed

to

get

from

the

land,

or

an

occasional

slave,

under

circumstances

in

which

virtually

every

white

man,

and

even

an

occasional

black,

was

a

potential

captor.

l'he

patrol

system

operated

throughout

the

South

and

the

patrollers

atitl

their

bloodhounds

were

in

fact

in

pursuit

of

runaways.

Harriet

llet‘clicI'

Stowe’s

portrayal

of

a

slave

runaway

in

Uncle

Tom’s

Cabin

was

not

particularly

exaggerated,

although

not

as

interesting

as

-aories

of

the

hundreds

of

real

runaways

recorded

in

the

slave

auto-

l»iogt';ipliies

and

narratives.

\Ve

get

a

picture

of

the

magnitude

of

the

task

involved

in

running

away

in

the

autobiographical

account

of

Solomon

Northrup.

North-

tup,

born

a

free

man

in

New

York

State,

was

kidnapped

and

spent

twelve

years

as

a

slave,

almost

all

of

the

time

in

a

relatively

primi-

6

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

tive,

inaccessible

area

of

the

frontier

territory

of

western

Louisiana

In

his

volume

Twelve

Years

a

Slave

he

tells

us

that

he

made

only

one

effort

to

escape

and

that that

effort

demonstrated

to

him

that

such

an

attempt

was

fruitless?

The

obstacles

that

the

slaves

had

to

overcome

in

making

their

way

across

the

many

miles

to

freedom

were

too

great

for

most,

particularly

since

these

obstacles

were

both

subjective

and

objective.

Convinced

of

their

desire

to

be

free,

they

were

nevertheless

afraid

of

the

consequences

of

reaching

freedom.

After

all,

when

individuals

change

the

conditions

of

their

lives,

they

do

not

totally

eradicate

the

residues

which

the

past

has

left

on

their

personalities.

A

slave

must

inevitably

make

some

adjustment

to

his

situation,

an

adjust-

ment

which

must

include

some

view

that

the

condition

of

being

a

slave

is

the

normal

one

for

people

such

as

himself.

The

mark

that

necessary

adjustment

left

on

Frederick

Douglass

was

not

the

sense

of

being

childlike

but

the

much

more

poignant

sense

of

being

“lonely”

when

ﬁnding

himself

ﬁnally

free.

Culture

and

personality

are

not

like

old

clothes

that

can

be

taken

off

and

thrown

away.

The

ability

of

anyone

to

learn

even

the

simplest

thing

is

dependent

upon

utilizing

the

existing

cultural

ap-

paratus.

“New”

cultures

emerge

out

of

older

cultures

gradually

and

never

completely

lose

all

the

traces

of

the

old

and

the

past.

Human

society

is

a

cumulative

process

in

which

the

past

is

never

totally

obliterated.

Even

revolutions

do

not

destroy

the

past.

Indeed,

at

their

best,

they

liberate

that

which

is

alive

from

that

which

stiﬁes

human

progress,

growth,

and

development.

Culture

is

a

his-

torical

reality,

not

an

ahistorieal,

static

abstraction.

Thus,

the

process

whereby

the

African

in

the

New

World

changed

in

order

to

meet

his

new

environment

was

dependent

upon

his

African

culture.

While

it

is

certainly

true

that

the

African

under

American

slavery

changed,

he

did

so

in

ways

that

were

recognizably

African.

Coming

for

the

most

part

from

West

Africa,

these

people,

who

had

been

stolen

or

captured

and

taken

from

their

homes,

brought

virtually

notlaing

with

them

except

themselves.

Coming

from

a

large

area

of

West

Africa

which

was

subdivided

among

dozens

of

distinct

peoples,

each

with

their

distinct

customs

and

religions,

but

united

by

a

long

period

of

continual

interaction

and

consequent

cultural

borrowing,

they

were

jumbled

together

on

board

the

slave

ships,

“seasoned”

by

the

“middle

passage”

across

the

Atlantic

and

then

“seasoned”

again

in

their

ﬁrst

years

in

the

New

World.

As

slaves,

not

only

were

they

prevented

from

bringing

material

objects

with

MASTER

AND

SLAVE

/

7

them,

but

they

also

could

not

even

bring

over

their

older

social

relations

or

institutions.

Such

was

not

the

case

with

the

Europeans.

They

brought

their

churches

with

them.

They

brought

their

own

foods

with

them

and

could

continue

to

get

supplies

of

speciﬁc

items

from

the

old

country

if

need

be.

They

brought

their

own

dress

with

them

and

could

choose

to

wear

it

or

abandon

it

as

they

saw

ﬁt.

They

brought

their

own

marriage

customs,

their

own

rites

of

passage,

their

own

kinship

system.

The

Europeans

preserved

their

old

customs

for

as

long

as

they

were

needed

and

gradually

modiﬁed

them

as

they

moved

into

the

main

society.

While

some

met

opposition

for

being

foreigners,

they

were

not

stripped

of

their

foreignness

overnight.

But

the

African

slaves

could

do

none

of

this.

Overnight

they

were

transformed

from

merchants,

or

Arabic

scholars,

or

craftsmen,

or

peasant

farmers,

or

cattle-tenders

into

American

slaves.

They

ate

what

they

were

given,

not

what

they

wanted.

They

dressed

in

the

clothes

that

were

given

them,

not

those

they

had

known

in

the

past.

African

women

were

removed

from

a

stable

social

order

which

gave

them

a

speciﬁc

place

and

function,

which

protected

them

with

a

traditional

morality—and

indeed

exploited

them

in

a

traditional

way—and

made

commodities,

unprotected

by

a

tradi-

tional

morality,

without

speciﬁc

places

and

functions,

sexually

ex-

ploited

by

the

master

and

even

deprived

of

a

full

relationship

with

their

children.

The

Africans

had

to

give

up

their

own

languages

and

learn

to

express

themselves

through

other

media

of

communication.

They

had

to

give

up

their

old

kinship

systems

and

create

new

ones.

They

had

to

give

up

almost

all

of

their

culture

and

become

American

slaves.

That

was

demanded

of

them.

But

on

the

other

side,

the

slave

could

not

really

do

any

of

these

things,

for

he

brought

with

him

his

past.

He

brought

with

him

the

content

of

his

mind,

his

memory;

ltc

recognized

as

socially

signiﬁcant

that

which

he

had been

taught

from

childhood

to

see

and

comprehend

as

signiﬁcant;

he

gestured,

laughed,

cried,

and

used

his

facial

muscles

in

ways

that

he

had

It-arncd

as

a

child.

He

valued

that

which

his

previous

life

had

taught

him

to

value;

he

feared

that

which

he

had

feared

in

Africa;

his

very

motions

were

those

of

his

people

and

he

passed

all

of

this

on

to

his

children.

lle

faced

this

contradictory

situation

in

a

context

which

was

complicated

by

the

fact

that

while

there

were

many

similarities

8

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

among

West

African

peoples,

there

were

also

many

differences.

Each

people

had

its

own

language,

history,

technology,

and

so

forth.

Moreover,

in

the

United

States

(unlike

the

Caribbean),

no

single

group

dominated

the

slave

market

for

any

signiﬁcant

period.

Slaves

in

the

United

States

had

come

from

many

different

African

cultures.

They

were

thus

faced

with

the

difﬁcult

task

of

adjusting

not

only

to

their

new

environment

and

their

new

social

relationships,

but

also

to

each

other;

they

had

as

well

to

build

a

culture

out

of

the

interactions

of

Africans

with

other

Africans.

Therefore,

while

all

Africans

were

slaves

and

slaves

were

supposed

to

act

in

a

speciﬁc

way,

none

knew

what

this

way

was.

There

was

no

model

to

follow,

only

one

to

build.

How

was

this

contradiction

between

the

denial

of

the

right

and

ability

of

the

slave

from

Africa

to

act

out

the

content

of

his

mind

and

memory

and

the

fact

that

he

had

to

do

this

resolved?

What

were

the

new

forms

created

in

the

context

of

American

slavery?

Out

of

the

interaction

of

the

men

and

women

who

carried

a

varied

African

heritage

in their

minds

and

memories

along

with

the

environment

of

a

harsh

plantation

system

based

on

slave

labor,

there

emerged

over

time

an

independent

black

community.

It

showed

the

marks

of

the

African

experience

while

at

the

same

time

being

insistently

American.

This

community

took

its

form

in

the

slave

quarters

of

the

planta-

tions,

among

the

dispersed

but

large

numbers

of

slaves

who

lived

on

small

farms

and

plantations

and

in

the

back

alleys

of

the

cities.

It

developed

its

own

church,

one

designed

to

meet

the

needs

of

slaves

and

Afro-American

freedmen

in

the

New

World.

It

had

its

own

value

system,

reﬂective

of

the

attitudes

of

African

country-

men,

but

modiﬁed

by

contact

with

and

the

need

to

live

with

those

of

European

origin.

It

employed

modes

of

communication

which,

whatever

their

particular

origins

and

forms,

were

neither

African

languages

nor

the

same

languages

spoken

by

Europeans

in

their

own

eountries—but

new

and

different.‘

It

had

its

own

class

system

based

on

the

division

of

labor

on

the

plantation.

It

even

had

its

own

subordinate

economic

structure

and

activities

and

its

own

po-

litical

system.

People

take

what

they

have

and

adapt

and

transform

it

to

meet

new

ecological

and

social

circumstances.

The

process

involves

choice,

the

adoption

of

tactics

and

strategies,

although

it

must

be

emphasized

that

communities

of

people

“adopt”

such

tactics

and

strategies

by

processes

not

primarily

conscious.

Analysis

must

both

MASTER

AND

stave

/

9

look

backward

to

the

complex

sources

of

these

responses

to

life

and

concrete

circumstance

and

forward

to

the

continuing

manifesta-

tions

of

people

adapting

and

changing

in

order

to

survive

and

im-

prove

their

lives.

This

stress

on

tactics

and

strategies

helps

insure

that

we

do

not

proceed

to

a

view

of

slavery

as

a

“totalitarian”

society.

Stanley

lﬁlkins

has

argued

that

not

only

was

slavery

a

totalitarian

society,

it

was

analogous

to

a

concentration

camp.

In

such

a

total

institution

the

inmate

has

no

living

room

within

which

to

maneuver.

There

is

something

questionable

about

this

view

as

an

adequate

understand-

ing

of

the

concentration

camp.

As

a

view

of

a

whole

society,

it

is

inadequate

and

will

not

meet

the

test

of

empirical

veriﬁcation.

After

all,

concentration

camps,

unlike

plantations,

could

not

be

set-

tings

for

enculturation,

since

successive

generations

did

not

grow

up

in

them.’

We

shall

view

slavery

as

an

ongoing

social

institution

in

a

develop-

ing

and

relatively

open

society

in

which

a

rough

democracy

and

cgalitarianism

prevailed

for

the

whites.

In

such

a

society

there

was

room

for

maneuver,

for

tactics

and

strategies,

for

blacks

as

well

as

for

whites.

The

conditions

under

which

blacks

lived

were,

of

course,

different

from

those

of

whites,

but

this

did

not

mean

that

blacks

were

totally

denied

social

space

within

which

to

struggle

to

meet

the

natural

and

social

environment.

To

reject

the

thesis

of

the

slave

as

absolute

victim,

the

slave

as

infantilized,

slave

society

as

totalitarian,

and

the

plantation

as

a

concentration

camp,

and

to

assert

that

there

was

room

for

maneuver

is

to

argue

that

the

slaves

were

not

totally

isolated.

They

Were,

in

fact,

in

constant

communication

with

free

men,

black

and

white;

they

were

involved

in

constant

interaction

with

masters

and

their

families,

with

overseers,

with

poor

whites,

with

white

merchants,

artisans,

professionals,

and

laborers.

The

slave

community

was

daily

influenced

by

the

white

community.

It

was

actively

confronting

the

white

world.

For

example,

while

slaves

were

often

deliberately

int-tlicient,

it

is

also

true

that

they

took

pleasure

and

pride

in

acquir-

ing

new

technical

skills

as

they

came

into

contact

with

a

new

technology.

Above

all

the

slave

community

was

making

itself.

The

patterns

of

communication

set

up

by

the

daily

and

nightly

exchanges

of

t'onvcrs:1ti()n,

social

activities,

and

fellowship

were

the

most

signiﬁ-

cant

events

that

happened

to

the

slave.

The

slave

community

was

ultimately

more

important

to

the

slaves

than

the

nuclear

family,

I0

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

because

while

the

family

could

be—and

was—regularly

broken

up,

the

individual

slave

could

be

taken

to

another

plantation

hundreds

of

miles

away

and

become

part

of

another

community

where

he

knew

how

to

behave

and

where

he

would

be

accepted.

This

reality

of

community

was

the

major

adaptive

process

for

the

black

man

in

America.

But

more

than that,

the

white

community

was

inﬂuenced

by

the

slaves

through

both

imitation

and

reaction

to

the

slaves’

tactics

and

strategies.

Not

only

did

the

slave

community

make

itself,

it

also

directly

and

indirectly

helped

make

the

white

world.

The

South

was

one

single

social

system,

one

single

society,

with

two

communities,

one

white

and one

black.

To

assume

that

the

slaves

“borrowed”

from

and

were

inﬂuenced

by

the

masters’

be-

havior,

but

that

the

masters’

actions

were

not

in

turn

also

related

to

that

of

the

slaves,

is

to

argue

that

there

was

no

symbiotic

relation-

ship

between

the

two

communities

and

that

there

was

no

response

to

the

slaves’

struggles.

What

were

the

possible

strategies

of

the

American

slaves?

They

could

have

worked

as

hard

as

required,

disciplined

them-

selves

to

accept

the

conditions

of

slavery,

and

lived

out

their

lives,

ﬁnding

as

much

satisfaction

as

they

could

in

the

routines

of

daily

life.

They

could

have

accepted

their

lot

as

slaves

in

this

world

and,

by

having

hope

in

another

world

to

come

and

acting

this

out

in

religious

practices,

given

themselves

the

necessary

inner

strength

to

meet

the

problems

each

day

brought.

They

could

have

presented

a

collectively

contented

face

to

the

master

class

while

individuals

could

and

would

get

out

of

line

and

behave

violently

toward

their

oppressors.

They

could

have

thought

of

themselves

as

inferior

beings

and

accepted

their

lot,

gaining

as

much

satisfaction

as

possible

from

emulating

and

serving

the

master

class.

They

could

have

done

their

work

but

at

the

same

time

struggled

through

strikes

and

sabotage,

actions

which

required

some

common

community

and

some

prior

discussion

among

groups

of

slaves.

They

could

have

supported

individual

acts

of

rebellion

by

pro-

tecting

those

of

their

number

who

acted

violently

toward

a

member

of

the

master

class

or

his

agent,

or

who

ran

away

and

hid,

or

who

tried

to

make

it

to

freedom.

They

could

have

supported

the

actions

of

those

who

ran

off

MASTER

AND

SLAVE

/

11

into

the

woods

or

swamps

and

created

communities

or

joined

Indian

groups.

They

could

have

spent

a

great

deal

of

time

and

social

energy

in

adapting

the

West

African

cultures

that

they

brought

with

them

to

meeting

the

new

conditions

of

the

United

States.

They

could

have

become

revolutionaries,

while

waiting

for

the

right

time

to

strike.

And

above

and

through

all

of

these

possible

approaches

was

the

ever-present,

ever

self-creating

and

-renewing

strategy

of

building

the

slave

community.

The

individual

slave

was

never

alone

except

when

he

ran

away,

and

even

then

he

often

went

from

one

com-

munity

of

slaves

to

the

next,

aided

in

his

ﬂight

by

his

fellow

slaves

united

into

communities

by

the

processes

of

slave

production.

The

slaves

could

have

chosen

any

of

these

strategies.

In

fact

they

chose

all

of

them

and

they

all

were

interrelated.

If

any

of

these

approaches

had

been

abandoned,

major

transformations

in

the

other

strategies

would

have

become

necessary.

This

was

the

set

of

choices

that

faced

an

entire

community

and

it

was

this

total

situation

that

dictated

the

context

in

which

the

community

func-

tioned,

although

certain

individuals

were

socially

specialized

in

particular

approaches.

In

order

to

understand

this

we

have

to

view

black

slaves

in

America

as

people

whose

ancestors

had

come

from

somewhere,

who

in

the

American

South

lived

in

a

particular

kind

of

environment

and

social

system,

who

out

of

the

past

and

present—a

present

in

which

the

majority

of

the

population

were

of

European

ancestry-

wove

a

future._Black

slaves

were

descendants

of

West

Africans;

they

were

ﬁeld-hands

or

house

slaves

or

urban

slaves

in

the

Ameri-

can

South’s

slave

social

system,

one

which

was

embedded

in

the

matrix

of

world

capitalism,

despite

the

fact

that

slavery

as

a

mode

of

production

was

itself

different

from

capitalism.”

And

the

slaves

were

to

become

free

men

as

a

result

of

struggles

in

which

they

themselves

played

important

roles.

The

slaves

labored

from

sunup

to

sundown

and

sometimes

be-

yond.

This

labor

dominated

part

of

their

existence—but

only

part.

Under

slavery,

as

under

any

other

social

system,

those

at

the

bottom

of

the

society

were

not

totally

dominated

by

the

master

class.

They

found

ways

of

alleviating

the

worst

of

the

system

and

at

times

of

dominating

the

masters.

They

built

their

own

community

out

of

materials

taken

from

the

African

past

and

the

American

present,

with

the

values

and

memories

of

Africa

giving

meaning

and

direc-

I2

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

tion

to

the

new

creation.

They

lived

and

loved

from

sundown

to

sunup.

Notes

1.

G.

W.

F.

Hegel,

The

Phenomenology

of

Mind

(London,

1910),

I:

183ﬁ.

2.

Frederick

Douglass,

Narrative

of

the

Life

of

Frederick

Douglass,

An

American

Slave,

p.

2o.

3.

Ibid.,

pp.

20-21.

4.

Ibid.,

p.

106.

5.

Solomon

Northrup,

Twelve

Years

a

Slave,

pp.

101-107.

See

p.

183

of

the

Northup

volume

for

the

following

interesting

statement:

There

was

not

a

day

throughout

the

ten

years

I

belonged

to

Epps

that

I

did

not

consult

with

myself

upon

the

project

of

escape.

I

laid

many

plans,

which

at

the

time

I

considered

excellent

ones

but

one

after

the

other

they

were

all

abandoned.

No

man

who

has

never

been

placed

in

such

a

situation,

can

comprehend

the

thousand

obstacles

thrown

in

the

way

of

the

ﬂying

slave.

Every

white

man's

hand

is

raised

against

him-—the

patrollers

are

watching

for

him—the

hounds

are

ready

to

follow

in

his

tracks,

and

the

nature

of

the

country

is

such

as

renders

it

impossible

to

pass

through

it

with

any

safety.

6.

Of

these

languages,

Sidney

W.

Mintz

has

written:

Each

slaving

expedition

brought

together

by

force

captives

from

one

or

more

linguistic

and

cultural

community;

by

the

time

such

captives

were

transported

and

sold,

they

normally

entered

slave

groups

in

the

New

World

that

were

very

heterogeneous

in

ancestral

culture

and

in

language.

Thus,

New

World

slavery

created,

among

other

things,

a

kind

of

Babel,

within

which

the

slaves

had

to

discover

how

to

understand,

and

how

to

be

understood—in

short,

how

to

communicate

symbolically,

in

the

distinctive

fashion

of

the

human

species

and

no

other.

The

problem

of

discovering

how

to

communicate,

as

expressed

in

the

development

of

new

linguistic

forms,

was

also

a

problem

in

rediscovering

oneself

.

.

.

.

We

know

far

too

little

about

the

process

by

which

such

creole

lan-

guages

emerged,

but

there

is

no

doubt

that

these

processes

involved

an

expansion

of

each

such

language,

and

an

enrichment

of

its

sphere

of

ex-

pression,

to

make

it

adequate

to

everyday

needs.

It

matters

little,

from

one

point

of

view,

whether

the

origins

of

the

lexicon,

the

morphology,

the

phonology

and

the

syntax

were

European

or

African;

for

the

pro-

cesses

involved

were

set

in

motion

by

the

slaves

themselves,

and

the

lan-

guages

were

distinctively

their

own,

though

they

sometimes

came

to

be

important

media

of

communication,

even

for

the

master

class

. . .

.

Yet

creole

languages

are

surely

one

of

the

most

signiﬁcant

cultural

achieve-

ments

of

transplanted

Africans,

attesting

both

to

the

resourcefulness

and

creative

genius

of

the

slaves,

and

to

the

capacity

of

language

systems

to

expand

as

necessary.

Sidney

W.

Mintz,

“Toward

An

Afro-American

History,”

Iournal

of

World

History

13

(i971):323,

325-326.

_

_

7.

Stanley

Elkins,

Slavery

(Chicago,

1958),

pp.

103-133.

While

Elkms

indicates

that

he

is

aware

that

the

analogy

between

the

Nazi

concentration

MASTER

AND

stave

/

13

camps

and

North

American

slavery

was

not

precise

and

must

be

taken

as

suggestive

rather

than

deﬁnitive,

nevertheless

the

essential

point

that

comes

through

is

that

the

two

“total

institutions”

had,

in

Elkins’

view,

virtually

identical

impact

upon

the

personalities

of

their

respective

inmates.

8.

See

Eugene

Genovese,

The

Political

Economy

of

Slavery,

and

his

The

World

the

Slaveholders

Made,

for

the

development

of

an

analysis

that

sees

North

American

slavery

as

a

noncapitalist

social

system

embedded

in

the

market

relations

of

world

capitalism.

Karl

Marx

accurately

described

the

capitalist

epoch

as

one

characterized

by

the

fact

that

“labour-power

takes

in

the

eyes

of

the

labourer

himself

the

form

of

a

commodity

which

is

his

property;

his

labour

consequently

becomes

wage

labour.”

Karl

Marx,

Capital

1:189.

However,

while

New

World

slavery

was

fundamentally

not

a

form

of

capitalism

itself,

it

is

also

clear

that

New

World

slavery

was

an

essential

part

of

the

process

of

the

emergence

of

modern

capitalism.

See

Marx,

Capital,

1:260,

and

Eric

Williams,

Capitalism

and

Slavery,

passim.

It

must

be

understood,

however,

that

the

degree

to

which

slavery

in

the

New

World

was

embedded

within

the

development

of

world

capitalism

varied

over

time

and

from

place

to

place,

and

such

differences

had

great

consequences

for

the

slaves.

For

example,

Franklin

W.

Knight

in

his

masterful

Slave

Society

in

Cuba

During

the

Nineteenth

Century

presents

a

view

of

a

particular

slavery

system

in

the

nineteenth

century

that

was

more

imbedded

in

world

capitalist

market

relations

than

virtually

any

other.

THE

ROLE

OF

AFRICA

IN

THE

MAKING

OF

THE

AMERICAN

BLACK

PEOPLE

If

we

are

to

understand

the

development

of

Afro-American

culture

and

community,

then

we

must

have

some

understanding

of

the

role

the

African

experience

played

in

the

making

of

the

American

black

people.

To

do

this,

we

need

some

adequate

understanding

of

certain

aspects

of

West

African

history,

for

it

was

out

of

West

Africa

that

most

of

the

slaves

that

were

brought

to

North

America

came.

This

task

is

important

particularly

because

the

heritage

of

racism

has

nowhere

more

obscured

reality

than

in

this

area

of

an

image

of

the

African

past.

While

there

is

no

need

to

argue

that

Afro-American

behavior

was

“African,”

we

must

have

some

con-

cept

of

a

base

line

in

order

to

comprehend

the

processes

of

change

and

adaptation

that

the

slaves

went

through

in

the

New

World.

While

there

were

crucial

and

major

differences

between

Euro-

pean

and

African

social

structure

and

development

both

before

the

beginning

of

the

Atlantic

slave

trade

and

after,

there

were

certain

similarities

which

are

important

to

an

understanding

of

the

history

of

racism

and

slavery.

For rural

people

in

both

Europe

and

Africa

the

pace

of

life

was

quite

similar—and,

of

course,

most

people

on

both

continents

were

country

folk.

Farming

and

grazing

methods

had

not

appreciably

changed

for

thousands

of

years.

Men

smelted

ore

and

worked

iron

with

similar

methods

and

tools.

West

African

and

European

storytellers

tapped

similar

and

related

folk

sources

for

their

themes.

The

forces

of

the

universe

were

invoked

by

similar

charms

and

spells.

There

was

a

thin

veneer

of

literacy,

I4

"1111;

ROLE

or

AFRICA

/

15

in

Latin

in

Europe

and

in

Arabic

in

West

Africa,

but

all

but

a

small

number

of

religious

specialists

were

illiterate.

But

while

many

useful

parallels

can

be

drawn

between

West

European

and

West

African

development,

we

must

not

exaggerate

the

similarities.

European

achievements

cannot

become

the

yardstick

with

which

to

measure

African

achievements.

As

the

Guyanese

historian

Walter

Rodney

has

indicated,

we

must

reject

the

view

that

the

main

criterion

to

be

used

when

judging

on

a

comparative

basis

the

success

of

societies

should

be

“the

ability

to

bring

together

millions

in

a

single

political

unit.”1

There

is

little

reason

to

believe

that

in

the

ﬁfteenth

century

West

/\frica

was

necessarily

developing

analogous

social

institutions

to

those

out

of

which

European

capitalism

developed.

Indeed,

the

social

structures

of

West

Africa

at

the

beginning

of

the

slave

trade

were

quite

different

from

those

present

in

European

society

at

the

same

time.

For

example,

West

African

servility

was

very

different

from

both

American

chattel

slavery

and

European

feudal

serfdom.

It

was

part

of

distinctly

West

African

systems

of

social

relations.

There

were

certain

spheres

of

life

in

which

West

Africans

had

achieved

much

that

contributed

to

meeting

human

needs

and

aspira-

tions.

The

development

of

the

social

self,

the

creation

of

a

rich,

popular

expression

in

music,

dance,

and

the

plastic

arts,

the

develop-

ment

of

life

styles

and

resources

that

released

potentialities

of

people

at

every

age

and

stage

of

life,

the

elaboration

of

the

customs

and

arts

of

hospitality,

the

humane

treatment

of

the

aged

and

the

devel-

opment

of

meaningful

roles

for

them,

and

the

creation

of

elaborate

legal

codes

and

court

systems

were

among

the

creative

advances

of

West

African

societies.

By

the

fourteenth

century,

West

Africa

had

developed

an

elabo-

rate

productive

system.

In

normal

times,

food,

shelter,

and

clothing

adequate

to

human

needs

were

produced.

In

many

areas

there

was

a

surplus

which

was

traded

as

part

of

an

elaborate

system

that

linked

West

Africa

with

Egypt

and

Europe,

although

the

needs

of

the

market

did

not

dominate

even

a

sizeable

portion

of

produc-

tion.

These

marketing

activities

did

require

the

creation

of

markets,

merchants,

and

factors,

caravan

directors

and

agents,

moneylenders

and

account-keepers.

However,

a

fully

developed

urban

economy

did

not

arise.

There

was

even

less

sense

of

national

unity

in

the

fourteenth

century

in

West

Africa

than

in

feudal

Europe.

Extended

family

groupings,

villages,

and

clans

in

West

Africa

were

bound

together

16

/

TI-IE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

into

units

which

believed

in

a

common

ancestry

and

which

made

descent

the

basis

of

association.

However,

the

strength

of

the

sense

of

unity

in

West

Africa

varied

with

the

degree

to

which

one

group

or

another

imposed

its

authority

over

areas

inhabited

by

several

peoples.

National

unity

itself

was

constantly

being

destroyed

by

particularisms.

N0

single

political

and

economic

uniﬁcation

of

all

of

West

Africa,

or

even

of

a

signiﬁcant

part,

ever

occurred.

The

largest

political

units

of

the

fourteenth

and

ﬁfteenth

centuries

in

West

Africa

were

military

units

which

did

not

manage

to

maintain

more

than

a

loose

hegemony

over

the

adjacent

population.

While

one

group

might

create

a

town-based

“empire”

or

“kingdom,”

there

would

likely

be

several

others

in

the

same

area

which

were

autonomous

and

even

independent.

The

West

African

states

before

the

beginning

of

the

Atlantic

slave

trade

were

all

inland

military-political

com-

plexes

which

never

managed

to

develop

control

over

the

trade

routes,

and

new

groupings

were

formed

out

of

drifting

individuals

for

the

purpose

of

conquest.

No

group

extended

its

power

over

a

wide

area

for

any

length

of

time

so

as

to

legitimize

its

power.

The

city

economy

did

not

dominate

the

countryside.

Side

by

side

with

city-states

were

stateless

segmentary

village

societies.

Local

loyalties

both

in

the

towns

and

in

the

countryside

were

at

all

times

more

important

than

more

universalistic

and

ideological

claims.

The

particular

nature

of

West

African

economy

was

due

pri-

marily

to

geographic

conditions.

The

desert

on

the

north,

the

vir-

tually

harborless

coast

on

the

west,

and

the

tropical

rain

forest

to

the

south

presented

an

environment

that

was

hostile

to

the

devel-

opment

of

states

that

had

as

a

central

core

some

other

authority

beside

force.

In

West

Africa

great

armies

or

hordes

could

be

raised

which

could

sweep

through

the

area

and

dominate

the

trade

routes

without

at

any

time

making

it

necessary—or

ﬁnding

it

possible—to

develop

institutions

permanently

to

garrison

an

area.

While

Islam

made

signiﬁcant

inroads

in

West

Africa

and

the

military

states

of

the

Sudan

were

virtually

all

dominated

by

Islamized

groups,

the

faith

of

the

Prophet

did

not

become

the

uni-

versal

religion

uniting

the

entire

area.

Even

at

times

within

a

single

people,

such

as

the

Fulani,

the

urban

trading

people

were

Muslim,

and

the

rural

pastoral

and

agricultural

people

were

not.

Without

any

great

impetus

from

without

or

any

support

from

a

universal

ideology,

the

Islamic

chieftains

of

the

Sudan

often

compromised

with

local

belief

and

practice.

THE

ROLE

or

AFRICA

/

17

West

African

society

never

became

city-dominated.

Cities

in

West

Africa

were

trading

centers

along

the

trade

routes,

they

were

usually

quite

small,

and

they

were

centers

of

some

religion

and

learning.

Above

all,

they

were

the

capitals

of

chieftains

who

utilized

them

as

much

for

defense

as

for

administration

and

tax-collection

centers.

There

is

some

evidence

to

suggest

that

at

the

time

of

the

beginning

of

European

penetration

in

Africa,

successful

attempts

at

creating

permanent

states

were

in

the

oﬂing.

The

slave

trade

ended

these?

The

basic

unit

of

life

in

West

Africa

was

the

village.

A

village

was

composed

of

a

number

of

family

compounds

in

each

of

which

a

man,

his

wives,

their

children,

his

grown

children

and

their

families,

and

outsiders

adopted

into

the

family

unit

lived

and

worked

fields

or

grazed

animals.

A

man

would

usually

get

his

wives

from

villages

other

than

his

own,

but

exogamy

was

not

universal.

Each

one

of

the

family

compound

units,

often

amounting

to

several

hun-

dred

people,

constituted

the

essence

of

a

clan.

Decisions

in

the

vil-

lage

that

affected

everyone

were

made

by

the

heads

of

family

units.

Villages

were

linked

with

each

other

by

marriage

ties

and

were

made

cohesive

internally

by

the

cooperative

association

of

family

compounds.

West

African

life

was

not

particularly

primitive

in

the

stateless

societies.

In

work

arrangements

and

political

behavior,

large parts

of

West

Africa

had

highly

complex

institutions

which

were

im-

portant

for

the

development

of

the

social

personalities

of

those

who

were

to

be

transported

involuntarily

to

the

New

World

as

slaves.

There

were

two

basic

work

arrangements

and

accompanying

work

ethics

in

West

African

society.

Work

arrangements

based

upon

a

simple,

frequently

sexual

division

of

labor

within

an

extended

kinship

group

corresponded

with

the

stateless

village

societies,

while

work

relationships

based

on

cooperative

institutions

which

tran-

scended

the

extended

kinship

network

and

even

at

times

went

be-

yond

the

limits

of

individual

villages

existed

in

the

more

complex

city-states,

chieftaincies,

and

kingdoms.

In

some

areas

of

West

Africa

there

were

both

types

of

cooperative

labor

arrangements,

while

in

others

only

that

of

the

kinship

system

of

the

stateless

societies

existed.

Many

West

Africans

had

developed

complex

work

arrange-

ments

and

an

accompanying

work

discipline.

Work

was

a

relatively

steady,

continuous

matter

designed

to

produce

both

subsistence

and

:1

surplus.

I8

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

TI-IE

UNITED

STATES

The

study

of

slavery

in

the

New

World

has

been

confused

by

an

inadequate

view

of

West

Africa

at

the

time

of

the

beginning

of

the

slave

trade

and

in

the

years

that

followed.

Europeans

and

Americans

of

the

nineteenth

and

early

twentieth

centuries,

with

their

racist

assumptions

and

beliefs

in

unilinear

human

progress,

had

no

difficulty

in

projecting

contemporary

African

reality

into

the

past.

Because

the

slave

trade

became

important

in

eighteenth-

and

nineteenth-century

West

Africa,

it

was

assumed

that

slavery

had

been

an

important

social

institution

in

fourteenth-century

West

Africa.

Because

human

sacriﬁce

and

ritual

cannibalism

were

found

in

nineteenth-century

West

Africa,

it

was

assumed

that

such

prac-

tices

had

been

even

more

common

in

the

past

but

had

begun

to

disappear

under

the

civilizing

impact

of

the

Europeans.

None

of

this

was

the

case.

Nineteenth-century

Africa

was

as

it

was

as

the

result

of

almost

four

centuries

of

the

Atlantic

slave

trade

and

consequent

harsh

internal

class

conﬂict

which

altered

African

social

structure.

Entire

African

quasi-states

such

as

Ashanti,

Dahomey,

Oyo,

and

Benin

were

developed,

at

least

partially,

on

the

basis

of

the

slave

trade

and

became

what

they

became

largely

because

of

that

trade.

While

the

origins

of

these

quasi-states

were

in

part

independent

of

the

slave

trade,

what

they

became

(and

what

they

did

not

be-

come)

was

highly

involved

with

their

participation

in

providing

slaves

for

the

New

World

markets.

While

they

made

important

advances

in

terms

of

power,

they

were

wracked

by

internal

conﬂict

produced

by

forces

unleashed

by

the

slave

trade

upon

which

they

had

prospered.

While

they

increased

in

wealth

and

prestige,

they

all

eventually

decayed

and

were

picked

apart

by

the

European

powers

at

the

end

of

the

nineteenth

century,

although

not

without

putting

up

a

signiﬁcant

ﬁght.

While

the

slave

trade

helped

make

them

powerful,

it

eventually

also

destroyed

them.

In

the

forest

territories

along

the

coast

of

West

Africa,

quasi-states

had

begun

to

emerge

by

the

sixteenth

century.

These,

particularly

Oyo

and

Benin,

developed

somewhat

further

than

those

of

the

Sudan

in

terms

of

maintaining

hegemony.

Oyo,

the

great

center

of

the

Yoruba

people,

was

the

earliest

to

emerge

and

it

lasted

longer

than

most

of

the

others.

Oyo’s

major

towns

were

important

centers

by

the

ﬁfteenth

century.

The

govern-

mental

structure

was

based,

before

the

eighteenth

century,

on

a

quasi-feudal

system

in

which

the

Alaﬁn,

the

ruler

of

Oyo,

was

the

ﬁrst

among

equals

(i.e.,

of

the

other

lords),

but

there

was

no

THE

1101.1:

or

AFRICA

/

19

manorial

system

of

production.

The

powerful

armies

of

the

Alaﬁn

were

raised

in

cooperation

with

the

other

lords.

Old

Oyo

city

became

the

center

of

an

important

trade

route

across

the

western

Sudan

as

well

as

to

the

east,

a

trade

primarily

in

ivory,

salt,

iron

goods,

and

kola

nuts.

In

the

ﬁfteenth

and

sixteenth

centuries

a

complex

society

emerged

in

which

a

considerable

degree

of

individuation—the

mark

of

urbanization—existed.

It

produced

a

remarkable

artistic

culture

reﬂecting

some

secularization.

The

Benin

ivory

statues

of

human

beings

which

had

been

originally

created

in

Oyo,

and

which

were

taken

by

the

British

from

Benin

and

placed

in

the

British

Museum,

are

strikingly

secular

in

treatment

and

resemble

more

closely

the

art

of

the

Italian

and

Flemish

city-

states

of

the

early

modern

period

than

the

so-called

West

African

“primitive”

art.

By

the

middle

of

the

seventeenth

century,

Oyo

had

begun

to

participate

in

the

coastal

slave

trade

with

Europe,

and

the

rise

of

the

power

of

the

Alaﬁn

was

the

inevitable

consequence

of

this

development.

The

power

of

the

Alaﬁn

rested

in

the

Oyo

cavalry

which

had

been

developed

to

ensure

the

safety

of

the

slave

caravans

from

Oyo

and

further

east

and

north

to

the

port

of

Ouidah

in

the

vassal

kingdom

of

Allada

on

the

coast.

But

the

rise

of

the

power

of

the

Alaﬁn

led

to

the

decline

of

()yo

in

the

nineteenth

century.

In

order

to

protect

the

trade

routes,

the

Alaﬁn

had

increased

the

power

and

authority

of

local

rulers

and

the

councilors

of

state,

the

Oyo

Mesi.

In

a

cyclical

movement,

the

local

rulers

began

to

break

away

from

the

control

of

the

Alaﬁn

in

order

to

get

for

themselves

a

larger

share

of

the

proﬁts

of

the

slave

trade,

which

proﬁts

could

then

be

used

to

obtain

guns

in

order

to

further

enhance

their

independent

power.

The

history

of

Benin

to

the

southeast

of

Oyo

in

the

same

period

was

essentially

similar.

In

the

thirteenth

century,

Benin

was

con-

quered

by

armies

from

Oyo,

and

in

the

century

or

so

that

followed

the

Yoruba

conquerors

set

up

a

dynasty

of

their

own

with

its

capital

at

Benin

city.

Benin

became

politically

independent

of

Oyo,

al-

though

culturally

and

spiritually

recognizing

its

authority.

A

rich

and

handsome

city

emerged.

_|n

the

eighteenth

and

nineteenth

centuries,

the

rulers

of

Benin,

even

more

than

those

of

Oyo,

engaged

in

slave-raiding

and

the

slave

trade.

As

a

result

of

these

operations,

the

tyranny

of

the

Oba,

the

king

of

Benin,

increased

in

the

early

nineteenth

century,

while

at

the

same

time

the

geograpliical

extent

of

his

actual

authority

20

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

dwindled.

Indeed,

the

lessening

of

the

Oba’s

authority

and

the

in-_

crease

of

his

tyrannical

policies

were

related.

The

Oba’s

vassals’

authority

had

been

increased

by

their

growing

control

over

the

slave

trade,

the

support

given

them

by

the

European

slave

traders

who

wanted

slaves

but

also

wanted

a

weak

Oba,

and

the

general

breakdown

of

the

central

authority

in

Oyo.

The

Oba

attempted

to

defend

his

power

by

tyrannical

means,

including

a

great

increase

in

ritual

human

sacriﬁce,

a

symptom

that

reﬂected

increasing

insta-

bility

(as

it

did,

for

example,

in

seventeenth-century

New

England

and

twentieth-century

Germany).

This

tyranny

increased

as

central

authority

was

weakened

by

the

transferral

of

the

actual

control

over

the

slave

trade

from

the

Oba

to

the

town

chiefs.

Thus,

when

Benin

fell

to

the

British

in

1896,

it

had

gone

through

a

period

of

increased

tyranny

and

human

sacriﬁce

and

greatly

decreased

power.

When

the

British

entered

Benin

they

found

a

city

of

which

large

parts

had

been

deserted

years

earlier

and

left

to

crumble.

The

Benin

state,

having

become

primarily

an

instrument

to

make

war

and

capture

slaves,

was

destroyed

by

that

very

process

which

had

been

at

one

time

the

source

of

its

greatest

strength.

Large

areas

of

the

country

had

been

left

uncultivated

for

a

long

time

the

people

had

ﬂed

to

create

societies

elsewhere

along

the

West

African

coast,

and

there

had

been

internal

dissension

in

the

army.

The

history

of

the

Ashanti

in

what

is

now

northern

Ghana

is

also

related

to

the

slave

trade.

In

the

ﬁfteenth

century

there

had

been

a

number

of

city-states

of

the

Akan

people

competing

and

often

warring

with

one

another.

By

the

beginning

of

the

eighteenth

century

these

states,

with

one

exception

whose

independence

was

maintained

until

the

early

nineteenth

century,

had

been

absorbed

by

one

of

the

Akan

groups

into

the

large

but

somewhat

loosely

organized

Ashanti

“empire.”

The

Ashanti

Union

succeeded

in

merging

a

number

of

distinct

Akan-speaking

peoples

into

a

single

nation

under

the

leadership,

in

the

eighteenth

century,

of

the

priest

Anokye

and

the

king

Osei

Tutu.

United

by

the

myth

of

the

Golden

Stool

of

Ashanti,

the

symbol

of

divine

authority

which

was

supposed

to

have

descended

from

heaven,

and

a

conscious

and

well-planned

campaign

to

give

everyone

in

Ashanti

common

lineage,

thereby

abolishing

all

separate

traditions,

Ashanti

expanded

in

the

eighteenth

century.

The

Ashanti

culture

became

rich

and

complex,

and

the

economy,

partially

through

the

slave

trade,

ﬂourished.

However,

the

Ashanti

were

never

able

fully

to

centralize

their

rule

and

many

peoples

THE

ROLE

or

AFRICA

/

21

resisted

what

they

felt

to

be

Ashanti

imperalism.

The

independent

power

of

local

administrators

was

enhanced

by

the

wealth

and

trad-

ing

opportunities

of

each

town.

As

a

result

there

were

always

cen-

trifugal

tendencies

in

Ashanti.

The

Fon

kingdom

of

Dahomey

came

into

its

modern

form

in

the

1720s

when

the

Fon

gained

control

of

the

ports

in

the

so-called

“Benin

Gap,”

the

savanna

country

that

breaks

down

to

the

ocean

between

what

are

now

southern

Nigeria

and

southern

Ghana.

Be-

cause

it

had

this

combination,

unique

for

West

Africa,

of

direct

access

to

the

sea

as

well

as

control

of

the

trade

routes

into

the

interior,

Dahomey

emerged

as

an

entity

somewhat

approximating

the

unitary

nation-state.

Its

port,

Ouidah,

controlled

the

trade

with

the

Europeans,

enabling

the

kings

of

Dahomey

to

proﬁt

while

at

the

same

time

isolating

the

greater

part

of

the

country

from

Euro-

pean

inﬂuence.

Thus,

as

Basil

Davidson

asserts,

“There

was

no

scope

here

for

sub-chiefs

to

break

away

from

royal

authority

. . .

and

go

into

business

on

their

own.”3

Dahomey

was

organized

as

a

military

state

in

order

to

throw

off

the

rule

of

Oyo.

The

Fon

had

been

victims

of

the

slave

raids

tnade

by

the

rulers

of

the

city-states

of

the

Slave

Coast

for

the

first

150

years

of

the

Atlantic

slave

trade.

They

gained

their

inde-

pendence

from

Oyo

by

making

alliances

with

the

European

slave

merchants,

thus

capturing

the

coastal

markets

and

gaining

ﬁrearms.

With

a

regular

supply

of

ﬁrearms

they

could

and

did

turn

the

tables

on

their

Yoruba

overlords.

They

who

had

been

enslaved

by

the

Yoruba

of

Oyo

and

the

other

Slave

Coast

city-states,

enslaved

the

enslavers

in

turn.

Rodney

summarized

the

impact

of

the

slave

trade

on

Dahomey:

The

Fon

people

of

Dahomey

were

so

devoted

to

the

slave-trade

that

their

state

was

organized

with

the

main

purpose

of

making

war

to

obtain

captives.

Dahomey

went

so

far

as

to

set

up

a

special

battalion

of

female

warriors,

who

were

feared

by

all

their

opponents.

l)ahomey

paid

the

penalty

for

paying

attention

only

to

warfare.

Agriculture

was

neglected

and

famine

took

place

in

the

late

eigh-

teenth

century.‘

Whilc

the

history

of

West

Africa

would

have

been

different

from

that

of

Europe

even

if

it

had

not

been

for

the

introduction

|>\'

l*.uropeans

of

the

slave

trade,

there

is

little

question

that

the

ttpttlc

actively

distorted

and

hampered

the

development

of

Africa.

22

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

African

technology,

always

different

from

that

of

Europe,

was

effectively

cut

off

in

its

development

by

the

slave

trade.

We

must

be

careful,

however,

not

to

give

the

impression

that

without

the

slave

trade

West

Africa

would

necessarily

have

developed

industrial

capitalist

societies;

this

we

do

not

and

cannot

know.

For

the

Europeans

and

the

Americans,

the

slave

trade

provided

a

signiﬁcant

part

of

the

basis

for

the

original

accumulation

of

the

early

stages

of

capitalist

development,

and

thus

helped

lay

the

foundation

for

nineteenth-

and

twentieth-century

capitalism.

In

Africa,

on

the

other

hand,

slavery

actually

helped

prevent

the

ac-

cumulation

of

capital.

Capitalism

in

Western

Europe

required

that

the

peasants

be

thrown

off

the

land

by

such

processes

as

the

English

enclosure

acts,

which

turned

farms

into

sheep

runs.

It

required

that

the

surplus

population

be

deported

or

enticed

to

the

New

World

and

such

other

outposts

of

European

colonization

as

Australia.

Thousands

of

the

poor,

the

landless,

and

the

criminal

were

shipped

to

North

America

and

Australia

as

indentured

servants

or

convicts.

Capitalism,

moreover,

required

the

capital

extracted

from

slave

labor

on

the

plantations

and

in

the

mines

of

the

New

World.

It

demanded

that

the

stock

of

capital

gained

in

the

slave

trade

and

through

the

labor

in

mines

and

on

plantations

be

taken

back

into

the

mother

country

and

that,

at

a

later

stage,

the

surplus

labor

force

be

kept

at

home,

cheapening

the

cost

of

labor.

In

West

Africa,

the

slave

trade

led

not

to

the

freeing

of

the

agricultural

masses

from

the

land

but

to

their

further

bondage.

In

West

Africa

the

slave

trade

created

slavery

both

by

transforming

older

institutions

of

clientage

into

slavery

and

creating

new

ways

of

enslaving

people.

Rodney

summarizes

this

process:

-.

. .

a

large

number

of

Africans

on

the

Upper

Guinea

Coast

at

the

end

of

the

eighteenth

century

had

been

reduced

to

servile

status

through

the

agency

of

the

Atlantic

slave-trade.

A

few

quickly

emerged

as

trusted

servants

and

lieutenants,

but

the

majority

signalled

their

oppression

by

rebelling

or

escaping

when

the

opportunity

pre-

sented

itself

.

. .

.“

Active

involvement

in

the

Atlantic

slave-trade

invariably

meant

the

increase

of

such

servile

categories

in

the

societies

where

they

existed,

and

their

creation

where

they

had

not

previously

existed.

Thus

it

was

that

by

the

end

of

the

eighteenth

century

a

sizeable

"rm:

1101.1:

or

AFRICA

/

23

proportion

of

the

inhabitants

of

West

Africa

found

themselves

u11der

some

sort

of

servitude.

With

this

background

in

West

African

history

we

can

turn

to

a

question

which

has

plagued

historians

of

slavery

and

which

is

crucial

if

we

are

to

understand

the

nature

of

slave

life

in

the

New

World.

Why

did

Africans

make

better

slaves

than

did

the

American

Indians

who

were

found

in

the

New

World?

The

usual

assumption

has

been

that

as

slavery

had

been

present

in

West

Africa,

the

West

Africans

were

used

to

slavery,

while

American

Indians

were

not.

Also,

it

has

been

assumed

that

American

Indians

were

more

“noble”

and

“proud”

and

consequently

braver

in

their

opposition

to

being

enslaved

and

that,

romantically,

they

chose

death

rather

than

en-

slavement.

The

more

craven

Africans,

this

view

holds,

accepted

slavery.

These

formulations

obscure

the

process

of

the

adaptation

of

West

Africans

to

New

World

plantation

slavery.

They

are

based

on

the

erroneous

assumption

that

the

slavery

that

we

are

told

existed

in

West

Africa

at

the

beginning

of

the

Atlantic

slave

trade

was

chattel

slavery,

analogous

to

that

which

existed

in

the

United

States

in

the

nineteenth

century

where

slavery

was

an

absolutely

inherited

status

in

which

the

master

owned

the

work,

the

time,

and

the

person

of

the

slave.

This

false

assumption

is

linked

with

a

second,

equally

fallacious

belief:

that

from

the

beginning

of

the

slave

trade

African

rulers

and

traders

sold

slaves

to

Europeans

and

American

slavers

because

they

had

traditionally

been

in

the

slave

trading

business.

J.

D.

Fage

indicates

that

there

is

something

not

altogether

clear

about

the

relationship

between

West

African

and

New

World

slav-

ery,

but

in

language

so

equivocal

that

it

gives

the

reader

the

impres-

sion

that

slavery

in

Africa

and

slavery

in

the

New

World

were

similar

enough

from

the

very

beginning.

Fage

writes:

The

domestic

slave

was

not,

as

the

slave

was

only

too

apt

to

be

on

the

American

plantations,

a

mere

beast

of

labour

working

in

a

gang

of

similar

beasts.

He

was

for

the

most

part

a

member

of

his

owner’s

household,

an

individual

with

recognized

social

rights.

He

might

even

on

occasion

inherit

property,

and,

if

a

woman,

might

become

the

wife

of

a

free

man

and

bear

free

c,hildren.°

\Vhile

such

phrases

as

“for

the

most

part”

and

“on

occasion”

seem

to

be

examples

of

the

exercise

of

scholarly

care,

they

have

no

basis

in

fact,

and

they

act

onlv

to

confuse

the

issue.

24

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

By

contrast,

Rodney

observes:

Sometimes,

what

obtained

was

a

quasi-feudal

exploitation

of

labour

by

a

ruling

elite,

who

received

the

greater

portion

of

the

harvest.

More

often

than

not,

however,

the

“domestic

slaves,”

as

they

have

been

categorized,

were

members

of

their

masters’

household.

They

could

not

be

sold,

except

for

serious

offences;

they

had

their

own

plots

of

land

and/or

rights

to

a

proportion

of

the

fruits

of

their

labour;

they

could

marry;

their

children

had

rights

of

inheritance,

and

if

born

of

one

free

parent

often

acquired

a

new

status.

Such

individuals

could

rise

to

positions

of

great

trust,

including

that

of

chief.’

Those

whom

Fage

calls

slaves

and

to

whom

Rodney

refers

with

much

greater

accuracy

as

those

who

were

subject

to

a

“quasi-feudal

exploitation

of

labour”

did

not

lead

lives

of

unremitting

degradation

and

toil.

“Slaves”

were

part

of

the

total

social

fabric

of

West

Afri-

can

societies.

Slavery

was

a

status

within

which

much

social

mobility

was

possible.

In

Samuel

]ohnson’s

History

of

the

Y

orubas

there

is

the

story

of

Sango,

a

king

of

Oyo

who

had

resolved

to

abdicate.

One

Biri,

“his

head

slave

and

favourite,”

was

assigned

the

task

of

asking

him

to

reconsider this

step.

Biri

was

so

chosen

because

he

held

the

ceremonial

and

political

role

called

“the

king’s

best

friend.”8

There

are

other

accounts

that

indicate

that

slaves

occupied

high

positions.

For

example,

“slaves”

often

held

the

powerful

position

of

Commander-in-Chief

of

the

armies

of

Kamen-Bornu.

We

must

critically

examine

the

assumption

that

from

the

begin-

ning

of

the

slave

trade

African

rulers

and

traders

sold

the

slaves

to

the

European

and

American

slavers

and

that

without

this

business,

there

would

have

been

no

slave

trade.

Fage

describes

the

process

in

the

following

words:

When

Europeans

ﬁrst

began

to

ask

for

slaves

in

return

for

the

goods

they

brought

to

West

Africa,

they

were

not

repulsed.

There

was

already

an

established

demand

for

European

goods

among

the

Africans,

and

there

was

already

an

African

merchant

class

on

the

coast

accustomed

to

buying

such

goods

and

supplying

the

European

traders

in

exchange

with

the

commodities

they

wanted.

If

the

Euro-

peans

wanted

slaves

as

well

as,

or

instead

of,

gold,

ivory,

pepper

and

gum,

then

the

merchants

were

willing

to

provide

slaves.

The

presence

of

a

slave

class

among

the

coastal

peoples

meant

that

there

was

already

a

class

of

human

beings

who

could

be

sold

to

Europeans

"rm;

ROLE

or

AFRICA

/

25

if

there

was

an

incentive

to

do

so,

and

an

economic

incentive

already

existed

in

the

form

of

the

growing

demand

for

European

imports.’

Once

again,

Rodney

offers

a

critique

of

Fage’s

analysis

which

places

the

matter

in

perspective

and,

consequently,

liberates

the

discussion

from

the

ancient

framework

which

insists

that

the

West

Africans

had

a

prior

institution

of

slavery

and

a

slave

trade

which

fitted

neatly

into

the

needs

of

Europeans

and

Americans.

J.

D.

Fage

is

very

careful

in

deﬁning

“domestic

slavery”

and

circum-

scribing

the

numbers

involved;

but

he

feels

that

it

“nevertheless”

gave

a

ﬁllip

to

the

Atlantic

slave-trade.

This

highlights

a

certain

contradiction.

The

“domestic”

slave

was

the

member

of

a

royal

or

noble

household.

What

reason

is

there

to

suppose

that

the

ruling

class

would

ﬁrst

dispose

of

the

aﬂinal

members

of

their

own

family?

Perhaps

the

coritinued

employment

of

the

term

“slave,”

however

qualiﬁed,

has

some

bearing

on

the

conclusion.

Rattray

[the

author

of

a

major

study

of

the

Ashanti,

published

in

1923]

himself

ended

by

referring

to

the

“so-called

‘slaves,’

”

and

though

perhaps

the

label

“domestic

slave”

is

meant

to

express

this

idea,

it

carried

with

it

the

same

associations

with

the

Americas

which

the

pro-slavery

inter-

ests

were

at

pains

to

evoke,

especially

since

the

literature

on

American

slavery

has

already

made

familiar

the

distinction

between

the

domestic

or

household

slave

and

the

ﬁeld

slave

on

the

basis

simply

of

their

place

of

work;

while

it

is

well

known

what

constituted

the

principal

“domestic

institution”

of

the

Old

South.”

While

Rodney

states

that

West

African

chieftains

and

merchants

did

engage

in

the

slave

trade,

he

speciﬁes

the

time,

place

and

nature

of

this

relationship.

Slavery,

Rodney

insists,

was

a

new

form

of

exploitation

of

the

African

people

carried

on

through

the

interaction

of

African

rulers

and

Europeans.

Though

one

can

identify

no

African

slavery,

serfdom

or

the

like

on

the

Upper

Guinea

Coast

during

the

ﬁrst

phase

of

European

con-

tact,

that

region

was

one

of

the

ﬁrst

sections

of

the

West

African

coast

from

which

slaves

were

exported;

and

in

the

sixteenth

century

the

transfer

of

Africans

from

the

Upper

Guinea

Coast

to

the

Spanish

Indies

was

already

a

signiﬁcant

undertaking.

No

slave-class

was

neces-

sary

to

make

this

possible,

because

there

was

in

existence

a

fundamental

class

contradiction

between

the

ruling

nobility

and

the

commoners;

26

/

'l'lll-I

S()(Il()LOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

and

the

ruling

class

joined

hands

with

the

Europeans

in

exploiting

the

African

masses—a

not

unfamiliar

situation

on

the

African

con-

tinent

today.“

In

response

to

European

demands

for

slaves,

the

emergent

West

African

ruling

classes

developed

a

highly

complex

system

of

raiding,

punishment,

and

selling

of

political

opponents

in

order

to

supply

the

slave

trade.

Having

abandoned

explanations

based

on

racial

theories

or

upon

the

false

belief

that

chattel

slavery

was

an

ancient

West

African

practice,

we

must

seek

for

an

alternative

understanding

of

why

American

Indians

made

poor

slaves

and

West

Africans

adequate

ones.

The

clue

to

the

answer

lies

in

the

fact

that

whenever

West

Africans

came

to

the

New

World

from

societies

similar

to

those

of

most

North

American

Indians—that

is,

from

self-suﬁicient

sub-

sistence

economies

without

elaborate

social

structures

and

state

forms—they

had

an

equally

diﬁicult

time

adjusting

to

slavery.

There

is

a

great

deal

of

evidence

to

indicate

that

Africans

from

such

societies

as

that

of

the

Ibo

had

a

tendency

to

die

out

or

become

despondent

under

slavery.

Melville

Herskovits

writes

of

the

Ibo:

Their

tendency

to

despondency,

noted

in

many

parts

of

the

New

World,

and

a

tradition

of

suicide

as

a

way

out

of

difficulties

has

often

been

remarked,

as,

for

example,

in

Haiti,

where

the

old

saying

“Ibos

pend’

cor’

a

y0—the

Ibos

hang

themselves”

is

still

current.

.

. .

The

same

tendency

was

noticed

among

the

“Calabar”

Negroes—-

another

generic

name

for

Ibos

among

the

slaves—in

the

United

States,

as

indicated

by

the

remark

of

the

biographer

Henry

Laurens,

that

in

South

Carolina

“the

frequent

suicides

among

Calabar

slaves

indicate

the

different

degrees

of

sensitive

and

independent

spirit

among

the

various

Negro

tribes.”"

Ulrich

B.

Phillips,

the

Southern

historian

of

slavery,

writes:

The

“kingdom

of

Gabon,”

which

straddled

the

equator,

was

the

worst

reputed

of

all.

From

thence

a

good

negro

[sicl]

was

scarcely

ever

brought.

They

are

purchased

so

cheaply

on

the

coast

as

to

tempt

many

captains

to

freight

with

them;

but

they

generally

die

either

on

the

passage

or

soon

after

their

arrival

in

the

islands.

The

dcbility

of

their

constitution

is

astonishing."

rm;

ROLE

or

AFRICA

/

27

The

slaves

from

Gabon

came

from

societies

generally

similar

to

those

of

the

Ibo.

Compare

the

reports

on

the

Ibo

and

similar

peoples

with

those

about

the

“Coramantee,”

the

general

New

World

name

for

Akan-

Ashanti

slaves.

Slaves

from

that

highly

complex

empire,

as

well

as

those

who

were

Yoruba,

Hausa,

Fanti,

and

Mandingo—that

is,

the

people

of

the

more

complex

empires

and

slave-trading

states-—

were

usually

the

leaders

of

the

slave

revolts

and

the

most

militant

ﬁghters.

Speaking

of

the

Maroon

Wars

in

Jamaica,

the

student

of

Jamaican

slavery

Orlando

Patterson

writes:

“It

is

remarkable

that

almost

every

one

of

the

serious

rebellions

during

the

seventeenth

and

eighteenth

centuries

was

instigated

and

carried

out

mainly

by

Akan

slaves

who

came

from

a

highly

developed

militaristic

regime,

skilled

in

jungle

warfare.”“

It

might

be

suggested

that

Patterson

exaggerates

the

military

explanation

while

largely

ignoring

the

fact

that

these

slaves

had

come

from

societies

in

whicn

there

had

been

complex

agricultural

economies.

After

all, we

also

know

that

these

most

militant

ﬁghters

were

also

used

in

the

West

Indies

as

drivers,

foremen,

and

trainers

to

“season”

slaves

who

came

from

societies

such

as

that

of

the

Ibo.

The

West

Indies

were

_the

staging

point

for

the

“seasoning”

of

newly

arrived

slaves,

and

many

North

Ameri-

can

planters

preferred

slaves

purchased

from

the

islands,

rather

than

directly

from

Africa,

for

this

reason.

Despite

the

fear

that

Coramantee

slaves

would

be

leaders

of

slave

revolts,

they

were

4

part

of

the

“mixture”

thought

necessary

to

build

a

work

force

for

plantation

economies.

More

than

the

whip

of

the

master

is

required

to

make

a

slave

work

regularly.

There

must

be

an

integral

social

organization

of

work

and

the

consequent

internalization

of

values

and

attitudes

con-

ducive

to

work,

an

internalization

that

both

comes

from

and

rein-

forces

traditions

of

daily,

steady,

regular

work

on

a

cooperative

basis,

but

with

a

need

and

room

for

individual

initiative.

These

skills

were

present

among

those

West

Africans

from

the

more

com-

plex

societies

of

the

area.

People

from

folk

societies

have

work

discipline

imposed

through

the

mediation

of

the

kinship

system.

One

works

because

it

is

one’s

obligation

to

one’s

kinsmen.

But

work

relations

under

chattel

slavery

in

the

New

World

could

not

be

dependent

upon

kinship

relations.

More

rationalized

production

was

required

for

a

market

economy.

Work

had

to

be

separated

from

other

activities

and

the

demands

of

production

had

to

supersede

at

all

times

any

other

human

de-

28

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

mands.

Production

takes

place

in

reference

to

a

market,

not

simply

to

domestic

consumption.

A

slave

in

that

situation

must

be

able

to

accept

abstract

authority

or

rebel

against

it.

Plantation

labor

requires

that

a

large

gang

of

men

work

coopera-

tively

under

general

direction

with

a

steady,

regular

rhythm.

The

individual

must

work

from

sunup

to

sundown,

day

in

and

day

out,

and

not,

as

is

true

for

subsistence

agriculture,

only

from

time

to

time,

or

under

the

whip

of

starvation.

Moreover,

plantation

labor

is

monotonous

and

repetitive,

as

distinct

from

subsistence

farming

in

which

a

small

number

of

people

perform

a

variety

of

tasks,

going

from

one

to

another

during

the

course

of

the

day.

The

Coramantees

and

those

like

them

brought

with

them

the

social

skills

necessary

for

subordinates

who

must

deal

with

super-

ordination.

Imitation

and

“putting-on

the

man,”

public

performances

of

one’s

tasks

and

the

ability

to

make

it

seem

that

tasks

are

either

done

or

about

to

be

done

without

actually

doing

them,

bargaining

and

using

such

coercion

as

individual

acts

of

aggression,

strikes,

sabotage,

and

even

rebellion,

were

all

part

of

the

life

of

the

slave.

Coramantee

slaves

made

good

rebel

leaders

through

that

same

ability

to

adjust

which

made

them

such

valuable

slaves.

After

all,

accommo-

dation

is

not

antithetical

to

rebellion;

indeed,

it

is

rebellion

by

other

means.

One

must

remember

that

the

greatest

of

all

the

leaders

of

slave

rebellions,

Toussaint

L’Ouverture,

was

himself

literate,

the

steward

of

his

master’s

livestock,

and

did

not

join

the

rebellion

for

many

months

after

it

began.

The

great

revolutionist

had

been

the

great

accommodator.

The

docile

Sambo

could

and

did

become

the

revolutionary

Nat

Turner

overnight.

The

slaves,

under

the

leadership

of

those

from

the

more

complex

African

societies,

fought

and

ran

away,

stole

and

feigned

innocence,

malingered

on

the

job

while

seeming

to

work

as

hard

as

possible.

And

they

lived

to

ﬁght

another

day.

Notes

1.

Walter

Rodney,

The

Grounding:

with

my

Brothers,

p.

55.

2.

See

in

particular

the

introduction

of

A.

Norman

Klein

to

a

new

paperback

edition

of

W.

E.

B.

Du

Bois,

The

Suppression

of

the

African

Slave-Trade

to

the

United

States

of

America

1638-1870,

pp.

xxv~xxvii.

\Ve

should

not

exaggerate

this

question

of

the

relative

weakness

of

state

forms

in

West

Africa.

¥Vhi|e

there

were

stateless

societies,

that

was

not

primarily

the

case.

VVaher

Rodney

in

his

/I

Ilinory

of

the

Upper

(I1/i-m-a

(Ioast,

If.”

l.§‘o0,

pp.

28-zo,

points

out

that

"the

large

majority

of

societies

of

the

THE

ROLE

or

AFRICA

/

29

Upper

Guinea

Coast

could

scarcely

be

termed

‘stateless’.”

We

are

indebted

Io

Rodney,

ibid.,

for

drawing

our

attention

to

the

following

deﬁnition

of

a

society

with

a

political

state,

taken

from

Jan

Vansina,

R.

Mauny,

and

l..

V.

Thomas,

The

Historian

in

Tropical

Africa,

studies

presented

and

dis-

russed

at

the

Fourth

International

African

Seminar

at

the

University

of

Dakar,

Senegal,

1961

(London,

1964),

p.

87:

A

state

may

be

deﬁned

as

a

political

structure

in

which

there

is

a

differ-

entiated

status

between

ruler

and

ruled.

It

is

founded

not

only

on

relations

of

kinship

but

also

on

a

territorial

basis.

The

most

important

index

is

the

presence

of

political

ofﬁces,

i.e.

of

persons

invested

with

roles

which

in-

clude

secular

authority

over

others

in

given

territorial

aggregations

for

which

there

are

effective

sanctions

for

disobedience.

Such

political

oﬂices

must

furthermore

be

coordinated

hierarchically.

Sec

also

Max

Gluekman,

Politics,

Law

and

Ritual

in

Tribal

Society.

The

general

discussion

of

West

African

history

in

this

chapter

depends

primarily

for

its

purely

factual

details

upon

Basil

Davidson,

Africa

in

History,

and

J.

D.

Fage,

An

Introduction

to

the

History

of

West

Africa.

I

do

not,

of

course,

necessarily

agree

with

all

of

their

often

conﬂicting

theoretical

sl;ltem€I1tS

and

analytical

judgments.

3.

Davidson,

Africa

in

History,

p.

186.

4.

From

a

lecture

given

by

Walter

Rodney

at

the

Black

Writers

Congress

in

Montreal

in

October

1968.

5.

Walter

Rodney,

“African

Slavery

and

Other

Forms

of

Social

Oppres-

sion

in

the

Upper

Guinea

Coast

in

the

Context

of

the

Atlantic

Slave

Trade,”

journal

of

African

History

7

(r966):439.

6.

Fage,

West

Africa,

p.

78.

7.

Rodney,

“African

Slavery,”

pp.

431-432.

8.

Samuel

Johnson,

The

History

of

the

Yorubas

From

the

Earliest

Times

to

the

Beginning

of

the

British

Protectorate

(London,

1966),

p.

15:.

9.

Fage,

lV

est

Africa,

p.

78.

to.

Rodney,

“African

Slavery,”

p.

440.

II.

Ibid.,

p.

434.

I2.

Melville

J.

Herskovits,

The

Myth

of

the

Negro

Past,

p.

36.

I

3.

Ulrich

B.

Phillips,

American

Negro

Slavery,

p.

43.

14.

Orlando

Patterson,

The

Sociology

of

Slavery,

p.

276.

THE

RELIGION

OF

Tll-IE

SLAVES

In

many

concrete

ways

the

African

past

and

the

behavior

of

Afro-

Americans

under

slavery

were

linked.

The

slaves

used

what

they

brought

with

them

from

Africa

in

their

memories,

nerve

endings,

and

speech

to

help

them

adapt

to

the

new

environment

and

to

build

for

themselves

a

new

life.

We

will

not

look

for

the

simple

retention

of

African

traits,

but

rather

seek

out

the

processes

whereby

one

set

of

cultural

tools

was

used

to

build

other,

more

adequate

tools.

A

living

people

does

not

carry

the

past

on

its

back

if

it

is

able

to

transcend

it

in

order

to

meet

the

present

and

prepare

for

the

future.

A

living

society

is

one

that

has

not

maintained

rigid

forms

but

has

used

the

meanings

of

the

past

in

order

to

create

those

new

behavior

patterns

necessary

for

new

circumstances.

People

change

their

behavior

only

as

much

as

they

are

required

to

by

the

necessities

of

new

realities,

and

they

resist

change

whenever

possible.

In

ex-

treme

circumstances

people

either

change

at

a

relatively

rapid

rate

or

they

do

not

survive.

In

more

moderate

circumstances

the

basic

conservatism

of

people

can

act

to

maintain

as

much

as

possible

of

the

forms

of

past

behavior.

William

R.

Bascom,

a

well-known

anthropologist

whose

ﬁeld

work

has

been

largely

in

West

Africa,

in

an

article

on the

accultura-

tion

of

the

so—called

Gullah

people,

blacks

living

on

the

isolated

Georgia

sea

islands,

made

a

very

clear

and

careful

statement

about

the

relationship

between

West

Africa,

Europe,

and

the

United

States.

After

asserting

that

“the

diilerenecs

in

the

general

pattern

30

THE

RELIGION

or

rm:

SLAVES

/

31

of

the

cultures

of

Africa

and

Europe

were

not

great;

in

fact

their

fundamental

similarity

justiﬁes

the

concept

of

an

Old

World

Area

which

includes

both

Europe

and

Africa,”

Bascom

suggests

a

way

of

thinking

about

the

relationship

of

American

black

life

and

Africa:

The

result

of

the

contact

of

the

Negroes

with

whites,

both

in

slavery

and

in

the

period

of

freedom,

seems

to

have

been

that

in

those

cases

where

there

was

a

difference

or

a

conﬂict

between

African

and

European

customs,

the

African

customs

have

for

the

most

part

disappeared.

But

those

institutions

which

were

present

in

similar

forms

in

both

Africa

and

Europe,

while

manifesting

a

great

many

speciﬁcally

European

details,

have

retained

an

African

stamp

and

have

had

a

place

in

Gullah

life

the

importance

of

which

cannot

be

explained

in

terms

of

European

forms

alone.

In

these

cases

the

two

streams

of

tradition

have

reinforced

one

another.‘

While

Bascom

here

talks

of

Gullah

life

speciﬁcally,

it

is

quite

clear

that

the

same

method

is

applicable

to

all

black

American

life.

Afro-American

societies

are

not

bundles

of

African

traits

but

the

products

of

the

interactions

of

people

Whose

ancestors

had

come

from

West

Africa

and

who

used

West

African

forms

in

order

to

create

new

behaviors

that

enabled

them

to

survive

in

the

New

World.

Quite

naturally,

those

Afro-American

societies

under

the

least

amount

of

pressure

to

change

look

more

like

West

African

societies

than

those

in

which

such

pressures

were

at

their

greatest.

If

the

ability

of

people

to

survive

requires

creative

change

adequate

to

the

task

at

hand,

then

there

is

no

more

creative

and

innovative

people

in

the

New

World

than

black

Americans.

The

pressures

upon

North

American

blacks

were

much

more

extreme

than

upon

blacks

elsewhere

in

the

New

World.

But

despite

the

harsh

at-

mosphere

of

the

United

States,

African

forms

and

meanings

were

not

totally

obliterated,

and

can

be

seen

in

all

historical

periods

being

used

in

creative

ways.

'

Africans

migrated

involuntarily

to

North

America

in order

to

he

worked

as

chattel

slaves

on

plantations,

in

mines,

in

forests,

on

roads,

on

small

farms

of

relatively

diversiﬁed

crops,

and

in

towns

and

cities.

They

labored

generally

from

sunup

to

sundown

and

often

into

the

evening.

Their

work

was

usually

difficult

and

tedious,

they

were

driven

to

it

by

threats,

fear,

the

lash,

and

the

accustomed

sense

of

work

routines

common

to

all

settled

agricultural

and

urban

societies.

\’Vhile

their

life

was

dominated

by

the

social

relations

32

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

of

work,

they

did

have

a

life

outside

of

work

in

the

time

that

was,

or

that

they

made,

their

own.

That

life

was

important

in

creating

and

recreating

the

slave

personality

and

the

slave

communities.

Only

if

we

understand

this

side

of

the

slaves’

lives

can

we

under-

stand

how

their

personalities

were

kept

from

destruction,

how

they

developed

and

built

their

communities.

Out

of

the

totality

of

the

slaves’

lives

came

the

impetus,

the

tools,

and

the

social

relations

necessary

for

their

continual

struggle

against

the

condition

of

chattel

slavery.

In

the

Afro-American

community

blacks

were

able

to

ﬁnd

a

mooring

which

allowed

them

to

survive

as

men

and

women.

They

created

for

others

from

sunup

to

sundown,

but

from

sundown

to

sunup,

on

Sundays

and

holidays

and

at

times

on

Saturday

afternoon,

and

at

all

other

times

that

they

managed

to

get

away

from

Work

(and

frequently

at

work

as

well),

they

created

and

recreated

them-

selves.

They

did

this

in

a

way

that

was

consistent

not

only

with

the

ability

to

work

but

with

the

ability

to

struggle

against

the

social

conditions

and

relations

of

that

work.

There

is

a

complex

interplay

between

the

ability

of

any

group

of

men

and

women

to

ﬁght

against

their

own

oppression

and

the

social

“living

space”

they

manage

to

carve

out

for

themselves

both

at

work

and

at

home.

We

shall

here

look

at

slave

religion

as

a

way

of

focusing

upon

a

speciﬁc

aspect

of

American

slave

thought

and

behavior.

Close

to

the

center

of

the

slaves’

lives

from

sundown

to

sunup

was

religion.

The

African

slaves

in

the

New

World

had

come

from

societies

in

which

there

was

no

distinction

between

sacred

and

secular

activi-

ties.

The

holy

and

the

sacred

were

experienced

as

part

of

all

activi-

ties.

Divisions

between

this

world

and

the

next,

between

ﬂesh

and

spirit,

between

the

living

body

and

the

spirits

of

the

dead

were

not

conceived

of

as

absolute.

Men

were

thought to

be

able

to

slip

across

these

boundaries

with

comparative

ease.

For

people

from

such

a

world,

religious

activities

were

areas

of

considerable

potential

creativity

and

social

strength.

The

slaves

in

the

New

World

used

religion

as

the

central

area

for

the

creation

and

recreation

of

community.

The

masters’

attitudes

toward

slave

religion

were

complex.

In

North

America

before

the

second

quarter

of

the

eighteenth

century,

little

pressure

was

put

upon

the

slaves

to

become

Christians.

As

long

as

the

slaves

worked

well

and

were

not

unruly

they

were

left

alone.

After

that,

for

the

remainder

of

the

century,

the

efforts

THE

RELIGION

or

THE

SLAVES

/

33

that

were

made

to

convert

the

slaves

were

sporadic,

and

while

they

resulted

in

getting

most

slaves

to

adopt

the

outward

forms

of

Christianity,

the

relative

neglect

also

allowed

the

slaves

to

develop

Christianity’s

interior

meanings

and

practices

in

their

own

way.

Some

slaves

never

became

Christians

in

any

sense.

While

we

do

not

have

very

much

direct

evidence

about

the

content

of

slave

religion

in

North

America

before

the

nineteenth

century,

the

fact

that

no

efforts

were

made

to

Christianize

the

slaves

for

the

ﬁrst

hundred

years

of

slavery

strongly

suggests

that

there

was

sufficient

time

and

opportunity

for

the

establishment

in

North

America

of

generalized

West

African

religious

forms.

In

the

nineteenth

century

there

was

a

strong

attempt

by

whites

to

use

religion

as

a

form

of

social

control.

If

we

read

the

thousands

of

interviews

with

ex-slaves

taken

in

the

19205

and

1930s,

as

well

as

the

accounts

of

slavery

from

contemporary

sources

of

the

nine-

teenth

century,

we

can

see

an

attempt

on

the

part

of

the

masters

to

superimpose

a

formal

religion

on

the

slaves.

But

that

religion

never

seemed

to

gain

the

total

adherence

of

the

slaves

who

continued

to

carry

on

prayer

meetings

at

night.

What

contemporaries

referred

to

as

the

“African

cult”

not

only

did

not

disappear,

it

continued

to

ﬂourish

with

great

creativity

and

strength

and

was

clearly

the

mainspring

of

black

religion

in

the

United

States.

The

slaves’

emphasis

upon

religion

has

often

been

seen

as

simply

a

release

from

the

daily

world

of

work,

a

way

of

ﬁnding

a

refuge

in

the

promise

of

salvation

in

the

future.

And

this

might

indeed

have

been

the

case

if

the

slaves

had

been

generally

secular

and

urban

people

and

if

the

only

religious

expression

they

had

was

that

dominated

by

the

masters.

But

that

is

a

one-sided

view

of

reality

and

ignores

the

independent

basis

of

slave

religion

in

the

nighttime

prayer

meetings

and

sings.

While

religion

certainly

may

at

times

be

an

opiate,

the

religion

of

the

oppressed

usually

gives

them_the

sustenance

necessary

for

developing

a

resistance

to

their

own

oppression.

The

religion

of

the

slaves

kept

alive

in

them

the

desire

and

basis

for

a

struggle

for

freedom.

On

a

more

immediate

level,

it

made

their

daily

lives

bearable.

If

the

community

was

not

yet

strong

enough

to

overcome

adversity,

it

could

at

least

bear

with

it;

the

ability

to

survive

adversity

in

the

present

is,

of

course,

necessary

to

the

ability

to

overcome

it

in

the

future.

In

prayer

meetings

and

night

sings

Africans

became

American

slaves

while

American-born

slaves

renewed

their

contact

with

the

34

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

African

experience

through

exchanges

of

ideas

with

newly

arrived

migrants

from

Africa.

The

slave

narratives

and

slave

autobiographies

contain

hundreds

of

references

to

such

prayer

meetings

and

night

sings.

Often

they

were

held

late

at

night

in

a

cabin

in

the

slave

quarters.

Sometimes

they

took

place

in

an

“arbor

church,”

an

out-

door

meetingplace

usually

attached

to

a

group

of

trees

that

were

considered

particularly

sacred

and

as

having

magical

properties.

The

evidence

indicates

that

such

meetings

were

usually

held

once

a

week

on

most

plantations

and

that

often

slaves

from

several

planta-

tions

would

attend.

The

slaves,

men

and

women,

would

crowd

into

an

earthen-

ﬂoored

hut

to

sing,

to

pray,

to

shout

and

get

“happy.”

Often

they

would

do

a

slow

circle

dance,

each

individual’s

hand

on

the

next

person’s

shoulder.

Through

these

prayer

meetings

the

bonds

among

people

were

tightened.

The

slave

narratives

and

other

similar

material

indicate

the

rich-

ness

of

this

religious

life.

Let

us

examine

some

of

these

accounts.

Carey

Davenport,

a

retired

black

Methodist

minister

from

Texas,

had

been

born

a

slave

in

1855.

He

had

the

following

to

say

about

slave

religion:

I

don’t

’member

no

culled

preachers

in

slavery

times.

The

white

Methodist

circuit

riders

come

round

on

horseback

and

preach.

There

was

a

big

box

house

for

a

church

house

and

the

culled

folks

sit

off

in

one

corner

of

the

church.

Sometimes

the

culled

folks

go

down

in

dugouts

and

hollows

and

hold

they

own

service

and

they

used

to

sing

songs

what

come

a-

gushing

up

from

the

heart.‘

Note

the

two

religious

expressions:

the

official,

Sunday

service

in

the

white

church

and

the

prayer

meetings

where

the

black

Maran-

nos

sang

the

songs

that

came

“a-gushing

up

from

the

heart.”

Clara

Brim,

born

in

the

1830s

in

Louisiana,

indicates

the

same

bipartite

religious

system:

When

Sunday

come

Old

Massa

ask

who

want

to

go

to

church.

Dem

what

wants

could

ride

hoss-back

or

walk.

Us

go

to

de

white

folks

church.

Dey

sot

in

front

and

us

sot

in

back.

Us

had

prayer

meetin’

too,

regular

every

week.

One

old

culled

man

a

sort

of

preacher.

He

de

leader

in

’ligion.'

THE

RELIGION

or

THE

SLAVES

/

35

Cato

Carter,

born

in

1836

or

1837

as

a

slave

in

Alabama,

indicates

how

the

slaves’

own

religion

was

often

prohibited

and

practiced

secretly:

Course

niggers

had

their

ser’ous

side

too.

They

loved

to

go

to

church

and had

a

li’l

log

chapel

for

worship.

But

I

went

to

the

white

folks

church.

In

the

chapel

some

nigger

mens

preached

from

the

Bible,

but

couldn’t

read

a

line

no

more

than

a

sheep

could.

The

Carters

didn't

mind

their

niggers

prayin’

and

singin’

hymns,

but

some

places

wouldn’

’low

them

to

worship

a-tall

and

they

had

to

put

their

heads

in

pots

to

sing

or

pray.‘

Carter’s

testimony

that

the

slaves

were

sometimes

prohibited

from

religious

expression

in

the

nineteenth

century

is

veriﬁed

by

other

slaves,

who

also

indicate

other

nuances

of

slave

religion.

Adeline

Cunningham

was

born

a

slave

in

Texas

in

1852.

She

says

of

her

master

and

his

family

and

about

slave

religion:

Dey

was

rough

people

and

dey

treat

ev’rybody

rough

. .

. .

No

suh,

we

never

goes

to

church.

Times

we

sneaks

in

de

woods

and

prays

de

Lawd

to

make

us

free

and

times

one

of

de

slaves

got

happy

and

made

a

noise

dat

dey

heerd

at

de

big

house

and

den

de

overseer

come

and

whip

us

’cause

we

prayed

de

Lawd

to

set

us

free.‘

Ellen

Butler,

born

a

slave

in

Louisiana

in

1859,

had

the

following

comment

about

slave

religion:

Massa

never

’lowed

us

slaves

go

to

church

but

they

have

big

holes

in

the

ﬁelds

they

gits

down

in

and

prays.

They

done

that

way

’cause

the

white

folks

didn’t

want

them

to

pray.

They

used

to

pray

for

freedom.‘

Adeline

Hodges,

born

a

slave

in

Alabama,

indicates

the

importance

of

the

independent

slave

religion

to

her:

De

slaves

warn’t

’lowed

to

go

to

church,

but

dey

would

whisper

roun,

and

all

meet

in

de

woods

and

pray.

De

only

time

I

’members

my

pa

was

one

time

when

I

was

a

li’l

chile,

he

set

me

on

a

log

by

him

an’

prayed

.

.

.

.’

Mingo

White

indicates

the

importance

of

mid—week

prayer

meet-

ings

in

the

total

life

of

the

slaves,

and

how

they

were

related

in

the

minds

of

the

slaves

to

other

aspects

of

autonomy

such

as

having

36

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

their

own

gardens

to

work,

Saturday

night

“frolics,”

and

hostility

to

going

to

Sunday

church:

After

de

day’s

wuk

was

done

there

warn’t

anything

for

de

slaves

to

do

but

go

to

bed.

Wednesday

night

they

went

to

prayer

meetin’.

We

had

to

be

in

de

bed

by

nine

o’clock.

Ever’

night

de

drivers

come

’roun

ter

make

sho’

dat

we

was

in

de

bed.

I

heard

tell

of

folks

goin’

to

bed

an’

den

gittin’

up

and

goin’

to

youther

plantation.

On

Sat’day

de

hans’

wukked

’twell

noon.

Dey

had

de

res’

of

de

time

to

wuk

dey

gardens.

Ever’

fambly

had

a

garden

of

dere

own.

On

Sat’day

night

the

slave

could

frolic

for

a

while.

Dey

would

have

parties

sometimes

an’

whiskey

and

homebrew

for

de

servants.

On

Sundays

we

didn’t

do

anything

but

lay

’roun

an’

sleep,

’case

we

didn’

lack

to

go

to

church.’

The

slaves

understood

that

the

oﬂicial

religion

was

being

used

as

a

method

of

social

control

and

it

is

clear

that

for

many

slaves

it

simply

didn’t

Work.

Wes

Beady,

born

about

1850

in

Texas,

told

it

as

he

saw

it:

We

went

to

church

on

the

place

and

you

ought

to

heard

that

preachin’.

Obey

your

massa

and

missy,

don’t

steal

chickens

and

eggs

and

meat,

but

nary

a

word

’bout

havin’

a

soul

to

save.’

Lewis

Fabor,

born

a

slave

in

Georgia

in

1855,

had

this

to

say

about

white

preaching

and

black

preaching

under

official

auspices:

On

Sunday

all

were

required

to

attend the

white

church

in

town.

They

sat

in

the

back

of

the

church

as

the

white

minister

preached

and

directed

the

following

text

at

them:

“don’t

steal

your

master’s

chickens

or

his

eggs

and

your

backs

won’t

be

whipped.”

In

the

afternoon

of

this

same

day

when

the

colored

minister

was

allowed

to

preach

the

slaves

heard

this

text:

“Obey

your

masters

and

your

mistresses

and

your

backs

won’t

be

whipped.”‘°

The

slaves

at

times

prayed

in

one

way

while

the

preacher

preached

in

another

way.

Minnie

Davis,

an

ex-slave

from

Georgia,

about

ten

years

old

when

the

war

ended,

said:

I

recall

that

Dr.

Hoyt

used

to

pray

that

the

Lord

would

drive

the

Yankees

back.

He

said

that

“Niggers

were

born

to

be

slaves.”

My

mother

said

that

all

the

time

he

was

praying

out

loud

like

that,

she

was

praying

to

herself:

“Oh

Lord,

please

send

the

Yankees

on

and

let

them

set

us

frce.”"

THE

RELIGION

or

rm:

SLAVES

/

37

One

of

the

richest

expressions

of

this

counterposition

of

the

slaves’

reactions

to

the

official

religion

and

his

practice

of

his

own

religion

is

in

the

following

account

of

Richard

Carruthers,

born

in

Memphis,

Tennessee,

in

the

mid-1830s,

and

raised

as

a

slave

in

Texas:

When

the

white

preacher

come

he

preach

and

pick

up

his

Bible

and

claim

he

gittin’

the

text

right

out

from

the

Good

Book

and

he

preach:

“The

Lord

say,

don’t

you

niggers

steal

chickens

from

your

missus.

Don’t

you

steal

your

marster’s

hawgs.”

That

would

be

all

he

preach

.

.

. .

Us

niggers

used

to

have

a

prayin’

ground

down

in

the

hollow

and

sometimes

we

come

out

of

the

ﬁeld,

between

eleven

and

twelve

at

night,

scorchin’

and

burnin’

up

with

nothin’

to

eat,

and

we

Wants

to

ask

the

good

Lawd

to

have

mercy.

We

put

grease

in

a

snuff

pan

or

bottle

and

make

a

lamp.

We

takes

a

pine

torch,

too,

and

goes

down

to

the

hollow

to

pray.

Some

gits

so

joyous

they

starts

to

holler

loud

and

we

has

to

stop

up

they

mouth.

I

see

niggers

git

so

full

of

the

Lawd

and

so

happy

they

draps

unconscious.“

The

slaves’

religious

ceremonies

emphasized

and

tightened

the

social

bonds

among

people.

In

the

religious

meetings

the

people

of

the

slave

quarters

gathered

together

to

discuss

the

events

of

the

day,

to

gain

new

strength

from

the

communal

reality

to

face

their

individual

realities,

to

celebrate

the

maintenance

of

life

in

the

midst

of

adversity,

and

to

determine

the

communal

strategies

and

tactics.

Out

of

these

meetings

came

the

modern

black

church

and

the

many

black

lodges

which

play

such

an

important

role

in

the

modern

Afro-American

community,

and

which

continue

to

function

as

important

social

institutions

both

for

accommodation

and

for

struggle.

However,

religious

institutions

among

North

American

black

slaves

were

not

speciﬁcally

African.

If

one

looks

for

speciﬁcally

African

religious

institutions

among

American

slaves

before

the

Civil

\Var,

one

cannot

ﬁnd

them.

On

the

other

hand,

the

African

religious

behavior

was

not

completely

obliterated.

The

slaves’

churches

were

not

the

same

as

the

European

Christian

churches.

Their

peculiarities

are

not

accounted

for

by

suggesting

that

such

things

as

the

intense

einotionalism

are

part

of

the

culture

of

deprivation

and

are

irrational

and

regressive

infantile

expressions

of

people

who

were

not

allowed

to

become

adults.

There

are

indeed

some

resemblances

between

black

religion

and

poor

white

religion

in

the

South,

some

of

which

38

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

might

just

as

well

be

traceable

to

black

impact

upon

whites

as

to

white

upon

blacks.

But

there

were

elements

that

were

sharply

different

between

the

religious

behavior

of

poor

whites

and

that

of

black

slaves,

and

the

total

tone

of

religious

expression

was

cer-

tainly

different.

The

black

slaves

in

North

America

utilized

West

African

con-

cepts

in

a

new

and

totally

different

context.

In

so

doing

they

trans-

formed

those

West

African

forms

into

something

which

was

neither

African

nor

European-American

but

a

syncretic

blend

of

the

two

that

produced

a

totality

which

must

be

looked

at

in

its

own

terms.

While

it

is

true

that

all

blends

depend

upon

the

elements

being

fused,

it

is

also

true

that

one

cannot

sift

out

“African”

traits

or

“European-American”

traits

from

the

product

which

was

qualita-

tively

different

from

any

of

the

inﬂuences

that

fed

into

its

develop-

ment.

Several

examples

dealing

with

black

religion

ought

to

make

clear

the

nature

of

this

process.

The

intense

relationship

in

the

black

church

between

the

preacher

and

the

congregation

is

dependent

upon

the

congregation

being

a

community,

a

sacred

family,

in

which

the

preacher

is

the

leader

and

the

head

of

the

community.

This

relationship

is

similar

to

that

of

the

elder

in

a

West

African

village

extended

family

compound.

The

elder

is

understood

to

have

superior

contact

with

the

Unknown,

but

his

relationshp

to

it

is

manifested

through

his

relationship

with

his

people.

If

we

look

at

the

published

autobiographies

of

black

churchmen

whose

careers

began

before

the

Civil

War,

we

ﬁnd

men

who

are

seen

by

their

communities

as

having

special

grace

manifested

by

their

deep

knowledge

of

the

people’s

needs.

Such

clergymen

func-

tioned

as

community

leaders,

political

directors,

healers

and

in-

spirers,

physicians,

and

lawyers.

The

leaders

of

major

slave

revolts,

such

as

Nat

Turner,

were

usually

such

men.

The

black

minister

functioned

in

a

context

controlled

and

limited

by

a

shadowy

but

powerful

group

of

elders

or

deacons

and

by

older

“sanctiﬁed”

women.

If

these

leaders

failed

to

produce

the

results

that

were

expected,

the

social

cohesion

and

social

solutions

required,

the

congregation,

or

some

segment

of

it,

would

look

else-

where.

These

roles

have

West

African

analogues.

In

West

Africa

such

elders

could

at

moments

of

crisis

do

away

with

the

king

or

the

head

priest

in order

to

preserve

the

society,

at

least

as

they

understood

the

needs

of

the

society.

Women

in

West

Africa

often

played

very

signiﬁcant

independent

roles

in

re-

"r1-11;

RELIGION

or

r111-:

SLAVES

/

39

ligious

orders

and

similar

activities.

Such

people

were

the

real

residual

representatives

of

the

communitv.

Their

power

is

not

derived

from

some

legal

or

constitutional

authority

but

from

the

traditional

respect

afforded

elders

because

they

are

believed

to

act

not

out

of

selﬁsh

self-seeking

motives,

but

out

of

their

deep

contact

with

the

soul

of

the

congregation

and

the

community.

The

cries

of

“Amen,”

“Halleluja,”

“Tell

it

to

them,

Preacher,”

and

the

like

that

punctuate

the

sermon

of

the

black

preacher

are

in

effect

affirmations

that

he

is

in

tune

with

th‘e

soul

of

the

community.

While

the

roots

of

his

behavior

are

African,

the

form

is

not,

nor

are

all

of

the

meanings.

Additional

meanings

have

been

added

on

so

that

the

affirmations

of

the

preacher’s

sermons

are

also

in

part

a

reﬂection

of

the

urban,

American

black

ghetto

scene

with

its

rough

democracy

in

which

each

man

and

woman

is

urged

to

“tell

it

like

it

is.”

That

is,

there

has

been

cultural

reenforcement

of

certain

of

the

behavioral

forms

of

West

African

religion,

while

at

the

same

time

these

forms

have

been

reinterpreted

so

that

their

meanings

relate

to

life

in

contemporary

America.

A

graphic

example

of

how

West

African

meanings

reemerged

in

North

America

in

totally

different

contexts

with

some

of

the

original

behavior

lost

and

new

behavior

added

is

the

item,

already

referred

to,

of

the

slaves

using

an

iron

kettle

or

pot

in

order

“to

deaden”

the

sound

during

the

nighttime

prayer

meetings

and

sings.

The

stories

of

hundreds

of

ex-slaves

not

in

contact

with

each

other

tell

similar

stories

about

the

iron

pot.

A

woman

who

was

born

a

slave

many

years

before

the

Civil

War

has

this

account

and

explanation

of

the

iron

pot

story:

They

used

to

have

prayer

meetings.

In

some

places

that

they

have

prayer

meetings

they

would

turn

pots

down

in

the

middle

of

the

ﬂoor

to

keep

the

white

folks

from

hearing

them

pray

and

testify,

you

know.

Well,

I

don’t

know

where

they

learned

to

do

that.

I

kinda

think

the

Lord

put

them

things

in

their

minds

to

do

for

themselves,

just

like

he

helps

us

Christians

in

other

ways.

Don’t

you

think

so?“

A

Mrs.

Sutton,

another

former

slave,

discussed

the

iron

pot

in

the

following

way:

Lot

of

them

would

want

to

have

meetings

in

the

Week,

but

the

white

people

wouldn't

let

them

have

meetings,

but

they

would

get

40

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

a

big

ole

wash

kettle

and

put

it

right

outside

the

door,

and

turn

it

bottom

upwards

to

get

the

sound,

then

they

would

go

in

the

house

and

sing

and

pray,

and

the

kettle

would

ketch

the

sound.

I

s’pose

they

would

kinda

have

it

propped

up

so

the

sound

would

get

under

it.“

Another

slave

testiﬁed

to

the

usefulness

of

the

pot

as

a

form

of

protection:

They’d

have

prayer

meetings

at

times

at

home,

but

they

had

to

get

permission,

and

if

they

didn’t

I’ve

know

them

to

have

to

turn

down

a

pot

to

keep

the

sound

in.

No’m,

I

have

never

known

them

to

get

caught

while

the

pot

was

turned

down

at

my

home;

but

I

have

heard

of

them

getting

caught.“

Still

another

ex-slave

explained

why

sometimes

people

got

caught

even

though

the

pot

was

turned

down:

When

the

niggers

wanted

prayer

meeting

they

turned

a

pot

down

in

the

middle

of

the

ﬂoor

and

sang

and

shouted

and

the

white

folks

couldn’t

hear

them.

Of

course,

sometimes

they

might

happen

to

slip

up

on

them

on

suspicion.“

A

woman

who

had

been

born

in

1852

as

a

slave

explained

that

the

slaves

would

turn

the

pot

up

and

pray

and

sing

into

it

and

that

was

why

it

deadened

the

sound."

A

retired

black

preacher

who

had

been

born

a

slave

gave

the

following

description

of

the

use

of

the

iron

pot

in

an

account

which

indicated

how

much

shouting

and

noise

the

slaves

made

during

their

prayer

meetings.

Notice

that

he

is

describing

an

outdoor

meet-

ing

in

which

the

sound

would

be

most

likely

to

travel:

Meetings

back

there

meant

more

than

they

do

now.

Then

everybody’s

heart

was

in

tune

and

when

they

called

on

God they

made

heaven

ring.

It

was

more

than

just

Sunday

meeting

and

then

no

more

Godliness

for

a

week.

They

would

steal

off

to

the

ﬁelds

and

in

the

thickets

and

there,

with

heads

together

around

a

kettle

to

deaden

the

sound,

they

called

on

God

out

of

heavy

hearts.“

Siney

Bonner,

an

ex-slave

from

Alabama,

indicates

how

the

idea

of

turning

down

the

pot

was

well

known

to

the

masters.

Some

of

dc

niggers

want

to

have

dere

own

meetins,

but

Lawd

chile,

dcm

niggers

get

happy

and

get

to

shoutin’

all

over

de

meadow

where

dey

built

a

bresh

arbor.

Massa

_|olm

quick

put

a

stop

to

THE

RELIGION

OF

THE

SLAVES

/

41

dat.

He

say,

“If

you

gwine

to

preach

and

sing

you

must

turn

de

wash

pot

bottom

up;”

meanin’

no

shoutin’."

These

accounts

of

the

pot

being

used

in

the

weekday

meetings

.u1d

sings

are

typical

of

many

hundreds

of

such

references

in

the

slave

narratives

taken

from

all

of

the

Southern

states.

lt

is

clear

that

the

iron

pot

could

not

have

in

fact

been

very

effective

in

actually

deadening

the

sound

of

the

slaves’

religious

sings,

particularly

when

we

know

that

they

were

not

quiet

affairs.

Only

if

the

slaves

could

have

actually

put

their

heads

in

the

kettles

as

some

accounts

suggest

they

did,

could

any

impact

upon

the

sound

level

have

been

created.

After

all,

no

iron

pot

placed

face

down

on

an

earthen

ﬂoor

in

a

cabin

in

which

more

than

a

dozen

people

were

probably

singing,

dancing,

and

shouting

could

possibly

have

deadened

the

sound.

Moreover,

the

accounts

of

the

use

of

the

pots

vary;

the

pot

is

sometimes

turned

up

or

placed

outside

of

the

door

of

the

cabin,

occasionally

appearing

even

outdoors

where

it

clearly

could

not

signiﬁcantly

alter

the

sound

level.

Clearly,

the

iron

pot

or

kettle

is

a

symbolic

element,

the

original

associations

of

which

have

been

lost.

B.

A.

Botkin

draws

our

attention

to

a

passage

from

an

earlier

work

on

black

folksongs

which

discussed

the

entire

pot—washpot

syndrome

in

very

general

terms

that

indicated

widespread

knowl-

edge

of

the

practice,

as

well

as

the

fact

that

those

who

had

reﬂected

upon

it

knew

that

it

had

nothing

to

do

with

muﬂling

sound.

Dorothy

Scarbourough

writes

about

one

of

her

informants:

Dr.

Boyd

told

me

incidents

of

the

history

of

various

songs.

For

ex-

ample,

he

said

of

the

familiar

old

spiritual,

Steal

Away,

that

it

was

sung

in

slavery

times

when

the

Negroes

on

a

few

plantations

were

for-

hidden

to

hold

religious

services.

That

was

because

the

masters

were

afraid

of

gatherings

which

might

lead

to

insurrections

like

some

that

had

occurred.

So

the

Negroes

would

gather

in

a

cabin

and

hold

their

service

by

stealth.

They

would

resort

to

a

peculiar

practice

to

prevent

their

singing

from

being

heard

at

the

big

house.

They

would

turn

an

iron

washpot

upside

down

on

the

dirt

floor

and

put

a

stick

under

it,

and

would

sing

in

such

a

way

that

they

thought

the

sound

would

be

muﬂled

under

the

pot.

Dr.

Boyd

says

that

he

had

often

gone

to

such

services

with

his

mother

in

his

childhood

:u1d

seen

this

do11e.

Ile

said

that,

in

fact,

he

believed

the

white

people

knew

of

the

gatherings

and

allowed

them,

though

the

Negroes

were

fearful

of

being

found

out.”

42

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

The

pot

was

believed

to

bring

protection.

With

the

pot

one

ex-

pected

not to

be

caught

engaged

in

what

was

clearly

a

prohibited

activity.

Why

does

the

pot

or

kettle

function

in

this

way?

There

are

several

possible

answers

to

this

question,

all

of

which

are

related.

In

West

Africa,

pots

are

a

regular

part

of

the

ceremonial

para-

phernalia.

Herskovits

tells

us

that

in

Dahomian

funerals

where

all

the

ancestors,

including

those

who

died

in

America,

are

remem-

bered,

there

is

a

little

pot

for

each

ancestor

into

which

a

young

chick

is

placed

as

a

sacriﬁce.

The

loa

in

Haitian

vodun

are

also

“kept”

in

pots.“

The

pot

is

a

ubiquitous

item

associated

in

West

Africa

with

the

gods,

very

often

with

those

important

river

spirits

who

are

seen

as

being

the

closest

to

men.

Bascom

gives

us,

for

example,

the

follow-

ing

associations

of

pots

with

gods

in

Yoruba

territory

in

West

Africa:

(a)

Each

shrine

of

Yemoja,

the

goddess

of

the

Ogun

River,

.

.

.

contains

a

pot

from

which

water

is

given

to

newborn

children

and

to

women

who

come

to

beg

Yemoja

for

children.

During

her

annual

festival

carved

wooden

ﬁgures

which

decorate

her

shrines

and

bowls

to

bring

back

fresh

water

for

the

shrine

are

carried

on

the

head

to

a

nearby

river.

The

women

who

carry

the

bowls

of

water

are

possessed

by

Yemoja

on

their

way

back

to

the

shrine,

but

they

must

not

speak

or

spill

a

drop

of

water

as

they

dance

through

town.”

(b)

Erinle

is

a

hunter

who

is

the

deity

of

a

small

river

near

Ibobu.

River

worn

stones

are

his

symbol;

they

are

kept

at

this

shrine

along

with

a

pot

of

water

. . .

.

[H]is

worshippers

carry

carved

wooden

shrine

ﬁgures

on

their

heads

when

they

go

to

a

nearby

river

to

get

water

during

his

annual

festival,

at

which

time

possession

occurs.“

(c)

In

the

shrines

of

Oshun,

the

goddess

of

the

Oshun

River,

are

pots

of

water

from

which

worshippers

may

drink."

(d)

The

shrine

for

Shopona

[the

god

of

Smallpox

and

the

brother

of

the

powerful

god

Shango,

still

worshipped

today

in

Nigeria,

Trinidad,

Jamaica,

and

Cuba]

contains

an

inverted

pot

with

a

broken

hole

at

the

top,

beneath

which

arc

two

iron

standards

to

which

the

blood

of

sacriﬁcial

animals

is

fed.“

THE

RELIGION

OF

THE

SLAVES

/

(The

memory

of

this

god

is

still

very

present

in

Cuba.

Bascom

writes:

“If

you

remember

the

once

very

popular

Cuban

song

which

began

‘Babalu,

Babalu,

Babaluaiye’

you

may

be

surprised

to

know

that

it

was

about

the

Yoruba

God

of

Smallpox.”)"

Bascom

also

tells

us

that

among

the

Yoruba,

“potters

say

that

there

is

a

special

kind

of

pot

for

each

of

the

hundreds

of

deities.””

In

some

areas,

Water

from

rivers

was

brought

in

pots

to

the

homes

and

turned

over

on

the

earthen

ﬂoor,

thus

protecting

the

house

and

all

in it.

The

pots

are

special

symbols

of

the

gods

who

afford

protection

to

men

and

women.

The

general

meaning

of

the

Yoruba

river

spirits,

Bascom

writes,

is

to

“aid

their

worshippers

by

giving

them

good

health

and

prosperity,

and

by

helping

them

to

achieve

their

destinies

and

live

out

their

allotted

spans

of

life

on

earth.”=’”

With

such

protection,

men

and

women

in

Africa

and

in

related

ways,

under

slavery

in

the

New

World,

had

the

courage

to

gather

at

night

for

prayer

meetings

to

assert

and

develop

their

community,

even

though

such

meetings

were

prohibited.

The

memory

among

Southern

blacks

that

they

had

to

pray

in

hidden

places

and

Ways,

and

the

relationship

of

this

reality

to

the

use

of

an

iron

pot,

did

not

die.

In

a

recent

book,

the

black

Olympic

runner

Jesse

Owens,

talking

about

his

father’s

illiteracy,

wrote:

“Yet

if

Henry

Owens

never

was

able

to

read

the

words

of

his

religion,

at

least

he

didn’t

have

to

dig

a

hole

in

the

ground

or

put

a

kitchen

pot

over

his

head

to

pray.”2°

Owens

has

great

admira-

lion

for

those

slaves

who

persevered

in

their

own

manner

of

wor-

ship,

even

though

he

does

not

understand

what

the

iron

pot

sym-

holized.

This

admiration

is

well

placed,

for

the

slaves

preserved

the

iron

pot

as

part

of

their

behavior

in

the

New

World,

and

the

meanings

of

the

iron

pot,

meanings

of

divine

protection,

permeated

slave

life.

Indeed,

not

only

did

the

slaves

preserve

the

iron

pot

hnr

the

iron

pot

also

played

an

important

role

in

preserving

them.

Sidney

Mintz,

commenting

upon

an

earlier

version

of

this

discus-

-.ion,

offered

another

possible

interpretation,

from

which

the

follow-

mg

are

excerpts:

I

would

like

to

call

attention

.

.

.

to

the

signiﬁcance

of

drums,

drum-

ining

and

other

instrumentation

in

Afro-American

religious

expres-

sion

. .

.

.

The

drum,

like

the

pot,

jar,

or

container,

is

hollow

and

|'(‘5()l1;ll]f;

Ortiz,

in

his

study

of

Afro-Cuban

musical

instruments

(iogizll),

w|'iU:s

of

one-nieinbrane

“open”

drums,

the

general

design

44

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

or

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

stares

of

which

is

analogous

to

a

washtub

or

inverted

basin.

One

is

entitled

to

Wonder

whether

a

washtub

that

“catches”

sound,

rather

than

producing

it,

may

not

represent

some

kind

of

symbolic

inversion

on

the

part

of

a

religious

group—particularly

since

the

suppression

of

drumming

by

the

masters

was

a

common

feature

of

Afro-American

history.

Dennert

(n.d.:22),

in

his

very

brief

study

of

Curagao

musical

instruments,

pictures

the

drum-like

bastel,

which

consists

of

a

calabash

partly

submerged

in

water

inside

a

washtub,

and

states

speciﬁcally

that

this

instrument

was

used

when

the

slaves

were

forbidden

to

play

drums.

(Cf.

also

Hoetink

1969:66—67).

Metraux

(i959:177—178),

in

discussing

the

role

of

drums

in

Haitian

"vodun,

remarks

almost

casually;

“whenever

the

state

has

tried

to

suppress

paganism

it

has

begun

by

forbidding

the

use

of

the

drum.”’°

It

might

be

noted,

also,

that

in

the

near-revolutionary

rioting

in

Trinidad

in

1938,

the

bamboo

rods

which

had

been

used

as

percus-

sion

instruments

were

turned

into

staves

to

ﬁght

the

police,

and

that

the

colonial

government

thereafter

forbade

their

use.

The

popu-

lace,

intent

on

having

a

popular

percussion

instrument,

turned

next

to

discarded

oil

drums

and

developed

them

into

the

steel

band

which

has

become

such

an

important

part

of

Trinidadian

culture.

Mintz

reminds

us

also

of

another,

even

more

direct

reference:

Courlander’s

discussion

of

Haitian

mosquito

drums,

portable

mos-

quito

drums,

and

earth

bows.

Courlander

writes

of

the

Haitian

earth

bow:

This

instrument

has

survived

not

only

in

Haiti

but

in

the

United

States

as

well.

The

washtub

device

that

is

an

important

part

of

American

Negro

music

is

a

clear

development

of

the

earth

bow.

The

washtub

is

inverted

and

a

cord

is

attached

to

the

tin

bottom.

The

other

end

of

the

cord

is

fastened

to

a

stick

which

is

braced

against

the

lip

of

the

bottom

side

of

the

tub.

The

stick

and

cord

are

manipulated

precisely

like

the

Haitian

and

African

instruments.

There

is

implicit

evidence

that

the

role

of

the

washtub

has

been

taken

over

in

modern

jazz

orchestras

by

the

double-bass

ﬁddle."

Mintz

remarks

that

we

might

keep

in

mind

that

“the

earth

bow

uses

a

hole

in

the

ground

as

its

resonance-chamber.”

The

holes

and

dugouts

that

the

ex-slaves

refer

to

as

a

place

for

ceremonial

activity

may

have

some

analogue

in

this

use

of

the

hole

in

the

ground.

Mintz

ﬁnds

one

reference

in

Courlander

which

draws

even

more

closely

the

possible

linkage

between

pots

and

drums.

Cour-

THE

RELIGION

OF

THE

SLAVES

/

lander

points

out

that

large

clay

urns

are

also

used

in

Haitian

vodun

ritual:

“they

are

sung

into,

tapped

with

sticks,

and

on

some

occasions

are

covered

with

goatskin

heads

and

played

like

a

drum.”“

Mintz

suggests

that

this

entire

matter

of

washtubs,

jars,

and

drums

represents

“a

case

in

which

some

original

symbolic

or

instrumental

commitment

has

outlived

its

original

circumstantial

signiﬁcance.

Rather

than

disappearing

however,

that

commitment

is

somehow

transmuted

and

preserved?”

I

am

perfectly

willing

to

accept

this

language

and

wish

to

note

that,

of

course,

it

demonstrates

how

vibrant

and

remarkable

was

the

adaptation

of

West

African

slaves

and

their

descendants

to

their

new

environment.

Redoings

of

African

meanings

played

an

important

role

in

other

aspects

of

North

American

black

religious

life.

A

crucial

example

of

this

is

the

conversion

experience.

Experiences

in

which

people

faint

and

then

undergo

religious

conversion

are

common

to

funda-

mentalist

Christianity

in

the

Southern

United

States.

But

in

inter-

views

taken

in

the

late

1920s

with

black

rural

Southerners

who

had

been

slaves,

there

appear

certain

elements

which

are

unique

to

blacks.

The

conversion

story

follows

a

general

pattern

in

which

particular

phrases

are

repeated.

Before

interpreting

these

stories,

excerpts

from

a

number

of

them

must

be

offered.

(a)

I

left

home

and

Went

into

the

thicket

and

fell

down

crying

unto

the

Lord.

There

the

power

of

God

struck

me

and

a

little

man

appeared

and

said,

“My

little

one,

follow

me.”“

(h)

I

was

killed

dead

by

the

power

of

God

one

evening

about

four

o’clock

. . .

.

Like

a

ﬂash

I

saw

my

soul

in

the

form

of

an

angel,

leap

from

my

old

body

which

was

lying

at

the

greedy

jaws

of

hell.

When

I

saw

this,

I

prayed

again

to

the

Lord

to

have

mercy.

Then

there

ap-

peared

before

me

a

little

man

dressed

up

in

white

linen

and

with

golden

locks

hanging

over

his

shoulders

and

parted

in

the

middle.

He

said:

“Follow

me

and

I

will

lead

you

to

the

father.’”‘

(c)

First

the

informant

tells

of

himself

dying.

Then,

when

he

had

re-

gained

consciousness:

l

began

to

mourn

and

pray

and

as

I

did

a

little

man

appeared

beside

me

standing

in

space.

He

spoke

to

me

saying,

“My

little

one,

you

must

die

for

Jesus’

sake.”

The

little

man

then

led

the

informant

to

the

east

and

to

the

everlasting

gates

of

Glory.“

46

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

(d)

When

I

was

killed

dead,

I

saw

the

devil

and

the

ﬁres

of

hell.

The

ﬂames

were

blue

and

green.

I

left

hell

and

came

out

pursued

by

the

devil.

God

came

to

me

as

a

little

man.

He

came

in

my

room

and

said,

“Come

and

go

with

me.”

He

was

dressed

in

dark

but

later

he

came

dressed

in

white

and

said:

“Come

and

I

will

show

you

paradise

and

the

various

kinds

of

mansions

there.”‘"

(e)

After

talking

of

dying

and

being

in

hell,

the

informant

says:

I

became

afraid

and

became

faint

again

and

there

began

crying

on

the

inside,

saying,

“Mercy!

mercy!

mercy!

Lord!”

Then

I

began

to

cry

and

as

I

wept

I

looked

and

there

by

my

side

stood

a

little

man,

very

small

and

with

waxen

hair.

His

eyes

were

like

ﬁre,

his

feet

as

burnished

brass.

On

his

shoulder

he

carried

a

spear

and

on

the

end

of

it

was

a

star

that

outshone

the

morning

sun.

I

saw

the

real

sun

go

down

and

there

was

great

darkness

and

I

began

to

tremble

with

fear,

but

the

little

man

spoke

and

said,

“Be

not

afraid

and

follow

Me

for

lo,

I

am

a

swift

messenger

and

I

will

ever

be

thy

guide.

Keep

thy

feet

on

the

straight

and

narrow

path

and

follow

Me

and

all

the

demons

in

hell

shall

not

be

able

to

cause

thee

to

stumble

or

to

fall.”‘“

(f)

I

was

afraid

I

was

going

to

fall

into

the

deep

pit.

It

seemed

that

there

was

nothing

to

pity

me.

I

was

a

little

image

and

my

body

was

stand-

ing

beside

me.

While

I

stood

there

a

little

man

came

before

me

and

said,

“Don’t

you

know

that

you

will

be

devoured

in

here?”

With

this

he

took

me

in

his

arms

and

journeyed

on

a

narrow

white

path

that

seemed

no

wider

than

a

spider

web.

I

saw

three

devils,

one

very

large,

one

smaller,

etc.

The

informant

then

tells

how

he

eventually

is

led

to

Heaven.”

(g)

I

got

very

faint

and

started

to

praying.

Then

I

died

and

I

saw

my

body

lying

on

the

edge

of

a

deep

gap.

A

little

man

came

up

and

said,

“Arise

and

go.”

I

said,

“Lord,

I

can’t

get

up

or

move

else

I

will

fall.”

He

reached

out

His

hand,

anointed

my

head

and

said,

“Arise

and

follow

me

for

I

am

the

Way,

the

Truth,

and

the

Light

.

. . .

”‘°

(h)

I

died

and

saw

a

deep

hole

and

a

little

man

called

to

me

saying,

“Follow

me.”

I

journeyed

on

and

came

in

sight

of

a

beautiful

green

pasture

and

a

beautiful

mansion.

There

were

sheep

and

they

were

all

the

same

size.

I

don’t

know

how

I

left

but

I

do

know

how

I

went

to

heaven.

I

declare

to

you

I

saw

myself

in

two

bodies.

Little

me

was

standing

looking

down

on

the

old

dead

me

lying

on

a

cooling

board.

THE

RELIGION

or

THE

staves

/

47

While

I

was

in

the

mansion

I

saw

a

beautiful

white

bed and

one

man

came

and

made

it

for

me

and

turned

and

said

to

me,

“That

is

yours.”“

There

are

many

other

such

accounts.

One

of

them

refers

to

a

“little

white

man”

in

place

of

the

usual

“little

man.”“

Sometimes

no

little

man

is

seen,

only

his

voice

is

heard.“

There

is

some

debate

among

the

slaves

as

to

the

color

of

the

little

man:

usually

it

is

unspeciﬁed;

occasionally

it

is

white

and

on

a

few

occasions,

black.

()ne

respondent

declared,

“I

don’t

believe

in

all

that

what

the

people

say

about

having

to

see

a

little

white

man.

That

is

all

fogieism

lsicl

].

What

was

it

for

them

to

see?

Always

a

little

white

man.”“

There

is

nothing

intrinsically

African

about

this

pattern

of

con-

version

experience

stories.

After

living

an

unsaved

life,

the

person

dies

spiritually;

he

goes

to

hell;

a

little

man

who

is

either

an

angel

or

some

other

emissary

of

the

Lord

or

the

Lord

in

some

other

form,

appears

and

leads

the

repentant

sinner

to

the

Glory

Seat,

to

God

Himself.

All

seems

in

order,

all

could

easily

appear

in

Euro-

pean

conversion

stories.

But

there

remains

an

unmistakeable

African

ﬂavor

to

all

of

this,

enough

so

that

one

can

say

that

while

it

is

not

necessary

that

for

people

to

go

through

these

experiences

they

must

be

African,

it

is

also

clear

that

there

is

a

way

in

which

African

belief

would

encourage

this

ﬂow

of

events.

There

is

a

similar

ﬁgure

to

the

“little

man”

in

West

African

theology.

The

Yoruba

god

Elegba,

or

Legba,

is

an

important

deity

throughout

West

Africa.

He

brings

divinity

down

to

earth,

inter-

venes

directly

and

often

mischievously

in

the

lives

of

men,

acts

as

messenger

of

the

other

gods,

and

announces

death.

He

delivers

sacriﬁces

to

Olorun,

the

Sky

God,

he

causes

trouble

for

people

who

offend

or

neglect

the

gods,

and

he

does

good

deeds

for

those

whom

the

deities

wish

to

aid.

Not

intrinsically

an

evil

god,

not

the

Devil

that

some

Christians

and

Muslims

have

taken

him

to

be,

he

is

a

sort

of

West

African

Hermes,

a

messenger

of

the

gods

who

relates

the

gods

to

men.

'

This

kind

of

personal

relationship

with

the

deities

is

something

natural

to

the

African

slave

in

the

New

World.

Thus,

the

“little

man”

in

the

conversion

stories

takes

on

an

important

role

because

in

this

way

divinity

can

become

immediate

and

at

hand.

The

mes-

senger

of

the

gods

who

announces

death’

and

is

associated

with

tricks

and

mischief

appears

before

the

sinner

as

the

symbol

of

his

misdeeds,

as

the

announcer

of

death

and

as

the

bringer

of

good

fortune~the

spiritual

rebirth

of

conversion.

48

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

Legba

and

the

Holy

Spirit

become

mixed

together,

for

both

of

them

maintain

the

link

between

the

World

of

man

and

the

other

world,

both

are

announcers

of

the

will

of

God.

That

the

gods

take

many

forms

is

no

surprise

to

West

Africans,

and

the

belief

that

gods

interpenetrate

each

other

and

appear

to

lack

fully

discrete

identities

is

also

not

strange

to

West

Africans.

That

God

the

Father,

Christ

the

Son,

and

the

Holy

Spirit

can

be

conceived

of

as

separate

but

one

is

not

a

diﬂicult

concept

for

West

Africans

to

accept.

Therefore,

Legba

and

Jesus

and

the

Holy

Spirit

and

God,

not

to

say

elements

of

the

Devil,

all

can

become

merged

in

this

conver-

sion

experience.

To

all

folk

religion,

including

that

of

West

Africa,

such

a

seeming

contradiction

is

commonplace.

The

West

African

in

the

New

World

had

no

diﬂ‘iculty

in

creating

the

necessary

imagery

which

drew

both

upon

West

African

and

European

sources,

and

produced

something

new.

The

African

ability

to

deal

with

mythology,

to

contemplate

cre-

atively

a

universe

in

which

all

things

can

be

animate,

is

reﬂected

in

the

following

story

told

in

the

igzos

by

a

sophisticated

old

black

preacher

who

had

been

a

slave.

The

imagery,

while

not

in

conﬂict

necessarily

with

Christianity,

is

certainly

more

pantheistic

than

is

usual

in

Protestant

Christianity:

God

looked

down

through

the

scope

of

time

and

saw

every

genera-

tion,

even

down

to

this

day.

Then

God

conceived

the

idea

of

making

man.

He

stooped

down

and

took

a

handful

of

clay.

But

the

earth

mourned

and

God

made

a

contract

with

the

earth

saying,

“Weep

not

for

lo!

I

will

repay

every

atom.”

Thus,

when

we

die

our

bodies

go

back

to

mother

earth

and

the

soul

to

the

God

that

giveth.

Those

who

have

been

born

of

the

spirit

will

be

welcomed

back

into

the

house

of

God

but

those

who

have

not

been

killed

dead

and

made

alive

again

in

Jesus

Christ,

who

have

not

been

dug

up,

rooted

and

grounded

and

buried

in

the

Lord,

they

will

have

their

portion

in

outer

darkness.

This

must

be

so,

for

not

one

iota

of

sin

can

enter

that

haven

of

rest.“

In

a

similar

way,

the

black

belief

in

folk

and

homeopathic

reme-

dies

goes

back

to

similar

orientations

in

West

Africa.

It

is

not

impor-

tant

that

such

beliefs

are

not

uniquely

African.

What

is

meaningful

is

how

the

black

slaves

latched

onto

them

and

infused

them

with

African

tonal

qualities.

Harriet

Collins,

born

in

1870

and

thus

too

young

to

have

been

a

slave,

but

out

of

the

same

culture,

had

the

following

to

say

about

“doctoring":

THE

RELIGION

or

THE

SLAVES

/

49

Dere

been

some

queer

things

white

folks

can’t

understand.

Dere

am

folkses

can

see

de

spirits,

but

I

can’t.

My

mammy

learned

me

a

lots

of

doctorin’,

what

she

larnt

from

old

folkses

from

Africy,

and

some

de

Indians

larnt

her.

If

you

has

rheumatism,

ies’

take

white

sassafrass

root

and

bile

it

and

drink

de

tea.

You

makes

lin’ment

by

bilin’

mullein

ﬂowers

and

poke

roots

and

alum

and

salt.

Put

red

pepper

in

you

shoes

and

keep

de

chills

off,

or

string

briars

round

de

neck.

Make

red

or

black

snakeroot

tea

to

cure

fever

and

malaria,

but

git

de

roots

in

spring

when

de

sap

am

high.“

What

is

important

here

is

not

the

origins

of

the

particular

reme-

dies,

some

of

which

are

American

Indian,

some

European,

and

some

African;

what

is

signiﬁcant

is

that

the

belief

in

these

kinds

of

reme-

dies

and

methods

persists

among

black

people,

reinforced

by

the

circumstances

of

life,

by

the

isolation

of

the

black

community,

and

by

the

fact

that

no

doubt

some

of

these

remedies

work.

And

besides,

what

were

the

alternatives?

Homeopathic

remedies

were

mixed

with

charms

and

magical

cures

without

the

informant

drawing

any

particular

distinction

between

forms

of

doctoring.

Notice

in

the

following

example

how

the

in-

formant

invokes

memories

of

Africa,

not

as

some

distant,

un-

imaginable

place,

but

as

one

that

was

close

at

hand:

If

you

kills

de

ﬁrst

snake

you'sees

in

spring,

you

enemies

ain’t

gwine

git

de

best

of

you

dat

year.

For

a

sprain,

git

a

dirt

dauber’s

nest

and

put

de

clay

with

vinegar

and

bind

round

de

sprain.

De

dime

and

de

string

round

my

ankle

keeps

cram[p]s

out

my

leg,

and

tea

from

red

coonroot

good,

too.

All

dese

doctorin’

things

come

clear

from

Africy,

and

dey

allus

worked

for

mammy

and

for

me,

too."

Bascom

summarized

some

of

the

American

black

religious

beliefs,

particularly

those

found

on

the

isolated

Georgia

Sea

Islands,

that

had

African

roots:

The

belief

in

multiple

souls,

the

very

vivid

belief

in

ghosts,

the

special

burial

rites

for

persons

who

die

by

drowning,

lightning,

small-

pox,

and

suicide,

all

resemble

African

beliefs

more

closely

than

they

do

European.

A

baby

that

is

taken

to

a

funeral

must

be

passed

across

the

cofﬁn

so

that

its

soul

will

not

accompany

that

of

the

deceased.

When

a

mother

starts

home

after

a

visit

she

takes

her

baby

_in

her

arms,

and

then

calls

its

name

so

that

its

soul

will

not

be

left

behind.

/\s

in

Africa,

a

distinction

is

made

between

ghosts

50

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

and

witches,

who

take

oﬂ

their

skins

and

can

be

caught

either

by

sprinkling

pepper

and

salt

about

the

room

in

good

African

tradition

or

by

the

distinctly

European

method

of

putting

a

Bible

under

the

pillow.“

In

1934

Charles

S.

Johnson,

in

a

classic

work

largely

based

on

interviews

with

black

plantation

workers,

wrote

of

the

Southern

black

church:

The

church

is

the

one

outstanding

institution

of

the

community

over

which

Negroes

themselves

exercise

control,

and

because

it

stands

so

alone

in

administering

to

their

own

conception

of

their

needs,

its

function

is

varied.

The

religious

emotions

of

the

people

demand

some

channel

of

formal

expression,

and

ﬁnd

it

in

the

church.

But

more

than

this,

the

church

is

the

most

important

center

for

face—to—

face

relations.

It

is

in

a

very

real

sense

a

social

institution.

It

provides

a

large

measure

of

the

recreation

and

relaxation

from

the

physical

stress

of

life.

It

is

the

agency

looked

to

for

aid

when

misfortune

overtakes

a

person.

It

offers

the

medium

for

a

community

feeling,

singing

together,

eating

together,

praying

together,

and

indulging

in

the

formal

expression

of

the

fellowship.

Above

this

it

holds

out

a

world

of

escape

from

the

hard

experiences

of

life

common

to

all.

It

is

the

agency

which

holds

together

the

subcommunities

and

families

physically

scattered

over

a

wide

area.

It

exercises

some

inﬂuence

over

social

relations,

setting

up

certain

regulations

for

behavior,

pass-

ing

judgments

which

represent

community

opinion,

censuring

and

penalizing

improper

conduct

by

expulsion.“

All

that

Johnson

says

seems

accurate

and

cogent.

Yet

by

a

strictly

functional

analysis

he

does

not

manage

to

focus

on

the

deepest

reasons

for

the

power

of

the

black

church

on

the

plantation

and

in

the

black

communities.

The

black

church

came

out

of

three

distinct

experiences:

the

slaves’

own

religion,

both

in

its

pre-Christian

and

in

its

Christian

form;

the

Christian

churches

of

the

freedmen

in

the

cities;

and

the

white

church.

We

must

remember

that

until

the

end

of

the

eighteenth

century,

few

slaves

had

been

converted

to

Christianity.

Yet

they

practiced

some

sort

of

religion,

although

we

have

virtually

no

description

of

it.

It

was,

however,

clearly

out

of

this

West

Afri-

can

set

of

practices

that

the

slaves’

own

religion—the

one

they

practiced

on

weekdays

and

in

the

evenings,

in

the

hollows

and

the

holes

in

the

fields,

in

the

cabins

protected

by

the

iron

pot,

THE

RELIGION

or

"rm;

staves

/

51

at

the

crossroads

where

a

little

man

appeared

before

the

sinner

and

announced

salvation—-came.

It

was

this

religion

which

fertilized

the

freedman’s

churches,

although

these

were

always

Christian

in

doctrine.

Upon

the

slaves’

own

religion

was

superimposed

the

oﬂicial

religion

of

the

masters.

These

two

tendencies

are

clearly

discernible

in

the

contemporary

black

church.

In

a

study

done

in

the

1960s

of

a

black

church

in

St.

Louis,

a

recent

student

of

black

religion

noted

the

existence

of

two

unfused

expressions.

One

he

called

an

“enabling

religion,”

a

religion

of

protest

about

this

world;

the

other,

which

he

called

a

“coping

religion,”

was

concerned

with

surviving

this

world

in

preparation

for

the

next.“

The

ﬁrst

is

clearly

the

heir

to

the

slaves’

own

religion,

while

the

second

reﬂects

more

closely

the

impact

of

the

masters’

church.

Having

a

semi-independent

origin,

the

black

church

was

able

to

burrow

deeper

into

the

black

community

than

Johnson

under-

stood,

and

in

ways

that

he

did

not

seem

to

imagine.

Because

the

black

religious

expression

contained

the

most

signiﬁcant

forms

of

black

culture

in

North

America,

the

forms

which

most

preserved

the

West

African

impulse

and

identity,

it

provided

the

basis

for

an

independent

struggle

against

slavery

and

racism.

It

was

out

of

the

religion

of

the

slaves,

the

religion

of

the

oppressed,

the

damned

of

this

earth,

that

came

the

daily

resistance

to

slavery,

the

signiﬁcant

slave

strikes,

and

the

Underground

Railroad,

all

of

which

constantly

wore

away

at

the

ability

of

the

slave

masters

to

establish

their

own

preeminent

society.

Even

the

few

but

signiﬁcant

slave

revolts,

which

panicked

the

South

and

ultimately

made

it

impossible

for

the

plantocracy

to

maintain

its

hegemony

over

Southern

life,

came

ottt

of

black

religion.

t

t

N

ates

t.

\Villiam

Bascom,

“Acculturation

Among

the

Gullah

Negroes,”

Ameri-

tan

Anthropologist

43

(i94t):44.

.

IWVPSN,

Texas,

Part

t,

p.

282.

.

Ibid.,

p.

118.

.

Ibid.,

pp.

206-207.

.

Ibid.,

pp.

266-267.

.

Ibid.,

p.

177.

.

l"\\’l’SN,

Alabama,

p.

I84.

.

Ibid.,

pp.

4:6,

418.

o.

I-'\\'l’.\'N,

Texas,

Parr

t,

p.

135.

lo.

l"\Vl’SN,

(It-orgia,

Part

t,

p.

323.

1\.|;\-n4-.-

52

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

11.

Ibid.,

p.

70.

12.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Part

1,

pp.

198-199.

13.

Fisk

University,

“Unwritten

History

of

Slavery,”

p.

24.

14.

Ibid.,

p.

35.

15.

Ibid.,

p.

53.

16.

Ibid.,

p.

173.

17.

Ibid.,

p.

282.

18.

Fisk

University,

“God

Struck

Me

Dead,”

p.

156.

19.

FWPSN,

Alabama,

p.

40.

20.

As

quoted

in

B.

A.

Botkin,

ed.,

A

Treasury

of

Southern

Folklore,

.

327.

P

21.

See

Melville

J.

Herskovits,

Dahomey:

An

Ancient

West

African

King-

dom,

I:194—zo8,

and

Harold

Courlander,

The

Drum

and

the

Hoe:

Life

and

Lore

of

the

Haitian

People,

p.

33

passim.

zz.

William

Bascom,

The

Yoruba

of

Southwestern

Nigeria,

p.

88.

23.

Ibid.

24.

Ibid.,

p.

90.

25.

Ibid.,

p.

92.

26.

Ibid.

27.

Ibid.,

pp.

101-102.

28.

Ibid.,

p.

97.

29.

Jesse

Owens

and

Paul

G.

Neimark,

Blackthink,

p.

40.

3o.

These

extensions

of

my

argument

are

from

a

revised

version

of

remarks

made

by

Professor

Mintz

as

commentator

upon

my

paper,

“West

African

Culture

and

North

American

Slavery:

A

Study

of

Culture

Among

American

Slaves

in

the

Ante-Bellum

South

with

Focus

upon

Slave

Religion,”

given

at

the

1970

meetings

of

the

American

Ethnological

Society.

Both

my

paper

and

a

version

of

Professor

Mintz’s

comments

appear

in

Migration

and

Anthro-

pology:

Proceedings

of

the

1970

Annual

Spring

Meeting

of

the

American

Ethnological

Society,

pp.

149ﬁ.

This

chapter

is

an

expanded

version

of

that

a

er.

P

gt.

Courlander,

The

Drum

and

the

Hoe,

p.

zo1.

32.

Ibid.

33.

From

the

revised

version

of

Professor

Mintz’s

remarks

on

my

paper

given

at

the

1970

meetings

of

the

American

Ethnological

Society.

34.

Fisk

University,

“God

Struck

Me

Dead,”

p.

22.

35.

Ibid.,

pp.

30-31.

36.

Ibid.,

pp.

32-33.

37.

Ibid.,

p.

39.

38.

Ibid.,

p.

5.

39.

Ibid.,

p.

61.

40.

Ibid.,

p.

63.

41.

Ibid.,

p.

84.

42.

Ibid.,

p.

86.

43.

Ibid.,

p.

87.

44.

Fisk

University,

“Unwritten

History

of

Slavery,”

p.

50.

45.

Fisk

University,

“God

Struck

Me

Dead,”

p.

2.

46.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Part

1,

p.

243.

47.

Ibid.,

p.

245.

48.

Bascom,

“The

Gullah

Negroes,”

p.

49.

49.

Charles

Johnson,

Shadow

of

the

Plantation,

p.

150.

5o.

Robert

Bruce

Simpson,

“A

Black

Church:

Ecstasy

in

a

World

of

Trouble,”

pp.

175-211.

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

TREATMENT

While

there

has

been

a

great

deal

of

discussion

about

the

life

of

the

American

slave

at

work,

there

has

been

relatively

little

focus

and

even

less

consensus

about

the

quality

of

slave

life

“from

sun-

down

to

sunup.”

How

common

was

whipping?

Were

slaves

decently

fed,

housed,

and

clothed?

What

was

the

structure

and

strength

of

the

slave

family?

Did

slaves

rebel?

Were

there

other

kinds

of

resistance?

Why

was

there

a

much

lower

incidence

of

slave

revolts

in

North

America

than

elsewhere

in

the

New

World?

Partially

as

a

result

of

the

lack

of

direct

evidence,

the

debate

over

these

questions

has

usually

revolved

about

several

extreme

theses

which

clearly

serve

ideological

needs.

The

ﬁrst

of

these

ought

to

be

immediately

dismissed:

the

jasmine

and

magnolia

tale

about

happy,

well-fed,

pampered,

banjo-plucking

“darkies,”

wearing

simple

but

clean

going-to-meeting-clothes,

eating

chickens

stolen

from

“massa,”

smiling

watermelon-slice-sized

grins,

cared

for

by

the

loving

hands

of

beautiful

and

noble

white

women

when

sick,

singing

spirituals

and

children’s

songs

as

they

worked,

telling

animal

stories

with

the

wisdom

of

old

primitives,

and

only

requiring

occa-

sional

physical

punishment,

as

do

children

and

house

pets.

But

un-

fortunately

we

cannot

thoroughly

ignore

this

racist

fantasy

because

parts

of

it

permeate

even

the

serious

discussion

of

slavery

in

North

America.

If

this

were

accurate,

then

the

average

black

slave

in

the

Ameri-

can

South

was

treated

ntuclt

better

than

the

average

poor

White,

H

54,

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

indentured

servant,

or

factory

worker

of

the

period.

Take

one

item:

food.

The

standard

diet

of

most

of

the

world’s

people

in

prein-

dustrial

societies

has

been

one

low

in

proteins

and

high

in

fats

and

starches.

If

hundreds

of

millions

of

the

world’s

population

at

present

go

to

bed

hungry,

what

possible

reason

is

there

to

assume

that

the

chattel

slave

was

well

fed?

Was

he

better

fed

than

Southern

rural

poor

whites,

who

have

suffered

for

generations

from

such

nutritional

diseases

as

pellagra?

Two

opposite

views

of

slavery,

derived

from

the

view

that

the

slaves

in

North

America

were

indeed

poorly

treated,

are

deserving

of

more

serious

attention.

One

of

these

argues

that

the

treatment

of

the

slaves

was

so

bad

in

North

America

that

their

condition

was

analogous

to

that

of

the

inmates

of

German

concentration

camps

in

the

Hitler

era.

Slavery,

like

the

concentration

camp,

was

a

total

institution

which

completely

dominated

the

lives

of

the

slaves.

No

sustained,

serious

resistance

was

possible

because

American

black

slaves

did

not

have

enough

psychic

autonomy

to

be

able

to

conceive

of

meaningful

rebellion.

All

that

was

possible

were

childish

acts

which

did

not

alter

the

situation.

The

very

severity

of

North

Ameri-

can

slavery

made

the

slave

into

Sambo—the

shufliing

man-child,

the

absolute

victim.‘

In

this

vein,

a

lecturer

at

the

University

of

Chicago

once

began

a

lecture

on

slavery

by

announcing

that

“the

worst

thing

about

slavery

was

that

it

produced

slavish

personalities.”

Others

who

have

believed

that

the

treatment

of

the

slaves

in

North

America

was

very

bad

have

reached

an

opposite

conclusion.

Slavery

was

so

bad

that

the

slaves

were

almost

always

either

plotting

insurrection

or

actually

at

the

barricades.

There

were

hundreds

of

slave

revolts

and

rebellions.

American

black

slaves

had

a

heroic

record

of

rebellion

against

overwhelming

odds?

While

we

shall

return

in

Chapter

6

to

a

concrete

discussion

of

revolt

and

rebellion

among

North

American

slaves,

at

this

point

one

can

only

wonder

both

why

these

rebellions

were

so

universally

unsuccessful

if

they

were

so

ubiquitous,

and

why

the

slaves

were

so

foolish

as

to

revolt

so

often

without

a

chance

of

victory?

Both

of

these

theories

are

weighed

down

by

heavy

ideological

concerns.

The

ﬁrst

has

become

the

historical

justiﬁcation

for

the

theory

that

blacks

in

America

are

psychological

victims,

incapable

of

helping

themselves

and

requiring

virtual

clinical

help

from

those

more

fortunate

to

break

out

of

poverty

and

become

fully

function-

ing

adult

human

beings."

The

second

is

the

grounding

for

all

sorts

MASTER

AND

SLAVE!

TREATMENT

/

55

of

views

which

transform

blacks

into

instant

revolutionaries

in-

stinctively

spilling

their

blood

and

that

of

their

enemies

in

behalf

of

“the

revolution.”

The

picture

of

slave

treatment

and

of

slave

response

which

we

get

from

the

slave

narratives

and

interviews

provides

a

much

more

balanced

and

concretely

realistic

view.

The

interviews

enable

us

to

see

maltreatment

of

the

slaves

within

the

context

of

the

total

life

of

the

slaves

who,

while

oppressed

and

exploited,

were

not

turned

into

brutalized

victims,

but

found

enough

social

living

space

to

allow

them

to

survive

as

whole

human

beings.

The

interviews

enable

us

to

see

that

there

were

certain

areas

of

autonomy

carved

out

by

the

slaves

in

a

situation

which

usually

produced

neither

absolute

victims

nor

instant

revolutionaries.

Thus

they

enable

us

to

see

in

speciﬁc

form

the

very

signiﬁcant

ways

in

which

slaves

did

resist

their

condition.

They

enable

us

to

take

the

questions

of

slave

treatment

and

slave

opposition

to

slavery

out

of

the

realm

of

pure

ideology

and

fantasy.

The

views

of

their

history

presented

by

the

ex-slaves

in

the

narra-

tives

and

interviews

enable

us

to

see

the

conﬂicts

between

master

and

slave

that

took

place

day

by

day,

and

how

these

developed

over

time.

They

enable

us

to

see

that

slave

society

was

a

harsh,

brutal,

but

in

some

senses,

viable

way

of

arranging

social

relations;

that

whites

and

blacks

were

constantly

interacting;

and

that

blacks

had

their

own

community

and

culture.

Resistance

ﬂowed

from

the

network

of

informal

organization

of

that

community

and

assumed

forms

that

took

their

meanings

from

that

community.

The

ex-slaves’

accounts

of

their

treatment

make

clear

that

most

slaves

suffered

beatings

and

whippings;

that

they

were

often

poorly

fed,

clothed,

and

housed;

that

they

were

often

overworked;

and

that

slave

women

were

regularly

used

as

sexual

objects

by

whites,

while

slave

men

were

often

used

as

breeding

bulls

and

slave

children

were

frequently

abused.

They

also

indicate

that

the

slaves

had

many

ways

of

adding

to

the

food

and

clothing

supplied

them

by

their

masters;

that

they

were

given

and

found

ways

of

having

non-

regimented

social

relations

with

their

fellow

slaves;

that

they

were

often

able

to

break

through

the

legal

boundaries

of

slavery

in

such

matters

as

learning

to

read

despite

prohibitions

against

teaching

them

this

skill;

and

that

the

social

structure

of

the

slave

community

with

its

divisions

of

house

slaves,

ﬁeld

slaves,

slaves

who

hired

out

their

own

time,

and

freedmen

provided

a

circulation

of

needed

news

and

infortnation

in

that

cotninunity.

In

the

slave

narratives

and

56

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

interviews

we

ﬁnd

a

great

deal

of

evidence

about

the

nature

of

daily

resistance

to

slavery

and

how

it

ﬂowed

from

the

semi-inde-

pendent

slave

community.

Physical

coercion

was

necessary

to

slave

society,

particularly

when

the

slaves

often

greatly

outnumbered

the

masters

and

non-

slaveholding

whites.

George

Fitzhugh,

one

of

the

ideologists

of

Southern

slavery,

wrote,

“Physical

force,

not

moral

suasion,

governs

the

world.

The

negro

sees

the

driver’s

lash,

becomes

accustomed

to

obedient

cheerful

industry,

and

is

not

aware

that

the

lash

is

the

force

that

impels

him.”‘

Fitzhugh

was

quite

right

that

physical

force

governed

the

slave

world,

but

it

is

also

clear

from

the

narra-

tives

and

interviews

that

the

slaves

well

understood

that

it

was

the

lash

that

drove

them

to

work.

A

Swiss

traveler

in

the

West

Indies,

writing

at

the

beginning

of

the

nineteenth

century,

noted

that

a

“mournful

silence”

pervaded

slave

communities.’

While

no

doubt

slaves

sang

and

talked,

it

becomes

quite

clear

from

the

narra-

tives

and

interviews

that

the

traveler

had

properly

judged

the

qual-

ity

of

slave

response,

including

understanding

that

this

“silence”

bred

rebellion.

The

overwhelming

majority

of

the

several

thousand

interviews

with

ex-slaves

recorded

in

the

1920s

and

1930s,

and

all

of

the

slave

narratives

published

before

the

Civil

War,

talk

of

physical

force

being

used

to

keep

the

slaves

in

line.

Not

only

are

whippings

described,

but

they

appear

central

to

slave

life.

The

following

ex-

cerpts

are

chosen

because

they

are

representative,

not

because

they

are

unique,

of

the

description

of

slavery

in

the

thirty

years

before

the

Civil

War.

Almost

all

accounts

of

punishment

indicate

that

whippings

very

often

were

the

consequence

of

individual

acts

of

resistance.

Indeed,

this

sequence

of

events

was

so

prevalent

that

one

might

better

present

the

description

of

rebellion

ﬁrst

and

of

treatment

last.

How-

ever,

it

is

not

that

either

rebelliousness

“caused”

mistreatment

or

that

mistreatment

“caused”

rebelliousness.

As

becomes

clear

from

the

interviews

and

narratives,

they

both

were

part

of

the

same

total

set

of

social

relations

between

masters

and

slaves.

The

slave

not

only

had

to

see

the

lash

in

order

to

become

pliant

to

the

work

routines;

he

very

often

had

to

feel

it.

The

slaves’

ac-

counts

of

the

feel

of

the

lash

and

the

paddle

on

the

back

are

more

convincing

than

Fitzhugh’s

assertion

that

it

was

seeing

the

lash

that

caused

the

slaves’

industry

and

that

that

industry

was

often

“cheerful.”

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

TREATMENT

/

57

Eli

Coleman,

born

a

slave

in

Kentucky

in

1846,

recalled:

Massa

whooped

a

slave

if

he

got

stubborn

or

lazy.

He

whopped

one

so

hard

that

the

slave

said

he’d

kill

him.

So

Massa

done

put

a

chain

round

his

legs,

so

he

jes’

hardly

walk,

and

he

has

to

work

in

the

ﬁeld

that

way.

At

night

he

put

’nother

chain

round

his

neck

and

fastened

it

to

a

tree.

After

three

weeks

massa

turn

him

loose

and

he

the

prodes’

nigger

in

the

world,

and

the

hardes’

workin’

nigger

massa

had

after

that.’

There

are

many

other

similar

accounts

of

slaves

working

with

chains.

The

chain-gang

as

a

method

of

dealing

with

the

most

rebel-

lious

blacks

was

not,

it

would

seem,

an

invention

of

Southern

penol-

ogists

after

the

Civil

\Var.

Are

the

wearers

of

chains

submissive,

docile,

cowed

people

or

are

they

people

so

deﬁant

that

there

is

no

other

way

to

keep

them

“in

line”?

The

chains

may

work,

as

in

the

case

described

above,

but

there

is

the

ever-present

danger

of

other

incorrigibles

threatening

to

kill

“massa.”

The

slave

narratives

contain

many

stories

of

complicated

and

indeed

gruesome

methods

of

punishment.

Wes

Beady,

born

in

1849

in

Texas,

had

this

account

of

one

particular

overseer’s

practice:

He’d

drive

four

stakes

in

the

ground

and

tie

a

nigger

down

and

beat

him

till

he’s

raw.

Then

he’d

take

a

brick

and

grind

it

up

in

a

powder

and

mix

it

with

lard

and

put

it

all

over

him

and

roll

him

in

a

sheet.

It’d

be

two

days

or

more

’fore

that

nigger

could

work

’gain.

I

seed

one

nigger

done

that

way

for

stealin’

a

meat

bone

from

the

meathouse."

Richard

Carruthers,

born

in

1829

in

Memphis,

Tennessee,

said

of

his

master

who

he

called

“Old

Debbill”:

.

.

.

he

used

to

whup

me

and

the

other

niggers

if

we

don’t

jump

quick

enough

when

he

holler

and

he

stake

us

out

like

you

stake

out

a

hide

and

whup

till

we

bleed.

Many

the

time

I

set

down

and

make

a

eight-plait

whip,

so

he

could

whup

from

the

heels

to

the

back

of

the

head

’til

he

ﬁgger

he

get the

proper

re’ibution.

Sometimes

he

take

salt

and

rub

on

the

nigger

so

he

smart

and

burn

proper

and

suffer

mis’ry.

They

was

a

caliboose

right

on

the

plantation,

what

look

like

a

ice-house,

and

it

was

sho’

bad

to

sit

locked

up

in

1t.'°

58

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

or

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

Thomas

Cole,

born

in

1845

in

Alabama,

was

on

a

plantation

where

the

slaves

were

not

beaten,

but

he

knew

many

details

of

beatings

(I

79

on

other

lantations

:

P

.

.

.

us

lucky,

’cause

Massa

Cole

don’t

whip

us.

De

man

that

have

a

place

next

ours,

he

sho’

whip

he

slaves.

He

have

de

cat-o-nine-tails

of

rawhide

leather

platted

round

a

piece

of

wood

for

a

handle.

De

wood

‘bout

ten

inches

long

and

de

leather

braided

on

past

de

stock

quite

a

piece,

and

’bout

a

foot

from

dat

all

de

strips

tied

in

a

knot

and

sprangle

out,

and

makes

de

tassle.

Dis

am

call

de

cracker

and

it

am

what

split

de

hide.

Some

folks

call

dem

bullwhips,

’sted

of

cat-o-nine-tails.

De

ﬁrst

thing

dat

man

do

when

he

buy

a

slave,

am

give

him

de

whippin’.

He

call

it

puttin’

de

fear

of

Gawd

in

him."

Anne

Clark,

aged

112

in

1937,

was

a

repository

of

horror

stories,

tales

that

unfortunately

had

their

counterparts

in

the

reminiscences

of

many

other

former

slaves:

They’d

whop

us

with

a

bullwhip.

We

got

up

at

3

o’clock,

at

4

we

done et

and

hitched

up

the

mules

and

went

to

the

ﬁelds.

We

worked

all

day

pullin’

fodder

and

choppin’

cotton.

Master’d

say,

“I

wan’

you

to

lead

dat

ﬁeld

today,

and

if

you

don’t

do

it

I’ll

put

you

in

de

stocks.”

Then

he’d

whop

me

iffen

I

didn’t

know

he

was

talkin’

to

me.

My

poppa

was

strong.

He

never

had

a

lick

in

his

life.

He

helped

the

marster,

but

one

day

the

marster

says,

“Si,

you

got

to

have

a

whoppin,”

and

my

poppa

says,

“I

never

had

a

whoppin’

and

you

cain’t

whop

me.”

An’

the

marster

says,

“But

I

kin

kill

you,”

an’

he

shot

my

poppa

down.

My

mama

tuk

him

in

the

cabin

and

put

him

on

a

pallet.

He

died.

When

women

was

with

child

they’d

dig

a

hole

in

the

groun’

and

put

their

stomach

in

the

’ole,

and

then

beat

’em.

They’d

allus

whop

us.“

Punishments

often

became

complex

and

ingenious.

Louis

Cain,

born

in

North

Carolina

in

1849,

told

the

following

story:

One

nigger

run

to

the

woods

to

be

a

jungle

nigger,

but

massa

cotched

him

with

the

dog

and

took

a

hot

iron

and

brands

him.

Then

he

put

a

bell

on

him,

in

a

wooden

frame

what

slip

over

the

shoulders

and

under

the

arms.

He

made

that

nigger

wear

the

bell

a

year

and

took

it

off

on

Christmas

for

a

present

to

him.

It

sho’

did

make

a

good

nigger

ottt

of

him."

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

TREATMENT

/

59

There

were

many

stories

about

making

the

captured

runaways

wear

chains

and

bells.

Carey

Davenport,

born

in

slavery

in

the

early

1850s,

said:

Old

man

Jim,

he

run

away

lots

and

sometimes

they

git

the

dogs

after

him.

He

run

away

one

time

and

it

was

so

cold

his

legs

git

frozen

and

they

have

to

cut

his

legs

off.

Sometimes

they

put

chains

on

runaway

slaves

and

chained

’em

to

the

house.

I

never

knowed

of

’em

puttin’

bells

on

the

slaves

on

our

place,

but

over

next

to

us

they

did.

They

had

a

piece

what

go

round

they

shoulders

and

round

they

necks

with

pieces

up

over

they

heads

and

hung up

the

bell

on

the

piece

over

they

head.“

Ida

Heru‘y,

born

in

Marshall,

Texas,

in

1854,

also

referred

to

the

use

of

the

ball

and

chain.

She

said,

“When

a

slave

was

hard

to

catch

for

punishment

dey

would

make

’em

wear

ball

and

chains.

De

ball

was

’bout

de

size

of

de head

and

made

of

lead.”"'

Whipping

was

not

only

a

method

of

punishment.

It

was

a

conscious

device

to

impress

upon

the

slaves

that

they

were

slaves;

it

was

a

crucial

form

of

social

control,

particularly

if

we

remember

that

it

was

very

diﬁicult

for

slaves

to

run

away

successfully.

Katie

Darling,

born

in

1849

in

Texas,

indicated

that

slaves

were

whipped

whether

they

had

broken

the

master’s

rules

or

not:

When

the

niggers

done

anything

massa

bullwhip

them,

but

didn’t

skin

them

up

very

often.

He’d

whip

the

men

for

half

doin’

the

plowin’

or

hoein’,

but

if

they

done

it

right

he’d

ﬁnd

something

else

to

whip

them

for."

Slaves

were

whipped

as

a

lesson

for

other

slaves.

Whipping

was

part

of

the

entire

social

structure

of

slavery;

slaves

who

were

fore-

men

or

drivers

were

often

the

instruments

of

super-brutality

toward

the

slaves

under

them.

At

times

slaves

would

be

killed

by

masters

in

order

to

educate

other

slaves

that

captured

runaways

would

not

be

let

off

with

light

punishments.

Cato

Carter,

born

in

1836

or

I837

in

Alabama,

summarized

this

set

of

relationships

between

punishment

and

social

control:

They

whupped

the

women

and

they

whupped

the

mens.

I

used

to

work

some

in

the

tan’ry

and

we

made

the

whups.

They’d

tie

them

down

to

a

stob,

and

give

’em

the

whuppin’.

Some

niggers,

it

takes

four

men

to

whup

’em,

but

they

got

it.

The

nigger

driver

was

meaner

than

the

white

folks.

They'd

better

not

leave

a

blade

60

/

TI-IE

SOCIOLOGY

or

SLAVERY

IN

Tl-IE

UNITED

STATES

of

grass

in

the

rows.

I

seed

’em

beat

a

nigger

half

a

day

to

make

him

’fess

up

to

stealin’

a

sheep

or

a

shoat.

Or

they’d

whup

’em

for

runnin’

away,

but

not

so

hard

if

they

come

back

of

their

own

’cordance

when

they

got

hungry

and

sick

in

the

swamps.

But

when

they

had

to

run

’em

down

with

the

nigger

dogs,

they’d

git

in

bad

trouble.

The

Carters never

did

have

any

real

’corrigible

niggers,

but

I

heard

of

’em

plenty

on

other

places.

When

they

was

real

’corrigible,

the

white

folks

said

they

was

like

mad

dogs

and

din’t

mind

to

kill

them

so

much

as

killin’

a

sheep.

They’d

take

’em

to

the

graveyard

and

shot

’em

down

and

bury

’em

face

downward,

with

their

shoes

on.

I

never

seed

it

done,

but

they

made

some

the

niggers

go

for

a

lesson

to

them

that

they

could

git

the

same."

Mingo

White,

an

adolescent

when

the

Civil

War

began,

told

the

story

of

Ned

White:

I

’members

once

ol’

Ned

White

was

caught

prayin’.

De

drivers

took

him

de

nex’

day

an’

carried

him

to

de

pegs,

what

was

fo’

stakes

drofe

in

de

groun’.

Ned

was

made

to

pull

off

ever’thang

but

his

pants

an’

lay

on

his

stomach

’tween

de

pegs

whilst

somebody

stropped

his

legs

an’

arms

to

de

pegs.

Den

day

whupped

him

’twell

de

blood

run

from

him

lack

he

was

a

hog.

Dey

made

all

of

de

han’s

come

an’

see

it,

an’

dey

said

us’d

git

de

same

thang

if

us

was

cotched.

Dey

don’t

’low

a

man

to

whip

a

horse

lack

dey

whupped

us

in

dem

days.“

We

shall

return

to

Ned

White

when

talking

of

slave

resistance,

because

this

whipping

did

not

make

him

docile;

it

led

him

to

run

away

and

join

the

Union

Army

when

the

war

came.

And

other

slaves

on

the

same

plantation

followed

his

example.

Black

slave-drivers

often

were

the

meanest

blacks

that

the

master

or

overseer

could

ﬁnd.

Walter

Calloway,

born

in

Virginia

in

I848,

testiﬁed:

Marse

John

good

’nough

to

us

an’

we

git

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

mighty

rough

wid

us

but

he

didn’t

do

de

whuppin’

hisself.

He

had

a

big

black

boy

name

Mose,

mean

as

de

debil

an’

strong

as

a

ox,

and

dc

oberseer

let

hitn

do

all

de

whuppin’.

An’,

Iuan,

he

could

sho’

lay

on

dat

rawhide

lash.

He

whupped

a

nigger

gal

’bout

thirteen

years

ole

so

hard

she

nearly

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

TREATMENT

/

61

die,

an’

allus

attera’

she

hab

spells

of

ﬁts

or

somp’in.

Dat

make

Marse

John

pow’ful

mad,

so

he

run

dat

oberseer

off

de

place

an’

Mose

didn’

do

no

mo’

whuppin."

The

patrol

system

was

a

very

important

part

of

the

system

of

social

control

over

the

slaves.

Poor

whites

were

used

to

chase

run-

away

slaves,

to

punish

them,

and

generally

to

frighten

and

intimi-

date

the

slave

population.

They

acted

in

a

very

brutal

fashion;

they

would

often

simply

go

into

the

slave

quarters

at

night

and

with

the

slightest

provocation

whip

slaves

and

generally

torment

them.

Elige

Davison,

born

a

slave

in

Virginia,

graphically

and

per-

ceptively

described

the

patrol

system:

Us

couldn’t

go

nowhere

without

a

pass.

The

patterrollers

would

git

us

and

they

do

plenty

for

nigger

slave.

I’s

went

to

my

quarters

and

be

so

tired

I

jus’

fall

in

the

door,

on

the

ground,

and

a

patterroller

come

by

and

hit

me

several

licks

with

a

cat-o-nine-tails,

to

see

if

I’s

tired

’nough

to

not

run

’way.

Sometimes

them

patterrollers

hit

us

jus’

to

hear

us

holler.”

While

many

slaves

would

try

to

run

away

after

being

whipped,

the

patrollers

“caught

a

lot

of

’em

and

den

dey’d

get

it

harder

dan

ever

befo’

and

have

shackles

put

on

dere

feet

wid

jes’

enough

slack

for

’em

to

walk

so

dey

could

work.”2‘

Sylvester

Brooks,

born

a

slave

in

1850

in

Alabama,

told

of

the

success

of

the

patrol

system

in

controlling

the

slaves:

Next

thing

I

’members

is

de

patterrollers,

’cause

dey

whip

me

every

time

dey

catches

me

without

my

pass.

Dat

de

way

dey

make

us

stay

home

at

night,

and

it

made

good

niggers

out

of

us,

’cause

we

couldn’t

chase

round

and

git

in

no

meanness.“

At

all

times

the

slaves

were

subject

to

the

intrusion

of

the

patrol-

lers.

Sallie

Carder,

born

in

Tennessee

in

1849,

described

the

activities

of

the

patrollers:

De

patrollers

would

go

about

in

de

quarters

at

night

to

see

if

any

of

de

slaves

was

out

or

slipped

off.

As

we

sleep

on

de

dirt

ﬂoors

on

pallets,

de

patrollers

would

walk

all

over

and

on

us

and

if

we

even

grunt

dey

would

whip

us.

De

only

trouble

between

de

whites

and

blacks

on

our

plantation

was

when

de

overseer

tied

my

mother

to

whip

her

and

my

father

untied

her

and

de

overseer

shot

and

killed

him."

62

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

or

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

The

matter-of-fact

way

that

the

last

sentence

above

was

tossed

off

by

Mrs.

Carder

is

worth

noting

if

one

is

to

understand

the

quality

of

life

for

black

people

under

slavery.

The

patrol

system

was

summed

up

in

a

song

recited

by

Anthony

Dawson,

born

a

slave

in

I832

in

North

Carolina,

and

in

Mr.

Daw-

son’s

perceptive

comment

about

the

song.

The

song

went:

Run,

nigger,

run,

De

Patteroll

git

you!

Run,

nigger,

run,

De

Patteroll

come!

Watch,

nigger,

watch,

De

Patteroll

trick

you!

Watch,

nigger,

watch,

He

got

a

big

gun!

Dawson

commented

that

this

was

a

song

that

all

the

slaves

knew

and

that

“Sometimes

I

wonder

iffen

de

white

folks

didn’t

make

dat

song

up

so

us

niggers

would

keep

in

line.”“

The

patrollers

intervened

in

every

aspect

of

slave

life.

Moreover,

as

they

were

not

the

owners,

they

often

had

less

concern

that

slaves

would

be

unable

to

work

as

a

result

of

brutal

treatment.

Ida

Henry

of

Oklahoma

City

described

the

patrollers:

De

patrollers

wouldn’t

allow

de

slaves

to

hold

night

services,

and

one

night

dey

caught

me

mother

out

praying.

Dey

stripped

her

naked

and

tied

her

hands

together

and

wid

a

rope

tied

to

de

handcuffs

and

threw

one end

of

de

rope

over

a

limb

and

tied

de

other

end

to

de

pommel

of

a

saddle

on

a

horse.

As

me

mother

weighted

’bout

zoo,

dey

pulled

her

up

so

dat

her

toes

could

barely

touch

de

ground

and

whipped

her.

Dat

same

night

she

ran

away

and

stayed

over

a

day

and

returned.”

Slavery,

as

is

the

case

with

any

social

system,

created

reciprocity

between

slaves

and

masters.

Since

they

did

not

live

in

worlds

hermetically

sealed

off

from

each

other

but

had

intimate,

face—to-

face

contact,

such

matters

as

status,

rank,

and

masculine

prowess

became

involved

in

the

relationship.

The

whites

and

the

blacks

were

part

of

the

same

social

system,

and

therefore

had

to

keep

jockeying

for

position

with

each

other.

The

relationship

was

a

highly

problematic

one

and

required

the

constant

creation

and

recreation

of

a

day-to-day

etiquette

in

order

to

help

humanize

social

relationships

that

were

hierarchical

and

based

on

naked

power.

MAsTER

AND

SLAVE:

TREATMENT

/

63

Morris

Hillyer

of

Rome,

Georgia,

born

a

slave

in

the

early

1850s,

told

the

story

of

one

such

relationship

between

patroller

and

slave:

Jim

Williams

was

a

patroller,

and

how

he

did

like

to

catch

a

nigger

off

de

farm

without

a

permit

so

he

could

whip

him.

Jim

thought

he

was

de

best

man

in

de

country

and

could

whip

de

best

of

’em.

One

night

John

Hardin,

a

big

husky

feller,

was

out

late.

He

met

Jim

and

knowed

he

was

in

for

it.

Jim

said,

“John,

l’m

gonna

give

you

a

white

man’s

chance.

I'm

gonna

let

you

ﬁght

me

and

if

you

are

de

best

man,

well

and

good.”

John

say,

“Master

Jim,

I

can’t

ﬁght

wid

you.

Come

on

and

give

me

my

licking,

and

let

me

go

home.”

But

Jim

wouldn’t

do

it,

and

he

slapped

John

and

called

him

some

names

and

told

him

he

is

a

coward

to

ﬁght

him.

All

dis

made

John

awful

mad

and

he

ﬂew

into

him

and

give

him

the

terriblest

licking

a

man

ever

toted.

He

went

on

home

but

knew

he

would

git

into

trouble

over

it.

Jim

talked

around

over

the

country

about

what

he

was

going

to

do

to

John

but

everybody

told

him

dat

he

brought

it

all

on

hisself.

He

never

did

try

to

git

another

nigger

to

ﬁght

with

him.”

One

former

slave,

Tom

Woods

of

Alderson,

Oklahoma,

born

In

the

early

185os,

understood

how

important

was

the

relationship

of

slaves

to

poor

whites:

Lady,

if

de

nigger

hadn’t

been

set

free

dis

country

wouldn’t

ever

been

what

it

is

now!

Poor

white

folks

wouldn’t

never

had

a

chance.

De

slave

holders

had

most

of

de

money

and

de

land

and

dey

wouldn’t

let

de

poor

white

folks

have

a

chance

to

own

any

land

or

anything

else

to

speak

of.

Dese

white

folks

wasn’t

much

better

off

dan

we

was.

Dey

had

to

work

hard

and

dey

had

to

worry

’bout

food,

clothes

and

shelter,

and

we

didn’t.

Lots

of

slave

owners

wouldn’t

allow

dem

on

deir

farms

among

deir

slaves

without

orders

from

de

overseer.

I

don’t

know

why

unless

he

was

afraid

dey

would

stir

up

discontent.”

Fred

Brown,

born

in

the

early

1850s

in

Baton

Rouge

Parish,

Louisiana,

gave

a

full

description

of

runaways,

the

patrol

system,

and

punishments:

De

overseer

give

all

de

whippin’s.

Sometimes

when

de

nigger

gits

late,

'stead

of

comin’

home

and

takin'

dc

whippin'

hitn

goes

to

de

64.

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

caves

of

de

river

and

stays

and

jus’

comes

in

night

time

for

food.

When

dey

do

dat,

de

dawgs

is

put

after

dem

and

den

it

am

de

ﬁght

’tween

de

nigger

and

de

dawg.

Jus’

once

a

nigger

kills

de

dawg

with

de

knife,

dat

was

close

to

freedom

and

it

come

’fore

dey

ketches

him.

When

dey

whips

for

runnin’

off,

de

nigger

am

tied

down

over

a

barrel

and

whipped

ha’d,

till

dey

draws

blood,

sometimes.

Dem

fool

niggers

what

sneak

off

without

de

pass,

have

two

things

for

to

watch,

one

is

not

to

be

ketched

by

de

overseer

and

de

other

am

de

patter-rollers.

De

nigger

sho’

am

skeart

of

de

patters.

One

time

my

pappy

and

mammy

goes

out

without

de

pass

and

de

patters

takes

after

dem.

I’se

home

’cazuse

I’se

too

young

to

be

pesterin’

roun’.

I

sees

dem

comin’,

and

you

couldn’

catched

dem

with

a

jackrabbit.

One

time

anoudder

nigger

am

runnin’

from

de

patters

and

hides

under

de

house.

Dey

ﬁn’

him

and

make

him

come

out.

You’s

seen

de

dawg

quaver

when

him’s

cold?

Well

dat

nigger

have

quaverment

just

like

dat.

De

patters

hits

him

ﬁve

or

six

licks

and

lets

him

go.

Dat

nigger

have

lots

of

power—him

gits

to

de

quarters

ahead

of

his

shadow.”

Sallie

Carder

of

Burwin,

Oklahoma,

matter-of-factly

describes

some

of

the

needed

equipment

for

punishing

slaves:

Dere

was

a

white

post

in

front

of

my

door

with

ropes

to

tie

the

slaves

to

whip

dem.

Dey

used

a

plain

strap,

another

one

wid

holes

in

it,

and

one

dey

call

de

cat

wid

nine

tails

which

was

a

number

of

straps

plated

and

de

ends

unplated.

Dey

would

whip

de

slaves

wid

a

wide

strap

wid

holes

in

it

and

de

holes

would

make

blisters.

Den

dey

would

take

de

cat

wid

nine

tails

and

burst

de

blisters

and den

rub

de

sores

wid

turpentine

and

red

pepper.”

Slavery

released

normal

people

from

the

usual

human

restraints.

Amy

Chapman,

born

in

I843

in

Alabama,

told

about

“Uncle

Tip

Toe”

in

a

story

more

graphic

and,

if

the

slave

narratives

and

inter-

views

are

in

any

way

valuable

for

documentation

of

the

life

of

the

slave,

more

accurate

than

the

Uncle

Remus

tal.es

of

Joel

Chandler

Harris:

One

day

I

seed

ole

Unker

Tip

Toe

all

bent

over

a-comin’

down

dc

road

an’

I

ax

him

whut

ail

him

an’

he

say:

“I’s

been

in

de

stocks

an’

been

beat

till

de

blood

come.

l)en

ole

Massa

’ninted

my

ﬂesh

\vid

retl

pepper

an’

turpentine

an‘

l's

been

most

dead

but

l

is

sotnewhat

MAsTER

AND

SLAVE:

TREATMENT

/

65

better

now.”

Unker

Tiptoe

belonged

to

de

meanes’

ol’

marster

around

here.“

There

are

many

other

examples

of

such

treatment

of

the

real

Uncle

Remuses.

Henry

Butler,

a

former

slave

and

then

a

schoolteacher,

born

in

Virginia

in

I850,

said

that

“on

the

Sullivan

place

there

existed

con-

sideration

for

human

feelings,

but

on

the

Rector

place

neither

the

master

nor

the

overseer

seemed

to

understand

that

slaves

were

human

beings.”

One

old

slave,

Uncle

Jim,

.

.

.

disobeyed

some

rule

and

early

one

morning

they

ordered

him

to

strip.

They

tied

him

to

the

whipping

post

and

from

morning

until

noon,

at

intervals,

the

lash

was

applied

to

his

back.

I,

myself,

saw

and

heard

many

of

the

lashes

and

his

cries

for

mercy."

Not

all

masters

used

“excessive”

punishment,

but

very

few

used

none.

And

if

the

master

did

not

use

any

whipping,

his

slaves

knew

that

they

were

particularly

privileged.

Most

slaves

who

reported

that

they

were

not

whipped

said

that

they

were

consequently

called

“free

niggers.”

The

essence

of

freedom,

for

the

slave,

apparently

meant

immunity

from

physical

punishment.

Jack

Cauthers,

born

in

the

early

1850s

near

Austin,

Texas,

described

one

such

situation:

My

master

was

Dick

Townes

and

my

folks

come

with

him

from

Alabama.

He

owned

a

big

plantation

ﬁfteen

miles

from

Austin

and

worked

lots

of

slaves.

We

had

the

best

master

in

the

whole

county,

and

everybody

called

us

“Townes’

free

niggers,”

he

was

so

good

to

us,

and

we

worked

hard

for

him,

raisin’

cotton

and

corn

and

wheat

and

oats.”

Behavioral

norms

for

masters

under

slavery

were

not

purely

vol-

untary.

Thus,

it

was

very

diﬂicult

for

a

master

to

be

particularly

good

to

his

slaves.

The

patrol

of

poor

whites

would

see

to

it

that

slaves

were

not

given

special

privileges

even

though

individual

masters

tried

to

protect

the

slaves

on

their

own

plantations.

One

elderly

black

preacher

told

the

following

story

to

an

interviewer:

We

were

called

Dr.

Gale’s

free

niggers.

He

never

did

allow

the

padderollers

on

our

place.

My

old

marster

had

some

relatives

here

named

McNairy

and

he

always

looked

after

it

if

they

bothered

us.

We

had

to

get

a

pass

to

go

off

the

place

but

McNairy’s

place

was

right

joining

ours

and

right

across

the

road

was

Mrs.

Cantrell’s

place

and

we

could

go

to

their

places

without

a

pass.

Some

of

the

66

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

or

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

sTATEs

others

[owners]

would

shut

down

on

them

[slaves].

Many

a

time

they’d

have

church

there

and

there

was

a

thicket

near

and

the

pad-

derollers

would

get

in

there

and

wait

and

whip

them

as

they

were

leaving

church.

Old

Alfred

Williams

was

the

preacher,

and

he

would

send

somebody

after

his

marster

Andrew

and

he

would

sit

there

with

his

gun

on

his

lap

to

keep

them

from

whippin’

him

’til

his

marster

would

come

and

take

him

home.

Yes,

he

was

colored

and

a

slave

too,

but

they

used

to

have

good

meetings

there

’til

old

Mr.

Cantrell

said

they

would

have

to

stop

that.

He

was

a

Presbyterian

minister

and

he

said

that

they

had

God

troubled

on

the

throne,

and

they

didn’t

’low

no

two

or

three

men

to

be

standing

about

talking

either.

They

feared

they

was

talking

about

being

free.

They

didn’t

bother

the

women

that

way,

but

no

man

better

not

try

it;

they

would

search

the

slave

houses

for

books

too.”

There

is

little

doubt

that

there

were

many

masters

who

were

decent,

some

even

with

abolitionist

sentiments.

But

individual

senti-

ments

only

slightly

alter

social

behavior

because

the

pressures

of

the

social

system

on

any

individual,

even

though

he

is

part

of

the

dominant

class,

are

very

great.

Not

only

was

it

impossible

for

indi-

vidual

slaveowners

with

abolitionist

sentiments

to

abolish

slavery;

despite

their

ideology,

all

they

could

be

was

particularly

paternal-

istic

and

kindly

masters,

good

patrons.

Even

those

who

treated

their

slaves

well

perpetuated

the

basic

social

relations

of

slavery.

One

former

slave,

Laura

Cornish,

told

about

an

abolitionist

master

who

nevertheless

owned

slaves.

He

would

not

allow

the

slaves

to

call

him

master—they

had

to

call

him

Papa

Day!

Even

under

slavery

it

was

possible

for

some

masters

to

act

out

the

most

egotistical

fantasies:

One

time

us

chillen playin’

out

in

de

woods

and

seed

two

old

men

what

look

like

wild

men,

sho’

’nough.

Dey

has

long

hair

all

over

de

face

and

dere

shirts

all

bloody.

Us

run

and

tell

Papa

Day

and

he

makes

us

take

him

dere

and

he

goes

in

de

briar

patch

where

dem

men

are

hidin’.

Dey

takes

him

round

de

knees

and

begs

him

do

he

not

tell

dere

mas[s]a

where

dey

at,

’cause

dey

maybe

git

kilt.

Day

say

dey

am

old

Lodge

and

Baldo

and

dey

run

’way

’cause

dere

massa

whip

dem,

’cause

dey

so

old

dey

can’t

work

good

no

more.

Poppa

Day

has

tears

comin’

in

he

eyes.

Dey

can’t

hardly

walk,

so

he

sends

dem

to

de

house

and

has

Aunt

Mandy,

de

cook,

ﬁx

up

somethin‘

to

eat

quick.

I

never

seed

sech

eatin’,

dey

so

hongry.

Isle

puts

detn

in

a

house

and

tells

us

not to

say

nothin’.

Den

he

MASTER

AND

sI.AvE:

TREATMENT

/

67

rides

off

on

he

hoss,

and

goes

to

dere

massa

and

tells

him

’bout

it,

and

jes’

dares

him

to

come

git

dem.

He

pays

de

man

some

money

and

Lodge

and

Baldo

stays

with

Poppa

Day

and

I

guess

dey

thunk

dey

in

Heaven.“

Usually,

however,

the

master

did

not

act

out

such

sanctimonious

fantasies.

His

slaves

thought

of

him

in

an

accurate

way,

as

a

slave-

owner

who

managed

a

successful

plantation

and

treated

his

slaves

well,

but

they

had

no

illusions

that

they

were

not

slaves.

Most

slaveowners

were

not

villains

out

of

an

old-fashioned

melodrama

but

simply

men

of

their

times

getting

along

while

treating

the

slaves

as

well

as

could

be

expected.

One

ex-slave,

John

Day,

told

of

one

such

master:

He

was

a

preacher

and

good

to

us,

never

beat

none

of

us.

He

didn’t

have

no

overseer,

but

saw

to

all

de

work

heself.

He

had

twenty-ﬁve

slaves

and

raised

wheat

and

corn

and

oats

and

vegetables

and

fruit.”

This

master

was

an

example

of

that

contradictory

social

type

who

appeared

under

slavery:

the

democratic

plantation

owner

who

had

nothing

of

the

aristocrat

about

him,

the

planter

with

the

man-

ners

and

behavior

patterns

of

the

plebeian,

egalitarian

freeholder.

Some

slaves

were

freed

by

masters

who

believed

slavery

to

be

wrong,

but

they

stayed

on

the

plantation

because

there

really

was

nowhere

else

to

go.

In

the

following

account

of

James

Southall,

born

in

Clarksville,

Tennessee,

in

the

early

1850s,

we

have

an

ex-

ample

of

this

kind

of

relationship:

We

was

known

as

“Free

Niggers.”

Master

said

he

didn’t

believe

it

was.

right

to

own

human

beings

just

because

dey

was

black,

and

he

freed

all

his

slaves

long

before

de

War.

He

give

’em

all

freedom

papers

and

told

dem

dat

dey

was

as

free

as

he

was

and

could

go

anywhere

dey

wanted.

Dey

didn’t

have

nowhere

to

go

so

we

all

stayed

on

wid

him.

It

was

nice

though

to

know

we

could

go

where

we

pleased

’thout

having

to

get

a

pass

and

could

come

back

when

we

pleased

even

if

we

didn’t

take

advantage

of

it.

He

told

his

slaves

dat

dey

could

stay

on

at

his

farm

but

dey

would

have

to

work

and

make

a

living

for

deyselves

and

families.

Old

Master

managed

de

fartn

and

bought

all

de

food

and

clothes

for

us

all.

Everybody

had

to

work,

but

dey

had

a

good

time.“

68

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

While

the

average

slave

did

not

starve,

he

was

not

fed

lavishly

by

the

master.

The

usual

diet

provided

by

the

masters

consisted

of

cornmeal,

sidebacon,

and

molasses.

One

slave

described

the

official

ration

in

terms

that

were

virtually

identical

with

those

of

hundreds

of

other

ex-slaves

interviewed.

Campbell

Armstrong

from

Arkansas,

who

was

about

ten

years

old

when

the

Civil

War

began,

recalled:

They’d

give

you

three

pounds

of

meat

and

a

quart

of

meal

and

molasses

when

they’d

make

it.

Sometimes

they

would

take

a

notion

to

give

you

something

like

ﬂour.

But

you

had

to

take

what

they

give

you.

They

give

out

the

rations

every

Saturday.

That

was

to

last

you

a

week.”

George

Kye, born

in

Virginia

in

the

I8zos,

described

the

typical

diet:

“We

had

stew

made

out

of

pork

and

potatoes,

and

sometimes

greens

and

pot

liquor,

and

we

had

ash

cake

mostly,

but

biscuits

about

once

a

month.”38

Salomon

Oliver,

born

in

Mississippi

in

1859,

described

the

food

given

out

by

the

master:

Ration

day

was

Saturday.

Each

person

was

given

a

peck

of

corn

meal,

four

pounds

of

wheat

ﬂour,

four

pounds

of

pork

meat,

quart

of

molasses,

one

pound

of

sugar,

the

same

of

coffee

and

a

plug

of

tobacco.

Potatoes

and

vegetables

came

from

the

family

garden

and

each

slave

family

was

required

to

cultivate

a

separate

garden."

The

ﬁgures

cited

in

this

account

seem

much

too

large

and

on

the

basis

of

all

other

evidence,

either

this

was

a

very

privileged

planta-

tion

or

Oliver

was

exaggerating.

Tom

Woods

of

Alderson,

Oklahoma,

said

that

children

were

sometimes

fed

better

than

adults:

Our

food

was

placed

on

a

long

table

in

a

trough.

Each

child

had

a

spoon

and

four

of

us

eat

out

of

one

trough.

Our

food

at

night

was

mostly

milk

and

bread.

At

noon

we

had

vegetables,

bread,

meat

and

milk.

He

gave

us

more

and

better

food

than

he

did

his

ﬁeld

hands.

He

said

he

didn’t

want

none

of

us

to

be

stunted

in

our

growing.“

Sallie

Crane,

born

about

1845

in

Arkansas,

told

about

the

food

of

children

and

let

us

glimpse

some

of

the

games

white

children

played

with

their

slave

friends:

We

et

out

of

a

trough

with

a

wooden

spoon.

Mush

and

milk.

Cedar

trough

and

long

handled

cedar

spoons.

l)id'nt

know

what

meat

Was.

MAsTER

AND

sI.AvE:

TREATMENT

/

69

Never

got

a

taste

of

egg.

Oo-ee!

Weren’t

allowed

to

look

at

a

biscuit.

They

used

to

make

citrons.

They

were

good

too.

When

the

little

white

chilen

would

be

comin’

home

from

school,

we’d

run

to

meet

them.

They

would

say,

“Whose

nigger

are

you?”

And

we

would

say,

“Yor’m!”

And

they

would

say,

“No,

you

ain’t.”

They

would

open

those

lunch

baskets

and

show

us

all

that

good

stuff

they’d

brought

back.

Hold

it

out

and

snatch

it

back!

Finally,

they’d

give

it

to

us,

after

they

got

tired

of

playing.“

House

slaves

were

often

better

fed

than

ﬁeld

slaves

and

they

often

would

take

food

to

give

to

those,

particularly

children,

who

were

not

allowed

in

the

“Big

House.”

The

slave

economy

was

a

make-do

one

in

which

“taking”

(which

was

different

from

“steal-

ing”—one

took

from

the

master,

but

stole

from

a

fellow

slave)

was

a

crucial

part.

Mary

Raines,

born

a

slave

in

South

Carolina

in

I836

or

1837,

tells

it

this

way:

I

was

a

strong

gal,

went

to

de

ﬁeld

when

I’s

twelve

years

old,

hoe

my

acre

of

cotton,

’long

wid

de

grown

ones,

and

pick

my

150

pounds

of

cotton.

As

I

wasn’t

scared

of

de

cows,

they

set

me

to

milkin’

and

churnin’.

Bless

God!

Dat

took

me

out

of

de

ﬁeld.

House

servants

’bove

de

ﬁeld

servants,

them

days.

If

you

didn’t

git

better

rations

and

things

to

eat

in

de

house,

it

was

your

own

fault,

I

tells

you!

You

just

have

to

help

de

chillun

to

take

things

and

while

you

doin’

dat

for

them,

you

take

things

for

yourself.

I

never

call

it

stealin’.

I

just

call

it

takin’

de

jams,

de

jellies,

de

biscuits,

de

butter

and

de

’lasses

dat

I

have

to

reach

up

and

steal

for

chillun

to

hide

’way

in

deir

little

stomachs

and

me,

in

my

big

belly."

Many

slaves

were

allowed

to

keep

gardens

of

their

own

or

use

the

crops

from

the

master’s

garden.

They

raised

such

vegetables

as

potatoes,

turnips,

collards,

and

peas,

which

supplemented

their

regular

diet.“

On

occasion

slaves

were

allowed

to

raise

vegetables

and

chickens

and

sell

the

produce

on

the

open

market.

Octavia

George,

born

in

Louisiana

in

the

early

1850s,

reported:

We

were

never

given

any

money,

but

were

able

to

get

a

little

money

this

way:

our

Master

would

let

us

have

two

or

three

acres

of

land

each

year

to

plant

for

ourselves,

and

we

could

have

what

we

raised

on

it.

We

could

not

allow

our

work

on

these

two

or

three

acres

to

interfere

with

Master's

work,

but

we

had

to

work

70

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

our

little

crops

on

Sundays.

Now

remind

you,

all

the

Negroes

didn’t

get

these

two

or

three

acres,

only

good

masters

allowed

their

slaves

to

have

a

little

crop

of

their

own.

We

would

take

the

money

from

our

little

crops

and

buy

a

few

clothes

and

something

for

Christmas.

The

men

would

save

enough

money

out

of

the

crops

to

buy

their

Christmas

whiskey.

It

was

all

right

for

the

slaves

to

get

drunk

on

Christmas

and

New

Year’s

Day;

no

one

was

whipped

for

getting

drunk

on

those

days.

We

were

allowed

to

have

a

garden

and

from

this

we

gathered

vegetables

to

eat;

on

Sundays

we

could

have

duck,

ﬁsh

and

pork.“

Bert

Luster

was

a

slave

in

Texas.

He

told

the

interviewer

that

“we

raised

gardens,

truck

patches

and

such

for

spending

change.”‘5

On

the

other

hand,

Mrs.

Mattie

Logan,

who

had been

a

slave

in

Mississippi,

said:

“The

slaves

got

small

amounts

of

vegetables

from

the

plantation

garden,

but

they

didn’t

have

any

gardens

of

their

own.

Everybody

took

what

old

Master

rationed

out!”’°

Stephen

McCray

from

Huntsville

County,

Alabama,

which,

he

told

the

interviewer,

was

“right

where

the

Scottsboro

boys

was

in

jail”

said:

“Slaves

had

their

own

gardens.

All

got

Friday

and

Sadday

to

work

in

garden

during

garden

time.”“

While

our

evi-

dence

is

scanty,

it

seems

very

likely

that

in

some

areas

some

slaves

at

certain

seasons

of

the

year

did

get

as

much

as

two-and-a-half

days

a

week,

including

Sundays,

to

take

care

of

their

own

chores.

They

made

up

for

this

at

other

times

of

the

year

when

they

worked

by

moonlight.

The

rhythms

of

agricultural

work

made

it

possible

for

slaves

to

have,

at

various

seasons

of

the

year,

relatively

long

periods

of

time

to

themselves

or

at

least

with

minimal

chores.

This

comparatively

loose

discipline

of

agricultural

life

under

such

condi-

tions

helped

create

the

slave

community

by

giving

slaves

time

to

pay

attention

to

and

develop

their

own

lives

and

needs,

even

though

it

often

demanded

the

utmost

ingenuity

to

do

so.

Slave

houses

in

the

nineteenth

century

were

generally

rude,

one-

room

boxlike

affairs.

One

ex-slave

said

that

he

lived

in

a

“little

one

room

log

cabin,

chinked

and

daubed.”""

Salomon

Oliver

described

the

physical

layout

of

the

buildings

on

the

large

Mississippi

plantation

where

he

was

born,

one

that

had

some

3oo

slave

families:

About

three

hundred

negro

families

living

in

box-type

cabins

made

it

seem

like

a

small

town.

Built

in

rows,

the

cabins

were

kept

white-

washed,

neat

and

orderly,

for

the

Master

was

strict

about

stteh

things.

MASTER

AND

SLAVE;

TREATMENT

/

71

Several

large

barns

and

storage

buildings

were

scattered

around

the

plantation.

Also,

two

cotton

gins

and

two

old

fashioned

presses,

operated

by

horses

and

mules,

made

Miller’s

plantation

one

of

the

best

equipped

in

Mississippi.“

A

large

plantation

was

a

very

sizeable,

heavily

capitalized

operation.

Hal

Hutson,

born

in

Tennessee

in

I847

as

a

slave,

compared

his

master’s

living

arrangements

with

his

own:

Master

Brown

had

a

good

weather-board

house,

two

story,

with

ﬁve

or

six

rooms.

They

lived

pretty

well.

He

had

eight

children.

We

lived

in

one-room

log

huts.

There

was

a

long

string

of

them

huts.

We

slept

on

the

floor

like

hogs.

Girls

and

boys

slept

together—-

jest

everybody

slept

every

whar.“

Daniel

Dowdy,

born

in

1856

in

Georgia

as

a

slave,

described

how

they

lived.

His

mother

was

the

cook

in

the

Big

House:

We

lived

in

weatherboard

houses.

Our

parents

had

corded-up

beds

with

ropes

and

we

chillun

slept

on

the

ﬂoor

for

the

most

part

or

in

a

hole

bored

in

a

log.

Our

house

had

one

window

jest

big

enough

to

stick

your

head

out

of,

and one

door,

and

this

one

door

faced

the

Big

House

which

was

your

master’s

house.

This

was

so

that

you

couldn’t

git

out

’less

somebody

seen

you.“

Most

slaves

supplemented

their

diets

by

hunting

and

ﬁshing.

On

some

plantations

trusted

slaves

could

obtain

shotguns

for

the

pur-

pose

of

hunting,

although

most

slaves

had

to

use

homemade

snares

to

catch

small

game.

On

many

plantations

the

ﬁshing

and

small

game

catch

made

up

a

signiﬁcant

portion

of

the

slaves’

diet.

Cooking

methods

were

simple

but

involved

communal

activity

and

were

social

events.

On

some

large

plantations

food

was

prepared

for

everyone

by

a

crew

of

slaves

who

were

specially

designated.

On

most

plantations,

however,

food

was

taken

in

smaller

family

units,

with

the

women

preparing

the

food

before

going

to

the

ﬁelds

or

placing

it

on

the

ﬁre

while

at

work

and

letting

it

simmer

or

slowly

bake,

or

cooking

it

quickly

at

the

end

of

the

day’s

work.

Older

men

and

women

who

were

released

from

ﬁeld

work

also

would

take

over

much

of

the

cooking.

Polly

Colbert

described

cook-

ing

as

she

knew

it

under

slavery:

We

cooked

on

dc

ﬁre

place

wid

de

pots

hanging

over

de

ﬁre

on

racks

and den

we

baked

bread

and

cakes

in

a

oven-skillet.

We

didn’t

use

soda

and

baking

powder.

We'd

put

salt

in

de

meal

and

scald

72

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

it

wid

boiling

water

and

make

it

into

pones

and

bake

it.

We’d

roll

de

ash

cakes

in

wet

cabbage

leaves

and

put

’em

in

de

hot

ashes

and

bake

’em.

We

cooked

potatoes,

and

roasting

ears

dat

way

also.

We

sweetened

our

cakes

wid

molasses,

and

dey

was

plenty

sweet

CO0.

Dey

was

lots

of

possums

and

coons

and

squirrels

and

we

nearly

always

had

some

one

of

these

to

eat.

We’d

parboil

de

possum

or

coon

and

put

it

in

a

pan and

bake

him

wid

potatoes

’round

him.

We

used

de

broth

to

baste

him

and

for

gravy."

Mrs.

Mattie

Logan,

born

a

slave,

gives

us

other

details

about

cooking:

Each

slave

cabin

had

a

stone

ﬁreplace

in

the

end,

just

like

ours,

and

over

the

ﬂames

at

daybreak

was

prepared

the

morning

meal.

That

was

the

only

meal

the

ﬁeld

negroes

had

to

cook.

All

the

other

meals

was

ﬁxed

up

by

an

old

man

and

woman

who

was

too

old

for

ﬁeld

trucking.

The

peas,

the

beans,

the

turnips,

the

potatoes,

all

seasoned

up

with

fat

meats

and

sometimes

a

ham

bone,

was

cooked

in

a

big

iron

kettle

and

when

meal

time

come

they

all

gathered

around

the

pot

for

a-plenty

of

helpings!

Corn

bread

and

buttermilk

made

up

the

rest

of

the

meal.

Ten

or

ﬁfteen

hogs

was

butchered

every

fall

and

the

slaves

would

get the

skins

and

maybe

a

ham

bone.

That

was

all,

except

what

was

mixed

in

with

the

stews.

Flour

was

given

out

every

Sunday

morning

and

if

a

family

run

out

of

that

before

the

next

week,

well,

they

was

just

out,

that’s

all!

The

slaves

got

small

amounts

of

vegetables

from_the

plantation

gar-

den,

but

they

didn’t

have

any

gardens

of

their

own.

Everybody

took

what

old

Master

rationed

out.

Once

in

a

while

we

had

rabbits

and

ﬁsh,

but

the

best

dish

of

all

was

the

‘possum

and

sweet

potatoes—baked

together

over

red-hot

coals

in

the

ﬁreplace.

Now,

that

was

something

to

eat.“

A

slave

from

a

better-than-average

plantation,

one

where

the

slaves

were

taught

(illegally)

to

read,

indicates

that

in

such

situa-

t1ons,

slaves

were

decently

fed

and

clothed.

Benjamin

Russel,

born

a

slave

about

18

54

in

South

Carolina,

said:

Money?

Yes,

sometimes

white

folks

and

visitors

would

give

me

cop-

pers,

3

cent

pieces,

and

once

or

twice

dimes.

Used

them

to

buy

MAsTER

AND

sLAvE:

TREATMENT

/

73

extra

clothing

for

Sundays

and

ﬁre

crackers

and

candy

at

Christmas.

We

had

good

food.

In

the

busy

seasons

on

the

farm

the

mistress

saw

to

it

that

the

slaves

were

properly

fed,

the

food

cooked

right

and

served

from

the

big

kitchen.

We

were

given

plenty

of

milk

and

sometimes

butter.

We

were

permitted

to

have

a

fowl-house

for

chickens,

separate

from

the

white

folks.

We

wore

warm

clothes

and

stout

brogan

shoes

in

winter,

went

barefooted

from

April

until

November

and

wore

cotton

clothes

in

summer.“

As

a

rule,

however,

clothing

was

barely

adequate

by

minimal

standards

for

all

but

privileged

house

servants.

Children

wore

home-

spun

shirts

and

little

slips

and

nobody

but

the

big

boys

wore

britches,

George

Kye

and

many

other

ex-slaves

reported.“

Sarah

Wilson,

who

was

a

slave

in

Oklahoma

Cherokee

Indian

country

under

a

Cherokee

master,

described

her

clothing:

For

clothes

we

had

homespun

cotton

all

year

round,

but

in

winter

we

had

a

sheep

skin

jacket

with

the

wool

left

on

the

inside.

Sometimes

sheep

skin

shoes

with

the

wool

on

the

inside

and

sometimes

real

cow

leather

shoes

with

wood

peggings

for

winter,

but

always

bare-

footed

in

summer,

all

the

men

and

women

too.“

Sylvia

Cannon

of

Florence,

South

Carolina,

who

was

born

a

slave

in

I8

5

5,

gave

the

following

description

of

slave

clothing:

Didn’

get

much

clothes

to

wear

in

dat

day

en

time

neither.

Man

never

wear

no

breeches

in

de

summer.

Go

in

his

shirt

tail

dat

come

down

to

de

knees

en

a

’oman

been

glad

enough

to

get

one

piece

homespun

frock

what

was

made

wid

dey

hand.

Make

petticoat

out

of

old

dress

en

patch

en

patch

till

couldn’t

tell

which

place

weave.

Always

put

wash

out

on

a

Saturday

night

en

dry

it

en

put

it

back

on

Sunday.

Den

get

oak

leaves

en

make

a

hat

what

to

wear

to

church.

We

didn’

never

have

but

one

pair

of

shoes

a

year

en

dey

was

dese

here

brogans

wid

thick

soles

en

brass

toes.

Had

shop

dere

on

de

plantation

whe’

white

man

made

all

de

shoes

en

plows.

Dey

would

save

all

de

cowhide

en

soak

it

in

salt

two

or

three

weeks

to

get

de

hair

off

it

en

dey

have

big

trough

hewed

out

whe’

dey

clean

it

after

dey

get

de

hair

off

it.

After

dat,

it

was

turn

to

de

man

at

de

shop.“

Privileged

house

slaves

and

many

urban

slaves

dressed

elegantly

both

while

at

work

and

on

Sundays.

Their

clothes,

of

course,

repre-

sented

the

honor

and

prestige

of

their

masters.

Even

ordinary

slaves

74

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

had

a

few

items

of

good

clothing,

often

for

holidays.

A

woman

might

have

a

printed

calico

dress

and

perhaps

some

cheap

jewelry;

a

man

might

have

a

hat,

a

good

shirt,

and

a

decent

pair

of

pants.

But

this

was

not

common

to

all

slaves.

Kenneth

Stampp,

an

outstanding

historian

of

American

slavery,

described

the

situation

with

a

tendency

to

make

it

appear

worse

than

it

generally

was.

Carelessness,

indifference,

and

economy—a

desire

to

reduce

annual

expenditures

for

clothing

which,

unlike

food,

usually

involved

cash

outlays—these

were

the

chief

reasons

why

a

large

proportion

of

the

slaves

wore

shabby

and

insuﬂicient

apparel

made

from

some

variety

of

cheap

“Negro

cloth.”

During

the

long

summers,

ragged

and

meager

clothing

merely

added

to

the

drabness

of

slave

life;

but

during

the

winters

it

caused

real

discomfort

and

posed

a

serious

threat

to

health.“

Stampp

tends

to

overdo

the

case

with

such

phrases

as

“serious

threat

to

health.”

It

was

certainly

bad

enough,

but

Stampp’s

hyperbole

makes

it

difficult

to

trust

his

argument

even

when

it

is,

as

here,

relatively

accurate.

Slavery

need

not

have

been

universally

harmful

to

the

slave

in

order

to

have

been

far

less

than

a

minimally

satis-

factory

form

of

human

existence.

Notes

1.

Stanley

Elkins,

Slavery

(Chicago,

1958),

pp.

81-139.

2.

The

lecturer

was

myself,

then

active

in

the

early

civil-rights

movement

of

the

late

1950s,

and

eager

to

offer

direction

and

leadership

to

black

people

whose

“consciousness”

I

thought

had

to

be

raised.

The

entire

discussion

of

slavery

and

Sambo

was,

for

me,

an

explanation

of

why

black

people

had

not

become

“revolutionaries.”

Like

most

of

the

left

in

America,

then

and

now,

I

felt

that

I

was

the

product

of

a

superior

consciousness

because

of

my

superior

education.

This

disguised

and

implicit

racism

and

elitism

permeated

my

lecture

on

slavery

and

led

me

at

the

time

to

agree

thoroughly

with

Stanley

Elkins’s

volume,

which

he

asked

me

to

read

in

its

manuscript

form

after

he

heard

of

my

lecture.

While

I

was

bothered

by

his

negative

assessment

of

the

abolitionists,

I

had

at

the

time

nothing

to

replace

it.

(See

my

introduction

to

the

forthcoming

publication

of

The

Civil

War

Diary

of

Rufus

Kinsley,

ed.

Paul

Kinsley,

George

P.

Rawick,

and

Tom

Waters,

to

be

published

by

Greenwood

Publishing

Company

in

1972,

for

an

assessment

of

abolitionism.)

3.

See

Herbert

Aptheker,

American

Negro

Slave

Revolts.

This

volume

should

be

used

cautiously

because

it

needlessly

exaggerates

the

incidence

of

slave

revolts,

relies

heavily

on

rumor,

and

sectns

to

suggest

that

resistance

to

slavery

could

be

best

demonstrated

by

portraying

black

slaves

as

virtually

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

TREATMENT

/

75

always

on

the

barricades.

If

black

slaves

in

North

America,

faced

with

a

huge

expanse

of

territory,

controlled

by

a

white

majority,

faced

with

over-

whelming

odds,

had

engaged

in

the

large

number

of

extensive

slave

revolts

that

Aptheker

suggests

they

did,

they

would

have

not

been

brave,

but

fool-

hardy

and

absurd.

Indeed,

it

would

have

been

childlike

behavior.

4.

This

is

the

thesis

of

the

report

which

was

written

by

Daniel

Moynihan

for

top

government

circles

in

the

Lyndon

Johnson

administration

as

a

guide

to

policy

making.

See

Daniel

P.

Moynihan,

The

Negro

Family:

The

Case

for

National

Action.

The

discussion

of

this

work

is

contained

in

many

places.

The

reader

edited

by

Lee

Rainwater

and

William

Yancey,

The

Moynihan

Report

and

the

Politics

of

Controversy,

is

useful.

Excellent

presentations

of

the

counter

argument

are

contained

in

Charles

A.

Valentine,

Culture

and

Poverty,

and

Norman

E.

Whitten,

]r.,

and

John

F.

Szwed,

eds.,

Afro-

American

Anthropology

Contemporary

Perspectives.

Foreword

by

Sidney

W.

Mintz.

5.

While

it

is

currently

fashionable

in

some

circles

to

attack

Aptheker's

American

Negro

Slave

Revolts,

which

clearly

is

often

very

wrong,

nevertheless

I

must

insist

that

its

bias

is

preferable

and

has

been

more

fruitful

for

serious

scholarship

than

that

of

those

scholars

who

have

emphasized

the

“docility”

of

black

slaves

in

North

America.

6.

George

Fitzhugh,

Cannibals

All

Or

Slaves

IVithout

Masters

(1857;

reprinted,

Cambridge,

Mass.:

1960),

pp.

248-249,

as

quoted

in

Eugene

Genovese,

The

World

the

Slaveholders

Made,

p.

162.

7.

As

quoted

in

George

Lamming,

The

Pleasures

of

Exile,

p.

120.

8.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Vol.

1,

p.

237.

9.

Ibid.,

p.

134.

10.

Ibid.,

p.

205.

11.

Ibid.,

p.

227.

12.

Ibid.,

pp.

223-224.

13.

Ibid.,

p.

186.

14.

Ibid.,

p.

282.

15.

FWPSN,

Oklahoma,

p.

135.

16.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Vol.

1,

p.

279.

17.

Ibid.,

p.

205.

18.

FWPSN,

Alabama,

p.

416.

19.

Ibid.,

p.

52.

20.

F

WPSN,

Texas,

Vol.

1,

p.

299.

21.

FWPSN,

Alabama,

p.

426.

22.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Vol.

1,

p.

149.

23.

FWPSN,

Oklahoma,

p.

28.

24.

Ibid.,

p.

65.

25.

Ibid.,

p.

136.

26.

Ibid.,

pp.

142-143.

27.

Ibid.,

p.

354.

28.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Vol.

1,

pp.

157-158.

29.

FWPSN,

Oklahoma,

p.

28.

3o

FWPSN,

Alabama,

p.

6o.

31'.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Vol.

1,

p.

180.

32.

Ibid.,

p.

212.

33.

Fisk

University,

“Unwritten

History

of

Slavery,”

p.

4.

34.

FWl’SN,

Texas,

Vol.

1,

p.

255.

35.

lb1d.,

p.

302.

36.

IWVPSN,

()kl;1l1oma,

p.

306.

37.

IWVPSN,

/\rk:1ns;1s,

Part

1,

p.

(>9.

76

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

or

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

38.

FWPSN,

Oklahoma,

p

172

39.

‘Ibid.,

p.

234

4o.

Ibid.,

p.

356.

41.

FWPSN,

Arkansas,

Part

2,

p

54

42.

FWPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

4,

p

2

43.

Ibid.,

p.

6.

44.

FWPSN,

Oklahoma,

pp

111-112

.

Ibid.,

p.

45

_

46.

lb1d.,

p

47

9

.

Ibid.

p.

48.

Ibid.,

p.

49

.

Ibid.,

p

50.

Ibid.,

p

51.

Ibid.,

p

52.

Ibid.,

p.

53.

Ibid.,

pp.

i88—189

54.

F

WPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

4,

pp

51-5

55.

FWPSN,

Oklahoma,

p

172

56.

Ibid.,

p.

349.

57.

FWPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

1,

pp

189-190

58.

Kenneth

Stampp

The

Peculzar

Instztutzon

Slavery

m

the

Ante

Bellum

South,

p.

289.

205.

189

207

172.

133

145

76.

35-

THE

BLACK

FAMILY

UNDER

SLAVERY

In

his

history

of

slavery,

Kenneth

Stampp

describes

the

slave

houses

as

having

been

in

the

majority

rude,

one-room

huts,

but

with

a

substantial

minority

of

slaves

having

“snug

dwellings

of

logs

covered

with

weather

boarding,

or

frame

houses

of

bricks,

clapboards,

or

shingles.”

Turning

to

the

social

consequences

of

these

arrangements,

he

writes:

Since

slave

mothers

and

fathers

both

customarily

labored

full-time

for

the

master,

while

their

children

were

supervised

by

the

mistress

or

by

an

old

slave

woman,

their

cabins

merely

served

as

places

to

sleep

and

as

shelters

during

the

inclement

weather.

Most

of

their

dwellings

were

obviously

designed

for

these

simple

purposes,

not

as

centers

of

an

active

family

life.‘

One

is

struck

by

the

implications

of

the

last

phrase

“not

as

centers

of

an

active

family

life.”

Literally,

of

course,

that

was

true.

The

slaves

spent

a

good

deal

of

time

when

awake

outside

of

the

cabins

when

the

weather

permitted.

Cooking

was

usually

done

outdoors

or

in

a

cooking

shed;

people

sat

out

in

front

of

the

cabins

and

talked

and

smoked;

children

played

in

front

of

the

huts;

young

men

and

women

courted

wherever

they

could

ﬁnd

privacy;

gossip

was

exchanged

while

engaging

in

common

chores

outdoors.

But

this

is

hardly

unusual.

Most

people,

at

most

times

and

places,

have

lived

that

way.

Urban

and

suburban

American

complexes

Where

most

of

life

is

lived

behind

the

door

of

one’s

“fortress”

are

fairly

unique

;1|"|";1|\gc|m~11ls,

(lllpll(‘:ll(‘(l

only

by

such

people

as

the

Eskimo

77

78

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

during

the

long

Arctic

winter.

But

the

further

implications

that

Stampp

draws

are

not

true.

When

Stampp

declares

in

speciﬁc

refer-

ence

to

the

slave

family

arrangements,

“Here

as

at

so

many

other

points,

the

slaves

had

lost

their

native

culture

without

being

able

to

ﬁnd

a

workable

substitute

and

therefore

lived

in

a

kind

of

cultural

chaos,”2

he

is

on

very

weak

grounds.

This

misinterpretation

is

dictated

by

two

facts:

Stampp’s

sources

were

almost

exclusively

white,

and

Stampp

himself

cannot

overcome

the

ideological

obses-

sion

that

“innately

Negroes

are,

after

all,

only

white

men

with

black

skins,

nothing

more,

nothing

less,“

and

could

be

just

like

white

men

if

given

the

chance.

But

unfortunately,

according

to

Stampp,

the

slaves

were

deprived

of

this

chance

and

therefore

had

to

live

“in

a

kind

of

cultural

chaos.”

For

Stampp,

white

behavior

is

normal

and

everyone

would

“act

white”

if

permitted.

The

myth

that

the

slaves

had

no

normal,

signiﬁcant

family

life,

that

for

the

most

part,

they

lived

promiscuously,

jumbled

all

to-

gether,

with

no

male

having

a

regular

relationship

with

his

children

dies

hard.

It

was

a

commonplace

of

white

abolitionist

thought,

al-

though

usually

placed

in

a

somewhat

contradictory

framework

in

which

on

the

one

hand

slaves

struggled

for

some

inexplicable

(in-

explicable,

that

is,

if

one

believes

that

slave

children

never

knew

family

life)

reason

to

maintain

the

“purity”

of

the

family,

but

on

the

other

hand

were

denied

it.

The

historian

john

Hope

Franklin

emphasized

all

tendencies

that

operated

to

destroy

the

black

family;

he

asserted

that

“courtship

and

the

normal

relationships

preliminary

to

marriage

seldom

existed”;

that

the

slave

woman

“may

have

learned

to

care

for

her

husband

who

had

been

forced

upon

her,

but

the

likelihood

was

not

very

great”;

and

that

the

slave

woman

did

not

have

“much

opportunity

to

develop

any

real

attachment

for

her

children.“

The

sociologist

E.

Franklin

Frazier

avoided

any

language

that

implied

the

destruction

of

the

black

family

and

emphasized,

cor-

rectly

enough,

that

in

the

absence

of

institutional

controls,

the

relationship

between

mother

and

child

has

become

the

essential

social

bond

in

the

family

and

the

woman‘s

economic

position

has

developed

in

her

those

quali-

ties

which

are

associated

with

a

“matriarchal”

organization.‘

Frazier

believed,

again

correctly,

that

“there

is

also

plenty

evidence

of

the

devotion

of

the

slave

mother

to

her

own

offspring/’“

On

the

other

hand,

the

role

of

the

father

was

much

less

significant,

THE

BLACK

FAMILY

UNDER

SLAVERY

/

79

because

black

fathers

were

often

sold

away

from

their

children

while

mothers

were

usually

not,

and

because

“the

father

was

often

a

visitor

to

the

cabin

two

or

three

times

a

week,

while

his

interests

in

his

children

might

only

be

adventitious.”

Frazier

concluded

that

“Thus

there

developed

among

the

slaves

a

type

of

family

that

was

held

together

principally

by

the

bonds

of

blood

and

feeling

existing

between

the

children

in

the

same

household.”8

The

picture

of

the

slave

family

that

emerges

from

a

study

of

the

slave

narratives

and

interviews

indicates

that

Franklin’s

view

is

not

consistent

with

the

facts

and

that

Frazier

was

generally

correct,

although

often

the

bond

between

the

slave

father

and

his

children

appears

stronger

than

Frazier

indicated.

In

any

case,

one

is

struck

by

the

fact

that

most

of

the

historical

and

sociological

discussions

of

the

subject

which

attempt

to

root

the

slave

family

in

the

polygamous

African

past

or

to

see

it

as

an

imperfect

and

loosely

deﬁned

variant

of

the

European-American

family

are

misleading.

The

Afro-American

family

under

slavery

was

part

of

a

distinct,

viable

black

culture,

adapted

to

slavery

and

deprivation.

While

it

is

true

that

slaves

were

not

allowed

to

make

legal

mar-

riage

contracts,

it

is

also

true

that

men

and

women

under

slavery

did

not

simply

breed

promiscuously.

There

were

a

variety

of

socially

approved

and

culturally

sanctioned

relationships

between

men

and

women

as

well

as

less

structured

sexual

contacts

which

led

to

the

birth

of

progeny.

In

certain

of

these

relationships,

men

had

acknowledged

kinship

relationships

with

speciﬁc

slave

women,

but

did

not

live

with

them.

There

were

also

socially

recognized

marriages

in

which

the

father

and

mother

lived

together

under

the

same

roof

with

their

children.

The

entire

living

unit

functioned

socially

and

economically

as

a

single

family

unit,

not

dissimilar

to

the

European-American

kinship

pattern,

although

sometimes

broken

up

by

the

sale

of

members

of

the

family

to

different

masters,

a

situation

which

often

happened

upon

the

death

of

a

master.

In

some

situations,

certain

male

slaves

were

encouraged

to

have

sexual

relationships

with

more

than

one

slave

woman,

without

any

permanent

alliance

being

required.

Masters,

their

male

offspring,

white

overseers,

and

other

non-slaveowning»

whites

were

usually

permitted

to

make

sexual

alliances

on

either

a

casual

or

more

formal

basis

with

one

or

more

slave

women.

Selections

taken

at

random

from

the

interviews

from

one

state

with

ex-slaves

give

us

a

picture

of

the

range

of

possible

family

80

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

arrangements

and

marriage

customs

under

slavery.

Much

the

same

picture

could

be

derived

from

the

interviews

taken

in

any

of

the

other

states

in

which

interviews

were

taken.

Sallie

Carder,

born

in

Jackson,

Tennessee,

in

the

early

185os,

reported

that

her

mother

was

Harriet

Neel

and

her

father

Jeff

Bills,

that

she

had

one

brother,

J.

B.

Bills,

and

some

unnamed

sisters.

She

remembers

her

own

wedding

shortly

after

the

end

of

slavery

and

reports

that

she

wore

at

the

wedding

a

blue

calico

dress,

a

man’s

shirt

tail

as

a

head

rag,

and

a

pair

of

brogan

shoes.

Mrs.

Carder

is

the

ex-slave

previously

quoted

who

reported

that

the

overseer

killed

her

father

when

he

had

tried

to

save

her

mother

from

being

beaten.”

Betty

Foreman

Chessier,

born

a

slave

in

Raleigh,

North

Carolina,

in

1843,

reported:

My

mother

was

named

Melinda Manley,

the

slave

of

Governor

Manley

of

North

Carolina,

and

my

father

was

named

Arnold

Fore-

man,

slave

of

Bob

and

John

Foreman,

two

young

masters.

They

come

over

from

Arkansas

to

visit

my

master

and

my

pappy

and

mammy

met

and

get

married,

’though

my

pappy

only

seen

my

mammy

in

the

summer

when

his

masters

come

to

visit

our

master

and

dey

took

him

right

back.

I

had

three

sisters

and

two

brothers

and

none

of

dem

was

my

whole

brothers

and

sisters.

I

stayed

in

the

Big

House

all

the

time,

but

my

sisters

and

brothers

were

given

to

the

master’s

sons

and

daughters

when

dey

got

married

and

dey

was

told

to

send

back

for

some

more

when

dem

died.

I

didn’t

never

stay

with

my

mammy

doing

of

slavery.

I

stayed

in

the

Big

House.

I

slept

under

the

dining

room

table

with

three

other

darkies.

After

the

War,

I

went

to

mammy

and

my

step-daddy.

She

done

married

again,

so

I

left

and

went

to

Warrington

and

Halifax,

North

Carolina,

jest

for

a

little

while

nursing

some

white

chillun.

I

stayed

in

Raleigh,

where

I

was

born

till

7

years

ago,

when

I

come

to

Oklahoma

to

live

with

my

only

living

child.

I

am

the

mother

of

4

chillun

and

11

grandchillun.

When

I

got

married

I

jumped

a

broomstick.

To

git

unmarried,

all

you

had

to

do

was

to

jump

backwards

over

the

same

broomstick."

Polly

Colbert,

age

eighty-three

in

1935,

was

born

in

Oklahoma.

She

said:

My

mother,

Liza,

was

owned

by

de

Colbert

family

and

my

father,

Tony,

was

owned

by

dc

Love

family.

When

Master

llolmes

and

THE

BLACK

FAMILY

UNDER

SLAVERY

/

81

Miss

Betty

Love

was

married

dey

fathers

give

my

father

and

mother

to

dem

for

a

wedding

gift.

I

was

born

at

Tishomingo

and

we

moved

to

de

farm

on

Red

River

soon

after

dat

and

I

been

here

ever

since.

I

had

a

sister

and

a

brother,

but

I

ain’t

seen

dem

since

den.

My

mother

dies

when

I

was

real

small,

and

about

a

year

after

dat

my

father

dies.

Master

Holmes

told

us

children

not

to

cry,

dat

he and

Miss

Betty

would

take

good

care

or

us.

Dey

did,

too.“

Mrs.

Colbert

reported

that

she

was

married

shortly

after

the

war,

that

she

had

a

big

wedding

to

which

her

former

mistress

came,

that

they

had

a

dance

and

a

wedding

supper

and

a

frolic

that

lasted

for

almost

two

days.

“My

husband

and

I

had

nine

children

and

now

I’ve

got

seven

grandchildren.”

She

lived

with

her

son

at

the

time

she

was

interviewed."

Anthony

Dawson,

born

in

1832,

said:

My

pappy’s

name

was

Anthony,

and

mammy’s

name

was

Chanie.

He

was

the

blacksmith

and

ﬁxed

the

wagons,

but

he

couldn’t

read

and

ﬁgger

like

Uncle

John.

Mammy

was

the

head

house

woman

but

didn’t

know

any

letters

either.

They

was

both

black

like

me.

Old

man

Isley,

where

they

come

from,

had

lots

of

niggers,

but

I

don’t

think

they

was

off

the

boat."

He

reported

that

he

had

seven

boys

and

seven

girls

of

his

own.

Daniel

Dowdy,

born

in

1856

in

Georgia,

said:

Father

was

named

Joe

Dowdy

and

mother

was

named

Mary

Dowdy.

There

were

9

of

us

boys,

George,

Smith,

Lewis,

Henry,

William,

myself,

Newt,

James

and

Jeff.

There

was

one

girl

and

she

was

my

twin,

and

her

name

was

Sarah.

My

mother

and

father

come

from

Richmond,

Va.,

to

Georgia.

Father

lived

on

one

side

of

the

river

and

my

mother

on

the

other

side.

My

father

would

come

over

ever’

week

to

visit

us.

Noah

Meadows

bought

my

father

and

Elizabeth

Davis,

daughter

of

the

old

master

took

my

mother.

They

married

in

Noah

Meadow’s

house

. .

.

.

My

mother

couldn’t

be

bought

’cause

she

done

had

9

boys

for

one

farm

and

neither

my

father,

’cause

he

was

the

father

of

’em.“

Dowdy

reported

that

his

cousin

Eliza

was

the

daughter

of

her

master

and

that

she

was

sold

to

a

man

from

New

York

because

she

was

too

pretty.

Ilis

father,

he

said,

was

a

preacher

and

an

educated

man,

whose.

advice

was

sought

by

his

master.

82

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

TI-IE

UNITED

STATES

Octavia

George

said:

I

was

born

in

Mansieur,

Louisiana,

1852,

Avoir

Parish.

I

am

the

daughter

of

Alfred

and

Clementine

Joseph.

I

don’t

know

much

about

my

grandparents

other

than

my

mother

told

me

my

gra11dfather’s

name

was

Fransuai,

and

was

one

time

a

king

in

Africa.“

Robert

R.

Grinstead

told

the

interviewer:

I

was

born

in

Lawrence

County,

Mississippi,

February

17,

1857.

My

father’s

name

is

Elias

Grinstead,

a

German,

and

my

mother’s

name

is

Ann

Grinstead

after

that

of

her

master.

I

am

a

son

by

mother

and

her

master.

I

have

four

other

half

brothers:

William

(Bill)

oldest,

Albert,

Silas,

and

John

.

.

.

.

On

account

of

being

the

son

of

my

master’s

I

received

no

hard

treatment

and

did

little

or

no

work

. . . .

I

was

the

only

child

of

my

Master

as

he

had

no

wife.

When

the

War

broke

out

he

went

to

the

war

and

left

the

plantation

in

charge

of

his

overseer

and

his

two

sisters.

As

the

overseers

were

hard

for

them

to

get

along

with

they

were

oftener

without

an

over-

seer

as

with

one,

and

therefore

they

used

one

of

the

Negroes

as

overseer

for

the

most

of

the

time.“

He

reported

later

in

the

interview

that

as

a

boy

he

did

not

know

that

he

was

the

son

of

his

master.

He

said

that

he

himself

had

an

ordinary

marriage

ceremony

and

that

he

had

eleven

children,

ﬁfteen

or

twenty

grandchildren,

and

three

great-grandchildren."

Annie

Hawkins

was

about

ninety

in

1935.

She

reported

that

her

master

was

a

mean

man

named

Dave

Giles,

that

he

didn’t

have

many

slaves,

only

“my

mammy,

and

me,

and

my

sister,

Uncle

Bill,

and

Truman.

He

had

owned

my

grandma

but

he

give

her

a

good

whupping

and

she

never

did

git

over

it

and

died."’“‘

Hal

Hutson

said:

I

was

born

at

Galveston,

Tennessee,

October

12,

1847.

There

were

11

children;

7

brothers:

Andrew,

George,

Clent,

Gilbert,

Frank,

Mack

and

Horace;

and

3

girls;

Rosie,

Marie,

and

Nancy.

We

were

all

Hutsons.

Together

with

my

mother

and

father

we

worked

for

the

same

man

whose

name

was

Mr.

Barton

Brown

. .

.

."

After

the

war

he

married

without

a

ceremony:

Married

at

my

mother‘s

house

’cause

my

wife’s

mother

didn’t

let

us

marry

at

her,

house,

so

I

sent

Jack

Perry

after

her

on

a

hoss

and

we

had

a

big

dinner—and

jest

got

1narricd."°

THE

BLACK

FAMILY

UNDER

SLAVERY

/

83

Nellie

Johnson

had

been

the

slave

of

the

Creek

Indian

chief

Rolley

McIntosh

and

her

“mammy

and

pappy

have

a

big,

nice,

clean

log

house

to

live

. . . .

My

pappy’s

name

was

Jackson

McIntosh,

and

my

mammy

name

was

Hager.

I

think

old

Chief

bring

them

out

to

the

Territory

when

he

come

out

with

his

brother

Chili

and

the

rest

of

the

Creek

people.”*1

She

had

eight

brothers

and

sisters.

She

said:

“I

was

one

of

the

youngest

children

in

my

family;

only

Sammy

and

Millie

was

younger

than

I

was.

My

big

brothers

was

Adam,

August,

and

Nero,

and

my

big

sisters

was

Flora,

Nancy,

and

Rhoada.”“

Martha

King

reported:

My

mother

was

Harriet

Davis

and

she

was

born

in

Virginia.

I

don’t

know

who

my

father

was.

My

grandmother

was

captured

in

Africa

when

she

was

a

little

girl.

A

big

boat

was

down

at

the

edge

of

a

bay

an’

the

people

were

all

excited

about

it

an’

some

of

the

bravest

went

up

purty

close

to

look

at

it.

The

men

on

the

boat

told

them

to

come

on

board

and

they

could

have

the

pretty

red

handkerchiefs,

red

and

blue

beads

and

big

rings.

A

lot

of

them

went

on

board

and

the

ship

sailed

away

with

them.

My

grandmother

never

saw

any

of

her

folks

again.”

When

Mrs.

King

was

ﬁve,

she

was

sold

along

with

her

grandmother,

mother,

two

aunts,

and

two

uncles.

She

was

sold

with

her

grand-

mother,

an

aunt

and

an

uncle,

while

her

mother

went

elsewhere.

She

said:

“Uncle

Henry

looked

after

me

when

he

could.

I

could

see

my

mother

once

in

a

while

but not

often.”

She

lived

in

the

slave

quarters

with

the

few

slaves

owned

by

her

master,

nearly

all

of

whom

were

her

kinfolk.

After

the

war

she

heard

that

her

mother

was

in

Walker

County,

Alabama,

and

went

to

live

with

her.“

Kiziah

Love

reported

that

her

owner

was

a

fullblooded

Choctaw

Indian

who

owned

her

mother

but

that

she

didn’t

remember

much

about

her

father,

who

died

when

she

was

young.

She

married

under

slavery

“Isom

Love,

a

slave

of

Sam

Love,

another

fullblood

Indian

that

lived

in

a‘jining

farm.

We

lived

on

Master

Frank’s

farm

and

Isom

went

back

and

forth

to

work

fer

his

master

and

I

worked

every

day

fer

mine.

I

don’t

’spect

we

could

of

done

that

way

ifIen

we

hadn’t

of

had

Indian

masters.

They

let

us

do

a

lot

like

we

pleased

jest

so

we

got

our

work

done

and

didn’t

run

off.””°

She

and

her

husband

built

a

log

cabin

halfway

between

their

two

84.

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

master’s

farms:

“I

would

go

to

work

at

Master

Frank’s

and

Isom

would

go

to

work

at

Master

Sam’s.”2°

Bert

Luster

reported

that

he

was

born

in

1853

in

Tennessee,

and

that

his

father

and

mother

were

owned

by

different

masters,

and

that

he

and

his

mother

were

taken

by

their

master

to

Texas

with-

out

the

father."

After

the

war

he

went

with

his

mother

and

step-

father

to

Greenville,

Texas.

He

described

his

wedding

after

slavery:

I

married

my

woman,

Nannie

Wilkerson,

58

years

ago.

Dat

was

slavery,

and

I

love

her,

honest

to

God

I

does.

Course

in

dem

days

we

didn’t

buy

no

license,

we

jest

got

permission

from

old

Master

and

jumped

over

a

broomstick

and

jest

got

married.”

Stephen

McCray,

born

in

Alabama

in

1850,

discussed

his

family:

My

parents

was

Wash

and

Winnie

McCray.

They

was

the

mother

and

father

of

22

chillun.

Jest

ﬁve

lived

to

be

grown

and

the

rest

died

at

baby

age.

My

father’s

mother

and

father

was

named

Mandy

and

Peter

McCray,

and

my

mother’s

mother

and

father

was

Ruthi

and

Charlie

McCray.

They

all

had

the

same

Master,

Mister

McCray,

all

the

way

thru.

We

live

in

log

huts

and

when

I

left

home

grown,

I

left

my

folks

living

in

the

same

log

huts."

He

offered

the

following

description

of

marriage:

Marriage

was

performed

by

getting

permission

from

Master

and

go

where

the

woman

of

your

choice

had

prepared

the

bed,

undress

and

ﬂat-footed

jump

a

broomstick

together

into

the

bed.”

Marshall

Mack,

born

in

1854,

reported

that

his

mother

was

Sylvestus

Mack

and

his

father

Booker

Huddleston.

His

father

was

owned

by

his

own

half-brother,

who

beat

him

often.

His

“father

had

to

slip

off

a

night

to

come

and

visit

. . . .

He

lived

a

mile

and

a

half

from

our

house

.

. . .

He’d

oversleep

hisself

and

git

up

running.

We

would

stand

in

our

door

and

hear

him

running

over

them

rocks

till

he

got

home.

He

was

trying

to

git

dere

before

his

master

called

him.”31

Allen

Manning,

who

was

born

in

1849,

came

from

a

family

of

nine

children,

six

of

them

born

during

slavery

and

three

born

free.

His

family

stayed

together

during

the

entire

period.”

Salomon

Oliver’s

mother

was

the

daughter

of

her

own

master.

She

was

married

to

Salomon

Oliver,

Sr.

under

slavery.

He

was

the

preacher.

His

son

reported:

“Father

use

to

preach

to

the

slaves

when

a

crowd

of

them

could

slip

off

into

the

woods

. . . .

He

THE

BLACK

FAMILY

UNDER

SLAVERY

/

85

was

caught

several

times

slipping

off

to

the

woods

and

because

he

was

the

preacher

I

guess

they

layed

on

the

lash

a

little

harder

trying

to

make

him

give

up

preaching.”°=

Andrew

Simms

was

born

in

Florida

about

1856

of

parents

who

came

from

Africa

twenty

years

before

he

was

born.

(This

would

mean

that

his

parents

were

brought

in

illegally

after

the

slave

trade

was

ended.)

His

parents,

he

said,

did

not

know

each

other

in

Africa;

both

came

over

quite

young,

and

met

in

Florida.

The

parents

were

owned

by

different

masters.

When

he

was

four,

his

master

moved

to

Texas

and

they

left

his

father

behind.

Commenting

on

this,

Simms

said:

“They

didn’t

get

married.

The

Master’s

say

it

is

alright

for

them

to

have

a

baby.

They

never

gets

married,

even

after

the

War.

Just

jumped

the

broomstick

and

goes

to

living

with

somebody

else

I

reckon.”

When

he

was

married

himself

the

“wedding

was

a

sure

enough

affair

with

the

preacher

saying

the

words

just

like

the

white

folks

marriage.

We

is

sure

married.”3“

James

Southall,

born

in

Tennessee

in

the

1850s,

came

from

a

plantation

where

the

master

did

not

believe

in

slavery.

His

father

had

been

born

on

the

plantation

and

his

mother

had

been

bought

by

the

master

when

she

was

young.

His

father’s

mother

lived

with

them

and

the

family

continued

to

live

there

after

slavery

was

abolished.“

John

White

claimed

to

have

been

born

in

1816,

which

would

have

made

him

12

1

years

old

when

interviewed.

He

told

an

interest-

ing

story

about

his

parents:

Of

all

my

mammy’s

children

I

am

the

ﬁrst

born

and

the

longest

living.

The

others

all

gone

to

join

Mammy.

She

was

named

Mary

White,

the

same

name

as

her

Mistress,

the

wife

of

my

ﬁrst

master,

James

White.

About

my

pappy.

I

never

hear

his

name

and

I

never

see

him,

not

even

when

I

was

the

least

child

around

the

old

Master’s

place

‘way

back

there

in

Georgia

more’n

one-hundred-twenty

years

ago!

Mammy

try

to

make

it

clear

to

me

about

my

daddy.

She

married

like

the

most

of

the

slaves

in

them

days.

He

was

a

slave

on

another

plantation.

One

day

he

come

for

to

borrow

something

from

Master

White.

He

sees

a

likely

looking

gal,

and

the

way

it

work

out

that

gal

was

to

be

my

Manuny.

After

that

he

got

a

paper

saying

it

was

all

right

for

him

to

be

oil"

his

own

plantation.

lle

come

a'couning

over

to

Master

\'Vhite's.

After

86

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

or

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

a

while

he

talks

with

the

Master.

Says

he

wants

to

marry

the

gal,

Mary.

The

Master

says

it’s

all

right

with

Mary

and

the

other

white

folks.

He

ﬁnds

out

it

is

and

they

makes

ready

for

the

wedding.

Mary

says

a

preacher

wedding

is

the

best

but

Master

say

he

can

marry

them

just

as

good.

There

wasn’t

no

Bible,

just

an

old

Almanac.

Master

White

read

something

out

of

that.

That’s

all

and

they

was

married.

The

wedding

was

over!

Every

night

he

gets

a

leave

paper

from

his

Master

and

come

over

to

be

with

his

wife,

Mary.

The

next

morning

he

leaves

her

to

work

in

the

ﬁelds.

Then

one

night

Mammy

says

he

don’t

come

home.

The

next

night

is

the

same,

and

the

next.

From

then

on

Mammy

don’t

see

him

no

more—never

ﬁnd

out

what

happen

to

my

pappy.

When

I

was

born

Mammy

named

me

John,

John

White.

She

tells

me

I

was

the

blackest

“white”

boy

she

ever

see!

I

stays

with

her

till

I

was

eleven

year

old.

The

Master

wrote

down

in

the

book

when

I

was

born,

April

1o,

1816,

and

I

know

it’s

right.

Mammy

told

me

so,

and

Master

told

me

when

I

was

eleven

and

he

sold

me

to

Sarah

Davenport.

VVhite

commented

on

the

sexual

relations

between

whites

and

slave

women:

Sometimes

the

white

folks

go

around

the

slave

quarters

for

the

night.

Not

on

the

Davenport

plantation,

but

some

others

close

around.

The

slaves

talked

about

it

amongst

themselves.

After

a

while

they’d

be

a

new

baby.

Yellow.

When

the

child

got

old

enough

for

chore

work

the

master

would

sell

him

(or

her).

No

difference

was

it

his

own

ﬂesh

and

blood—if

the

price

was

right!“

Tom

Woods

lived

in

Alabama.

His

parents

belonged

to

two

different

masters

on

adjoining

plantations.

His

father

“worked

for

his

Master

ever’

day

but

spent

each

night

wid

us.

He

walked

’bout

a

mile

to

his

work

ever’

day.”3’

The

practice

of

“jumping

the

broom”

as

a

form

of

marriage

cere-

mony

was

common

under

slavery

and

continued

after

slavery.

I

have

not

been

able

to

ascertain

the

origins

of

this

custom,

but

its

widespread

use

is

established,

as

we

have

already

indicated

above.

Ilcrc

are

some

descriptions

of

it.

Fred

llrown,

born

in

1853

in

THE

BLACK

FAMILY

UNDER

SLAVERY

/

87

Baton

Rouge,

Louisiana,

said:

Den

sometimes

a

couple

am

’lowed

to

git

married

and

dere

am

extry

ﬁxed

for

supper.

De

couple

steps

over

de

broom

laid

on

de

ﬂoor,

dey’s

married

den.”

Jeff

Calhoun,

who

was

born

in

Alabama

in

about

I838,

gives

some

speciﬁc

details

about

marrying

by

jumping

the

broom:

De

way

dey

done

at

weddings

dem

days,

you

picks

out

a

girl

and

tells

your

boss.

If

she

was

from

another

plantation

you

had

to

git

her

bosses

’mission

and den

dey

tells

you

to

come

up

at

night

and

get

hitched

up.

They

says

to

de

girl,

“You’s

love

dis

man?”

Dey

say

to

de

man,

“You

loves

dis

girl?”

If

you

say

you

don’t

know,

it’s

all

off, but

if

you

say

yes,

dey

brings

in

de

broom

and

holds

it

’bout

a

foot

off

de

ﬂoor

and

say

to

you

to

jump

over.

Dene

he

says

you’s

married.

If

either

of

you

stumps

yor

toe

on

de

broom,

dat

mean

you

got

trouble

comin’

’tween

you,

so

you

sho’

jumps

high.”

Will

Daily,

born

in

1858

near

St.

Louis,

tells

of

getting

married

by

jumping

the

broom

twice

after

slavery

was

ended:

De

ﬁrst

time

I

was

married

was

to

Phillis

Reed

in

Missouri

and

we

jes’

jumps

over

de

broom,

and

after

Phillis

die

and

I

comes

to

Texas

I’s

gits

married

again

to

Susie,

here

in

San

Angelo;

we

jes’

jumps

ov’r

de

broom

too.”‘°

George

Eason,

a

former

slave,

who

had

been

almost

grown

when

the

war

ended,

told

an

interviewer:

A

preacher

was

never

used

to

perform

a

wedding

ceremony

on

the

Ormond

plantation.

After

the

man

told

the

master

about

the

womanof

his

choice

and

she

had

been

called

and

had

agreed

to

the

plan,

all

that

was

necessary

was

for

the

couple

to

join

hands

and

jump

over

a

broom

which

had

been

placed

on

the

ground.“

There

were

other

forms

of

informal

wedding

arrangements.

Eli

Davidson,

born

in

West

Virginia

in

I844,

told

the

following

story:

I

married

Sarah

Keys.

We

had

a

home

weddin’

and

’greed

to

live

together

as

man

and

wife.

I

jus’

goes

by

hier

home

one

day

and

captures

her

like.

I

puts

her

on

my

saddle

behind

me

and

tells

her

she's

my

wife

then.

That's

all

they

was

to

my

weddin’.

We

had

six

chillun

and

they's

all

farmin’

round

here.

Sarah,

she

dies

seventeen

88

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

years

ago

and

I

jus’

lives

round

with

my

chillun,

’cause

I’s

too

old

to

do

any

work.“

Marriage

is

any

formally

sanctioned

arrangement

whereby

people

live

together

and

have

children,

and

there

is

every

indication

here

of

a

sociologically

stable

relationship.

Eli

Coleman,

born

in

1846

in

Kentucky,

also

told

of

a

“home

wedding”:

’Bout

a

year

after

the

war

I

marries

Nora

Brady,

jus’

a

home

weddin’.

I

asks

her

to

come

live

with

me

as

my

wife

an

she

’greed

and

she

jus’

moved

her

clothes

to

my

room

and

we

lived

together

a

long

time.

One

mornin’

Nora

jus’

died,

and

there

warn’t

no

chilen,

so

I

sets

out

for

Texas.“

Slaves

were

sometimes

deliberately

bred.

At

least,

a

number

of

ex-slave

informants

insisted

that

was

so.

Elige

Davison,

who

had

been

a

slave

in

Virginia,

reported:

I

been

marry

once

’fore

freedom,

with

home

weddin’.

Massa,

he

bring

some

more

women

to

see

me.

He

wouldn’t

let

me

have

jus’

one

woman.

I

have

’bout

ﬁfteen

and

I

don’t

know

how

many

chillen.

Some

over

a

hundred,

I’s

sho.“

Katie

Darling,

born

a

slave

in

Texas

in

1849,

also

indicates

that

slaves

were

bred:

Niggers

didn’t

cou’t

then

like

they

do

now,

massa

pick

out

a

po’tly

man

and

a

po’tly

gal

and

just

put

’em

together.

What

he

want

am

the

stock.“

Jeptha

Choice

was

born

in

1835

in

Texas.

He

said:

The

master

was

might

careful

about

raisin’

healthy

nigger

families

and

used

us

strong,

healthy

young

bucks

to

stand

the

healthy

nigger

gals.

When

I

was

young

they

took

care

not

to

strain

me

and

I

was

as

handsome

as

a

speckled

pup

and

was

in

demand

for

breedin’.

Late

on

we

niggers

was

’lowed

to

marry

and

the

master

and

missus

would

ﬁx

the

nigger

and

gal

up

and

have

the

doin’s

in

the

big

house.

The

white

folks

would

gather

round

in

a

circle

with

the

nigger

and

gal

in

the

center

and

then

master

laid

a

broom

on

the

floor

and

they

held

hands

and

jumped

over

it.

That

married

’em

for

good.“

In

a

recently

published

book

entitled

Marriage

and

Family

/l'IIl()’II_Q'

Nt-_r;'r0e.\',

Professor

Jesse

Bernard

made

the

following

THE

BLACK

FAMILY

UNDER

SLAVERY

/

89

StﬂECI'I1CI1t2

There

was

a

time

when

marriage

was

so

uncommon

among

Negroes

that

almost

every

Negro

infant

in

the

United

States

was

born

out

of

wedlock.

For

few

masters

encouraged

even

unofficial

marriage

among

their

slaves.

Thus

most

of

the

children

of

slaves—and

probably

a

considerable

proportion

of

those

of

the

related

few

free

Negroes-

were

born

out

of

wedlock."

Professor

Bernard’s

emphasis

on

legal

arrangements

surrounding

marriage

is

meaningless

in

a

discussion

of

slavery,

a

system

in

which

slaves

had

no

legal

rights

to

marry.

The

fact

that

the

slaves

were

not

legally

married

is

no

more

signiﬁcant

than

the

fact

that

the

Sioux

Indians

in

I850

had

children

born

of

parents

not

legally

married

by

the

laws

of

the

United

States.

No

serious

anthropologist

would

assume

that

there

is

any

meaning

or

signiﬁcance

in

declaring

that

Sioux

children

were

“born

out

of

wedlock”

or

that

there

were

few

“official

marriages”

among

the

Sioux.

Instead

they

have

described

the

Sioux

kinship

system

and

marriage

customs

in

relation-

ship

to

an

understanding

of

the

totality

of

Sioux

reality,

not

in

reference

to

non-Sioux

law.

Professor

Bernard

offers

the

following

description

of

the

slave

marriage

and

family

structure:

In

no

case,

however,

was

a

vow

of

life-long

commitment

required

and,

for

most

slaves,

“marriage”

was

probably

a

fragile

bond

that

depended

on

the

way

the

partners

felt

toward

one

another

. .

.

.

Unions

were

based

on

mutual

attraction.

Love

was

important,

and

it

was

usually

faithful-—as

long

as

it

lasted.

But

however

satisfactory

the

“companionship”

pattern

may

have

been

for

the

men

and

women

involved,

it

left

children

and

old

people

unprotected

. .

.

."‘

However,

she

offers

no

evidence

for

the

assertions

that

“

‘marriage’

was

probably

a

fragile

bond

. .

. .

,”

that

unions

were

based

on

“mutual

attraction,”

that

children

and

old

people

were

unprotected,

and

that

unions

lasted

only

as

long

as

did

love,

with

the

implication

that

that

was

not

likely

to

be

a

permanent

condition.

Moreover,

there

is

very

little

evidence

that

Professor

Bernard

was

very

inter-

ested

in

evidence

about

slave

kinship

relations

that

would

do

any-

thing

other

than

support

a

historical

origin

in

a

pathological

relation-

ship

(slavery)

for

what

she

felt

to

be

the

pathological

elements

in

black

kinship

patterns

after

slavery.

Very

interestingly

the

description

of

slave

1n;1rriage

quoted

above

comes

after

she

quotes

90

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

two

descriptions

taken

from

the

slave

narratives

this

work

is

based

on,

which

describe

the

marriage

ceremony

of

jumping

the

broom

and

a

similar

ceremony

in

which

the

master

was

reported

to

have

oﬁiciated.

Her

description

of

slave

marriage

is

seemingly

designed

to

minimize

or

negate

the

signiﬁcance

of

these

ceremonies.

Such

an

analysis

does

not

stand

the

test

of

empirical

veriﬁcation.

If

the

slave

family

was

so

weak,

how

can

we

then

account

for

the

follow-

ing

facts

which

emerge

with

incessant

urgency

from

the

slave

interviews?

As

soon

as

the

Civil

War

was

over,

and

even

in

the

few

years

before

the

end

of

the

war

when

the

discipline

on

the

plantations

was

virtually

destroyed,

thousands

of

slaves

went

looking

for

and

found

their

mothers,

fathers,

sisters,

brothers,

sons

and

daughters

from

whom

they

had

been

separated.

Hundreds

of

the

ex-slaves

interviewed

knew

something

of

their

family

histories,

including

stories

about

parents

and

grandparents

who

had

come

from

Africa.

Most

ex-slaves

knew

their

precise

relationship

with

brothers

and

sisters

and

half-brothers

and

half-sisters

and

obviously

valued

these

relationships.

The

language

in

which

the

ex-slaves

describe

the

fairly

ubiqui-

tous

marriage

ceremony

of

jumping

the

broom

indicates

that

these

and

similar

ceremonies

were

not

there

because

the

masters

required

them

but

because

the

slaves

wanted

them.

What

of

old

people

and

children

being

left

unprotected?

Given

the

fact

that

slaves

were

under

the

absolute

authority

of

masters

and

overseers,

what

is

amazing

is

how

much

protection

children

received.

They

were

given

special

food—usually

“taken”

from

the

master,

they

were

raised

within

the

conﬁnes

of

a

community,

at-

tended

its

nighttime

religious

meetings,

and

were

subject

to

the

socialization

processes

of

the

slave

community.

Old

people,

it

is

true,

were

often

less

well

protected,

but

that

is

the

case

in

all

societies

where

there

are

extreme

limitations

on

the

availability

of

the

means

of

existence.

Moreover,

what

is

most

amazing

is

that

under

these

circumstances,

how

often

ex-slaves

referred

to

grand-

parents

and

indicated

that

they

had

played

a

signiﬁcant

role

in

raising

the

children.

In

a

forthcoming

book,

Professor

Herbert

Gutman

will

give

over-

whelming

statistical

evidence

of

the

sheer

unexamincd

mythology

involved

in

SllCll"VlC\\'S

as

Professor

lit-rn:irtl’s

about

slave

marriage

and

fmnily

|'L'l£lIl()ll$.

l’rofcssor

(lutmnn

lms

made

:1

(lL‘I;lllCkl

ex:1min;1-

THE

BLACK

FAMILY

UNDER

SLAVERY

/

91

tion

of

the

records

of

the

legal

marriages

of

ex-slaves

that

took

place

at

the

end

of

the

Civil

War

when

thousands

of

slave

husbands

and

wives

ﬂocked

to

get

their

already

socially

sanctioned

marriages

legally

sanctioned

and

approved.

Professor

Gutman

indicates

that

the

great

bulk

of

these

marriages

had

a

de

facto

standing

of

a

number

of

years

before

the

Civil

War.“

The

discussion

of

the

sociology

of

slavery

in

the

United

States

has

been

too

often

based

on

unexamined

and

unveriﬁed

assumptions.

These

assumptions

have

been

usually

ones

that

ﬁt

in

with

the

ways

whereby

middle-class

white

intellectuals

often

handle

their

guilt-

feelings

about

the

treatment

of

blacks

in

the

United

States.

Most

of

the

discussion

of

the

black

family,

in

particular,

has

seen

it

as

being

unsuited

for

achieving

success

in

middle-class

America,

while

that

goal

itself

has

been

seen

as

having

unquestioned

value

of

the

highest

order.

The

most

signiﬁcant

work

on

the

black

family

has

been

E.

Frank-

lin

Frazier’s

The

Negro

Family

in

the

United

States,

ﬁrst

published

in

1939.5"

It

was

based

on

the

most

painstaking

reading

of

the

pub-

lished

slave

autobiographies,

upon

material

collected

from

black

col-

lege

students

that

tapped

the

oral

tradition

available

in

black

families,

on

some

of

the

Fisk

University

collection

of

then-unpub-

lished

slave

narratives,

and

upon

Frazier’s

own

sensitivities

as

a

descendant

of

slaves.

Frazier’s

book

was

an

expansion

of

a

long

article

entitled

“The

Negro

Slave

Family”

published

in

1930

in

The

Iournal

of

Negro

History.“

In

the

article

he

took

considerable

pains

to

emphasize

those

materials

which

developed

the

theme

that

the

black

slaves

struggled

with

some

fair

degree

of

success

to

maintain

a

coherent

family

structure

against

the

opposition

of

the

masters

who

often

did

break

up

slave

families.

In

his

article

Frazier

asserts

that

“Al-

though

theoretically

and

legally,

except

for

some

human

restrictions,

the

slaves

were

not

persons

but

utilities

with

no

will

of

their

own,

social

interaction

within

their

own

world

on

the

plantation

created

a

social

life

among

them

with

nearly

all

the

features

of

any

society?“

Frazier

carefully

describes

the

slave

family,

making

careful

dis-

tinctions

between

the

situation

of

house

servants,

slaves

on

small

plantations,

slaves

with

paternalistic

masters,

free

blacks

under

slavery,

the

slaves

on the

large

plantations

in

older,

settled

regions

of

the

seacoast,

and

the

slaves

on

the

new

frontier

plantations

of

92

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

the

Mississippi

River

delta

in

the

nineteenth

century.

My

conclu-

sions

in

this

book

are,

I

believe,

very

close

to

those

of

Frazier’s

article.

However,

Frazier

modiﬁed

his

analysis

somewhat

in

the

1939

book

and

in

the

abridgement

of

the

book

published

after

World

War

II.

His

later

treatment

of

the

subject

suggests

in

language

often

less

precise

than

in

the

1930

article

that

the

slave

family

may

have

been

somewhat

weaker

than

he

had

previously

suggested.

But,

while

there

are

differences

in

emphasis

between

my

presenta-

tion

of

the

black

family

under

slavery

and

Frazier’s

1939

treatment,

I

am

closer

to

his

views

than

I

am

to

those

of

many

who

claim

to

base

their

views

on

Frazier’s

work.

Many

of

these,

such

as

Nathan

Glazer,

who

has

written

an

introduction

to

a

paperback

edition

of

the

book,“

essentially

ignores

all

of

Frazier’s

qualiﬁcations

and

his

emphasis

upon

the

existence

of

a

wide

spectrum

of

black

families.

Thus,

when

Frazier

emphasized

tendencies

that

weakened

the

black

family,

lessening,

for

example,

the

authority

of

the

father,

his

followers

have

concluded

that

the

reason

why

the

contemporary

black

ghetto

household

is

often

characterized

by

the

absence

of

a

functioning

male

ﬁgure

stems

from

the

supposed

similar

experience

under

slavery.

While

Frazier

offers

a

reasonable

and

multidimen-

sional

view

of

the

slave

family,

those

who

often

claim

to

follow

his

analysis

take

only

one

side

of

the

matter,

that

which

emphasizes

the

absence

of

a

strong

black

family,

and

suggest

that

that

is

a

suﬁicient

and

accurate

description.

Nevertheless,

I

do

think

a

careful

reading

of

the

slave

narratives

collected

in

the

1930s

modiﬁes

in

some

crucial

ways

some

of

Pro-

fessor

Frazier’s

conclusions.

I

think

that

there

were

probably

more

stable

kinship

units

among

slaves

than

he

did;

I

think

that

the

pres-

ence

of

a

relatively

strong

male

ﬁgure

in

that

kinship

unit

was

more

common

than

he

did;

and

I

think

that

in

general

the

slave

family

was

better

adapted

to

the

conditions

of

the

slaves,

including

their

ability

to

struggle

against

those

conditions,

than

he

did.

I

suspect

that

part

of

the

reason

for

the

differences

lies

in

the

fact

that

a

very

different

part

of

the

black

community

was

probably

tapped

in

the

WPA

narratives,

upon

which

I

so

heavily

depend,

than

in

the

materials

Frazier

utilized.

Frazier’s

sources

were

those

left

by

slaves

unique

enough

to

have

written

books,

and

black

col-

lege

students

in

the

19305

whom

Frazier

interviewed

for

family

reminiscences.

That

is,

his

sources

were

people

who

were

very

likely

part

of

that

“black

bourgeoisie”

and

their

ancestors,

that

THE

BLACK

FAMILY

UNDER

SLAVERY

/

is,

those

most

likely

to

have

fully

accepted

a

negative

assessment

of

the

black

family,

from

which

they

worked

so

hard

to

distinguish

themselves.“

The

largely

unlettered

people

who

were

interviewed

in

the

1930s

presented

a

more

positive

view

of

the

black

family

under

slavery,

I

believe,

than

did

those

upon

whose

accounts

Frazier

relied.

The

slave

community

acted

like

a

generalized

extended

kinship

system

in

which

all

adults

looked

after

all

children

and

there

was

little

division

between

“my

children

for

whom

I’m

responsible”

and

“your

children

for

whom

you’re

responsible.”

I

would

suggest

that

such

a

generalized

extended

kinship

system

was

more

function-

ally

useful

and

integrative

under

the

conditions

of

slavery

in

which

both

mother

and

father

usually

worked

in

the

ﬁelds

than

would

be

one

which

emphasized

the

exclusive

rights

and

duties

of

biologi-

cal

parents,

the

parents

of

the

nuclear

family.

There

was

always

some

older

person

who

would,

with

relative

ease,

take

over

the

role

of

absent

parents—as

is

usually

the

case

today

in

the

black

community.

A

kind

of

family

relationship

in

which

older

children

have

great

responsibility

for

caring

for

younger

siblings

is

obviously

more

functionally

integrative

and

useful

for

slaves

than

the

pattern

of

sibling

rivalry

and

often

dislike

that

frequently

comes

out

of

contemporary

middle-class

nuclear

families

composed

of

highly

indi-

viduated

persons.

While

sociologists

and

social

workers

have

been

worrying

that

the

black

kinship

structure

and

pattern

do

not

pre-

pare

blacks

for

entry

into

middle-class

American

society,

blacks

have

gone

ahead

realistically

and

rather

successfully

in

creating

ways

whereby

they

could

survive

as

blacks

in

the

United

States.

Indeed,

the

activity

of

the

slaves

in

creating

patterns

of

family

life

that

were

functionally

integrative

did

more

than

merely

prevent

the

destruction

of

personality

that

often

occurs

when

individuals

struggle

unsuccessfully

to

attain

the

unattainable.

It

was

part

and

parcel,

as

we

shall

see,

of

the

social

process

out

of

which

came

black

pride,

black

identity,

black

culture,

the

black

community,

and

black

rebellion

in

America.

Notes

I.

Kenneth

Stampp,

The

Peculiar

Institution:

Slavery

in

the

/I7IfL'-BUHIHII

South,

p.

192.

2.

Ibid.,

p.

340.

3.

Ibid.,

p.

vii.

4.

john

llope

l-'|'anl\'lin,

!"rnn/

Slmwry

I0

l"rccilrm/,

pp.

zoj

1o.i.

94.

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

iﬁfl

O\V'|

.

E.

Franklin

Frazier,

The

Negro

in

the

United

States,

p.

14.

.

Ibid.,

p.

309.

Ibid.

Ibid.,

pp.

309-310.

9.

FWPSN,

Oklahoma,

pp.

27-28.

10.

Ibid.,

pp.

30,

32.

11.

Ibid.,

pp.

33-34.

12.

Ibid.,

p.

38.

13.

Ibid.,

p.

68.

14.

Ibid.,

p.

76.

15.

Ibid.,

p.

111.

16.

Ibid.,

p.

124.

17.

Ibid.,

pp.

126-127.

18.

Ibid.,

p.

131.

19.

Ibid.,

p.

145.

20.

Ibid.,

p.

147.

21.

Ibid.,

pp.

154, 156,

22.

Ibid.,

pp.

157-158.

23.

Ibid.,

p.

169.

24.

Ibid.,

pp.

169,

170.

25.

Ibid.,

p.

192.

26.

Ibid.,

p.

195.

27.

Ibid.,

p.

203.

28.

Ibid.,

p.

204.

29.

Ibid.,

p.

207.

30.

Ibid.

31.

Ibid.,

p.

212.

32.

Ibid.,

p.

217.

33.

Ibid.,

p.

234.

34.

Ibid.,

pp.

295-297.

35.

Ibid.,

p.

306.

36.

Ibid.,

p.

325.

37.

Ibid.,

p.

355.

38.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Part

1,

p.

156.

39.

Ibid.,

p.

189.

40.

Ibid.,

p.

272.

41.

FWPSN,

Georgia,

Part

1,

p.

303.

42.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Part

1,

pp.

296-297.

43.

Ibid.,

p.

238.

44'

Ibid.,

p.

299.

45.

Ibid.,

p.

279.

46.

Ibid.,

p.

218.

47

Jesse

Bernard,

Marriage

and

Family

Among

Negroes,

p.

1.

48:

Ibid.,

p.

10.

49.

Based

upon

oral

communication

with

Professor

Gutman

at

the

Ameri-

can

Historical

Association

Convention,

December

1969.

50.

Frazier,

The

Negro

Family

in

the

United

States.

51.

Frazier,

“The

Negro

Slave

Family,"

The

Ioumal

of

Negro

History

15

(193o):198—259.

This

article

relies

almost

exclusively

upon

both

the

pub-

lished

slave

narratives

and

the

Fisk

University

collection

of

unpublished

autobiographies.

52.

Ibid.,

pp.

205-206.

53.

Nathan

Glazer,

Foreword

to

Frazier,

The

Negro

Family

1966

abridged

edition,

pp.

vii-xviii.

54.

E.

l"ranltli11

l"ra'1.ier,

Black

Bourgeoisie.

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

RESISTANCE

Under

slavery,

as

under

any

other

social

system,

those

at

the

bottom

were

not

totally

dominated

by

the

master

class.

They

found

ways

of

subverting

the

worst

of

the

system

and

even

at

times

of

dominat-

ing

the

masters.

The

slaves

created

a

uniﬁed

black

community

in

which

class

differences

within

the

community,

while

not

totally

eradicated,

were

much

less

signiﬁcant

than

the

ties

of

blackness

in

a

white

man’s

world;

all

blacks

potentially

could

bring

into

that

community

needed

information,

as

well

as

provide

extra

food

and

protection

for

runaway

slaves.

While

blacks

were

oppressed

and

exploited,

they

fought

back

in

a

constant

struggle

by

all

available

means.

These

struggles

even-

tually

led

to

the

crucial

role

that

blacks

played

in

the

Civil

War,

the

war

for

their

own

liberation.

As

Frantz

Fanon

has

suggested,

the

oppressed,

in

order

to

prevent

themselves

becoming

total

victims,

lash

out

against

their

oppressors

and

in

doing

so,

create

their

hu-

manity}

Only

by

resistance

did

the

slave

escape

becoming

Sambo,

the

“infantile”

personality

of

the

myth.

By

their

daily

resistance

they

produced

their

Nat

Turners.

We

must

conceive

of

the

slave

personality

as

an

ambivalent

one.

On

the

one

hand

are

submissiveness

and

a

sense

that

one

deserves

to

be

a

slave;

on

the

other

hand

is

a

great

deal

of

anger

in

ways

that

protect

the

personality

and

have

objective

results

in

the

im-

provement

of

the

slave’s

situation

and

eventual

liberation,

at

least

from

chattel

slavery.

_

Unless

the

slave

has

had

a

tendency

to

be

Sambo

he

can

never

‘)5

96

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

become

Nat

Turner.

One

who

has

never

feared

becoming

Sambo,

never

need

rebel

to

maintain

his

humanity.

A

pure

Sambo,

or

a

pure

rebel,

is

a

theoretical

abstraction

which

does

not

concretely

help

us

understand

the

behavior

of

living

human

beings.

Unless

we

understand

the

contradictory

nature

of

the

rebel

personality,

we

can

never

portray

this

reality.

Either

the

oppressed

continuously

struggle

in

forms

of

their

own

choosing

or

they

are

defeated

by

life.

Only

they

can

know

what

they

can

and

must

do.

The

black

community,

slave

and

free,

South

and

North,

made

itself,

and

in

so

doing

brought

about

the

abolition

of

slavery.

It

did

this

not out

of

a

belief

in

ideological

abstractions,

but

out

of

a

felt

inner

necessity.

Only

when

the

slaves,

through

their

own

struggles,

saw

the

necessity

and

possibility

of

freedom,

could

they

struggle

to

overcome,

to

transcend

that

bondage.

The

slaves

went

from

being

frightened

human

beings,

thrown

among

strange

men,

including

fellow

slaves

who

were

not

their

kinsmen

and

who

did

not

speak

their

language

or

understand

their

customs

and

habits,

to

what

W.

E.

B.

DuBois

once

described

as

the

general

strike

whereby

hundreds

of

thousands

of

slaves

deserted

the

plantations,

destroying

the

South’s

ability

to

supply

its

army.”

The

over

2oo,ooo

blacks

who

joined

the

Northern

army

maintained

the

ability

of

the

North

to

mount

the

military

initiative

after

the

battle

of

Gettysburg

and

win

the

war.“

How

did

this

happen?

How

did

potential

Sambos

become

Nat

Turners?

The

assertion

that

the

involuntary

immigrants

from

Africa

upon

ﬁrst

arriving

in

the

New

World

were

in

a

state

of

shock,

needs

no

extensive

documentation

at

this

point,‘

even

most

of

the

volun-

tary

immigrants

who

arrived

in

the

New

World

experienced

a

sense

of

profound

dislocation.

That

the

slaves

were

able

to

transform

themselves

into

a

people

who

played

a

crucial

role

in

bringing

the

South

to

surrender

requires

much

explanation;

that

they

did

this

by

the

continual

creation

of

a

community

whose

primary

function

was

to

struggle

against

their

oppressors

needs

elaboration.

How

were

individual

men

and

women,

frightened

and

disoriented

beyond

belief

by

the

Middle

Passage

across

the

Atlantic

in

the

holds

of

slave

ships

and

then

dumped

among

hostile

strangers

as

chattel

slaves,

transformed

into

a

collectivity

of

victorious

revolutionaries

who

performed

most

important

roles

in

striking

oﬁ’

their

own

shackles?

In

1935,

W.

F.

B.

Dullois

summarized

the

process

whereby

blacks

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

RESISTANCE

/

97

turned

the

tide

of

battle

in

the

Civil

War:

Freedom

for

the

slave

was

the

logical

result

of

a

crazy

attempt

to

wage

war

in

the

midst

of

four

million

black

slaves,

and

trying

the

while

sublimely

to

ignore

the

interests

of

those

slaves

in

the

outcome

of

the

ﬁghting.

Yet,

these

slaves

had

enormous

power

in

their

hands.

Simply

by

stopping

work,

they

could

threaten

the

Con-

federacy

with

starvation.

By

walking

into

the

Federal

camps,

they

showed

to

doubting

Northerners

the

easy

possibility

of

using

them

thus,

but

by

the

same

gesture,

depriving

their

enemies

of

their

use

in

just

these

ﬁelds.

It

was

the

fugitive

slave

who

made

the

slaveholders

face

the

alternative

of

surrendering

to

the

North,

or

to

the

Negroes.

It

was

this

plain

alternative

that

brought

Lee’s

sudden

surrender.

Either

the

South

must

make

terms

with

its

slaves,

free

them,

use

them

to

ﬁght

the

North,

and

thereafter

no

longer

treat

them

as

bondsmen;

or

they

could

surrender

to

the

North

with

the

assumption

that

the

North

after

the

war,

must

help

them

to

defend

slavery,

as

it

had

before.‘

In

a

long

social

process

the

slaves

developed

an

independent

com-

munity

and

culture

which

molded

the

slave

personality.

This

social

personality

was

kept

whole

by

the

day-to-day

and

night-to-night

life

of

the

slave

quarters.

While

the

struggles

that

the

slaves

engaged

in

were

rarely

epic,

they

were

real

and

often

successful

in

limited

terms.

In

some

ways

insight

into

the

essence

of

the

slave

personality

pro-

duced

by

this

community

is

contained

in

the

Br’er

Rabbit

stories,

not

as

Joel

Chandler

Harris

redid

them

for

white

audiences,“

but

as

they

were

carried

from

Africa

in

the

oral

traditions

of

black

people

and

transformed

in

the

New

World.

These

stories

are

not

childlike

tales

for

toddlers.

They

contain

the

social

insights

of

a

people

and

express

a

most

sophisticated

view

of

human

life.

There

are

a

variety

of

myths

and

folktales

from

black

populations

in

Africa

and

the

New

World

in

which

a

relatively

weak

creature

succeeds

in

at

least

surviving

in

his

competition

with

the

greater

beasts,

usually

by

trickery.

At

times

this

creature

wins,

but

he

never

really

loses.

He

is

often

absurd,

but

he

is

also

ﬁlled

with

life

and

keeps

struggling

against

his

situation.

In

West

Africa

he

is

often

identiﬁed

with

Legba,

the

trickster

Q8

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

messenger

of

the

gods.

In

these

West

African

versions

there

is

a

sense

of

organic

relationship

between

the

people

and

Legba,

or

with

Anansi

the

Spider,

another

form

he

takes,

and

the

rest

of

the

forces

of

the

universe.

The

distance

between

the

natural

and

the

supernatural

is

not

felt,

but

Legba

or

Anansi

are

clearly

not

totally

of

the

sphere

of

men,

although

they

certainly

are

in

crucial

ways

like

humans.’

In

the

Caribbean,

Anansi

the

Spider

reappears,

and

here

he

is

most

human,

a

symbol

of

man,

not

another

type

of

creature

inhabit-

ing

the

same

world.

He

survives

by

his

wits,

and

although

sometimes

defeated

and

humiliated,

he

manages

to

survive

in

a

tense

competi-

tion

with

his

more

powerful

neighbors.

In

the

Caribbean,

Anansi,

the

spider

trickster,

defeats

Lion,

Tiger,

and

Snake

in

great

contests

of

Wit.”

He

appears

as

the

main

ﬁgure

in

the

famous

“Tar

Baby”

stories

in

a

collection

made

by

Beckwith

in

Jamaica.

In

two

of

these,

Anansi

emerges

victorious;

in

one

there

is

a

stand-off

relation-

ship

between

Anansi

and

those

he

tries

to

trick;

and

in

one

he

is

defeated,

the

price

of

defeat

being

shame

and

humiliation.”

Sometimes

in

the

Caribbean

he

becomes

Br’er

Rabbit,

the

form

in

which

he

is

also

known

in

North

America.

In

all

cases

we

have

a

creature

whose

life

situation

is

very

much

like

that

of

slaves.

He

survives

under

difficult

circumstances

and

he

occasionally

tri-

umphs

over

the

more

powerful

beasts.

No

matter

what

he

does,

even

when

he

is

defeated,

he

gains

the

sympathy

of

the

nonpowerful

everwhere

and

the

pity

and

contempt

of

the

powerful.

And

he

always

seems

to

have

a

greater

share

of

the

classic

human

virtues

than

do

the

Great

Beasts.

Harold

Courlander,

an

outstanding

student

of

Haitian

life,

while

indicating

that

in

“the

folk

tales

and

legends

of

Haiti

there

has

been

a

powerful

assimilation

from

many

cultures”‘°

discusses

the

African

origins

and

Haitian

fate

of

the

Anansi

stories:

Anansi,

the

spider

trickster-hero

and

buffoon

of

West

Africa,

has

survived

in

Haiti

as

well

as

elsewhere

in

the

Antilles.

In

Jamaica

and

other

British

islands,

Anansi

has

become

Brother

Anansi,

Sister

Nancy,

or

just

plain

Nancy.

Although

he

usually

ﬁgures

in

tales

dealing

with

other

animals,

he

has

more

and

more

come

to

assume

a

human

form,

as

he

has

in

Haitian

tales.

But

in

Haiti

the

name

Anansi

is

only

rarely

heard.

Anansi’s

cleverness

and

stupidity

are

now

attributed

to

two

characters

named

Ti

Malice

and

None‘

Bouki,

both

of

whom

are

regarded

as

|1u111an

beings.

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

RESISTANCE

/

99

In

West

Africa

the

spider

hero

directed

his

mischief

against

the

great

and

strong

creatures

of

the

forest,

now

one,

now

another.

In

Haiti,

Ti

Malice,

who

has

inherited

Anansi’s

wit

and

guile,

pits

himself

mostly

against

Bouki,

who

has

inherited

Anansi’s

stubborn

nature

and

his

pompous

stupidities.

Ti

Malice

(whose

ﬁrst

name

probably

comes

from

the

Spanish

tio,

uncle)

has

become

the

slick

sharpy

of

the

city,

the

clever

and

predatory

“operator,”

the

practical

joker.

Like

his

spider

prototype,

Ti

Malice

has

humor

as

well

as

cunning,

though

he

is

often

remorseless.

Bouki

is

full

of

self-conﬁ-

dence

but

is

slow-witted

and

an

easy

prey

for

Ti

Malice.

He

is

thought

of

as

a

clumsy

peasant

of

the

mountains.

He

has

a

constant

desire

to

pit

himself

against

Ti

Malice,

and

a

capacity

for

involving

himself

in

utterly

fantastic

situations

which

appeal

to

the

Haitian

sense

of

the

ridiculous.“

The

slave

narratives

contain

many

Br’er

Rabbit

stories.

Typical

is

one

told

by

Sabe

Rutledge,

raised

under

slavery

in

South

Carolina,

in

which

Br’er

Partridge

hides

from

Br’er

Rabbit:

How

come

I

know

all

these

Buh

Rabbit

story,

Mudder

spin

you

know.

Have

the

great

oak

log,

iron

ﬁre

dog.

Have

we

chillun

to

sit

by

the

ﬁreplace

put

the

light-wood

under—blaze

up.

We

four

chillun

have

to

pick

seed

out

the

cotton.

Work

till

ten

o’clock

at

night

and

rise

early!

Mudder

and

Father

tell

you

story

to

keep

you

eye

open!

Pick

out

cotton

seed

be

we

job

every

night

in

winter

time—cept

Sunday!

When

we

grow

bigger,

Mudder

make

one

card.

One

would

spin

and

then

Mudder

go

to

knitting.

Night

time

picking

these

cotton

seed

out;

day

time

in

winter

getting

wood!

Fall—harvest

peanut,

peas,

’tater!

I

member

all

them

Buh

Rabbit

story!

Mudder

tell

’em

and

we

laugh

and

wake

up!

They

was

one

bout

Buh

Rabbit

and

Buh

Patridge.

You

know

Buh

Patridge

the

onliest

one

get the

best

of

Buh

Rabbit!

Buh

Rabbit

bet

Buh

Patridge

(Buh

Rabbit

think

he

so

sharp

you

know!).

He

bet

Buh

Patridge

if

he

fly

off

down

the

road

a

piece

and

lit

Buh

Rabbit

can

ﬁnd

’em.

Buh

Patridge

bet

him

he

can’t!

So

Buh

Patridge

take

off

and

ﬂy

down

the

road

a

piece

and

lit—like

a

Patridge

will

do—lit

and

turn

up on

he

back

and

rake

the

leaves

over

him

and

kiver

[cover]

his

body

all

cept

he

two

foots

sticking

up

like

stick!

IOO

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

Now

Buh

Rabbit

come!

He

hunt

and

he

hunt

and

he

hunt!

Couldn’t

ﬁnd

’em

and

he

get

so

hot

he

take

off

he

coat

and

hang

it

on

Buh

Patridge

foots!

He

go

on

hunting

and

after

while

he

call

out,

“Well

I

can’t

ﬁnd

Buh

Patridge!

Can’t

ﬁnd

Buh

Patridge!”

And

Buh

Patridge

sing

out,

“Well,

Buh

Rabbit,

here

I

is!

You

hang

you

coat

on

my

feet!”

Buh

Rabbit

have

to

pay

the

bet!

(I

don’t

member

what

the bet

was.)

So

Buh

Patridge

was

the

onliest

one

I

ever

hear

bout

could

get

the

best

of

Buh

Rabbit!"

It

is

clear

that

in

this

story

there

is

an

implied

alternative

ending,

one

where

when

Br’er

Patridge

cries

out

“here

I

is,”

Br’er

Rabbit

declares,

“I

found

you

and

I

win

the

bet.”

In

myth

and

folktale

the

slave

not

only

acted

out

his

desires,

he

accomplished

much

more

than that.

In

his

laughter

and

pleasure

at

the

exploits

of

Anansi

and

Br’er

Rabbit

he

created

for

himself,

out

of

his

own

being,

that

necessary

self-conﬁdence

denied

to

him

by

so

much

of

his

environment.

Anansi-Br’er

Rabbit

is

both

Sambo

and

Nat

Turner,

both

the

victim

and

the

revolutionary,

who

man-

ages

to

assert

himself

and

his

humanity

and

overcome

his

own

inner

victimization,

the

internalized

reﬂection

of

his

objective

circum-

stances.

At

least

Anansi-Br’er

Rabbit

is

not

passive,

if

not

always

successful.

He

struggles

in

concrete

ways

through

his

own

activity

in

behalf

of

himself

to

change

his

circumstances.

These

stories

were

part

of

the

process

whereby

the

slaves

gained

enough

footing

to

allow

them

to

rebel.

The

slave

personality

was,

like

all

other

adult

personalities,

not

one

that

should

be

described

in

the

metaphor

of

static

psychology

as

“infantile.”

While

even

wise

and

mature

adults

in

any

society

can

at

times

behave

in

an

infantile

manner,

they

are

not

necessarily

childish

and

thus

incapable

of

taking

care

of

themselves.

In

anv

society,

particularly

one

based

upon

social

hierarchy

and

exploita-

tion,

most

people

at

all

levels

of

society

display

an

extreme

am-

bivalence

of

personality.

In

extreme

cases

that

inner

contradiction

leads

either

to

the

attempt

to

resolve

the

contradictions

by

self-de-

struction

through

madness

or

self-liberation

through

revolution.

In

most

situations,

however,

men

live

with

the

contradictions,

varying

their

emphasis,

trying

to

ﬁnd

ways

to

live

in

physical

and

psychic

comfort.

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

RESISTANCE

/

101

The

slave

personality

is

an

example

of

the

“highest

of

the

high

and

the

lowest

of

the

low”

syndrome

in

which

the

person

conceives

of

himself

both

as

becoming

like

God

(through

conversion,

for

example)

and

unworthy

of

any

recognition.

It

produces

social

great-

ncss

as

well

as

social

incompetence.

Erik

Erikson,

for

example,

in

The

Young

Man

Luther,

describes

the

religious

revolutionary

as

feeling

himself

to

be

both

a

worthless

child

and

a

man

chosen

to

do

the

Lord’s

work.

Only

in

ﬁghting

the

enemies

of

his

heavenly

liather

would

the

child

become

a

man."

The

slave

narratives

are

the

richest

source

we

have

ever

had

for

a

description

of

the

slave

personality.

In

them

the

same

indi-

viduals

describe

themselves

as

simultaneously

Objects

and

Subjects

and

tell

us

of

the

consequences

of

their

self-transformation

from

one

to

the

other.

On

the

one

hand

is

the

Object:

the

man

who

does

not

receive

enough

food,

clothing,

or

shelter

to

keep

alive,

and

does

not

work

well

because

of

incompetence;

the

man

who

is

whipped

and

humiliated;

the

man

who

calls

upon

those

who

listen

to

him

to

have

pity

and

be

merciful.

On

the

other

hand

is

the

Subject:

the

man

with

needs

and

wants

of

his

own,

not

only

those

that

others

can

objectively

and

quantiﬁably

impute

to

him;

the

man

who

acts

as

best

he

can

to

satisfy

those

needs

and

wants.

He

may

demand

better

and

more

food,

clothing,

and

shelter.

lle

may

demand

higher

status,

dignity,

and

the

time

and

oppor-

tunity

to

carry

on

ﬂirtations,

to

laugh,

dance,

sing,

make

love,

loaf,

play

with

his

children

and

raise

them

as

he

sees

ﬁt;

he

may

demand

the

end

of

being

the

whipped

Object

and

become

the

one

who

chooses

not

to

work

well

as

an

act

of

rebellion.

The

Subject

wants

liberty

and

freedom

and

the

opportunity

to

appropriate

for

himself

and

his

family

the

best

that

is

available

in

his

time

and

place.

If

we

allow

ourselves

to

see

the

slave

as

Subject,

we

need

not

insist

that

he

did

not

laugh

and

dance

and

sing.

We

can

see

through

the

slave

narratives

that

when

the

slave

laughed

and

danced

and

sang,

he

celebrated

life

and

thus

resisted

destruction.

While

it

is

tr11e

that

a

Swiss

traveler

to

the

West

Indies

observed

that

“a

mourn-

iul

silence”“

pervaded

the

slaves

at

work,

this

does

not

mean

that

the

slaves

were

never

joyful.

Indeed,

the

denial

that

the

slaves

did

those

human

things

that

express

joy,

or

the

assertion

that

if

they

did

them

it

was

because

they

had been

infantilized

by

slavery,

are

manifestations

of

the

view

of

the

slave

as

Victim

and

Object.

Those

who

\\'oultl

hold

this

view

would

question:

how

dare

they

laugh

and

dance

and

sing

and

make

us

feel

less

sorry

for

them

I02

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

as

Victims

and

Objects?

And

they

would

rationalize

that

if

the

slaves

did

so,

it

was

not

because

they

were

amused

or

felt

a

need

to

dance

and

sing

but

because

they

were

victims

who

had

been

so

programmed

as

to

be

“forced”

to

do

these

things,

or

because

they

could

do

nothing

more

important.

But

we

sometimes

forget

that

the

master,

as

well

as

“Sambo,”

laughes

and

dances

and

sings.

And

when

the

master

does

these

things,

no

one

thinks

of

him

as

an

infant

but

rather

as

a

full

man

enjoying

life.

The

entire

view

of

the

slave

as

Victim

and

Object

is

related

to

the

matter

of

guilt.

Only

those

who

feel

themselves

innately

superior

can

feel

such

guilt

about

the

conditions

of

others.

The

Dutch

student

of

slavery

Hoetink

perceptively

observes:

Feelings

of

guilt

may

be

emotions

which

one

can

permit

oneself

only

in

a

position

of

superiority.

True

feelings

of

guilt

are

not

infrequently

deeply

hidden:

a

person

who

speaks

about

his

own

guilt

feelings

may

be

the

practicioner

of

“philanthropy”

in

the

bad

sense

of

the

word:

the

condescending

self-accusation

accompanying

a

gratuity,

which

one

can

permit

oneself

only

in

a

supposedly

superior

position.

The

feelings

of

guilt

are

then

a

function

of

the

position

of

power,

and

of

a

doubtful

ethical

nature.

And

Hoetink

concludes,

“These

emotions

are

bound

to

be

exposed

at

some

later

date

by

those

to

whom

they

related.”‘°

Let

us

look

at

some

descriptions

of

the

development

of

the

slave’s

social

personality

in

the

slave

narratives.

We

have

already

discussed

in

the

previous

chapter

Mingo

White’s

description

of

the

beating

of

Ned

White

in

which

White

was

made

“to

pull

off

ever-thang

but

his

pants

an’

lay

on

his

stomach

’tween

de

pegs

whilst

.

.

.

dey

whupped

him

’twell

de

blood

run

from

him

lack

he

was

a

hog.”“*

Mingo

White

went

on

to

describe

the

aftermath

of

this

beating:

After

ol’

Ned

got

sech

a

terrible

beatin’

fer

prayin’

for

freedom

he

slipped

off

an’

went

to

de

North

to

jine

de

Union

Army.

After

he

got

in

de

army

he

wrote

to

Marse

Tom.

In

his

letter

he

had

dose

words:

I

am

layin’

down,

marsa,

and

sittin’

up,

marsa;

meaning

dat

he

went

to

bed

when

he

felt

like

it

an

got

up

when

he

pleased

to.

He

[tells]

Tom

White

dat

iffen

he

wanted

him

he

was

in

the

army

an’

dat

he

could

after

him.

After

ol’

Ned

had

got

to

dc

North,

dc

yther

MASTER

AND

SLAVE!

RESISTANCE

/

I03

han’s

began

to

warch

for

a

chance

to

slip

off.

Many

a

one

was

cotched

an’

brung

back.

Dey

knowed

de

penalty

what

dey

would

have

to

pay,

an

dis

cause

some

of

’m,

to

git

desp’rite.

Druther

dan

to

take

a

beatin’

dey

would

choose

to

ﬁght

hit

out

’twell

dey

was

able

to

git

away

or

die

befo’

dey

would

take

de

beatin’.

Lots

of

times

when

de

patterollers

would

git

after

de

slaves

dey

would

have

de

worse

ﬁght

an’

sometimes

de

patterollers

would

git

killed.

After

de

war

I

saw

Ned,

an’

he

tol’

me

de

night

he

left

the

patterollers

come

in

de

woods

lookin’

for

him,

so

he

jes’

got

a

tree

on

’em

an’

den

followed.

Dey

ﬁgured

he

was

headin’

for

de

free

states,

so

dey

headed

dat

way

too,

and

Ned

jes’

followed

dem

far

as

dey

could

go.

Den

he

climb

a

tree

and

hid

whilst

dey

turned

’roun’

an’

come

back.

Ned

went

on

wide

out

any

trouble

much.

De

patterollers

use

ter

be

bad.

Dey

would

whip

de

folks

iffen

dey

was

caught

out

after

eight

o’clock

in

de

night,

iffen

dey

didn’

have

no

pass

from

de

marsa."

Slaves

ran

away

after

being

whipped

and

then

got

caught.

Some-

times

they

would

commit

suicide

rather

go

back

to

slavery:

Ever

once

in

a

while

slaves

would

run

away

to

de

North.

Most

times

dey

was

caught

an’

brought

back.

Sometimes

dey

would

git

desp’rit

an’

would

kill

demse’ves

’fore

dey

would

stand

to

be

brought

back.

One

time

dat

I

hear

of

a

slave

that

had

’scaped

and

when

dey

tried

to

ketch

him

he

jumped

in

de

creek

an’

drown

hisse’f.“

Martha

Bradley

of

Montgomery,

Alabama,

born

in

1837,

told

the

following

story:

One

day

I

wuz

workin’

in

de

ﬁeld

and

de

overseer

he

come

’round

and

say

sumpin’

to

me

he

had

no

bizness

say.

I

took

my

hoe

and

knocked

him

plum

down.

I

knowed

I’se

done

sumpin

bad

so

I

run

to

de

bushes.

Marster

Lucas

come

and

got

me

and

started

whoopin’

me.

I

say

to

Marster

Lucas

whut

dat

overseer

sez

to

me

and

Marster

Lucas

didn’

hit

me

no

more.

Marse

Lucas

wuz

allus

good

to

us

and

he

wouldn’

let

nobody

run

over

his

niggers."

Anthony

Abercrombie,

an

ex-slave

born

in

the

1830s,

indicated

that

sometimes

an

overseer

would

be

mysteriously

killed.

He

said

that

his

master

had

about

three

hundred

slaves

and

a

bad

overseer

who

was

killed

on

the

bank

of

the

creek

one

night.

“Dey

never

did

ﬁnd

out

who

killed

him,

but

Marse

Jim

always

b’lieved

de

ﬁeld

han’s

done

it."'~"‘

I

I04.

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

William

Colbert,

born

in

1844

in

Georgia,

told

a

story

of

a

beating

in

which

his

brother

refused

to

cry

out

when

whipped

until

he

could

stand

it

no

longer.

The

story

is

worth

quoting

here

in

its

entirety.

The

moral

of

the

story

is

that

while

the

slave

was

whipped,

the

master

was

eventually

defeated.

Nawsuh,

he

[his

master]

warn’t

good

to

none

of

de

niggers.

All

de

niggers

’roun’

hated

to

be

bought

by

him

kaze

he

wuz

so

mean.

When

he

wuz

too

tired

to

whip

us

he

had

de

overseer

do

it;

and

de

overseer

wuz

meaner

dan

de

massa.

But,

mister,

de

peoples

wuz

de

same

as

dey

is

now.

Dere

wuz

good

uns

and

bad

uns.

I

jus’

happened

to

belong

to

a

bad

un.

One

day

I

remembers

my

brother,

January

wuz

cotched

over

seein’

a

gal

on

de

next

plantation.

He

had

a

pass

but

de

time

on

it

done

gib

out.

Well

suh,

when

de

massa

found

out

dat

he

wuz

a

hour

late,

he

got

as

mad

as

a

hive

of

bees.

So

when

brother

January

he

come

home,

de

massa

took

down

his

long

mule

skinner

and

tied

him

wid

a

rope

to

a

pine

tree.

He

strip’

his

shirt

off

and

said:

“Now,

nigger,

I’m

goin’

to

teach

you

some

sense.”

VVid

dat

he

started

layin’

on

de

lashes.

January

was

a

big, ﬁne

lookin’

nigger,

de

ﬁnest

I

ever

seed.

He

wuz

jus’

four

years

older

dan

me,

an’

when

de

massa

begin

a

beatin’

him,

January

never

said

a

word.

De

massa

got

madder

and

madder

kaze

he

couldn’t

make

January

holla.

“What’s

de

matter

wid

you,

nigger?”,

he

say.

“Don’t

it

hurt?”

January,

he

never

said

nothin’,

and

de

massa

keep

a

beatin’

till

little

streams

of

blood

started

ﬁowin’

down

January’s

chest,

but

he

never

holler.

His

lips

was

a

quiverin’

and

his

body

wuz

a

shakin’,

but

his

moutf

it

neber

open;

and

all

de

while

I

sat

on

my

mammy’s

and

pappy’s

steps

a

cryin’.

De

niggers

wuz

all

gathered

about

and

some

uv

’em

couldn’t

stand

it;

dey

hadda

go

inside

dere

cabins.

Atter

while,

January,

he

couldn’t

stand

it

no

longer

hisself,

and

he

say

in

a

hoarse,

loud

whisper:

“Massa!

Massa!

have

mercy

on

dis

poor

nigger

. .

.

.”

Den

. .

.

de

war

came.

De

Yankees

come

in

and

dey

pulled

dc

fruit

off

de

trees

and

et

it.

Dey

et

de

hams

and

cawn,

but

dey

neber

burned

de

houses.

Seem

to

me

lak

dey

jes’

stay

aroun’

long

enough

to

git

plenty

so1np’n

t’eat,

kaze

dey

lef’

in

two

or

three

days,

an’

we

neber

seed

’em

since.

l)e

massa

had

three

boys

to

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

RESISTANCE

/

105

go

to

war,

but

dere

wuzn’t

one

to

come

home.

All

the

chillun

he

had

wuz

killed.

Massa,

he

Ios’

all

his

money

and

doe

house

soon

begin

droppin’

away

to

nothin’.

Us

niggers

one

by

one

lef’

de

ole

place

and

de

las’

time

I

seed

de

home

plantation

I

wuz

a

standin’

on

a

hill.

I

looked

back

on

it

for

de

las’

time

through

a

patch

of

scrub

pines

and

it

look’

so

lonely.

Dere

warn’t

but

one

person

in

sight,

de

massa.

He

was

a-settin;

in

a

wicker

chair

in

de

yard

lookin’

out

ober

a

small

ﬁeld

of

cotton

and

cawn.

Dere

wuz

fo’

crosses

in

de

graveyard

in

de

side

lawn

where

he

wuz

a-settin’.

De

fo’th

one

wuz

his

wife.

I

lost

my

ole

woman

too

37

years

ago,

and

all

dis

time,

I’s

been

a

carrin’

on

like

de

massa—all

alone."

The

slaves

would

consciously

plot

against

the

masters

and

their

1

gents,

the

patrollers.

I

was

at

a

ball

one

night.

They

had

fence

rails

in

the

ﬁre.

Patroller

knocked

at

the

door,

stepped

in

and

closed

it

behind

him.

Nigger

pulled

a

rail

out

of

the

ﬁre

and

stuck

it

’gainst

the

patroller

and

that

patroller

stepped

aside

and

let

that

nigger

get

by.

Niggers

used

to

tie

ropes

across

the

road

so

that

the

patrollers’

horses

could

trip

up.”

Brutality

bred

brutality

as

well

as

nobility

or

docility.

Amy

Chap-

man,

born

in

1843

in

Alabama,

had

many

tales

of

brutality

of

masters

and

overseers

to

slaves.

But

one

section

about

the

retaliation

of

a

slave

woman

stands

out.

I

could

tell

you

’bout

bein’

run

myself

wid

dem

nigger

dogs,

but

I

ain’t

gwineter

do

it.

I

will

tell

you

dough

’bout

a

mean

man

who

whupped

a

cullid

woman

near

’bout

to

death.

She

got

so

mad

at

him

dat

she

tuk

his

baby

chile

what

was

playin’

roun’

de

yard

and

grab

him

up

an’

th’owed

it

in

a

pot

of

lye

dat

she

was

usin’

to

wash

wid.

His

wife

come

a-hollin’

an’

run

her

arms

down

in

de

boilin’

lye

to

git

de

chile

out,

an’

she

near

’bout

burnt

her

arms

off, but

it

didn’t

do

no

good

’case

when

she

jerked

de

chile

out

he

was

daid.”

Individual

acts

of

rebellion

were

turned

into

collective

actions

vtry

often.

The

Southern

historian

U.

B.

Phillips,

despite

his

racist

theories,

devoted

a

great

deal

of

attention

to

the

process

whereby

individual

acts

of

truancy

became

slave

strikes.

He

wrote:

Truancy

was

a

problem

in

somewhat

the

same

class

with

disease,

disability

and

death,

since

for

industrial

purposes

a

slave

absent

was

I06

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

no

better

than

a

slave

sick,

and

a

permanent

escape

was

the

equivalent

of

a

death

on

the

plantation.

The

character

of

the

absconding

was

various.

Some

slaves

merely

took

vacations

without

leave,

some

ﬂed

in

postponement

of

threatened

punishments,

and

most

of

the

rest

made

resolute

efforts

to

escape

from

bondage

altogether.

Occasionally,

however,

a

squad

would

strike

in

a

body

as

a

protest

against

severities.

An

episode

of

this

sort

was

recounted

in

a

letter

of

a

Georgia

overseer

to

his

absent

employer:

“Sir,

I

write

you

a

few

lines

in

order

to

let

you

know

that

six

of

your

hands

has

left

the

plantation-—every

man

but

Jack.

They

displeased

me

with

their

work

and

I

give

some

of

them

a

few

lashes,

Tom

with

the

rest.

On

Wednesday

morning

they

were

missing.

I

think

they

are

lying

out

until

they

can

see

you

or

your

uncle

Jack,

as

he

is

expected,

daily.

They

may

be

gone

off,

or

they

may

be

lying

round

in

this

neighbourhood,

but

I

don’t

know.

I

blame

Tom

for

the

whole.

I

don’t

think

the

rest

would

of

left

the

plantation

if

Tom

had

not

of

persuaded

them

of

for

some

design.

I

give

Tom

but

a

few

licks,

but

if

I

ever

get

him

in

my

power

I

will

have

satisfaction.

There

was

a

part

of

them

had

no

cause

for

leaving,

only

they

thought

if

they

would

all

go

it

would

injure

me

more.

They

are

as

indepen-

dent

a

set

for

running

of[f]

as

I

have

ever

seen,

and

I

think

the

cause

is

they

have

been

treated

too

well.

They

want

more

whipping

and

no

protector;

but

if

our

country

is

so

that

negroes

can

quit

their

homes

and

run

of[f]

when

they

please

without

being

taken

they

will

have

the

advantage

of

us.

If

they

should

come

in,

I

will

write

to

you

immediately

and

let

you

know.”

Such

a

case

is

analogous

to

that

of

wage-earning

laborers

on

strike

for

better

conditions

of

work.

The

slaves

could

not

negotiate

directly

at

such

a

time,

but

while

they

lay

in

the

woods

they

might

make

overtures

to

the

overseer

through

slaves

on

a

neighbouring

plantation

as

to

terms

upon

which

they

would

return

to

work,

or

they

might

await

their

master’s

posthaste

arrival

and

appeal

to

him

for

a

redress

of

grievances.

Humble

as

their

demeanor

might

be,

their

power

of

renewing

the

pressure

by

repeating

their

ﬂight

could

not

be

ig-

nored.

A

happy

ending

for

all

concerned

might

be

reached

by

mutual

concessions

and

pledges.

That

the

conclusion

might

be

tragic

is

illus-

trated

in

a

Louisiana

instance

where

the

plantation

was

in

charge

of

a

negro

foreman.

Eight

slaves

after

lying

out

for

some

weeks

because

of

his

cruelty

and

ﬁnding

their

hardships

in

the

swamp

intolerable

returned

home

together

and

proposed

to

go

to

work

MASTER

AND

SLAVE;

RESISTANCE

/

I07

again

if

granted

amnesty.

When

the

foreman

promised

a

multitude

of

lashes

instead,

they

killed

him

with

their

clubs.

The

eight

then

proceeded

to

the

parish

jail

at

Vidalia,

told

what

they

had

done,

and

surrendered

themselves.

The

coroner

went

to

the

plantation

and

found

the

foreman

dead

according

to

speciﬁcations.

The

further

history

of

the

eight

is

unknown

. .

.

.

Virtually

all

the

plantations

whose

records

are

available

suffered

more

or

less

from

truancy,

and

the

abundance

of

newspaper

advertisements

for

fugitives

reinforces

the

impression

that

the

need

of

deterrence

was

vital."

The

mechanisms

of

individual

acts

of

resistance,

as

well

as

those

of

collective

actions,

become

clear

if

we

focus

upon

the

slave

com-

munity.

People

do

not

individually

resist

in

any

signiﬁcant

degree

without

some

sort

of

support

and

social

conﬁrmation

from

a

com-

munity.

There

must

be

ways

whereby

individual

acts

of

repression

become

known

throughout

the

community,

ways

whereby

individ-

uals

learn

from

each

other

that

resistance

is

legitimate,

and

ways

whereby

individuals

learn

from

each

other

of

particular

ways

to

resist.

In

order

for

large

numbers

to

resist

with

any

degree

of

suc-

cess,

slaves

had

to

know

that

other

slaves

resisted,

and

how

this

was

accomplished.

At

the

center

of

any

community

is

a

network

of

communications

and

social

relations.

The

slave

community,

like

other

communities,

was

not

composed

of

individuals

living

in

a

vacuum.

The

existence

of

the

“bush-mail”

or

what

West

Indian

blacks

today

wryly

call

the

“niggergram,”

is

a

central

part

of

slave

resistance.

Benjamin

Russel,

born

a

slave

about

1854

in

South

Carolina,

said

in

this

connection:

How

did

we

get the

news?

Many

plantations

were

strict

about

this,

but

the

greater

the

precaution

the

alerter

became

the

slaves,

the

wider

they

opened

their

ears

and

the

more

eager

they

became

for

outside

information.

The

sources

were:

Girls

that

waited

on

the

tables,

the

ladies’

maids

and

the

drivers;

they

would

pick

up

every-

thing

they

heard

and

pass

it

on

to

the

other

slaves."

There

were

many

ways

that

news

traveled.

Slaves

were

allowed

passes

to

travel

from

one

plantation

to

another;

some

slaves

regularly

worked

on

one

plantation

and

slept

on

another

if

they

were

married

to

a

woman

on

the

second

plantation;

slaves

would

go

off

on

their

own

to

all-night

prayer

meetings

and

“frolics”;

one

slave

commented

that

the

('lllll't‘ll

.st'|'\'it‘t‘

on

Suntlay

was

the

big

time

for

gossip;

I08

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

the

arrival

of

new

slaves

from

far

away

places

would

bring

in

news

of

the

outside.

We

know

that

news

got

through

from

such

evidence

as

the

fact

that

David

Walker’s

incendiary

appeal

to

the

slaves

to

revolt,

and

news

of

such

events

as

Nat

Turner’s

rebellion,

were

widely

distributed

in

the

South.

Not

all

news

passed

by

word

of

mouth.

On

virtually

every

planta-

tion

there

were

a

few

slaves

who

knew

how

to

read

and

who

would

read

newspapers

that

had been

left

lying

about.

While

it

was

illegal

to

teach

slaves

to

read

and

write,

many,

both

as

children

and

as

adults,

learned

how

to

read,

and

a

few

learned

how

to

write.

Some

have

estimated

that

as

many

as

1o

percent

of

the

slaves

could

read,

but

that

ﬁgure

need

not

have

been

as

high

for

there

to

have

been

a

signiﬁcant

amount

of

information

via

reading

coming

into

the

slave

community.

On

some

plantations

slaves

were

taught

how

to

read

by

the

master

so

that

they

could

read

the

Bible

and

keep

records.

The

very

fact

that

slavery

was

presided

over,

as

are

all

societies,

by

a

diverse

group

of

people,

helped

the

slaves.

Social

classes

are

made

up

of

individuals

and

there

is

no

total

homogeneity

of

behavior,

only

limits

of

possibilities.

Some

slaveowners

took

their

religion

seriously

and

encouraged

the

slaves’

religious

expression.

But

while

some

masters

taught

their

slaves

to

read

and

were

allowed

to

continue

in

this

practice,

others

were

not.

Henry

Bibb,

a

runaway

slave

who

wrote

one

of

the

better

slave

autobiographies

before

the

Civil

War,

tells

of

a

poor-white

woman

whose

attempt

to

teach

a

Sunday

school

for

the

slaves

was

broken

up

by

the

patrols.“

Another

author

of

a

slave

autobiography,

John

Thompson,

was

forbidden

to

visit

slaves

on

neighboring

plantations

because

he

could

read

and

write,

and

was

whipped

for

disobeying

this

re-

striction."

Solomon

Northrup,

who

had

been

born

free

and

kid-

napped

into

slavery,

could

write,

but

was

unable

for

many

years

to

acquire

a

pen and

ink

or

paper.“

Slaves

who

were

caught

with

books

or

writing

material

were

usually

severely

punished.

That

most

slaves

were

illiterate

is

not

particularly

surprising

in

an

era

in

which

many

masters

and

overseers

were

themselves

illiter-

ate

or

nearly

so.

What

is

noteworthy

is

the

efforts

made

to

prevent

the

slaves

from

learning

how

to

read.

Either

the

master

class

was

suffering

from

extreme

paranoia

or

it

had

good

reason

to

suspect

that

slaves

who

were

literate

would

spread

sedition.

There

is

every

bit

of

evidence

to

.indicatc

that

the

masters’

reactions

were

rational.

It

is

equally

noteworthy

that

many

of

the

slaves

did

learn

to

MASTER

AND

SLAVE2

RESISTANCE

/

I09

read.

Frederick

Douglass

writes

in

his

autobiography

that

when

his

master

forbade

his

mistress

to

continue

teaching

him

to

read

because

it

would

make

him

“unﬁt

to

be

a

slave,”

he

discovered

that

“the

pathway

from

slavery

to

freedom”

was

literacy.

He

there-

fore

went

out

and

found

another

way

of

learning

to

read:

The

plan

which

I

adopted,

and

the

one

by

which

I

was

most

success-

ful,

was

that

of

making

friends

of

all

the

little

white

boys

whom

I

met

in

the

street.

As

many

of

these

as

I

could,

I

converted

into

teachers.

With

their

kindly

aid,

obtained

at

different

times

and

in

different

places,

I

ﬁnally

succeeded

in

learning

to

read.

When

I

was

sent

on

errands,

I

always

took

my

book

with

me,

and

by

doing

one

part

of

my

errand

quickly,

I

found

time

to

get

a

lesson

before

my

return.

I

used

also

to

carry

bread

with

me,

enough

of

which

was

always

in

the

house,

and

to

which

I

was

always

welcome;

for

I

was

much

better

off

in

this

regard

than

many

of

the

poor

white

children

in

our

neighborhood.

This

bread

I

used

to

bestow

upon

the

hungry

little

urchins,

who,

in

return,

would

give

me

that

more

valuable

bread

of

knowledge.”

Another

slave

tricked

white

boys

into

teaching

him

how

to

read

by

a

simple

game.

After

having

learned

a

few

letters

from

an

old

slave,

he

would

engage

in

contests

with

white

boys.

He

would

point

to

a

letter

and

say,

“I

know

that

letter;

it

is

an

A,”

and

they

would

reply,

“No,

that’s

a

B.”

Thus

he

learned

the

alphabet.“

The

several

hundred

thousand

black

freedmen,

anomalies

of

the

slave

system,

also

provided

sources

of

information

for

the

slaves

with

whom

they

had

regular

contact.

Many

of

the

freedmen

were

literate

and

could

get

access

to

newspapers

and

could

even

read

to

the

slaves.

It

was

through

this

route,

most

likely,

that

slaves

heard

of

David

Walker’s

appeal

to

them

to

rise

and

of

Nat

Turner’s

revolt.

Moreover,

through

such

sources

the

slaves

heard

of

the

activi-

ties

of

the

abolitionists

and

were

encouraged.

John

Thompson

re-

ported

that

he

had,

while

a

slave,

picked

up

a

piece

of

an

old

newspaper

containing

a

speech

by

John

Quincy

Adams

delivered

in

the

House

of

Representatives

presenting

a

petition

from

a

group

of

Massachusetts

ladies

asking

the

end

of

slavery

in

the

District

of

Columbia.

The

petition

so

impressed

Thompson,

he

reported,

that

“This

I

kept

hid

away

for

some

months,

and

read

it

until

it

was

so

worn

that

I

could

scarcely

make

out

the

letters.”“

The

freedmen

spread

ideas

about

abolitionism

and

black

pride.

From

the

very

begiiiiiiiig,

despite

social

class

differences,

there

was

I

IO

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

TI-IE

UNITED

STATES

a

common

unity

of

experience

among

black

Americans,

slave

and

free.

Northern

freedmen

created

the

National

Negro

Convention

movement

which

linked

together

various

state

freedmen’s

organiza-

tions.

This

movement

forged

close

links

to

the

struggle

of

the

slaves

and

became

the

really

outstanding

center

of

the

abolitionist

move-

ment.

The

newspaper

of

the

white

abolitionist

Garrison

was

pri-

marily

supported

by

black

freedmen,

who

made

up

the

majority

of

its

subscribers.

The

freedmen

were

often

the

greatest

victims

of

the

system,

for

there

was

no

security

for

them

in

any

sense.

Forced

to

support

themselves

and

yet

not

easily

able

to

enter

the

general

society,

they

were

usually

relegated,

particularly

in

the

South,

to

the

position

of

pariahs.

Placed

in

this

position,

they

learned

much

of

the

white

society’s

ways—and

how

to

struggle

against

that

society.

Time

after

time

runaway

Slaves

were

sheltered

by

freedmen,

many

of

whom

had

previously

been

runaways.

Freedmen

made

the

most

courageous

conductors

on

the

“underground

railway.”

As

Larry

Gara

has

shown,

there

was

no

such

regularly

organized

institution.

Rather,

the

runaway

slaves

naturally

utilized

the

re

sources

of

the

black

community—the

slave

quarters

and

the

homes

of

freedmen.

In

the

border

states

and

such

states

as

Pennsylvania,

Ohio,

and

Indiana,

as

well

as

all

other

Northern

states,

the

runaways

were

most

in

danger

of

being

caught

because

there

were

few

large

communities

of

slaves

in

these

areas."

In

the

deep

South,

the

area

of

the

larger

plantations,

they

could

go

from

slave

quarter

to

slave

quarter

and

ﬁnd

shelter

and

food.

Some

runaways

even

found

it

wise

neither

to

travel

nor

to

remain

hidden

in

the

slave

quarters

during

the

day.

Instead,

particularly

on

very

large

plantations

where

several

hundred

slaves

would

work

the

ﬁelds,

they

would

simply

slip

in

among

the

ﬁeld

slaves

and

work.

After

all,

“massa”

could

not

tell

one

from

the

other.

Once

the

plantations

thinned

out

and

there

were

only

small

farms

and

relatively

few

slaves,

the

runaways

had

to

rely

on

luck

and

the

help

of

other

blacks

in

the

area

and,

occasionally,

abolitionist

whites.

While

we

can

do no

more

than

make

some

informed

guesses,

it

seems

likely

that

it

was

this

situation

that

helped

John

Brown

decide

that

his

major

strategy

would

be

to

acquire

a

supply

of

arms

at

Harper’s

Ferry

and

sct

in

motion

a

slave

revolt;

aftcr

arming

the

runaways,

they

could

create

in

thc

border

statcs,

in

the

moun-

tains,

a

base

from

which

forays

could

he

made

into

the

plantation

country

and

through

which

other

runa\\'a_vs

could

he

brought

with-

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

RESISTANCE

/

Ill

out

fear

of

being

caught.

Brown

thought

he

could

weaken

the

South

by

running

off

slaves,

setting

into

motion

a

slave

revolt,

and

then

waiting

for

the

entire

system

to

crumble.

This

strategy

he

learned

from

the

activities

of

the

freedmen

and

such

organizers

of

liberation

as

his

friend,

the

runaway

slave

Harriet

Tubman,

who

went

back

into

the

South

many

times

to

lead

bands

of

runaways

to

freedom.“

The

abolitionist

movement

was

essentially

a

product

of

the

black

community,

although

whites

played

a

role

in

it.

Abolitionism

was

at

all

times

dominated

by

Afro-American

freedmen,

not

by

whites,

although

the

inherent

racism

of

American

ideology

has

obscured

that

fact

not

only

for

present-day

Americans

but

for

most

whites—

with

the

notable

exceptions

of

such

men

as

James

Wentworth

Hig-

ginson

and

Wendell

Phillips—who

participated

in

the

movement.

Every

abolitionist

movement

depended

upon

the

support

of

freed-

men

for

its

continuation;

abolitionist

lecturers

were

usually

lodged

in

black

homes,

spoke

in

black

churches,

ate

food

prepared

by

black

women,

and

traveled

on

monies

in

part

donated

by

blacks

with

little

money

themselves.

Indeed,

many

of

the

abolitionist

speak-

ers

were

black

men,

very

often

runaway

slaves,

the

greatest

of

whom

was

Frederick

Douglass.

The

Northern

abolitionists,

black

and

white,

received

their

in-

spiration

from

the

realities

and

the

struggles

of

their

black

brothers

and

sisters

in

slavery.

It

was

the

Fugitive

Slave

Act

which

mobilized

some

Northern

whites

into

a

movement

to

abolish

slavery

and

pro-

tect

the

fugitives,

and

it

was

the

fugitive

slaves

who

created

the

need

for

the

Fugitive

Slave

Act.

Abolitionism

would

have

been

a

dreary

movement

had

it

not

been

for

the

activities

of

the

slaves

themselves,

runaways

and

those

who

stayed

on

the

plantations.

The

literary‘

genre

upon

which

we

have

been

so

heavily

depending

throughout

this

work,

the

slave

narratives

and

autobiographies,

was

in

its

pre-Civil

War

form,

the

main

product

of

the

abolitionist

press.

Tens

of

thousands

of

copies

of

these

volumes

were

sold

in

the

United

States

and

Europe;

hundreds

of

other

abolitionist

pamphlets

drew

heavily

upon

them

for

information.

About

the

role

of

such

runaway

slaves

as

Henry

Bibb,

William

Wells

Brown,

James

Pennington,

William

and

Ellen

Craft,

Anthony

Burns,

Frederick

Douglass,

Josiah

llenson,

John

Brown,

and

Harriet

Tubman“

in

the

anti-slavery

movement,

Ralph

Waldo

Emerson

commented,

“The

anti-slavery

of

the

whole

world

is

dust

in

the

balance”

in

the

presence

of

a

man

who

has

been

enslavul.“

I12

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

Abolitionism

was

not

primarily

the

product

of

the

white

New

England

Brahmin

conscience

many

historians

have

claimed

it

to

be.

It

was

more

accurately

the

product

of

the

slave

quarters

of

the

plantation

South,

the

border

slaves,

and

the

communities

of

Northern

freedmen

who

helped

bring

into

being

a

movement

which

drew

into

it

some

of

the

most

eloquent

and

outstanding

whites

of

the

period.

Abolitionism

came

from

the

black

community

and

its

task

was

to

liberate

that

community

by

whatever

means

were

found

to

be

necessary,

violence

included,

as

the

slave

revolts

and

the

Civil

War

would

demonstrate.

In

liberating

that

black

com-

munity,

abolition

transformed

American

society

and

took

the

lead

in

creating

a

new

America.“

While

the

abolitionist

movement

required

organizations,

ofﬁces,

ofﬁcers,

ﬁnances,

printing

presses

and

newspapers,

public

platforms

and

orators,

writers

and

petitions,

and

lawyers

to

defend

abolitionists

persecuted

by

the

law,

its

heart

lay

elsewhere—in

the

movement

of

the

slaves

for

their

own

liberation.

And

in

turn

the

abolitionist

movement

had

a

profound

general

impact

upon

the

slave

communi-

ties.

It

gave

the

slaves

the

hope

that

enabled

them

to

survive

and

to

engage

in

the

daily

struggles

that

won

for

them

the

amount

of

extra

living

space

that

made

more

than

mere

continued

existence

possible.

It

provided

for

the

slaves

some

objective

cohesiveness

for

their

struggles

in

the

period

between

the

defeat

of

Nat

Turner’s

revolt

and

the

Civil

War.

The

slave

revolts

themselves

had

grown

out

of

the

total

black

community,

which

included

both

slaves

and

freedmen.

The

slave

revolts

came

out

of

that

independent

black

religion

which

we

have

previously

discussed.

This

was

so

both

in

terms

of

impetus

and

of

organization.

If

we

look

at

the

accounts

of

the

three

most

impor-

tant

slave

uprisings

in

American

history

we

ﬁnd

that

two

of

them

were

led

by

exhorters,

lay

ministers

who

functioned

in

the

blacks’

own

prayer

meetings,

while

the

third

was

led

by

a

freedman

who

had

an

exhorter

as

second-in-command.

Gabriel

Prosser

and

Nat

Turner

were

exhorters,

both

of

them

claiming

descent

from

African

religious

leaders.

The

leader

of

the

third

major

slave

uprising,

Den-

mark

Vesey,

was

a

freedman

whose

second-in-command,

Peter

Poyas,

was

a

slave

exhorter

who

some

accounts

indicate

also

claimed

descent

from

an

African

religious

leader.

The

accounts

of

all

these

uprisings

indicate

that

they

were

preceded

by

all-night

prayer

meet-

ings.“

These

slave

revolts

pointed

the

way

to

the

lines

of

attack

that

MASTER

AND

SLAVE!

RESISTANCE

/

I13

would

have

to

be

followed

during

the

Civil

War

itself.

Gabriel

Prosser,

the

leader

of

one

of

the

great

revolts,

was

a

skilled

worker,

a

blacksmith.

Aware

of

the

modern

community

in

which

he

lived,

his

objective

was

the

capture

of

Richmond,

Virginia,

the

main

sup-

ply

center

for

ﬁnished

goods

for

much

of

the

South.

When

Rich-

mond

was

taken

in

the

Civil

War,

the

balance

of

victory

was

in

the

hands

of

the

North,

because

the

South’s

main

domestic

source

of

industrial

products

had been

lost.

Denmark

Vesey

was

a

free

Negro

who

had

sailed

in

the

West

Indies.

He

chose

as

his

target

Charleston,

South

Carolina,

that

sea-

port

that

became

one

of

the

prime

objects

for

the

Northern

armies

in

the

Civil

War.

Nat

Turner

was

an

exhorter,

a

ﬁeld

hand

preacher.

Although

the

number

of

participants

in

his

slave

revolt

was

the

smallest

of

the

three,

his

accomplishment

was

the

greatest.

He

had

no

speciﬁc

destination

beyond

the

rallying

of

all

the

blacks

in

the

countryside.

His

trial

was

the

most

effective

propagandistically,

and

some

50,000

copies

of

its

proceedings

were

sold.

The

rebellion

followed

by

a

few

years

the

publication

of

David

Walker’s

call

to

arms,

Appeal,

and

thus

was

its

counterpart

in

action.

The

slave

revolts

came

out

of

the

natural

development

of

the

black

community

and

were

a

stage

in

the

development

of

that

com-

munity.

From

the

time

of

Nat

Turner’s

defeat

to

the

Civil

War

other

strategies

and

tactics

were

used.

During

the

Civil

War

itself

there

was

a

return

to

the

slave

revolts

on

a

more

complex

and

signiﬁcant

level.

Out

of

the

independent

black

religion

arose

not

only

the

slave

revolts,

but

also

the

black

secret

fraternal

organizations

which,

among

other

functions,

became

centers

of

resistance

during

the

Civil

War.

In

his

study

of

the

black

soldier

in

the

Civil

War,

Benjamin

Quarles

relates

the

activities

of

John

Scobell,

a

literate

Mississippi-

born

black.

Scobell

had

been

selected

as

a

spy

by

Allan

Pinkerton,

the

famous

detective

who

interviewed

every

runaway

slave

that

came

within

the

lines

of

the

Federal

Army

of

the

Potomac.

On

one

occasion

Scobell

and

ace

spy

Timothy

Webster

were

traveling

as

a

Southern

gentleman

and

his

slave

in

Confederate

territory

in

Virginia.

Having

obtained

some

valuable

papers

which

they

wanted

to

return

to

Washington

without

themselves

returning,

Scobell

took

Webster

to

a

rundown

building

on

the

edge

of

town.

After

giving

the

proper

signal,

they

were

allowed

to

enter

a

loft

where

they

found

about

forty

black

men

at

a

lodge

meeting

of

the

“Loyal

I14.

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

League,

whose

purpose

was

to

speed

runaway

slaves

on

their

journeys

and

to

furnish

information

to

Union

commanders

concern-

ing

the

movement

of

the

rebels.”

The

Loyal

League

supplied

a

courier

who

took

the

documents

through

the

rebel

lines

to

Washington.”

The

existence

of

an

organized

slave

community

helped

the

North-

ern

war

effort

in

other

important

ways.

Federal

soldiers

who

had

escaped

from

Southern

prisoner

of

war

camps

were

aided

by

this

natural

organization

of

the

slave

community.

In

an

important

book

of

documents

on

blacks

in

the

Civil

War,

compiled

with

running

comment

by

James

M.

McPherson,

there

are

excerpts

from

the

diary

kept

by

Lieutenant

Hannibal

Johnson

of

the

Federal

Third

Marine

Infantry

during

his

war

service.

Johnson

had

been

captured

after

the

Battle

of

the

Wilderness

in

Virginia

on

May

5,

1864

and

was

sent

to

a

prison

camp

near

Columbia,

South

Carolina,

from

which

he

and

three

other

Union

oﬂicers

escaped

in

late

November

1864.

They

headed

for

the

Union

lines

near

Knoxville,

Tennessee,

more

than

zoo

miles

away.

They

eventually

made

their

way

through

the

Confederate

lines

and

rejoined

their

army.

The

diary

indicates

quite

clearly

that

the

major

line

of

escape

was

from

one

slave

com-

munity

to

another

and

that

they

relied,

as

Johnson

put

it,

on

“some

trusty

negro

who

will

feed

us

and

put

us

on

the

right

road.”

With-

out

any

formal

organization,

the

slave

communities

guided

them

to

freedom.

A

few

excerpts

from

the

diary

indicate

something

of

the

processes

at

work:

Nov.

23

. . . .

Found

a

family

of

trusty

negroes

belonging

to

Colonel

Boozier,

who

gave

us

a

good

supper,

such

as

we

had

not

had

for

many

long

months

.

.

. .

Here

we

remained

till

nearly

morning,

when

we

were

taken

to

the

woods

and

hid

there

to

wait

for

a

guide

which

these

negroes

say

they

would

furnish

at

dark

.

. . .

Nov.

24.

Still

in

the

woods,

the

women

coming

to

us

twice

during

the

day

to

bring

us

food

and

inform

us

that

a

guide

will

be

ready

at

dark.

God

bless

the

poor

slaves.

At

dark

Frank

took

us

seven

miles,

ﬂanking

Lexington

Court

House,

striking

the

Augusta

road

ﬁve

miles

above.

Traveled

all

night,

making

about

twenty-two

miles.

Nov.

25.

Lay

in

the

woods

all

day,

and at

night

went

to

William

Ford's

plantation

to

get

food.

Here

the

negroes

could

not

do

enough

for

us,

supplying

us

with

edibles

of

a

nice

character

.

. . .

Nov.

28.

Still

at

Ford's

.

. . .

About

midnight

we

got

a

guide

by

the

name

of

Bob

to

take

us

seven

miles

on

the

lidgeﬁeld

road,

MASTER

AND

SLAVE!

RESISTANCE

/

I15

as

the

Augusta

state

road

is

too

public

to

travel,

and

some

of

our

oﬂicers

were

captured

on

that

road

to—day.

Turned

over

by

Bob

to

a

guide

by

the

name

of

George,

who

hid

us

in

the

woods.

Nov.

29.

George

has

brought

us

food

during

the

day,

and

will

try

to

get

us

a

guide

to-night.

At

dark

went

to

the

negro

quarters

where

a

nice

chicken

supper

was

waiting

us

. .

.

.

Dec.

1.

Just

comfortable

for

a

winter’s

day.

At

night

after

eating

the

usual

diet

of

chicken,

Peter,

our

guide,

told

us

he

was

ready

for

the

road.

Went

about

twelve

miles

when

Joe

took

us

in

charge

and

Peter

started

for

home

again.

Were

then

hidden

in

the

woods

for

the

day.

Dec.

2.

As

soon

as

daylight

the

negroes

on

this

place

commenced

coming

to

Where

we

were

hidden,

all

having

something

for

us

in

the

way

of

food;

they

also

promise

us

a

guide

for

the

night.

If

such

kindness

will

not

make

one

an

Abolitionist,

then

his

heart

must

be

made

of

stone.

This

is

on

the

Matthews

place.

At

dark

were

taken

to

the

Widow

Hardy’s

plantation,

where

chickens,

etc.,

were

served

for

our

supper.

Here

Jim

took

us

eight

miles,

and

gave

us

into

the

care

of

Arthur,

who,

after

going

with

us

ﬁfteen

miles,

gave

us

to

Vance

who

hid

us

in

the

woods.

At

dark

Vance

brought

us

more

chickens

for

our

evening

meal,

then

started

on

the

road

with

us

going

eight

miles,

then

Charles

took

us,

he

going

ﬁve

miles;

then

David

took

us

a

short

distance

and

left

us

at

the

Preston

Brooks’

plantation

(late

United

States

Congressman

from

South

Carolina)‘

. . . .

Dec.

5.

At

dark

we

were

taken

four

miles,

when

we

found

we

were

going

in

the

wrong

direction,

retraced

our

steps,

got

another

guide

who

took

us

to

Colonel

Frazier’s.

Distance

in

right

direction

about

ten

miles.

During

the

night

crossed

the

railroad

above

96,

and

here

Ned

took

us

in

charge.

The

boys

on

this

place

were

good

foragers,

for

while

with

them

we

lived

on

the

fat

of

the

land.

At

dark

December

6th,

two

of

the

Frazier

servants

took

us

eighteen

miles

and

then

gave

us

into

the

hands

of

Ben

and

Harrison,

who

took

us

to

Henry

Jones’

place.

Just

before

we

arrived

at

this

planta-

tion

it

commenced

raining

and

we

got

as

wet

as

if

thrown

into

the

Saluda

River.

Here

we

were

put

into

a

negro

cabin

with

a

ﬁre

and

bed at

our

disposal,

and

took

advantage

of

both

. .

. .

Dec.

9.

We

were

hiding

in

the

woods

when

it

commenced

snowing,

the

ﬁrst

of

the

season;

soon

a

guide

came

for

us

and

hid

us

for

I16

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

the

day

in

a

negro

cabin.

At

night

some

negroes

came

six

miles

through

the

storm

to

bring

us

food.

We

are

gaining

in

strength

and

weight,

for

we

are

eating

most

of

the

time

when

we

are

not

on

the

road

tramping.

The

snow

being

so

deep

it

is

not

safe

to

travel

to-night,

so

we

are

hidden

in

a

fodder

barn.“

The

party

continued

in

this

way

for

nearly

four

more

weeks

until

reaching

the

Union

lines.

McPherson

comments:

“Without

the

assistance,

shelter,

and

food

given

them

by

scores

of

Negroes

along

the

way,

these

Union

soldiers

and

many

others

could

not

have

made

good

their

escape.”‘°

It

is

probably

not

too

much

to

suggest

that

this

description

from

the

diary

of

an

escaped

prisoner

of

war

is

an

accurate

rendition

of

the

experience

of

thousands

of

runaway

slaves

in

the

decades

before

the

Civil

War.

Runaway

slaves

did

not

keep

diaries,

but

if

they

had,

it

should

be

fair

to

estimate

that

they

would

have

told

of

events

similar

to

those

recorded

by

this

Northern

oﬁicer.

The

Civil

War

represents

at

its

fullest

the

emergence

of

black

Americans

playing

leading

roles

in

the

development

of

American

society.

In

the

war,

the

blacks

played

the

decisive

role.

In

the

ab-

sence

of

many

slaveholders,

overseers,

and

patrollers,

hundreds

of

thousands

of

the

slaves

worked

sporadically

or

not

at

all

other

than

for

their

own

immediate

needs.

Two

hundred

thousand

others

joined

the

Union

Army,

many

thousands

as

cooks

and

laborers

before

Lincoln’s

willingness

to

use

them

as

combat

troops;

over

200,000

were

in

black

regiments

in

the

last

year

of

the

war.

The

myth

of

Southern

military

prowess

is

based

on

romantic

but

futile

individual

acts

of

glory

and

heroism.

This

type

of

ﬁghting

is

not

enough

to

win

a

modern

war,

which

relies

heavily

on

supply.

In

the

South,

the

slaves

systematically

sabotaged

the

war

effort

by

refusing

to

produce.

While

the

slave

narratives

indicate

that

body

servants

often

accompanied

Southern

whites

to

war,

there

is

much

evidence

to

indicate

that

the

slaves

did

not

produce

at

home

or

play

important

work

roles

in

the

military

camps

and

in

the

ﬁeld.

The

South,

so

used

to

depending

upon

the

slaves

for

all

labor,

simply

did

not

produce

the

white

volunteers

necessary

to

supply

the

army

with

the

hard

daily

labor

required

to

keep

a

modern

army

in

the

ﬁeld—and

the

slaves

did

not

take

up

the

slack.

Southern

yeoman

farmers

did

not

respond

to

the

call

to

arms

to

defend

a

system

about

which

they

had

ambivalent

feelings,

at

MASTER

AND

SLAVE!

RESISTANCE

/

I17

least

not

in

suﬂicient

numbers,

and

thousands

of

others

who

did

respond

went

home

periodically

during

the

war

to

get the

crops

in.

The

South

consequently

had

to

resort

to

a

draft

system

earlier

than

did

the

North,

and

the

morale

of

the

Southern

troops

was

often

much

lower

than

that

of

the

North.

In

what

was

the

last

great

volunteer

war

in

history,

the

South,

corrupted

by

slavery,

could

not

muster

volunteer

support

in

sufﬁcient

quantity.

The

200,000

blacks

who

made

their

way

into

the

ranks

of

the

Northern

army,

the

29,000

blacks

in

the

navy

(one-fourth

of

the

entire

navy

enrollment),

and

the

tens

of

thousands

of

others

who

worked

for

the

army

as

laborers

and

teamsters,

played

a

crucial

role

in

the

winning

of

the

war.

In

a

letter

to

Lincoln,

General

Grant

wrote,

“By

arming

the

negro

we

have

added

a

powerful

ally.

They

will

make

good

soldiers

and

taking

them

from

the

enemy

weakens

him

in

the

same

proportion

they

strengthen

us.”‘*1

Toward

the

end

of

the

war,

Lincoln,

too,

came

to

believe

that

the

participa-

tion

of

the

blacks

was

the

blow

that

defeated

the

South.“

The

slave

narratives

have

many

references

both

to

the

“strike”

of

the

slaves

and

their

participation

in

the

Northern

army.

Isaac

Adams,

born

in

the

1840s

as

a

slave

in

Louisiana,

said

of

the

end

of

the

war

that

“Along

at

the

last

the

negroes

on

our

place

didn’t

put

in

much

stuff—jest

what

they

would

need,

and

could

hide

from

the

Yankees,

because

they

would

get

it

all

took

away

from

them

if

the

Yankees

found

out

they

had

plenty

of

corn

and

oats.

The

Yankees

was

mighty

nice

about

their

manners,

th0ugh.”*3

John

Franklin,

born

a

slave

in

South

Carolina

in

the

18405,

said

in

the

same

connection,

“That

shortage

begun

in

1862,

and

it

kept

on

gettin’

worse

all

the

time,

and

when

Lincoln

set

all

niggers

free,

there

was

such

a

shortage

of

food

and

clothing

at

our

white

folks

houses,

that

we

decided

to

move

to

a

Dutch

Fork

plantati0n.”“

Phoebee

Banks,

who

had

been

born

a

slave

among

the

Creek

Indians

about

1850,

describes

how

slaves

went

off

to

join

the

North-

ern

army:

Before

the

War

is

over

some

of

the

Berryman

slaves

and

some

from

the

McIntosh

place

ﬁx

up

to

run

away

from

their

masters.

My

father

and

my

uncle,

Jacob

Perryman,

was

some

of

the

ﬁxers.

Some

of

the

Creek

Indians

had

already

lost

a

few

slaves

who

slip

off

to

the

North,

and

they

take

what

was

left

down

into

Texas

so’s

they

couldn’t

get

away.

Some

of

the

other

Creeks

was

friendly

to

the

North

and

was

ﬁxing

to

get

away

up

there;

that’s

the

ones

I18

/

TI-IE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

TI-IE

UNITED

STATES

my

daddy

and

uncle

was

ﬁxing

to

join,

for

they

was

afraid

their

masters

would

take

up

and

move

to

Texas

before

they

could

get

45

away.

George

Conrad

of

Kentucky

told

of

his

father’s

enlistment

in

the

Northern

army:

“When

my

father

went

to

the

army

old

Master

told

us

he

was

gone

to

ﬁght

for

us

niggers

freedom.

My

daddy

was

the

only

one

that

come

back

out

of

13

men

that

enlisted

.

. .

.”*°

Another

slave

said:

“Mammy

married

a

man

named

Jordan

when

I

was

a

little

baby.

He

was

the

overlooker

and

went

off

to

de

Yankees,

when

dey

come

for

foraging

through

dat

country

de

ﬁrst

time.

He

served

in

de

Negro

regiment

in

de

battle

at

Fort

Piller

and

a

lot

of

Sesesh

[Secessionists]

was

killed

in

dat

battle

. . .

.”"

It

was

the

fact

of

blacks

having

joined

the

Northern

army

and

navy,

the

fact

that

blacks

had

taken

guns

in

their

own

hands

in

their

own

behalf,

that

settled

the

matter

of

slavery.

The

blacks

with

guns

gave

new

strength

to

the

abolitionist

movement

which

now

pushed

forward

to

the

total

abolition

of

slavery.

When

the

war

came

to

the

blacks,

free

and

slave,

slavery

was

abolished.

The

Emancipation

Proclamation

had

freed

all

slaves

behind

the

Southern

lines

and

was

aimed

at

gaining

the

support

of

the

slaves;

it

was

only

the

actions

of

the

slaves

that

guaranteed

the

Thirteenth

Amendment

to

the

Constitution

which

abolished

slavery.

It

was

the

actions

of

the

slaves

and

the

freedmen

ﬁghting

in

their

own

behalf

that

added

for

many

a

new

dimension

to

the

war

beyond

the

preservation

of

the

Union.

Lincoln,

who

had

never

believed

that

blacks

would

be

able

to

become

part

of

American

society,

and

who

was

hard

pushed

by

events

to

support

abolition,

by

the

end

of

the

war

had

come

to

understand

that

the

war

was

also

fought

for

a

“new

birth

of

freedom.”

This,

the

conservative

press

understood,

meant

the

abolition

of

slavery

and

the

contingent

trans-

formation

of

American

society.

The

uproar

in

the

press

about

the

President’s

speech

at

Gettys-

burg

is

the

greatest

demonstration

that

Lincoln

had

come

to

under-

stand

that

either

a

revolutionary

war

would

be

fought,

or

none

at

all.

Thus,

in

the

Second

Inaugural

Address

he

carried

the

idea

forward

when

he

declared:

Fondly

do

we

hope—-fervently

do

we

pray—that

this

mighty

scourge

of

war

may

speedily

pass

away.

Yet,

if

God

will

that

it

continue

until

all

the

wealth

piled

by

the

bondman's

two

hundred

and

ﬁfty

MASTER

AND

SLAVE:

RESISTANCE

/

I19

years

of

unrequited

toil

shall

be

sunk,

and

until

every

drop

of

blood

drawn

with

the

lash,

shall

be

paid

by

another

drawn

with

the

sword,

as

was

said

three

thousand

years

ago,

still

it

must

be

said,

“the

judg-

ments

of

the

Lord

are

true

and

righteous

altogether.“

But

the

last

word

must

not

remain

with

the

white

President

but

with

a

black

soldier

who

understood

what

the

war

and

the

blacks’

role

in

it

was

all

about.

Corporal

Thomas

Long

of

Thomas

Wentworth

Higginson’s

regiment,

acting

as

chaplain

one

Sunday,

told

the

troops

of

his

all-black

regiment:

If

we

hadn’t

become

sojers,

all

might

have

gone

back

as

it

was

before;

our

freedom

might

have

slipped

through

de

two

houses

of

Congress

and

President

Linkum’s

four

years

might

have

passed

by

&

notin

been

done

for

we.

But

now

tings

can

never

go

back,

because

we

have

showed

our

energy

8t

our

courage

8t

our

naturally

manhood.

Anoder

ting

is,

suppose

you

had

kept

your

freedom

widout

enlisting

in

dis

army;

your

chilen

might

have

grown

up

free,

&

been

well

cultivated

so

as

to

be

equal

to

any

business;

but

it

would

have

been

always

ﬂung

in

dere

faces—“Y0ur

fader

never

fought

for

he

own

freedom”—and

what

could

dey

answer.

Neber

can

say

that

to

dis

African

race

any

more,

(bringing

down

his

hand

with

the

greatest

emphasis

on

the

table.)

Tanks

to

dis

regiment,

never

can

say

dat

any

more,

because

we

ﬁrst

showed

dem

we

could

ﬁght

by

dere

side.“

Notes

1.

Frantz

Fanon,

The

Wretcbed

of

the

Eartb

(New

York,

1968),

pp.

35-106.

2.

W.

E.

B.

Du

Bois,

Black

Reconstruction,

pp.

55-83.

3.

Ibid.,

pp.

80,

112.

4.

See

Stanley

Elkins,

Slavery

(Chicago,

1958),

pp.

100-102,

for

an

ex-

tremely.

exaggerated

view

of

this

matter.

Elkins

seems

to

believe

that

the

shock

of

the

“Middle

Passage,”

reinforced

by

the

brutality

of

North

American

slavery,

led

to

a

perpetual

amnesia

for

millions

of

people

whereby

the

“cul-

ture,”

the

usable

memory,

of

the

Africans,

was

lost.

This

is,

I

suggest,

an

amazing

intellectual

feat,

because

it

is

a

mystiﬁcation

of

reality,

not

reality

itself.

Professor

Elkins

and

those

who

have

agreed

with

him

(myself,

in

the

past)

are

captives

of

words.

'

5.

Du

Bois,

Black

Reconstruction,

p.

121.

6.

Joel

Chandler

Ilarris,

Uncle

Remus:

His

Songs

and

His

Sayings.

7.

See

the

stories

in

Elphinstone

Dayrcll,

Folk

Stories

from

Southern

Nigeria

ll/cs!

/lfriea.

Also,

\V.

ll.

Barker

and

Cecilia

Sinclair,

West

Africa

F0!/e

Ta/es

(London,

|9|7).

IZO

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

SLAVERY

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

8.

Martha

Beckwith,

Iamaica

Anansi

Stories

(New

York,

1924).

9.

Ibid.,

pp.

23-26.

10.

Harold

Courlander,

The

Drum

and

the

Hoe:

Life

and

Lore

of

the

Haitian

People,

p.

17o.

11.

Ibid.,

p.

171.

12.

FWPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

4,

pp.

67-69.

13.

Erik

Erickson,

The

Young

Man

Luther.

14.

As

quoted

in

George

Lamming,

The

Pleasures

of

Exile,

p.

120.

15.

Harry

Hoetink,

The

Two

Variants

in

Caribbean

Race

Relations:

A

Contribution

to

the

Sociology

of

Segmented

Societies,

p.

77.

16.

FWPSN,

Alabama,

p.

416.

17.

Ibid.,

pp.

417—418.

18.

Ibid.,

p.

390.

19.

Ibid.,

p.

46.

20.

Ibid.,

p.

7.

21.

Ibid.,

pp.

81-82.

22.

FWPSN,

Arkansas,

Part

1,

p.

70.

23.

FWPSN,

Alabama,

p.

60.

24.

Ulrich

B.

Phillips,

American

Negro

Slavery,

pp.

3o3—3o4.

25.

FWPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

4,

pp.

52—53.

26.

As

noted

in

Charles

H.

Nichols,

Many

Thousands

Gone:

The

Ex-Slaves

Account

of

Their

Bondage

and

Freedom,

p.

44.

27.

Ibid.,

p.

45.

28.

Ibid.

29.

Frederick

Douglass,

Narrative

of

the

Life

of

Frederick

Douglass,

pp.

40-41.

30.

Ibid.,

pp.

49-51.

31.

Nichols,

Many

Thousands

Gone,

p.

45.

32.

For

the

best

discussion

of

the

Underground

Railroad,

see

Larry

Gara,

The

Liberty

Line:

The

Legend

of

the

Underground

Railroad.

Gara

dem-

onstrates

that

the

story

of

a

powerful

white

organization

that

led

thousands

of

slaves

to

freedom

was

more

myth

than

reality-.

The

slaves

helped

themselves

to

freedom

and

were

aided

by

black

freedmen

more

often

than

by

whites.

I

suspect

that

Gara

somewhat

underestimates

the

number

of

runaways

but

he

certainly

succeeds

in

restoring

the

emancipation

of

the

slaves

before

Eman-

cipation

to

their

own

self-activity.

33.

See

Harriet

Tubman,

Harriet,

the

Moses

of

Her

People,

PVritten

by

Sarah

Bradford.

34.

Nichols,

Many

Thousands

Gone,

pp.

130-150.

35.

As

quoted

in

ibid.,

p.

162.

36.

Du

Bois

in

Black

Reconstruction,

and

C.

L.

R.

James

in

countless

articles,

books,

and

lectures

have

emphasized

the

fact

that

black

people

took

the

lead

in

the

Civil

War

and

thereafter

in

transforming

America.

I

believe

that

thesis,

if

pursued

throughout

a

study

of

American

life

and

history,

would

provide

a

very

useful

and

accurate

starting

point

for

a

new

and

revolutionary

analysis.

Indeed,

this

book

started

out

to

be

a

chapter

in

such

a

volume

but

the

task

proved

greater

than

had

been

anticipated.

I

hope

to

return

to

this

theme

in

later

books.

Such

a

work

would

have

to

concentrate

on

the

development

of

the

American

working

class

and

would

have

to

see

that

blacks

were

and

are

an

integral,

if

separated,

part

of

that

working

class.

See

Martin

Glaberman,

C.

L.

R.

james

ct

al.,

Negro

Americans

Take

the

Lead

for

a

statement

of

this

thesis.

ln

two

articles

l

attempt

to

develop

this

theme:

“Potere

Nero

e

Lotte

Oper;1ic,"

in

l)aIlc

Slradc

/lllc

I"abhrii'/ac,

by

George

Rawick

and

[id

Clark,

and

“Race

and

Class

in

Auto,"

Speak

MASTER

AND

SLAVE2

RESISTANCE

/

I2!

Out

2

(May—]une

1969):

5-7.

Also

see

the

extremely

suggestive

article

of

Harold

M.

Baron,

“The

Demand

for

Black

Labor:

Historical

Notes

on

the

Political

Economy

of

Racism,"

Radical

America

5

(1971):1—46.

37.

I

am

indebted

to

William

Gorman

for

a

number

of

ideas

in

this

chapter.

38.

Benjamin

Quarles,

The

Negro

in

the

Civil

War,

pp.

84-85.

39.

As

excerpted

in

James

M.

McPherson,

The

Negro’s

Civil

War:

How

American

Negroes

Felt

and

Acted

During

the

War

for

the

Union,

pp.

150-153.

40.

Ibid.,

p.

153.

41.

Ibid.,

p.

191.

42.

Ibid.,

pp.

234-235.

.

FWPSN,

Oklahoma,

p.

3.

FWPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

2,

p.

222.

.

F

VVPSN,

Oklahoma,

p.

9.

.

Ibid.,

p.

341.

47.

Ibid.,

p.

252.

48.

Abraham

Lincoln,

“Second

Inaugural

Address,

March

4,

1865,”

in

Roy

P.

Basler,

ed.,

The

Collected

Works

of

Abraham

Lincoln

p.

333.

49.

McPherson,

The

N

egro’s

Civil

War,

p.

213.

seas

TI-IE

SOCIOLOGY

OlF

EUROlPlEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

Slavery

has

been

accepted

throughout

human

history

as

a

natural

and

normal

feature

of

man’s

existence.

For

most

of

this

history,

however,

slavery

was

not

racially

based—black

enslaved

black,

white

enslaved

white,

black

and

white

enslaved

each

other.

Treat-

ment

of

slaves

varied

from

one

culture

to

another

and

among

indi-

vidual

owners.

In

some

cultures

slaves

who

were

princes

or

scholars

or

who

possessed

valuable

talents

were

treated

as

persons

of

high

status;

in

the

Ottoman

Empire,

slaves

composed

the

ofﬁcer

corps

of

the

army.

There

were

degrees

of

servile

status

because

slavery

was

utilized

for

many

different

human

needs.

It

was

a

way

of

handling

prisoners

of

war

and

defeated

nations;

a

way

of

dealing

with

debts

and

of

securing

the

protection

of

strong

men;

a

way

of

attaching

oneself

to

a

family

of

higher

class

and

status;

a

device

for

handling

people

who

were

out

of

their

normal

place

in

the

social

order,

such

as

foreigners

who

were

not

kinsmen

in

societies

in

which

kinship

was

the

organizing

force

of

social

cohesiveness.

The

slavery

that

emerged

in

the

New

World

was

different.

Most

of

the

slaves

in

the

New

World

were

Africans;

slavery

therefore

became

almost

exclusively

a

status

based

on

race.

Usually

this

slavery

was

accompanied

by

ideas

which

defended

it.

In

the

English

colonies,

in

particular,

there

emerged

a

fully

developed

theory

and

accompanying

institutional

behavior

which

viewed

non-whites

as

inherently

biologically

inferior

to

whites,

which

tended

to

view

northern

Europeans

as

superior

to

all

others,

and

which

was

fearful

of

miscegenation.

Under

these

racist

doctrines

blacks

were

in

fact

1:5

I26

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

excluded

from

the

protection

of

the

“natural

rights

of

man”

and

the

“rights

of

the

citizen.”

Such

racist

doctrines

and

extreme

brutality

are

not

necessarily

linked.

There

can

be

a

relatively

paternalistic,

non-brutal

racism

which

considers

blacks

to

be

inferior

but

asserts

that

they

ought

to

be

well

treated.

While

doubtless

racism

has

a

strong

tendency

to

foster

brutality,

there

is

no

reason

to

assume

that

the

existence

of

one

necessitates

the

other.

For

some

time

many

scholars

have

assumed

that

because

there

was

considerably

less

racism

in

Brazil,

Brazilian

slavery

was

less

brutal

than

that

of

the

United

States.

However,

Philip

Curtin

has

demonstrated

that

the

slave

population

of

Brazil

did

not

reproduce

itself

and

that

Brazil

had

to

continuously

import

new

slaves

to

maintain

its

slave

population.

On

the

other

hand,

in

the

United

States,

the

slave

population,

even

after

the

slave

trade

was

ended,

steadily

increased

by

natural

means.

This

is

at

least

p-rima

facie

evidence

that

North

American

slavery

was

less

brutal,

although

it

is

possible

that

certain

epidemic

diseases

that

were

present

in

Brazil

but

not

in

the

United

States

played

a

role

in

the

high

death

rate

and

low

birth

rate

of

Brazilian

slaves.‘

There

is

considerable

evidence

indicating

that

racist

attitudes

among

the

English

existed

before

the

development

of

slavery

in

the

English

colonies,

and

that

their

attitudes

were

expressed

in

“a

loose

body

of

prejudices

and

superstitions.”

Winthrop

Jordan

lo-

cates

the

origin

of

these

attitudes

in

the

century

before

the

English

Revolution

of

1640.

This

was

an

age

“driven

by

the

twin

spirits

of

adventure

and

control

.

. . .

[While]

‘adventurous

Elizabethans’

embarked

upon

voyages

of

discovery

overseas,

many

others

em-

barked

upon

inward

voyages

of

discovery.”

The

ﬁrst

settlers

of

New

England

were

involved

in

b_oth

of

these

trips.

_]ordan_suggests

that

Englishmen

“used

peoples

overseas

as

social

mirrors”

and

that

they

were

inclined

to

discover

attributes

in

others

“which

they

found

ﬁrst

but

could

not

speak

of

in

themselves.”

In

particular,

“from

the

ﬁrst,

Englishmen

tended

to

set

Negroes

over

against

themselves,

to

stress

what

they

conceived

to

be

radically

contrasting

qualities

of

color,

religion,

and

style

of

life,

as

well

as

animality

and

a

peculiarly

potent

sexuality.“

Others

have

located

the

source

of

racism

in

a

combination

of

a

natural

aversion

of

people

to

those

of

different

appearance

and

economic

self-interest.‘

Still

others

seem

to

locate

it

in

the

totality

of

European

history

before

the

seventeenth

century.“

And

still

others

have

not

found

the

evidence

of

the

existence

of

racism

in

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

127

England

before

the

Atlantic

slave

trade

to

be

important;

racism

was

simply

the

ideological

rationalization

of

self-interest.“

Such

non-con-

crete,

free-ﬂoating

interpretations

are

utilized

when

no

more

speciﬁc

and

historically

concrete

analysis

is

available.

Eugene

Genovese

points

out

that

patterns

of

race

relations

in

the

New

World

varied

from

one

part

to

the

next

and

that

such

varying

patterns

must

be

located

within

the

changing

character

of

society

at

the

beginning

of

the

modern

world.

The

origins

of

racism

must

be

sought

in

sources

within

the

changing

ideological

and

psychological

development

of

Europeans,

developments

which

were

closely

linked

with

changes

in

social

structure.

An

attempt

must

be

made

to

link

racism

with

this

changing

character

of

Euro-

pean

ideology

and

to

the

psychodynamics

of

the

situation.

Such

a

theory

can

only

be

suggestive

and

illustrative

at

this

point,

not

deﬁnitive.

We

shall

try

to

unravel

the

process

whereby,

as

Genovese

has

suggested,

“previous

ideological

conditioning

made

possible

a

racially

based

slavery,

and

the

growth

of

that

kind

of

slavery

trans-

formed

the

conditioning

from

a

loose

body

of

prejudices

and

super-

stitions

into

a

virulent

moral

disorder.”’

]ordan’s

assertion

that

the

English

in

this

period

of

rapid

change

saw

in

others

what

they

were

afraid

to

see

in

themselves

offers

us

the

clue

to

the

development

of

the

psychodynamics

of

North

American

racism.

Unfortunately

Jordan

did

not

pursue

the

point.

After

all,

there

must

have

been

particular

circumstances

in

which

the

English

saw

not

only

differences

in

color,

religion,

and

life-style,

but

also

an

animality

and

a

peculiarly

potent

sexuality

in

the

black

Africans

they

met.

Moreover,

as

West

African

peasant

peoples

of

the

sixteenth

and

seventeenth

centuries

were

not

that

dissimilar

in

life-style

to

European

peasants,

one

must

account

for

the

percep-

tion

on

the

part

of

northern

Europeans

that

the

West

Africans

were

savages

and

very

different

from

themselves

in

degree

of

civilization.

Racism

and

slavery

in

their

modern

forms

were

intimately

linked

from

the

beginning,

and

were

both

part

of

the

same

revolutionary

process—the

emergence

of

modern

European

capitalist

society

out

of

the

feudal

past.

Racism

was

enforced

by

realities

that

included

but

also

transcended

the

immediate

proﬁts

of

slavemasters,

mer-

chants,

and

slave-traders.

Racism

took

its

strongest

hold

among

those

people

who

most

thoroughly

participated

in

the

new,

revolutionary

developments

of

I28

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

the

modern

world,

and

least

among

those

where

capitalist

growth

was

curtailed.

The

advanced

capitalist

nations

of

the

English

and

the

Dutch

created

the

most

elaborate

racist

ideologies.

French

racism

was

closer

to

the

English-Dutch

brand

than

to

the

much

milder

variety

of

the

Spanish

and

Portuguese

colonies.

This

was

no

acci-

dent.

France

was

becoming

in

the

seventeenth

and

eighteenth

cen-

turies

a

capitalist

nation,

while

on

the

Iberian

peninsula

pre-capitalist

social

relations

were

still

dominant.

But

there

is

more

than

the

simple

equation

that

the

more

capitalist

a

society,

the

more

developed

its

racism.

Racism

fed

on

underground

streams

of

sensibilities.

It

was

embedded

within

the

historical

process

itself.

Both

racism

and

slavery

were

part

of

the

totality

of

relations

that

developed

into

modern

capitalism.

Modern

racism

came

of

the

process

that

marked

the

transition

from

feudalism

to

capitalism.

The

new

society

in

England

that

came

into

being

in

the

century

between

the

reigns

of

Henry

VIII

and

Oliver

Cromwell

required

basic

changes

in

human

behavior

and

social

personality.

Capitalism

required

a

new

ethic

to

justify

new

forms

of

behavior

and

to

repress

the

older

ones.

While

part

of

this

new

ethic

was

the

growth

of

democratic

forms

and

processes,

the

other

main

ingredient

was

the

separation

of

one

human

activ-

ity—work—from

all

others.

Work

was

taken

from

its

context

as

an

organic

part

of

life

and

subordinated

to

other

social

processes,

becoming

an

abstract

commodity.

In

the

name

of

individualism,

individual

personality

was

subordinated

to

machines

and

the

power

of

the

market.

The

kind

of

predominantly

agricultural

society

that

existed

in

Europe

up

to

the

sixteenth

century

had

a

particular

kind

of

rhythm:

work

was

regulated

by

the

seasons;

there

was

no

such

thing

as

the

“work

week”

of

a

set

number

of

days

and

hours

for

labor,

followed

by

a

period

of

rest,

year

in

and

year

out;

there

were

odd

and

unplanned

hours,

days,

weeks,

in

everyone’s

life,

when

people

could

take

time

off

to

enjoy

themselves

or

to

vary

their

tasks.

“Vacation

time”

was

not

accumulated

to

be

spent

all

at

once;

many

festivals

and

holidays

were

interspersed

throughout

the

year,

and

during

these

periods

all

regular

work

stopped,

except

for

the

care

of

the

farm

animals.

But

the

sixteenth

century

saw

the

beginnings

in

England

of

a

different

kind

of

work,

a

different

way

of

life.

More

and

more,

people

worked

steadily,

day

in

and

day

out,

with

no

long

periods

of

rest.

This

kind

of

work

also

required

new

pensonalities:

men

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

129

and

women

who

could

tolerate

few

periods

of

rest

and

relaxation,

who

could

adjust

to

working

steadily

and

at

high

speed

without

rest,

who

could

repress

the

desire

to

quit

and

relax.

It

required

the

repression

of

man’s

nonrational

desires

and

his

subordination

to

rationalized

work

and

more

work,

accumulation

and

more

accumulation.

The

development

of

European

capitalism

during

the

sixteenth,

seventeenth,

and

eighteenth

centuries

required

vast

changes

in

human

psychology.

Michel

Foucault

has

demonstrated

that

with

the

modern

world

came

a

totally

new

deﬁnition

of

insanity,

one

that

linked

insanity

with

irrationality,

sanity

with

extreme

ration-

ality

and

self-control.

The

sane

man

represses

the

nonrational

and

preconscious

in

the

name

of

rationality,

or

at

least

relegates

the

non-

rational

to

the

sphere

of

religion.

No

one,

of

course,

really

manages

to

do

this,

but

the

sane

man

is

the

one

who

is

most

successful

in

keeping

manifestations

of

the

nonrational

as

private

and

secret

as

possible.“

Sexual

promptings

had

to

be

carefully

restrained,

the

human

being

trained

to

repression

and

sublimation

of

these

desires

except

under

very

carefully

regulated

circumstances.

As

one

of

the

ways

whereby

new

people

were

created

in

the

process

of

socialization,

“childhood”

was

separated

from

other

periods

of

life,

and

children

were

taught

to

be

“innocent.”

The

concept

of

childhood,

as

another

French

historian,

Philippe

Aries,

has

pointed

out,

was

actually

“discovered”

in

the

seventeenth

century.

Prior

to

that

time

children

dressed

the

same

as

adults,

played

the

same

games,

sang

the

same

songs,

and

went

to

the

same

places.

Infantile

and

childhood

sexuality

were

taken

for

granted

and

not

particularly

repressed.

While

it

is

clear

that

the

medieval

Church

never

exactly

encour-

aged

sexual

activity

per

se

and

that

the

ethos

of

courtly

love

implied

a

repressive

ideal

in

matters

sexual,

in

actuality

the

situation

was

generally

a

non-repressive

one,

particularly

among

the

peasantry.

While

the

Church

fathers

and

the

ideologists

of

the

cult

of

courtly

love

certainly

did

not

encourage

expression

of

sexuality,

their

power

over

the

intimate

life

of

the

peasants

was

very

limited.

The

peasants

went

about

their

daily

lives

without

much

intervention

by

the

Church

and

the

lords

of

the

manor,

and

sexual

behavior

was

not

repressed.

Compare

this

situation

with

that

of

the

agricultural

worker

and

the

new

working

class

of

the

modern

era.

The

very

rationaliza-

tion

and

control

over

the

lives

of

workers

required

by

capitalist

production

made

the

matter

of

sexual

repression

both

easier

and

I30

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

more

necessary.

The

worker

had

to

keep

his

mind

on

his

work.

Whatever

may

have

been

the

attitudes

of

the

medieval

Church

on

these

matters,

that

of

Puritanism

and

its

later

offshoots

such

as

Methodism

were

much

more

repressive

and

reﬂected

a

much

more

limited

actual

situation

in

regard

to

sexual

expression.

Ideolo-

gies

gain

their

meaning

and

strength

from

the

concrete

circum-

stances

of

life,

and

while

the

medieval

Church

may

have

discouraged

sexuality

in

theory,

the

social

relations

of

the

emergent

capitalism

greatly

repressed

it

in

actuality.

Freud

did

not

discover

infantile

and

childhood

sexuality;

he

re-

discovered

them,

for

in

about

the

sixteenth

century

childhood

had

become

a

period

set

oﬂ

from

other

periods,

one

in

which

open

sexuality

was

not

tolerated.

Childhood

became

a

time

during

which

people

learned

to

repress

their

sexuality

and

other

natural

desires.

Thus,

by

the

time

they

went

to

work

they

already

had

personalities

that

were

adjusted

to

suppression

and

were

tolerant

of

frustration.

At

the

heart

of

the

changes

that

were

required

by

the

new

or-

ganization

of

work

were

the

changes

in

the

nonrational

behavior

of

the

populace;

in

the

totality

of

activity

that

we

can

think

of

as

play

and

sexuality;

in

the

sense

of

community;

and

in

the

replace-

ment

of

the

regulation

of

activity

by

custom

with

regulation

by

the

operations

of

the

market.”

Not

only

were

there

changes

in

the

organization

of

work

and

concomitant

reorganization

of

the

personality

to

ﬁt

this

new

work

arrangement;

there

were

also

important

social

and

political

changes,

most

important

of

which

was

the

emergence

of

the

state

and

of

economic

activity

from

general

social

life.

In

feudal

society,

relation-

ships

among

people

emphasized

mutual

dependency.

People

of

lower

status

had

to

show

deference

to

people

of

higher

rank,

and

people

of

all

levels

had

rights

and

obligations

in

regard

to

their

relationships

with

all

other

persons

in

the

society.

While

the

serf

lived

on

the

lord’s

land

and

worked

it,

he

could

not

be

simply

removed

or

sold

at

the

will

of

his

lord;

the

lord

had

rights

to

the

land

but

could

not

sell

it;

the

church

and

the

lord

were

entitled

to

part

of

the

produce

of

the

land,

in

return

for

protecting

their

people.

All

rela-

tionships—economic,

social,

political,

and

religious—were

inter-

twined

with

no

easy

separation

among

them.

There

were

innumer-

able

subtle

gradations

in

status

without

sharp

breaks

and

distinctions.

In

the

sixteenth

and

seventeenth

centuries

all

of

this

began

to

change,

most

particularly

in

England.

The

philosophers

Hobbes

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

131

and

Locke

created

a

secular

theology

of

the

state

and

the

economy

which

C.

B.

MacPhearson

has

called

“possessive

individualism.”‘°

With

these

theorists

emerged

a

new

view

of

man,

society,

and

nature

which

was

congruent

with

capitalist

activity.

The

organic

relation-

ships

among

the

individual,

property,

power,

and

the

interests

of

the

community

were

served.

Contractual

relationships

replaced

or-

ganic

ones,

as

the

authority

of

the

state

came

to

be

seen

as

contrac-

tual.

These

views

offered

the

theoretical

dimension

for

freeing

the

use

of

property

from

what

were

now

considered

arbitrary

restric-

tions,

and

the

consequent

expansion

of

the

powers

of

the

state.

Social

relations

which

had

been

governed

by

customary

rights

and

duties,

were

now

replaced

by

relatively

unrestricted

egoistic

eco-

nomic

competition

and

the

regulations

of

the

state.

While

the

state

in

seventeenth-century

England

was

weak

compared

with

the

modern

reality,

it

was

much

stronger

than

it

had

ever

been

before.

Labor

was

no

longer

a

customary

obligation

but

a

commodity

to

be

bought

and

sold.

The

market

and

the

state

had

replaced

custom,

community,

kinship

and

man’s

natural

affections

as

the

nexus

hold-

ing

society

together.

The

need

to

suppress

what

had

been

most

signiﬁcant

to

them

placed

great

stress

and

strain

on

human

beings.

Ultimately,

what

had

to

occur

was

not

so

much

a

changed

personality

as

a

rechan-

neled

one.

Since

it

was

not

possible

to

destroy

totally

previous

be-

havior

patterns,

these

had

instead

to

become

viewed

as

sinful

and

harmful

and

their

opposites

made

into

virtues

of

the

highest

order.

This

process

of

repression

and

rechanneling

of

the

human

person-

ality

was

carried

forward

ﬁrst

and

more

thoroughly

and

quickly

in

England

than

elsewhere.

The

more

the

process

advanced,

the

more

resistant

the

populace

became.

Jordan

reminds

us

that

in

the

sixteenth

and

seventeenth

centuries

the

upper

classes

of

England

“were

concemed

with

the

apparent

disintegration

of

social

and

moral

controls

at

home;

they

fretted

endlessly

over

the

‘masterless

men’

who

had

once

had

a

proper

place

in

the

social

order

but

who

were

now

wandering

about,

begging,

robbing,

raping.”11

What

was

to

be

called

the

“social

question,”

the

turbulence

of

the

masses

of

men,

had

emerged

as

the

central

problem.

In

the

eighteenth

century,

as

Karl

Polaynai

has

demonstrated,

the

laws

were

altered

so

that

these

homeless

men

could

be

herded

together

into

cities

where

they

could

become

a

pool

of

unskilled

labor

which_would

work

for

subsistence

wages."

But

as

Edward

I32

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

P.

Thompson

has

demonstrated,

the

populace

resisted.

The

new,

emergent

social

order

created

opposition,

and

this

opposition

re-

quired

new

methods

of

social

control.

Thompson

gives

a

powerful

description

of

the

resistance

of

the

general

public

to

the

new

social

relations:

But,

as

industrial

capitalism

emerged,

these

rules

of

action

appeared

as

unnatural

and

hateful

restraints;

the

peasant,

the

rural

labourer

in

the

unenclosed

village,

even

the

urban

artisan

or

apprentices

did

not

measure

the

return

of

labour

exclusively

in

money-earnings,

and

they

rebelled

against

the

notion

of

week

after

week

of

disciplined

labour.

In

the

way

of

life

which

Weber

describes

(unsatisfaetorily)

as

“traditionalism,”

a

man

does

not

by

nature

wish

to

earn

more

and

more

money,

but

simply

to

live

as

he

is

accustomed

to

live

and

to

earn

as

much

as

is

necessary

for

that

purpose.

Even

piece

rates

and

other

incentives

lose

effectiveness

at

a

certain

point

if

there

is

no

inner

compulsion;

when

enough

is

earned

the

peasant

leaves

industry

and

returns

to

his

village,

the

artisan

goes

on

a

drunken

spree."

Racism

came

out

of

the

context

of

this

revolutionary

rechanneling

of

human

personality

that

was

required

by

the

new

social,

political,

and

economic

order

of

modern

capitalism.

The

extreme

reactions

of

northern

Europeans,

particularly

the

English,

to

their

meeting

with

West

Africans

in

the

sixteenth

and

seventeenth

centuries

can

be

understood

if

we

comprehend

the

fact

that

West

Africans

of

that

period

were

in

many

ways

very

much

like

the

Europeans

had

been

and

were

trying

to

transcend.

African

economics

were

largely

subsistence

agricultural

ones

with

customary

work

relations.

Work

was

deeply

embedded

in

ceremonial

and

religious

practices,

com-

munities

were

close-knit

and

attitudes

toward

sexuality

and

the

nonrational

were

comparatively

nonrepressive.

That

is,

the

Africans

were,

whatever

may

have

been

their

individual

differences,

very

much

like

other

non-urban

peoples

in

societies

whose

life

is

dictated

by

hunting,

pastoralism

and

farming.

The

Englishman

met

the

West

African

as

a

reformed

sinner

meets

a

comrade

of

his

previous

debaucheries.

The

reformed

sinner

very

often

creates

a

pornography

of

his

former

life.

He

must

suppress

even

his

knowledge

that

he

had

acted

that

way

or

even

that

he

wanted

to

act

that

way.

Prompted

by

his

uneasiness

at

this

great

act

of

repression,

he

cannot

leave

alone

those

who

live

as

he

once

did

or

as

he

still

unconsciously

desires

to

live.

lle

must

devote

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

133

himself

to

their

conversion

or

repression.

In

order

to

insure

that

he

will

not

slip

back

into

the

old

ways

or

act

out

his

half-suppressed

fantasies,

he

must

see

a

tremendous

difference

between

his

reformed

self

and

those

whom

he

formerly

resembled.

But

because

he

still

has

fantasies

which

he

cannot

accept,

he

must

impute

these

fantasies

to

the

realities

of

someone

else.

Thus,

the

English,

who

considered

the

Africans

a

“particularly

libidinous

people,”

also

fantasized

that

they

had

seen

African

women

publicly

eopulating

with

apes;

and

this

fantasy

they

accepted

as

fact.

They

were

actually

imputing

to

the

Africans

acts

which

they

themselves

feared

they

might

com-

mit

if

they

let

loose

the

rigid

controls

they

imposed

on

themselves.“

The

English

compared

themselves

with

the

Africans

and

congrat-

ulated

themselves

for

being

different

and

superior.

Since

they

were

able

to

resist

these

temptations,

they

reasoned

they

were

superior

to

the

black

Africans

who

were

apparently

uncapable

of

such

self-

eontrol.

The

Africans

behaved

as

they

did

because

of

a

different

innate

moral

constitution.

What

the

English

unconsciously

realized

about

the

Africans

was

not

so

much

that

they

were

different

but

that

they

were

frighten-

ingly

similar.

The

Africans,

while

not

having

made

the

same

tech-

nological

advances,

were

obviously

a

functioning,

creative,

and

per-

haps

even

more

satisﬁed

and

less

gloomy

people;

and

this

the

English

and

other

northern

Europeans

found

particularly

threatening.

They

had

to

exaggerate

the

differences,

changing

them

from

ones

of

de-

gree

to

ones

of

kind.

They

had,

after

all,

to

deny

that

about

them-

selves

which

they

wanted

to

abjure.

They

had,

in

a

phrase,

to

“protest

too

much.”

The

wild

ﬂuctuations

of

appropriate

manners

from

the

Elizabethan

period

to

the

Puritan

period

to

the

scandalous

atmosphere

of

the

Restoration

indicate

a

people

struggling

with

some

major,

but

largely

obscure,

problem.

In

light

of

such

feelings

among

the

British

public,

it

follows

that

people

in

that

offshoot

of

England,

the

American

South,

would

manifest

similar

fears.

Because

of

the

constant

presence

of

their

black

slaves,

these

fears

were

extended

into

a

way

of

life;

the

imagined

sexual

proclivities

of

the

African

were

an

ever-present

temptation

to

sin,

but

it

was

a

temptation

that

had

to

be

lived

with

because

of

the

obvious

proﬁts

to

be

gotten

from

black

slavery.

Our

analysis

is

corroborated

by

the

slave

narratives

which

offer

revealing

glimpses

into

the

range

of

white

reactions

to

blacks

and

to

the

institution

of

slavery

in

the

South.

We

are

presented

with

an

entire

gallery

of

Southern

types,

types

that

have

appeared

many

I34.

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

times

in

American

literature

from

Harriet

Beecher

Stowe

to

Mark

Twain

to

William

Faulkner

and

beyond.

The

position

of

the

Southern

white

woman

was

a

peculiar

one,

and

became

markedly

more

so

with

the

rise

of

the

mid-nineteenth-

century

Victorian

sensibilities.

Placed

by

her

men

on

a

pedestal

which

was

perhaps

higher

than

any

occupied

by

woman

since

the

ladies

of

the

medieval

courts

of

love,

the

Southern

woman

was,

for

all

this,

only

human.

Sexuality,

which

was

considered

too

gross

a

passion

to

merit

even

her

passing

acknowledgment,

was

neverthe-

less

a

fact

of

plantation

life;

and

if

the

Southern

gentlemen

never

mentioned

it

in

polite

society,

and

virtually

ignored

his

own

wife

in

such

matters,

he

indulged

himself

with

his

slaves

with

varying

degrees

of

discretion.

The

Southern

lady

suppressed

her

own

sexual-

ity

and

avoided

this

reality

where

she

could,

but

under

the

intimate

circumstances

of

plantation

living,

it

was

difﬁcult.

Thus

we

have

the

following

story

from

Mom

Ryer

Emmanuel,

who

was

a

small

child

under

slavery

in

South

Carolina:

Like

I

speak

to

you,

my

white

folks

was

blessed

wid

a

heap

of

black

chillun,

but

den

dere

been

a

odd

one

in

de

crowd

that

wasn’

noways

like

dem

others.

All

de

other

chillun

was

black

skin

wid

die

here

kinky

hair

en

she

was

yellow

skin

wid

right

straight

hair.

My

Lord,

old

Missus

been

mighty

proud

of

her

black

chillun,

but

she

sho

been

touches

[touchy]

bout

dat

yellow

one.

I

remember,

all

us

chillun

was

playing

round

bout

de

step

one

day

whe’

Miss

Ross

was

settin

en

she

ax

dat

yellow

child,

say,

“Who

your

papa?”

De

child

never

know

no

better

her

right

out

[told]

exactly

de

one

her

mammy

had

tell

her

was

her

papa.

Lord,

Miss

Ross,

she

say,

“Well,

get

off

my

step.

Get

off

en

stay

off

dere

cause

you

don’

noways

belong

to

me.”

De

poor

child,

she

cry

en

she

'cry

so

hard

till

her

mammy

never

know

what

to

do.

She

take

en

grease

her

en

black

her

all

over

wid

smut,

but

she

couldn’

never

trouble

dat

straight

hair

off

her

noway.

Dat

how-come

dere

so

much

different

classes

today,

I

say.

Yes,

man

dat

whe’

dat

old

stain

come

from.“

A

less

speciﬁc

case

of

cruelty

was

related

by

]err

Hill,

born

a

slave

in

1852

on

the

South

Carolina

plantation

of

Jim

Fernandes.

Hill

said

that

Fernandes’

sister

used

to

carry

a

bullwhip

around

her

neck

when

she

walked

out

on

the

farm,

and

would

apply

it

herself

to

any

slave

she

thought

needed

it.“’

The

capricious

cruelty

of

such

white

Southern

“ladies”

was

two-

fold

in

its

causation.

On

the

one

hand,

they

were

jealous

of

the

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

135

liaisons

of

their

men

with

black women;

on

the

other

hand,

many

may

have

used

this

brutality

as

an

outlet

for

their

own

repressed

sexuality.

Beating

slaves

was,

in

this

case,

one

of

the

few

acceptable

alternatives.

The

white

Southern

male,

on

the

other

hand,

was

not

constrained

by

such

attitudes,

and

certain

lapses

in

correct

behavior

were

toler-

ated

by

a

society

that

recognized,

though

with

some

reluctance,

the

“animal”

part

of

the

male

personality.

Because

his

black

slaves

were,

in

the

master’s

eye,

full-time

animals,

they

were

considered

suitable

companions

for

drunken

carousing

as

well

as

for

sexual

gratiﬁcation;

and

if

the

slaves

were

not

entirely

willing

to

partake

in

the

master’s

revels,

they

were

in

no

position

to

disobey

him.

Thus

the

myth

of

the

carefree

slave

just

“a-singin’

and

a-dancin’

”

was

perpetuated,

as

illustrated

in

this

wonderfully

grotesque

picture

drawn

by

Junius

Quattlebaum,

who

was

born

into

slavery

in

1853:

Marster

lak

to

see

his

slaves

happy

and

singin’

bout

de

place.

If

he

ever

heard

any

of

them

quarrelin’

wid

each

other,

he

would

holler

at

them

and

say:

“Sing!

Us

ain’t

got

no

time

to

fuss

on

dis

place

. .

.

.”

[The

master

joined

them

when

drunk

at

a

corn-husking,

passed

the

bottle

around,

and

then

commanded

themz]

“Everybody

sing.

Sing

dis

song:

Pass

’round

de

bottle

and

we’ll

all

take

a

drink.”

Some

of

them

in

de

crowd

’jected

to

anything.

Marster

kinda

scratch

he

head

and

say:

“Well,

let

me

git

a

pole

and

you

all

is

gwine

to

sing.”

And

singin’

dere

was,

as

sho’

as

you’s

born.

Them

niggers

’round

dc

corn

piles

dat

night

h’isted

dat

song

right

now;

dere

was

no

waitin’

for

de

pole

or

nothin’

else.

They

wanted

to

sing,

bad.

[The

next

day

the

master

was

too

sick

to

get

the

slaves

to

work,

and

there

was

a

holiday.]"

It

was

not

an

uncommon

occurrence

for

such

a

master

to

later

turn

on

his

fonner

companions

and

beat

them

for

leading

him

into

evil

ways.

Many

of

the

narratives

bear

witness

to

the

fact

that

the

master

wasmost

dangerous

just

after

he

returned

from

having

been

“saved”

at

a

revival

meeting.

There

are

many

accounts

that

deal

with

more

successful

paternal-

istic

Southern

white

plantation

owners.

Some

of

the

owners

acted

paternalistically

because

they

were,

quite

literally,

the

fathers

of

some

of

their

slaves.

Stearlin

Arwine,

born

in

1853

in

Texas,

had

a

master

who

owned

four

slave

women

and

their

children.

Arwine’s

l36

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AINIERICAN

RACISM

grandmother

lived

with

the

master

and

the

three

other

women

were

the

products

of

this

liaison.

In

his

will,

the

master

freed

all

of

them;

however,

the

executor

of

his

estate,

a

judge,

took

the

slaves

to

work

for

himself

and

later

sold

them.“

Zack

Herndon,

born

in

South

Carolina

about

1846,

said

that

while

his

master

believed

in

slavery

and

owned

a

hundred

slaves,

he

was

a

good

man

who

allowed

his

slaves

to

marry

as

they

pleased

because

he

believed

that

God

never

intended

“for

no

souls

to

be

bred

as

if

they

was

cattle,

and

he

never

practice

no

sech.”‘°

Clearly

the

strains

of

seeing

slaves,

on

the

one

hand,

as

mere

beasts

of

burden

and,

on

the

other

hand,

of

grudgingly

admitting

that

they

were

human,

were

too

great

for

the

Southern

white.

Mark

Twain’s

portrait

of

Huck

Finn

struggling

between

his

fear

of

becoming

implicated

in

the

escape

of

Nigger

]im

and

his

natural

affections

for

the

runaway

slave

illustrates

the

author’s

comprehen-

sion

that,

in

his

relationship

to

blacks,

the

white

man

was

often

a

bit

mad.”

If

we

can

understand

these

strains

placed

upon

the

master

class

of

the

South,

maintaining

a

life-style

more

closely

resembling

that

of

the

eighteenth-century

landed

aristocracy

than

that

of

the

nine-

teenth-century

capitalist

bourgeoisie,

while

at

the

same

time

viewing

itself

spiritually

as

a

“democratic”

bourgeoisie,

we

can

understand

its

opposition

to

the

transformation

of

the

South

into

an

industrial

society

(even

one

using

slave

labor),

its

romantic

and

fanatical

op-

position

to

abolition,

and

its

general

ineffectiveness

in

using

its

enor-

mous

social

and

political

skills

except

to

ﬁght

a

reactionary,

fratri—

cidal

war.

Much

of

the

contemporary

South

is

still

engaged

in

the

fantastic

effort

to

maintain

the

“Southern

way

of

life,”

over

a

hundred

years

after

the

formal

emancipation

of

the

slaves.

Marvin

Harris,

in

an

essay

on

American

racism,

puzzles

over

the

participation

of

poor

whites

who

had

nothing

to

gain

by

ﬁghting

for

the

Southern

cause.

“They

fought

because

they

were

preju-

diced,”

Harris

writes,

“but

it

is

no

ordinary

prejudice

that

leads

a

man

to

kill

another

over

his

looks.”2‘

We

suggest

that

the

answer

to

the

problem

raised

by

Harris

and

many

others

lies

in

the

depth

of

the

racism

of

the

deseendents

of

the

seventeenth-century

Englishmen,

the

ﬁrst

people

to

begin

that

perilous

and

difficult

experience

of

rechanneling

human

person-

ality

to

ﬁt

it

into

the

necessities

of

the

new

capitalism.

The

very

existence

of

organi'/.ed

society,

of

civili'/.ation,

was

\\'l‘appcd

up

for

these

people

in

the

maintenance

of

the

“proper”

relationships

he-

Racism

AND

SLAVERY

/

137

tween

the

races.

From

the

most

reactionary

and

brutal

to

the

most

liberal

and

paternalistic,

the

Southern

white

believed

that

it

was

impossible

for

blacks

and

whites

to

live

together

on

a

level

of

equal-

ity.

Not

only

did

backcountry

Mississippi

redneck

planters

believe

this,

so

did

Thomas

Jefferson.”

Indeed,

so

did

Abraham

Lincoln

and

most

of

the

leading

New

England

white

abolitionists.

All

were

fearful

that

emancipation

would

mean

miscegenation

and

this,

they

felt

certain

would

be

bad

for

the

nation.

A

leading

historian

of

West

Indian

slavery,

Elsa

Goveia,

has

ar-

gued

that

it

was

difficult

for

the

West

Indian

whites

to

conceive

of

the

abolition

of

slavery

because

“The

slave

system

had

become

more

than

an

economic

enterprise

which

could

be

abandoned

when

it

ceased

to

be

proﬁtable.

It

had

become

the

very

basis

of

organized

society

throughout

the

British

West

Indies,

and

therefore

it

was

believed

to

be

an

indispensable

element

in

maintaining

the

existing

social

structure

and

in

preserving

law

and

order

in

the

com-

munity?“

Yet

the

West

Indian

whites

could

eventually

accept

abolition

peacefully

because

they

did

not

actually

have

to

live

among

a

population

of

free

blacks.

In

the

West

Indies

many

planta-

tions

had

always

been

owned

by

absentee

owners

and

few

Whites

thought

of

the

West

Indies

as

the

place

where

they

intended

to

live

all

their

lives.

The

West

Indian

planters

returned

to

England

in

large

numbers

even

before

slavery

was

abolished

in

the

18305

and

those

that

remained

knew

they

were

always

free

to

pick

up

and

leave,

transferring

their

capital

from

agriculture

to

British

industry.“

But

in

the

United

States,

few

could

conceive

of

such

action,

despite

the

fact

that

more

lucrative

and

satisfactory

industrial

invest-

ments

would

have

allowed

for

the

economic

and

social

development

of

the

South

at

a

much

greater

rate.

Abolition

of

slavery

would

have

required

accepting

the

equal

coexistence

of

whites

and

blacks

in

the

same

territory,

an

idea

which

was

out

of

the

question

for

almost

all

whites—and

there

was

nowhere

else

either

they

or

the

hlacks

could

go.

Slavery

was

maintained

in

the

South

even

though

in

the

long

run

it

was

not

the

most

economically

proﬁtable

method

of

utilizing

Southern

resources.

There

is

no

doubt,

after,the

work

of

Eugene

(lenovese

and

others,

that

while

individual

planters

certainly

did

make

proﬁts

from

slavery,

American

slavery

was

ultimately

very

ineflicient

and

Southern

planters

were

constantly

in

debt

to

Yankees

and

liiiglisli

inerchanls.""

I38

/

TI-IE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

Southern

slavery

was

both

patriarchal

and

paternalistic

and,

at

the

same

time,

a

system

that

by

the

nineteenth

century

systemati-

cally

overworked

the

slaves.

Very

often

the

paternalistic

patriarchal

master,

racist

to

the

core,

but

“kindly,”

would

abdicate

direct

re-

sponsibility

for

the

direction

of

the

work

of

the

slaves

and

turned

it

over

to

an

overseer.

Many

slaves

reported

that

their

masters

did

not

even

recognize

them

when

they

met

in

town.

This

system

weak-

ened

the

moral

defense

of

slavery

as

a

means

of

“saving”

black

souls

by

example,

and

allowed

for

great

exploitation,

but

on

a

very

inefficient

basis.

Karl

Marx

wrote

about

this

situation:

.

.

.

as

soon

as

people,

whose

production

still

moves

within

the

lower

forms

of

slave-labour,

corvee-labour,

&c.,

are

drawn

into

the

whirl-

pool

of

an

international

market

dominated

by

the

capitalistic

mode

of

production,

the

sale

of

their

products

for

export

becoming

their

principal

interest,

the

civilized

horrors

of

over-work

are

grafted

on

the

barbaric

horrors

of

slavery,

serfdom,

&c.

Hence

the

negro

labour

in

the

Southern

States

of

the

American

Union

preserved

something

of

a

patriarchal

character,

so

long

as

production

was

chieﬂy

directed

to

immediate

local

consumption.

But

in

proportion,

as

the

export

of

cotton

became

of

vital

interest

to

these

states,

the

overworking

of

the

negro

and

sometimes

the

using

up

of

his

life

in

7

years’

of

labour

became

a

factor

in

a

calculated

and

calculating

system.”

The

more

slavery

was

incorporated

into

the

world

capitalist

mar-

ket,

and

the

more

paternalism

became

obviously

limited

by

great

exploitation,

the

more

the

slave

owners

tended

to

withdraw

from

reality

and

to

build

up,

even

for

themselves,

the

image

of

patriarchal,

paternalistic

relations.

The

less

true

in

fact

it

was,

the

more

the

Southern

master

class

believed

that

slavery

was

beneﬁcient,

the

more

they

became

systematically

blind

to

its

horrors,

and

the

more

they

either

turned

its

operations

over

to

overseers

or

sold

their

slaves

to

new

men

who

were

hacking

plantations

out

of

the

bottom

lands

of

the

Mississippi.

Slavery,

many

Southern

gentlemen

and

ladies

believed,

saved

them

from

becoming

either

stingy,

narrow,

money-

grubbing

entrepreneurs

(a

fate

worse

than

death

itself

to

gracious

hostesses

and

paternalistic

masters),

or

from

becoming

industrial

proletarians

instead

of

poor

whites

living

on

marginal

lands

and

pretending

to

be

grand

slave

owners.

The

“peculiar

institution”

of

the

South

kept

industrial

capitalism

and

its

accompanying

commer-

cial

psychology

from

“corrupting”

the

South—and

in

so

doing,

corrupted

it

in

other,

more

signiﬁcant

ways.

In

a

quite

literal

sense,

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

139

Southern

slavery

produced

a

reactionary

ruling

class

which

could

not

move

from

agriculture

to

industry

and

commerce

easily.

Throughout

the

South,

immigrants,

often

Yankees

or

Jews,

were

the

merchants,

it

being

usually

beneath

the

dignity

of

a

planter

to

descend

to

the

operations

of

a

business

as

opposed

to

being

part

of

“a

way

of

life”;

external

merchants,

Yankee

and

English,

proﬁted

greatly

out

of

the

trade

that

Southerners

could

have

controlled

if

they

had

so

wished,

if

they

had

not

been

so

blinded

by

the

reactionary

view

of

the

world

that

slavery

produced

in

them.

Those

involved

in

the

modern,

capitalist

world,

even

those

critical

of

it

at

times,

often

ﬁnd

it

difficult

to

understand

that

social

classes

often

do

not,

cannot,

act

out

of

rational,

economic

self-interest.

Both

Karl

Marx

and

Max

Weber

understood

this,

but

many

liberal

economic

determinists

do

not.

For

fear

of

being

misunderstood,

it

would

be

best

to

state

our

point

of

view

clearly.

Social

classes

entrenched

as

the

rulers

of

reactionary

social

systems,

ones

that

by

their

very

nature

do

not

utilize

all

the

natural

and

technological

resources

available

at

a

given

time,

do

not

act

out

of

narrow

eco-

nomic

self-interest,

but,

rather,

out

of

fantasies

that

no

longer

have

even

the

vaguest

coincidence

with

reality."

Southern

planters

chose

to

oppose

industrialism

precisely

and

only

because

they

were

entrenched

in

a

social

system

whose

maintenance

they

desired,

and

this

social

system

could

not

exist

without

racism.

There

is

no

other

explanation

for

the

fact

that

the

great

intellectual

talents

of

such

Southern

spokesmen

as

George

Fitzhugh

were

utilized

to

develop

tortured

ideological

defenses

of

the

enslavement

of

their

fellow

men.

While

the

planter

class

could

have

and

to

some

slight

extent

did

use

slaves

in

industry,

for

the

most

part

they

did

not

because

they

chose

not

to

do

so

because

they

feared

industry

itself

as

a

threat

to

the

Southern

way

of

life.

Moreover,

they

refused

to

ac-

quire

the

skills

necessary

for

industry

and

commerce.

Anyone

who

has

examined

the

books

of

Southern

slave

plantations

knows

that

the

methods

of

bookkeeping

were

generally

much

more

primitive

and

crude

than

those

that

prevailed

in

the

North

or

in

England

at

the

same

period.

Even

such

simple

skills

were

not

learned

by

the

plantocracy.

Eugene

Genovese

writes

that

“a

ruling

class

does

not

grow

up

simply

according

to

the

tendencies

inherent

in

its

relationship

to

the

means

of

production;

it

grows

up

in

relationship

to

the

speciﬁc

class

or

classes

it

rules.”2"

The

slave

system

was

inefficient

and

the

masters

inade

this

vice

into

a

virtue.

W.

E. B.

DuBois

was

I4O

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

not

in

our

view

at

all

facetious

when

he

accounted

for

the

lack

of

a

suitable

work

ethic

among

the

Southern

blacks

by

suggesting

that

they

were

only

following

the

model

of

Southern

whites.”

One

more

point

need

be

made

here.

Why

did

the

North

abolish

slavery

gradually

before

the

Civil

War?

Why

were

the

racist

fears

of

Northern

whites

in

an

essentially

English

culture

not

as

extreme

as

those

of

Southerners?

Part

of

the

answer

is

demographic,

part

a

matter

of

the

psychology

of

social

class.

In

the

old

North,

blacks

made

up

a

relatively

small

percentage

of

the

population

because

the

patterns

of

settlement

and

the

nature

of

the

land

did

not

lead

to

the

domination

of

the

plantation

system.

Slavery

could

be

re-

placed

by

other

methods

of

social

control

over

a

relatively

tiny

black

population—an

elaborate

system

of

segregation

of

churches,

schools,

and

residences

was

established.

Moreover,

as

has

been

recently

dem-

onstrated,

prominent

Northern

and

Midwestern

whites

took

the

lead

in

terrorizing

the

black

community

in

a

series

of

riots

and

similar

acts

in

order

to

keep

them

under

control.

Blacks

were

largely

conﬁned

to

certain

occupations

and

by

the

1850s

free

blacks

in

the

North

had

begun

to

be

pushed

out

of

skilled

and

semi-skilled

artisanry.

It

was

not

that

Northerners

and

Midwesterners

were

less

racist,

but

that

they

were

more

successfully

racist.

Uncorrupted

by

a

large

slave

population,

the

Yankee

variant

of

the

work

ethic

did

not

degenerate

as

it

did

in

the

South,

but

was

greatly

enhanced.

The

iron

will

and

stern

self-discipline

of

many

Yankee

merchants

could

be

directed

to

the

organization

of

totally

non-paternalistic,

repressive

attacks

on

the

black

population

of

the

North.“

Slavery

was

itself

a

form

of

social

control

over

the

black

population

and,

consequently,

Southern

racism

could

in

fact

afford

to

be

“softer”

than

Northern

racism.

Consequently,

Southern

whites

had,

and

still

have

much

more

daily

social

contact

with

blacks

than

did

and

do

Northern

whites.

W.

E.

B.

DuBois

brilliantly

understood

this

almost

seventy

years

ago

when

he

declared

in

The

Souls

of

Black

Folks

that

with

the

adoption

of

the

Thirteenth

Amendment

to

the

Constitution,

abolishing

slavery,

racism

replaced

slavery

as

the

method

of

social

control

over

the

black

community.“

We

can

see

this

process

dramatically

in

operation

in

the

reports

in

the

slave

narratives

of

how

slavery

was

replaced

by

sharecroppcrs

and

how

the

Ku

Klux

Klan

was

utilized

to

terrorize

the

black

population,

now

not

controlled

bv

slavery.

As

one

reads

through

the

slave

narratives,

one

is

constantly

iin-

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

i4i

pressed

by

the

fact

that

many

ex-slaves

did

not

see

any

crucial

difference

between

their

pre-

and

post-slavery

way

of

life.

They

often

lived

in

the

same

slave

cabin,

on

the

same

plantation,

with

the

heirs

of

the

old

master,

and

worked

the

land

on

shares.

Patrols

to

keep

them

in

line

and

paternalistic

relationships

with

certain

whites

existed

as

before.

In

fact,

a

considerable

number

of

ex-slaves

did

not

know

that

they

were

free

until

sometime

after

the

event.

Andy

Marion,

an

ex-slave

from

South

Carolina,

born

in

1844,

who

had

been

a

carriage

driver,

reported:

I

was

free

three

years

befo’

I

knowed

it.

Worked

along

just

de

same.

One

day

we

was

in

de

ﬁeld

on

Mr.

Chris

Brice’s

place.

Man

came

along

on

a

big,

black

horse,

tail

platted

and

tied

with

a

red

ribbon.

Stopped,

waves

his

hands

and

shouted

“You

is

free,

all

of

you.

Go

anywhere

you

wants

to.”

Us

quit

right

then

and

acted

de

fool.

We

ought

to

have

gone

to

de

white

folks

’bout

it.

What

did

dc

Yankees

do

when

they

come?

They

tied

me

up

by

my

two

thumbs,

try

to

make

me

tell

where

I

hided

de

money

and

gold

watch

and

silver,

but

I

swore

I

didn’t

know

. .

. .

Marster

was

mightly

glad

dat

I

was

a

faithful

servant,

and

not

a

liar

and

a

thief

lak

he

thought

I

was.

My

marster

was

not

a

Ku

Klux.

They

killed

some

obstreppary

[obstreperous]

niggers

in

them

times."

Fred

James,

born

in

South

Carolina

in

18

56,

said:

I

’member

when

freedom

come,

old

marse

said,

“you

is

all

free,

but

you

can

work

on

and

make

dis

crop

of

corn

and

cotton;

den

I

will

divide

up

wid

you

when

Christmas

comes.”

Dey

all

worked,

and

when

Christmas

come,

marse

told

us

we

could

get

on

and

shuﬁfe

for

ourselves,

and

he

didn’t

give

us

anything.

We

had

to

steal

corn

out

of

de

crib.

We

prized

de

ears

out

between

de

cracks

and

took

dem

home

and

parched

dem.

We

would

have

to

eat

on

dese

for

several

days.

We

had

to

work

all

da_v,

sun

up

to

dark,

and

never

,

nad

Saturday

afternoons

off

anytime.

My

mammy

had

to

wash

clothes

on

Saturday

nights

for

us

to

wear

on

Sundays.”

Jimmie

Johnson

was

a

“faithful”

servant

to

the

end.

Born

in

Vir-

ginia,

in

1847,

he

went

with

his

new

master

to

South

Carolina.

His

new

mistress

taught

him

to

read

and

when

he

was

orphaned

his

master

made

a

special

“pet”

out

of

him.

When

he

was

told

that

he

was

free

by

his

mistress,

after

the

master

died,

he

stayed

with

her

and

protected

her

until

she

died.

He

reported

that

he

had

played

with

his

master

when

they

both

were

boys

and

were

lifelong

friends.“

I42

/

TI-IE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

Mary

Anderson,

born

a

slave

in

1851,

graphically

told

the

story

of

how

the

old

social

relations

were

virtually

reestablished

after

the

war

was

over.

The

slaves

had

all

left

the

plantation

with

the

Northern

army.

But

it

was

hard

for

many

of

them

to

ﬁnd

anyway

to

live.

Consequently,

The

second

year

after

the

surrender

our

marster

and

missus

got

on

their

carriage

and

went

looked

up

all

the

Negroes

they

heard

of

who

ever

belonged

to

them.

Some

who

went

off

with

the

Yankees

were

never

heard

of

again.

When

marster

and

missus

found

any

of

theirs

they

would

say,

“Well,

come

on

back

home.”

My

father

and

mother,

two

uncles

and

their

families

moved

back.

Several

of

the

young

men

and

women

who

once

belonged

to

him

come

back.

Some

were

so

glad

to

get

back

they

cried,

’cause

fare

had

been

mighty

bad

part

of

the

time

they

were

rambling

around

and

they

were

hungry.

When

they

got

back

marster

would

say,

“Well

you

have

come

back

home

have

you,”

and

the

Negroes

would

say,

“Yes

Marster.”

Most

all

spoke

of

them

as

missus

and

marster

as

they

did

before

the

surrender,

and

getting

back

home

was

the

greatest

pleasure

of

all.

We

stayed

with

marster

and

missus

and

went

to

their

church,

the

Maple

Springs

Baptist

church,

until

they

died."

There

were

many

different

arrangements

right

after

slavery

was

abolished

with

the

former

slaves,

including

paying

them

wages

for

working,

but

the

most

common

was

shareeropping.

In

some

in-

stances,

the

ex-slaves

arranged

to

buy

the

plantation

as

a

group,

as

“common

tenants.”3°

Sometimes,

the

old

master

would

divide

the

plantation

into

forty-acre

plots

and

sell

the

plots,

on

credit,

to

every

family.

Usually,

however,

the

ex-slaves

found

themselves

without

these

small

farms

as,

being

illiterate,

they

had

no

way

of

assuring

their

title

to

the

land

and

it

was

a

very

easy

matter

to

challenge

the

title

and

get

the

land

away

from

them

and

back

into

white

hands.“

Not

only

were

the

ex-slaves

very

largely

tied

again

to

the

land

in

a

servile

status

but

a

new

form

of

social

control,

built

upon

the

activities

of

the

old

slave

patrols,

was

created:

the

Ku

Klux

Klan.

The

Klan

systematically

went

out

to

terrorize

all

of

the

ex-

slaves.

Claiborne

Moss

told

of

one

such

incident:

The

Ku

Klux

got

after

Uncle

Will

once.

lle

was

a

brave

man.

He

had

a

little

inare

that

was

a

race

horse.

Will

rode

right

through

the

bunch

before

they

ever

realr/.ed

that

it

was

him.

lle

got

on

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

143

the

other

side

of

them.

She

was

gone!

They

kept

on

after

him.

They

went

down

to

his

house

one

night.

He

wouldn’t

run

for

noth-

ing.

He

shot

two

of

them

and

they

went

away.

Then

he

was

out

of

ammunition.

People

urged

him

to

leave,

for

they

knew

he

didn’t

have

no

moie

bullets;

but

he

wouldn’t

and

they

came

back

and

killed

him.

They

came

down

to

Hancock

County

one

night

and

the

boys

hid

on

both

sides

of

the

bridge.

When

they

got

in

the

middle

of

the

bridge,

the

boys

commenced

to

ﬁre

on

them

from

both

sides,

and

they

jumped

into

the

river.

The

darkies

went

on

home

when

they

got

through

shooting

at

them,

but

there

wasn’t

no

more

Ku

Klux

in

Hancock

County.”

G.

W.

Hawkins,

an

ex-slave,

said

of

the

Ku

Klux

Klan:

The

Ku

Klux

Klan

weren’t

just

after

Negroes.

They

got

after

white

folks

and

Negroes

both.

I

didn’t

think

they

were

so

much

after

keeping

the

Negro

from

voting

as

some

other

things

.

. . .

The

main

thing

the

Ku

Klux

seemed

to

try

to

do,

it

seemed

to

me,

was

to

try

to

keep

the

colored

folks

obedient

to

their

former

masters

and

to

keep

the

white

folks

from

giving

them

too

much

inﬂuence.

And

they

wanted

to

stop

the

white

man

that

ran

after

colored

women.”

Other

slaves

reported

that

the

Klan’s

main

function

was

to

make

sure

that

black

people

were

honest

and

not

sexually

promiscuous.

The

struggle

between

blacks

and

whites

after

slavery

was

a

vio-

lent,

unrelenting

battle

for

many.

The

sense

of

the

harsh

conﬂict

between

ex-slaves

and

the

Ku

Klux

Klan

comes

through

in

one

magniﬁcent

account

with

great

force.

H.

B.

Holloway,

born

in

1848

of

free

mixed

Indian,

Spanish,

and

black

parents,

told

the

following

story:

I

have

been

in

big

riots.

I

was

in

the

Atlanta

riots

in

1891.

We

lost

about

forty

men,

and

I

don’t

know

how

many

the

white

folks

lost,

but

they

said

it

was

about

a

hundred.

I

used

to

live

there.

I

came

here

in

1892.

We

had

a

riot

there

when

the

KKK

was

raising

so

much

Cain.

The

ﬁrst

Ku

Klux

wore

some

kind

of

hat

that

went

over

the

man’s

head

and

shoulders

and

had

great

big

red

eyes

on

it.

They

broke

open

my

house

one

night

to

whip

me.

I44.

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

I

was

working

as

a

foreman

in

the

shops.

One

night

as

I

was

going

home,

some

men

stopped

and

said,

“Who

are

you.”

I

answered,

“H.

B.

Holloway.”

Then

they

said,

“Well,

we’ll

be

over

to

your

house

tonight

to

whip

you.”

I

said,

“We

growed

up

together

and

you

couldn’t

whip

me

then.

How

you

’spect

to

do

it

now.

You

might

kill

me,

but

you

can’t

beat

me.”

And

one

of

them

said,

“Well

we’ll

be

over

to

see

you

at

eleven

thirty

tonight,

and

we

are

going

to

beat

you.”

[Holloway

armed

his

sons

and

was

able

to

drive

off

the

attackers.

One

injured

man

was

left

behind.]

My

eldest

son

said

the

man

said,

“Holloway,

don’t

hit

me

no

more.”

I

didn’t,

but

if

I

had

known

who

he

was

then,

I

would

have

gone

out

and

cut

his

throat.

He

was

old

Colonel

Troutman’s

son.

There

was

just

two

hours

difference

in

our

birth.

Me

and

him

both

nursed

from

the

same

breast.

VVe

grew

up

together

and

were

never

separated

until

we

were

thirteen

(beginning

of

the

war).

Many

people

thought

we

were

brothers.

I

had

fought

for

him

and

he

had

fought

for

me.

When

he

wasn’t

at

my

house,

I

was

at

his,

and

his

father

partly

raised

me.

That’s

the

reason

I

don’t

trust

white

people.

[A

while

later

another

group

of

white

men

rode

up,

led

by

Colonel

Troutman.]

Colonel

Troutman

said,

“We

just

wanted

to

talk

to

you

Holloway.”

I

said,

“Stand

right

where

you

are

and

talk.”

After

some

talk,

I

let

them

come

up

slowly

to

a

short

distance

from

me.

The

upshot

of

the

whole

thing

was

that

they

wanted

me

to

go

back

to

town

with

them

to

“talk”

over

the

matter.

They

allowed

I

hadn’t

done

nothin’

wrong.

But

Colonel

Troutman’s

son

was

hurt

bad,

and

some

of

the

young

men

in

the

mob

had

had

their

legs

broke.

And

they

were

all

young

men

from

the

town,

boys

that

knew

me

and

were

friendly

to

me

in

the

daytime.

Still

they

wanted

me

to

go

to

town

in

their

charge,

and

I

knew

I

wouldn’t

have

a

chance

if

I

did

that.

Finally

I

told

Colonel

Troutman,

that

I

was

going

home

to

see

my

wife

that

evening,

and

that

if

he

wanted

to

talk

to

me,

he

could

come

over

there

and

talk.

When

they

left,

I

sent

the

boys

along

home

and

told

them

to

tell

my

wife.

That

night

when

I got

home.

Colonel‘Troutman

was

in

the

house

talking

to

my

wife.

I

went

in

quietly.

lle

said

that

they

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

145

said

I

had

forty

Niggers

hid

in

the

house

that

night.

I

told

him

that

there

wasn’t

anybody

there

but

me

and

my

family,

and

that

all

the

damage

that

was

done

I

done

myself.

He

said

that

well

he

didn’t

blame

me;

that

even

if

it

was

his

son,

they

broke

in

on

me

and

I

had

a

right

to

defend

my

family,

and

that

none

of

the

old

heads

was

going

to

do

anything

about

it.

He

said

I

was

a

good

man

and had

never

given

anybody

any

trouble

and

that

there

wasn’t

any

excuse

for

anybody

comin’

stirrin’

up

trouble

with

me.

And

that

was

the

end

of

it.“

In

the

struggle

to

maintain

the

subordination

of

blacks

in

Ameri-

can

society,

particularly

within

the

South,

racism

as

a

method

of

social

control

to

replace

slavery

was

strengthened.

Charles

S.

John-

son,

on

the

basis

of

a

study

of

ex-slave

narratives,

some

of

which

were

collected

under

his

direction,

concluded

in

the

mid-1930s

that

“The

plantation

technique

on

the

side

of

administration

was

most

effective

in

respect

to

discipline

and

policing,

and

this

technique

has

survived

more

or

less

despite

the

formal

abolition

of

slavery.”“

The

South

moved

toward

a

steady

strengthening

of

racism

in

the

quarter

of

a

century

after

the

black

struggle

during

Reconstruction

for

real

freedom

was

lost.“

When

slavery

was

no

longer

the

mark

of

demarcation

between

the

races,

a

much

more

elaborate

racial

code

which

would

now

for

the

ﬁrst

time

segregate

blacks

from

whites

was

created.

On

the

plantation

under

slavery

there

had

been

a

great

deal

of

social

contact

between

the

masters

and

slaves,

includ-

ing

a

great

deal

of

sexual

activity.

As

we

have

seen,

one

of

the

aims

of

the

Ku

Klux

Klan

was

to

transform

white

male

sexual

patterns

from

ones

where

relationships

with

black

women

were

normal

and

quasi-sanctioned

to

a

situation

where

such

relationships

were

seen

as

abnormal

and

against

which

strong

negative

sanctions

were

enforced.

Social

contact

between

whites

and

blacks

was

in-

creasingly

prohibited

by

informal

sanctions

and

by

laws

which

went

so

far

as

to

prohibit

black

and

white

workers

from

sharing

the

same

factory

window.“

One

ex-slave,

Ambus

Gray,

born

in

1857,

summed

it

up

quite

well:

“Here

in

the

South

the

colored

folks

is

free

and

they’re

not

free.

The

white

folks

get

it

all

anyway.

. .

.”“

As

historians

have

demonstrated,

the defeat

of

black

aspirations

in

the

South

and

thus

throughout

the

nation

was

as

much

the

result

of

the

abandonment

of

blacks

by

Northern

whites

as

of

the

struggles

of

Southern

whites.

One

ex-slave,

Henry

Jenkins,

born

in

1850

146

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

or

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

in

South

Carolina,

demonstrated

that

the

insights

of

historians

are

often

only

the

painful

reconstruction

of

what

the

masses

of

people

know

directly.

Speaking

of

Reconstruction,

he

said:

When

de

Yankees

come,

what

they

do?

They

did

them

things

they

ought

not

to

have

done and

they

let

undone

de

things

they

ought

to

have

done.

Yes,

dat

just

’bout

tells

it.

One

thing

you

might

like

to

hear.

Mistress

got

all

de

money,

de

silver,

de

gold

and

de

jewels,

and

got

de

well

digger

to

hide

them

in

de

bottom

of

de

well.

Them

Yankees

smart.

When

they

got

dere,

they

asked

for

de

ve’y

things

at

de

bottom

of

de

well.

Mistress

wouldn’t

tell.

They

held

a

court

of

’quiry

in

de

yard;

called

slaves

up,

one

by

one,

good

many.

Must

have

been

a

Judas

’mongst

us.

Soon

a

Yankee

was

let

down

in

de

well,

and

all

dat

money,

silver,

gold,

jewelry,

watches,

rings,

brooches,

knives

and

forks,

butter-dishes,

water

gob-

lets,

and

cups

was

took

and

carried

’way

by

a

army

dat

seemed

more

concerned

’bout

stealin’,

than

they

was

’bout

de

Holy

War

for

de

liberation

of

de

poor

African

slave

people.“

This

heritage

of

the

plantation,

fundamentally

unchanged

from

the

years

before

the

Civil

War,

was

evident

in

a

signiﬁcant

way

in

the

South

at

least

through

the

beginning

of

World

War

II

and,

indeed,

it

has

only

been

in

the

i95os

and

1960s

that

a

movement

away

from

the

plantation

relationship

came

to

fruition.

It

might

not

be

too

much

to

suggest

that

the

beginnings

of

the

black

revo-

lution

of

the

1960s

were

more

dependent

on

the

end

of

the

planta-

tion

system

dominating

the

lives

of

Southern

blacks

than

upon

any

other

single

factor.

In

a

unique

autobiography,

a

black

automobile

worker

from

De-

troit,

born

and

raised

on

a

plantation

in

southeast

Tennessee,

offered

the

following

description

of

the

plantation

system

at

the

end

of

World

War

I.

Matthew

Ward,

born

in

1907,

described

a

patriarchal

but

brutal

plantation:

There

was

the

Harvey

Place;

the

father

was

the

sheriff

of

Leavitt

County

at

one

time.

All

Negroes

tried

to

stay

away

from

that

planta-

tion.

The

Harveys

would

insist

that

Negroes

borrow

money

or

get

credit

and

then

they

would

have

to

live

on

the

Harvey

farm.

If

they

wouldn’t

the

Harveys

would

force

them.

The

I~Iarvey’s

didn't

allow

any

law

enforcement

on

their

place.

They

had

to

settle

every-

thing

on

the

farm

themselves.

This

farm

was

the

farm

of

slavery.

Everyone

said

slavery

had been

abolished

ever_\'whe1"e

in

the

United

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

147

States

except

on

the

Harvey

Place.

We

called

them

bad

white

peo-

ple

.

.

.

.

Old

Harvey

had

many

Negroes

working

for

him

who

had

committed

both

minor

and

serious

crimes.

He’d

go

to

court

and

tell

the

Negro

he’d

get

him

off

his

offense

if

he’d

come

work

for

him.

But

this

meant

he

coulo

never

get

away

from

Harvey

again.

Harvey

never

tried

to

murder

a

Negro

who

ran

away,

he

would

capture

and

bring

him

back

.

.

. .

On

the

Harvey

plantation

it

was

slavery

and

this

was

true.“

What

the

blacks

on

the

Harvey

place

may

not

have

been

aware

of

was

that

the

shadow

of

the

slave

plantation

was

wide

enough

to

cover

much

of

the

South.

The

social

relations

of

slavery

did

not

disappear

on

a

large

number

of

farms

and

plantations

in

the

American

Southland

until

the

mechanization

of

agriculture

during

the

1930s

and

194os

and

the

drawing

into

the

industrial

working

class

of

millions

of

those

like

Ward

who

had

been

born

on

old-time

Southern

plantations.

Notes

1.

Philip

D.

Curtin\The

Atlantic

Slave

Trade,

pp.

28-34;

for

a

provocative,

if

at

times

questionable,

comparative

discussion

of

slavery

and

racism

in

Brazil

and

the

United

States,

see

Carl

Degler,

Neither

Black

nor

White:

Slavery

and

Race

Relations

in

Brazil

and

the

United

States.

2.

Eugene

D.

Genovese,

The

World

the

Slaveholders

Made,

p.

105.

The

ﬁrst

essay

in

Genovese’s

book

is

the

essential

point

of

departure

for

this

chapter.

Genovese

offers

a

pioneering

exploration

of

the

subject

but

does

not

go

far

enough

in

the

development

of

a

view

of

the

relationship

between

racism

and

capitalism.

3.’

Winthrop

Jordan,

White

Over

Black:

American

Attitudes

Toward

the

Negro,

1550-1812,

pp.

40-43.

4.

See

Degler,

Neither

Black

Nor

White.

5.

David

Brion

Davis,

The

Problem

of

Slavery

in

Western

Culture,

seems

to

suggest

this,

although

the

richness

and

subtle

treatment

of

his

presentation

indicates

a

much

richer

understanding

than

this.

The

same

might

be

said

of

Jordan’s

equally

ﬁne

book,

White

Over

Black.

6.

Marvin

I-Iarris,

Patterns

of

Race

in

the

Americas

(New

York,

1964).

7.

Genovese,

The

World

the

Slaveholders

Made,

p.

105.

8.

Michel

Foucault,

Madness

and

Civilization.

9.

Philippe

Aries,

Centuries

of

Childhood:

A

Social

History

of

Family

Life.

See

also

Herbert

Marcuse,

Eros

and

Civilization,

and

Norman

O.

Brown,

Life

Against

Death:

The

Psychoanalytical

Meaning

of

History.

Embedded

in

all

of

these

works

is

that

great

underground

classic

of

modern

thought_

Wilhelm

Reich,

Character

Analysis,

3d

ed.

rev.,

ﬁrst

published

in

German

in

1933,

and

its

less

well-known

but

signiﬁcant

companion,

Wilhelm

Reich,

The

Mass

Prychology

of

Fascism,

ﬁrst

published

in

German

in

1933.

While

I

cannot

subscribe

to

all

of

Reich's

system,

this

chapter

could

not

have

I48

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

been

written

without

his

monumental

attempt

to

relate

Marx

and

Freud

which

loosened

the

ideological

armouring

of

Western

rationalism

for

me

and

many

others.

This

chapter

is

conceived

of

as

a

preliminary

exploration

of

the

emergence

of

the

ideology

of

the

capitalist

era.

The

complex

interplay

between

ideology

and

the

‘other

activities

of

day-to-day

life

can

best

be

understood

if

we

ask

the

question,

“Under

what

circumstances

can

ideas

which

have

already

been

developed

direct

the

ordinary

activities

of

ordinary

people?"

For

example,

while

there

is

no

doubt

that

the

Christian

fathers

of

medieval

Europe

did

not

encourage

open

sexuality,

their

ideas

did

not

have

much

power

over

the

intimate

life

of

peasants

whose

lives

were

much

less

regimented

than

those

of

modern

industrial

workers.

The

very

rationaliza-

tion

and

control

over

the

life

of

the

worker

required

by

capitalist

industrial

production

and

social

relations

made

sexual

repression

more

necessary

and

easier.

The

worker

has

to

keep

his

mind

on

his

work,

as

well

as

his

body

at

his

machine.

Puritanism

developed

Christian

thought

under

the

particular

circumstances

of

the

bourgeois

revolution,

and

what

had

been

the

ideas

of

isolated

clerics

became

dominant

over

the

minds

of

ordinary

people.

10.

C.

B.

MacPhearson,

Possessive

Individualism.

11.

Jordan,

White

Over

Black,

p.

42.

The

ﬁrst

chapter

of

]ordan’s

book,

a

work

of

deep

scholarship,

offers

great

insights,

and

in

a

sense

this

chapter

is

an

attempt

to

make

explicit

the

signiﬁcance

of

this

work,

and

then

to

suggest

lines

for

its

development.

As

this

work

was

being

prepared

for

the

press,

I

came

across

an

essay

by

Gary

B.

Nash

in

which,

using

]ordan’s

Work,

he

comes

to

similar

conclusions

to

mine

about

the

relationship

between

the

transformations

of

the

sixteenth

and

seventeenth

centuries

in

England

and

the

rise

of

racism'.

After

presenting

the

thesis,

however,

he

does

not

develop

it.

See

Gary

B.

Nash,

“Red,

White

and

Black:

The

Origins

of

Racism

in

Colonial

America,”

in

Gary

B.

Nash

and

Richard

Weiss,

eds.,

The

Great

Fear:

Race

in

the

Mind

of

America,

p.

15.

12.

Karl

Polanyai,

The

Great

Transformation

(New

York,

1949).

13.

Edward

P.

Thompson,

The

Making

of

the

English

Working

Class

(London,

1963),

p.

357.

14.

See

Jordan,

White

Over

Black,

p.

31.

Jordan

notes

that

Thomas

Herbert,

the

author

of

a

book,

published

in

1634,

recounting

travels

in

Africa

and

Asia,

said

that

there

sometimes

occurred

“a

beastly

copulation”

between

apes

and

black

women.

15.

FWPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

2,

p.

14.

16.

Ibid.,

p.

136.

17.

Ibid.,

Part

3,

pp.

283-284.

18.

FWPSN,

Texas,

Part

1,

pp.

31-33.

19.

FWPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

2,

p.

273.

20.

Mark

Twain,

Huckleberry

Finn,

p.

125

ff.

21.

Marvin

Harris,

“The

Origins

of

the

Descent

Rule,”

in

Slavery

in

the

New

lV0rld,

ed.

Laura

Foner

and

Eugene

D.

Genovese,

p.

57.

22.

See

Jordan,

White

over

Black,

pp.

429-481,

for

a

discussion

of

Jefferson's

views

on

race.

23.

Elsa

V.

Goveia,

Slave

Society

in

the

British

Leeward

Islands

at

the

End

of

the

Eighteenth

Century,

p.

329.

See

also

Elsa

V.

Goveia,

“The

West

Indian

Slave

Laws

of

the

Eighteenth

Century,”

Revista

de

Ciencias

Socialcs

4

(196o):75—1o5.

This

article

is

more

easily

available

as

reprinted

in

Slavery

in

the

New

lV0rld,

ed.

Foner

and

Genovese,

pp.

113-137.

24.

Eric

Williams,

Capimlism

and

Slavery.

25.

Genovese,

The

l’0li!i<‘al

lz'<"01/rm/y

of

Slilwry.

$00

in

pnrliculzlr

C1-no

vcsc's

“A

Note

()n

the

l’l;|ce

of

l".cunm|1it'.~;

in

the

.l’olitic;|l

l".cnnu1ny

of

RACISM

AND

SLAVERY

/

149

Slavery,”

ibid.,

pp.

275-287.

This

note

contains

Genovese’s

“From

Economics

to

Political

Economy:

Eight

Theses.”

26.

Karl

Marx,

Capital

(Chicago,

1906),

V

ol.

1,

p.

260.

27.

It

is

important

to

note

that

social

classes,

when

they

are

past

their

creative

period,

act

in

ways

that

indicate

an

increasing

departure

from

the

observation

of

reality.

While

there

is

more

than

this

type

of

social

derangement

involved,

for

example,

in

the

persistence

of

the

American

war

in

Southeast

Asia,

at

a

time

when

the

overwhelming

majority

of

the

American

population

are

against

the

continuation

of

the

war,

can

it

be

denied

that

such

social

madness

plays

an

important

role

in

the

continuation

of

the

war?

28.

Genovese,

The

World

the

Slaveholders

Made,

p.

5.

29.

W.

E.

B.

Du

Bois,

Black

Reconstruction,

p.

3

5.

30.

See

Leonard

L.

Richards,

“Gentlemen

of

Property

and

Standing”:

Anti-Abolition

Mohs

in

Iacksonian

America

(New

York,

1970).

31.

Du

Bois,

The

Souls

of

Black

Folk,

see

Chapter

2,

pp.

54-78.

In

it,

Du

Bois

shows

how

the

Freedman’s

Bureau

was

transformed

into

an

agency

of

social

control

and

became

the

agent

of

a

new

form

of

exploitati0n—one

justiﬁed

by

racist

doctrines

and

given

institutional

form.

32.

F

WPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

3,

p.

17o.

33.

Ibid.,

Part

2,

p.

14.

34-

lbid-.

PP-

53-55-

35.

F

WPSN,

North

Carolina,

Part

1,

p.

26.

36.

See,

for

example,

FWPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

4,

p.

176.

37.

See,

for

example,

FWPSN,

Arkansas,

Part

3,

p.

106.

38.

Ibid.,

p.

164.

39.

Ibid.,

p.

217.

4o.

Ibid.,

pp.

298-302.

41.

Charles

S.

Johnson,

The

Shadow

of

the

Plantation,

p.

210.

42.

C.

Vann

Woodward,

The

Strange

Career

of

]im

Crow.

43.

Harold

M.

Baron,

“The

Demand

for

Black

Labor:

Historical

Notes

on

the

Political

Economy

of

Racism,”

Radical

America

5

(1971):24.

44.

FWPSN,

Arkansas,

Part

3,

p.

103.

45.

FWPSN,

South

Carolina,

Part

3,

p.

26.

46.

Matthew

Ward,

Indignant

Heart,

p.

2o.

RACISM

AND

TI-IE

MAKING

OF

AMERICAN

SOCIETY

America

was

born

nearly

free

and

racist.

Class

division

among

whites

and

the

sense

of

class

were

much

less

sharp

than

in

Europe.‘

There

was

no

extensive

feudal

aristocracy,

although

there

was

a

degree

of

class

privilege.

There

was

a

seemingly

endless

supply

of

land.

In

such

a

society,

men

could

contract

one

with

another

voluntarily

to

construct

a

new

society.

But

almost

from

the

beginning

American

Indians

and

Jlacks

were

permanently

excluded

from

the

social

contract.”

Race

and

ethnic

consciousness

was

more

evident

than

class

consciousness\

As

long

as

that

has

been

true,

the

promise

of

American

life,

the

full

promise

of

the

Declaration

of

Independence

of

“life,

liberty,

and

the

pursuit

of

happiness,”

has

been

denied

for

both

white

and

nonwhite.

Social

contract

in

America

has

not

been

mere

political

theory.

It

has

been

popular

experience.

Men

ﬁght,

debate,

vote,

and

live

by

the

decisions

they

make

until

circumstances

demand

changes.

The

earlier

contract

is

therefore

revoked

and

a

new

one

initiated.

In

the

seventeenth

and

eighteenth

centuries,

Americans

often

re-

sorted

to

the

contract

to

found

governments:

the

Mayﬂower

Com-

pact

of

1620;

the

Plantation

Agreement

of

Roger

Williams

and

a

group

of

religious

dissenters

in

the

wilderness

of

Rhode

Island;

the

Charter

Oath

of

Thomas

Hooker

and

his

followers

who

had

moved

from

Massachusetts

to

what

is

now

Connecticut;

the

Albany

Union

Plan

of

1754;

the

Association

document

of

1774

in

which

the

colonies

joined

together

to

form

:1

Co11ti11e11t;1l

Congress;

and

15o

RACISM

AND

TI-IE

MAKING

OF

AMERICAN

SOCIETY

/

I51

the

Declaration

of

Independence.

White

Americans

voluntarily

con-

structed

a

free

government.

With

the

achievement

of

independence,

the

social

contract

took

another,

even

more

revolutionary,

turn.

It

became

the

device

for

the

expression

of

the

direct

democracy

of

the

people.

Wave

after

wave

of

settlers

moved

westward,

establishing

new

municipalities

and

colonies

by

covenant.

Bringing

only

what

they

could

carry

in

their

wagons

and

in

their

heads,

they

created

a

series

of

havens

in

the

wilderness.

When

they

grew

tired

or

dissatisﬁed

with

what

they

had

done,

they

picked

themselves

up

and

moved

on

to

repeat

the

process

elsewhere.

And

as

they

did

this,

they

exterminated

the

American

Indian,

discriminated

against

Mexicans,

and

preserved

slavery

at

least

in

those

areas

in

which

it

already

existed.

One

of

the

extraordinary

offshoots

of

the

experience

of

actual

social

contract

was

the

hundreds

of

utopian

socialist

colonies

created

in

the

early

part

of

the

nineteenth

century.

Although

the

best

known

of

these

was

the

Brook

Farm

Association

of

the

American

Transcendentalists,

with

which

most

of

the

outstanding

intellectual

and

literary

ﬁgures

of

the

day

were

associated,

the

most

successful

was

the

founding

by

the

Latter-Day

Saints

of

the

new

Zion

in

the

Utah

wilderness

of

the

salt

ﬂats

near

the

Great

Salt

Lake.

And

while

this

was

a

movement

in

which

all

class

distinctions

were

to

be

obliterated,

with

rich

and

poor

alike

eligible

for

sainthood,

blacks

were

excluded.

As

long

as

the

voluntary

social

contract

was

continually

renewed

in

a

society

of

equals—a

society

in

which

most

white

men

could

realistically

hope

for

the

opportunity

to

pursue

happiness

and

had

a

realistic

chance

of

material

success—the

state

played

a

minimal

role

in

human

affairs.

Henry

David

Thoreaucould

go

up on

a

hill

above

Concord

after

spending

a

night

in

jail

for

refusing

to

pay

his

church

tax,

declare

that

“the

State

was

nowhere”

to

be

seen

and

do

so

without

being

hopelessly

wrong.“

Yet

while

white

people

often

did

not

feel

the

presence

of

the

state,

black

people

always

did.

It

was

present

in

the

form

of

the

patrollers,

the

local

sheriffs,

the

operations

of

the

Fugitive

Slave

Law,

and

potentially

in

every

white

person

who

might

act

to

defend

the

laws

that

preserved

slavery.

It

was

this

difference

of

experience

with

the

state

that

largely

accounts

for

the

conﬂict

between

white

radical

abolitionists

like

Wil-

li:1m

Lloyd

Garrison

and

black

abolitionists

like

Frederick

Douglass.

(Iarrison

could

simply

declare

himself

against

union

with

slave-

I52

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

holders,

and

thereby

oppose

political

struggle

against

slavery.

Douglass,

on

the

other

hand,

was

black.

He

knew

of

the

operations

of

the

state.

Radical

as

he

was,

he

never

gave

up

political

struggle.

He

created

something

of

a

scandal

in

the

abolitionist

movement

when

he

arranged

to

pay

his

old

master

for

his

freedom.

The

Garri-

sonians

saw

this

as

an

unprincipled

acknowledgment

of

the

moral-

ity

of

slavery;

Douglass,

the

fugitive

slave,

saw

it

as

a

very

practical

way

of

resisting

the

operations

of

the

Fugitive

Slave

Act,

in

which

all

citizens

were

obliged

to

aid

in

the

capture

of

runaway

slaves,

even

in

the

free

states.

American

society

in

the

ﬁrst

part

of

the

nineteenth

century

had

been

one

in

which

property

was

widely

diffused

and

in

which

social

mobility

had

been

relatively

easy.

There

was

a

rough

egali-

tarianism

of

manners

and

customs,

and

there

was

neither

the

power

of

church

nor

state

to

oppress

the

individual.

At

the

end

of

the

eighteenth

century,

an

overwhelming

majority

of

Americans

were

outside

of

the

organized

churches,

and

very

few

felt

the

power

of

the

state.

On

the

frontier,

the

populace

saw

neither

judge

nor

preachers,

sheriff

nor

powerful

entrepreneur,

from

almost

one

year

to

the

next.

There

were

some

who

were

wealthier

and

more

power-

ful

than

others,

and

there

were

those

who

were

treated

with

con-

tempt.

But

these

social

facts

did

not

dominate

reality,

and

there

was

a

sense

that

each

man

had

committed

his

destiny

to

the

com-

munity

in

whose

creation

he

had

played

a

part.

And

when

that

society

was

threatened

by

the

extension

of

slavery,

Lincoln

said

that

his

sole

purpose

was

to

maintain

it

as

a

free

Union.

This

was

not

mere

political

rhetoric

nor

a

simple

method

for

evading

the

slavery

issue

as

has

often

been

charged.

Lincoln

was

defending

what

he,

along

with

the

common

people

of

America,

believed

to

be

the

heart

of

the

whole

American

experience—the

social

contract.

When

Lincoln

referred

to

the

Union

as

mankind’s

last,

best

hope,

he

was

invoking

the

social

experience

of

the

revolutionary

genera-

tion

and

bringing

it

to

bear

against

the

claim

of

the

South

that

a

nation

formed

by

the

will

of

the

people

could

be

abruptly

brokc11

by

a

conspiracy

of

slave

owners.

In

order

to

preserve

the

essence

of

that

Union,

the

society

of

free

men,

Lincoln

could

become

a

revolutionary

and

ﬁght

for

tl1e

natural

rights

of

men,

which,

after

all,

were

what

the

social

contract

was

to

preserve.

He

could

move

to

cmancipate

the

slaves

and

use

them

in

the

military

struggle.

And

there

is

little

reason

to

believe

that

if

he

had

lived,

he

would

11ot

have

waged

:1

struggle

for

11

new

RACISM

AND

THE

MAKING

or

AMERICAN

socuarv

/

153

birth

of

freedom

for

all

men,

black

and

white.

Lincoln,

the

common

man

as

democrat,

had

in

the

war

itself

begun

to

overcome

his

racism.

The

Civil

War

brought

with

it

a

revolution

in

American

life—the

triumph

of

industrial

capitalism

and

the

ending

of

the

society

of

rough

equality.

And

while

the

common

people

opposed

this,

their

struggle

was

defeated

by

their

own

racism.

Despite

the

promise

of

the

American

life,

the

common

American

white

man,

the

per-

petual

innocent,

allowed

the

egalitarianism

that

had

been

present

at

the

beginning

to

get

out

of

his

grasp.

The

solidarity

of

being

white

limited

or

distorted

the

solidarity

of

being

a

factory

worker,

dirt

farmer,

or

white-collar

employee.

American

reform

movements,

agrarian

populism,

and

working-class

movements

were

to

be

checked

by

racism.

This

has

been

so

not

due

simply

to

an

ideology

of

racism,

but

to

the

reality

that

so

long

as

there

is

a

socially

separated

nonwhite

population,

there

seems

to

be

a

way

for

whites

to

avoid

being

heav-

ily

represented

in

the

pool

of

unskilled

workers

who

are

the

unem-

ployed

in

a

society

that

in

normal

times

always

has

a

core

of

unem-

ployed.

In

the

past,

whites

have

had

reason

to

believe

that

they

could

avoid

becoming

part

of

a

classic

proletariat,

although

there

was

much

illusion

in their

belief.

While

in

fact

the

majority

of

the

poor

are

usually

white,

blacks

always

are

very

overrepresented

at

the

bottom

of

the

American

class

structure.

The

belief

that

black

workers

can

be

made

to

carry

a

greater

share

of

unemployment,

underemployment,

and

low

wages

is

based

on

a

signiﬁcant

amount

of

concrete

evidence.

But

it

is

also

true

that

whenever

blacks

have

advanced

in

America,

white

workers

as

a

class

have

moved

forward.

Karl

Marx

observed:

In

the

United

States

of

America,

every

independent

movement

of

workers

was

paralysed

so

long

as

slavery

disﬁgured

a

part

of

the

Republic.

Labour

cannot

emancipate

itself

in

the

white

skin

where

in

the

black

it

is

branded.

But

out

of

the

death

of

slavery

a

new

life

at

once

arose.

The

ﬁrst

fruit

of

the

Civil

War

was

the

eight

hours’

agitation,

that

ran

with

seven-leagued

boots

of

the

locomotive

from

the

Atlantic

to

the

Paciﬁc,

from

New

England

to

California.‘

By

the

18305,

when

the

ﬁrst

evidence

of

a

modern

industrial

system

in

the

United

States

appeared,

the

relationship

between

white

and

black

workers

had

begun

to

be

utilized

to

weaken

the

wo1"l<i11g

class.

l*'1'c1lc1‘icl<

l)o11gl;1ss,

the

ex-slave

who

became

the

I54.

/

TI-IE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

leader

of

American

blacks,

understood

this

relationship

and

its

con-

sequence.

He

wrote:

The

hostility

between

the

whites

and

blacks

is

easily

explained.

It

has

its

roots

and

sap

in

the

relation

of

slavery

and

was

incited

on

both

sides

by

the

cunning

of

the

slave

masters.

These

masters

secured

their

ascendency

over

the

poor

whites

and

the

blacks

by

putting

emnity

between

them.

They

divided

both

to

conquer

each.‘

In

the

South,

the

poor

whites

were

often

denied

an

opportunity

to

enter

nonagricultural

employment

and

at

the

same

time

were

unable

to

become

slave

owners

with

large

estates.

On

the

other

hand,

poor

whites

found

employment

as

members

of

the

slave-

patrols

to

keep

the

blacks

in

line.

Some

poor

whites

were

pushed

onto

the

poor

land

of

the

Ap-

palachians,

the

clay

soils

of

northern

Louisiana,

northern

Alabama,

and

Arkansas,

and

onto

marginal

lands

elsewhere

in

the

South.

Others

left

the

South

and

migrated

into

Ohio,

Indiana,

Illinois,

Mis-

souri,

Kansas,

and

Nebraska.

In

the

North,

blacks

either

were

used

to

drive

wages

down

or

kept

out

of

the

labor

market

entirely.

White

artisans

struggled

to

get

blacks

excluded

from

the

skilled

trades

and

eventually

drove

many

from

the

cities

after

a

series

of

riots.

White

and

black

workers

were

continually

pitted

against

each

other,

with

black

workers

being

pushed

out

by

white

workers—and

white

workers

accepting

less

from

employers

in

return.“

This

division

between

black

and

white

workers

grew

during

the

Civil

War.

The

war

had

begun

with

much

of

the

white

working

class

sympathetic

to

preserving

the

Union

and

keeping

out

slave

competition.

Northern

white

workers

volunteered

in

unprecedented

numbers

to

answer

Lincoln’s

call

to

arms.

And

this

support

was

by

no

means

cynical,

although

it

clearly

was

not

purely

humani-

tarian.

Free

soil

and

free

men

were

inseparably

linked

in

the

minds

of

the

white

population.

But

the

corruption

of

the

emerging

industrial

capitalism

dispersed

these

energies.

The

white

working

class

in

a

period

in

which

the

rich

could

and

did

buy

their

way

out

of

the

army

by

hiring

substi-

tutes,

came

to

see

the

struggle

as

a

rich

man’s

war

and

a

poor

man’s

ﬁght.

Initially~thc

Northern

army

was

a

remarkably

loyal

one,

but

the

seeds

of

disillusionmc11t

in

the

ranl<-and-file

soldier

were

present

at

the

beginning.

I11

:1

little-kno\\'n

address

to

Coiigrcss

RACISM

AND

THE

MAKING

or

AMERICAN

SOCIETY

/

155

on

July

4,

1861,

Abraham

Lincoln

declared:

It

is

worthy

to

note

that

while

in

this,

the

government’s

hour

of

trial,

large

numbers

of

those

in

the

Army

and

Navy,

who

have

been

favored

with

the

ofﬁces,

have

resigned,

and

proved

false

to

the

hand

which

had

pampered

them,

not

one

common

soldier,

or

common

sailor

is

known

to

have

deserted

his

ﬂag.’

The

very

problem

of

the

corruption

of

the

ofﬁcer

corps—that

group

of

placemen

often

more

interested

in

pelf,

power,

glory,

and

adventure

than

in

the

actual

struggle—led

to

massive

disillusion-

ment

on

the

part

of

the

Northern

urban

population,

faced

with

inﬂation

and

scarcity

at

home.

Army

oﬂicers

and

civilians

grew

rich

during

the

war,

and

the

conﬂict

dragged

on.

The

Northern

armies

could

not

muster

the

enthusiasm

or

spirit

to

pursue

the

enemy

very

often

because

their

oﬁicers

were

otherwise

occupied.

The

split

in

American

society

between

the

mass

movement

of

the

population

and

the

proﬁteering

of

advancing

capitalism

is

a

crucial

part

of

the

story

of

the

Civil

War.

Because

there

was

little

attention

paid

to

the

morale

and

views

of

the

soldiers,

they

often

became

disaffected

from

a

war

that

threatened

to

end

slavery.

The

draft

riots

of

1863

in

New

York

City

were

symptomatic

of

this

widespread

anger

with

the

corruption

of

the

war.

The

poor-

est

layers

of

the

working

class,

hit by

wartime

inﬂation,

reacted,

often

incited

by

Southern

agents

and

supporters.

Thousands

rioted

against

the

draft

and

against

blacks

for

days,

beating

up

and

killing

freedmen,

invading

the

homes

of

the

rich

on

Upper

Broadway,

and

threatening

the

very

stability

of

the

society

and

the

progress

of

the

war.

Many

thousands

of

whites

refused

to

renew

their

enlistments,

and

the

fate

of

the

army

was

at

stake.

At

that

point,

Lincoln

bowed

to

the

pressures

of

the

abolitionists

and

called

upon

the

slaves

and

free

blacks

to

join

the

army.

More

than

2oo,ooo

ﬂocked

to

the

colors.

Some,

learning

from

the

lessons

of

the

draft

riots,

tried

to

unite

ll1C

white

abolitionists,

the

blacks,

the

working

class,

and

the

small

farmers

in

a

single

movement

to

turn

the

war

into

a

crusade

for

the

preservation

of

the

basis

of

egalitarian

democracy.

Wendell

Phillips,

the

son

of

a

Boston

Federalist

family,

Harvard

educated,

:|

in-an

of

leisure,

called

for

such

a

unity.

He

looked

for

the

continua-

liml

of

the

struggle

for

the

realization

of

the

Declaration

of

Inde-

pendencc

in

a

new

working

class

movement

that

would

unite

black

I56

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

and

white.

Moreover,

he

believed

that

working

people

would

gain

control

over

their

own

lives

only

if

black

rights

were

secured

within

the

working

class

movement.“

But

such

efforts

were

not

to

be

successful

often

enough.

While,

in

some

localities,

blacks

and

whites

did

join

during

and

after

the

war

in

common

struggles,

this

was

not

to

remain

the

case.

From

1864

to

the

end

of

the

century,

efforts

were

made

to

link

black

and

white

in

a

single

radical

and

working-class

movement,

but

these

eventually

failed.

Thus,

despite

the

pleas

of

William

Sylvis

of

the

National

Labor

Union,

this

earliest

national

organization

of

Workers

remained

white.

A

similar

fate

was

to

be

that

of

Eugene

Debs’

appeal

to

the

American

Railway

Union

in

the

18905

for

the

inclusion

of

blacks

within

the

union.

One

effort

for

black

and

white

unity

was

partially

successful—

and

its

eventual

failure

marked

the

end

of

a

stage

of

struggle

in

the

United

States.

The

radical

agrarian

populist

movement,

a

move-

ment

with

a

desire

to

forge

a

link

with

urban,

working-class

discon-

tent,

was

one

that

included

blacks

in

signiﬁcant

numbers.

There

was

a

separately

organized

but

cooperative

Colored

Farmers

Al-

liance

as

part

of

Southern

populism.

C.

Vann

Woodward

indicates

that

the

history

of

this

movement

can

be

marked

by

the

change

from

the

inclusion

of

blacks

to

their

exclusion.

Tom

Watson,

who

was

to

become

the

prototype

of

the

Southern

white

populist

demagogue,

appealing

to

the

racism

of

the

white

poor,

had

in

the

early

days

of

populism

fought

side

by

side

with

black

farmers,

once

actually

leading

white

farmers

with

guns

to

relieve

a

beleaguered

black

populist

leader.”

While

this

is

not

the

point

to

develop

in

this

analysis,

it

is

becom-

ing

increasingly

clear

that

one

of

the

central

issues

facing

the

work-

ing

class

movement

from

the

end

of

the

Civil

War

to

the

turn

of

the

century

was

this

question

of

the

unity

of

the

working

class.

While

there

were

moments

of

successful

joint

struggle,

and

blacks

played

prominent

roles

at

times

in

the

union

movement,

these

efforts

were

to

fail,

and

blacks

were

excluded

from

the

union

movement.

It

is

also

clear

that

this

exclusion

of

blacks

was

to

be

crucial

for

limiting

the

development

of

this

movement.”

Faced

with

its

isolation

from

the

white

population,

blacks

in

freedom

turned,

as

they

had

in

slavery,

to

the

development

of

their

own

community

as

the

source

of

strength

and

struggle

for

survival.

The

black

church

became

the

central

instrument

of

acculturation

into

the

big

city

worltl,

just

as

independent

religious

meetings

had

RACISM

AND

THE

MAKING

OF

AMERICAN

SOCIETY

/

I57

been

so

central

in

establishing

continuity

and

community

for

the

slaves.

The

music

of

the

slaves

was

further

developed

into

modern

jazz

forms.

The

kinship

structure

that

had

emerged

under

slavery,

where

generalized

extended

family

units

allowed

for

children

to

be

taken

care

of

despite

the

absence

of

the

biological

parents,

con-

tinued

to

be

operative.

Black

ghetto

children

may

not

always

live

with

their

biological

parents,

but

there

is

almost

always

some

other

adult,

grandmother,

aunt,

uncle,

or

neighbor,

willing

to

step

in

and

raise

the

child.

The

black

community

continues

to

be an

integral

social

organiza-

tion

in

the

urban

ghetto,

although

it

has

had

to

make

enormous

adjustments.

As

with

most

rural

people

who

have

moved

into

an

urban

environment,

American

blacks

have

resorted

to

the

develop-

ment

of

ideologies

that

have

given

meaning

to

their

lives,

explained

to

them

their

diﬂiculties,

and

recreated

the

community

network

of

relationships.

For

example,

in

the

1920s,

the

Universal

Negro

Improvement

Association

of

Marcus

Garvey

recruited

several

mil-

lion

urban

black

people.

While

Garvey

talked

of

a

return

to

Africa,

it

is

clear

that

the

dominant

meaning

of

the

UNIA

for

those

who

joined

was

in

terms

of

social

cohesiveness

and

re-creation

of

com-

munity

ties.

The

UNIA

ran

Freedom

Halls

in

most

cities

where

black

people

arriving

from

the

South

could

live

at

a

nominal

charge

until

they

found

a

place

of

their

own.

They

could

get

information

about

jobs,

churches,

and

other

necessary

matters

for

immigrants.“

In

addition

to

the

UNIA,

the

thousands

of

small

black

churches

played

a

similar

role.

They

were

often

organized

around

a

pastor

and

a

congregation

who

had

come

together

from

the

South;

when

later

immigrants

from

the

“old

country”

came,

they

had

a

core

of

people

to

help

them

make

the

adjustment

to

the

new

situation.

In

the

past

ﬁfteen

years,

with

the

development

of

a

new

move-

ment

for

change

in

the

urban

ghettos,

black

people

have

become

more

and

more

ideological

in

their

aﬁiliations.

For

them,

the

various

black

nationalist

ideologies

have

proven

to

be

very

useful.

They

have

helped

develop

among

black

people

a

new

sense

of

identity,

a

new

sense

of

community,

and

new

social

and

political

organiza-

tions.

They‘

have

forced

certain

concessions

from

the

dominant

White

majority,

and

they

have

placed

the

black

community

in

a

stronger

position

to

defend

itself

against

the

outside

world.

In

an

urban

setting

in

which

the

oﬂicial

forces

of

government

have

done

little

but

allow

the

central

cities

to

rot,

the

black

nationalist

or-

ganizations

have

provided

services

to

the

black

community

that

I58

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

AMERICAN

RACISM

were

needed

and

were

not

available

from

any

other

source.

They

have

raised

the

demand

for

community

control,

reviving

the

Ameri-

can

social

contract.

Once

again

the

black

community

has

vigorously

challenged

the

American

social

system.

In

so

doing,

it

has

had

a

major

impact

on

American

life.

The

churches

and

schools

have

been

challenged

to

change

their

tone

and

their

character;

the

mass

media

try

to

accommodate

themselves

to

the

feelings

and

social

attitudes

of

young

Americans,

white

as

well

as

black,

although

the

populace

is

always

ahead

of

these

concessions;

city

governments

have

tried

to

stimulate

change

and

have

instead

revealed

their

weakness

and

corruption;

institutions,

such

as

trade

unions,

have

been

shown

to

be

bureau-

cratic

and

inaccessible

to

the

wishes

of

those

who

pay

dues;

the

peace

movement

has

learned

from

the

experience

of

black

move-

ments;

Puerto

Ricans,

American

Indians,

and

Mexican-Americans

have

followed

the

lead

of

the

black

organizations,

and

a

new

mood

has

swept

these

communities;

the

mass

disaffection

from

the

values

and

behaviors

of

the

older

America

on

the

part

of

millions

of

young

people

has

taken

much

of

its

cultural

apparatus

from

the

black

community.

Above

all,

perhaps,

have

been

the

facts

that

the

current

development

of

life-styles

far

removed

from

the

Puritanism

that

has

hitherto

completely

dominated

American

society

has

borrowed

much

from

the

black

community

and

that

those

younger

whites

of

all

social

classes

involved

in

this

development

look

toward

the

black

community

for

moral

support.

Indeed,

these

changes

in

life-styles

among

young

Americans,

which

have

taken

the

entire

world

by

surprise,

began

in

the

late

1950s

coincident

with

the

development

of

new

black

change

move-

ments.

If

racism

had

its

roots

in

the

Puritan-Protestant

ethic,

then

the

abandonment

of

this

world

view

cannot

but

help

limit

racism.

Many

younger

white

Americans

in

their

own

search

for

new

life-

styles

have

been

able

at

least

to

recognize

their

own

racism

and

attempt

to

do

something

about

it.

Some

have

even

understood

that

racism

is

not

simply

an

ideology.

They

have

directed

their

criticism

not

simply

at

prejudice

but

at

institutions

that

embody

racism.

And

it

must

be

remembered

that

these

changes

among

the

young

are

no

longer

largely

conﬁned

to

the

middle

class

but

hit

large

sectors

of

the

working

class

who

are

in

revolt

against

a

merit

system

that

threatens

to

leave

them

out.

Long-haired

younger

factory

workers

are

becoming

increasingly

common.

Can

the

black

community

raise

its

challenge

to

the

white

world

RACISM

AND

THE

MAKING

OF

AMERICAN

SOCIETY

/

I59

in

such

fashion

as

to

capitalize

upon

this

willingness

under

certain

circumstances

of

younger

whites

to

follow

their

lead?

That

is

a

political

question

and

only

can

be

answered

politically.

However,

we

have

seen

that

there

has

been

a

vibrant

black

community

forged

under

slavery

which

has

been

central

to

struggles

for

change

in

the

United

States.

If

America

is

to

be

mankind’s

last,

best

hope,

it

will

be

because

there

will

be

found

ways

of

releasing

the

creative

and

revolutionary

force

of

the

American

people.

The

black

com-

munity

will

be

in

the

forefront

of

those

changes

if

they

occur.

This

is

the

promise

and

the

challenge

of

the

development

of

the

American

black

community

from

1619

to

the

present—a

com-

munity

which

has

always

taken

the

lead

in

the

struggle

for

the

realization

of

the

promise

of

the

Declaration

of

Independence.

The

vision

implicit

in

that

revolutionary

document

of

a

society

in

which

all

men

are

guaranteed

life,

liberty,

and

the

pursuit

of

happiness,

can

have

a

chance

of

becoming

a

reality

only

through

the

pressures

put

on

all

institutions

by

those

who

are

the

most

excluded

from

American

society.

The

pressure

of

blacks

for

equality

intensiﬁes

all

social

conﬂicts

in

the

United

States.

It

has

already

created

new

forces

among

whites

who

are

beginning

to

push

for

basic

changes

in

the

institutional

framework

that

makes

up

American

capitalism.

It

gives

hope

to

millions

in

this

country

and

throughout

the

world

that

the

black

preacher’s

vision

of

a

world

in

which

men

are

“free

at

last,

free

at

last,

Great

God

Almighty,

free

at

last”

might

become

a

reality.

Notes

|.

Charles

Beard

and

other

historians

who

have

followed

him

misread

the

concern

of

the

authors

of

the

Federalist

Papers

with

faction

and

class.

The

founding

fathers

were

more

concerned

with

dealing

with

future

class

divisions,

divisions

which

they

feared

as

a

cause

of

instability

on

the

basis

of

their

knowledge

of

European

history,

than

they

were

with

the

moderate

class

differences

that

existed

in

their

own

time.

2.

\Vhile

this

is

no

place

to

enter

into

a

full

length

discussion

of

the

matter,

it

is

clear

that

in

seventeenth-century

Virginia,

permanent

chattel

slavery

for

blacks,

as

distinguished

from

a

form

of

indentured

servitude,

did

not

become

the

universal

situation

until

after

1660,

and

that,

for

the

Iirst

forty

years

of

slavery

in

Virginia,

blacks

found

it

relatively

easy

to

heroine

free

and

even

to

own

land.

However,

it

should

be

stressed

that

there

were

only

a

small

handful

of

blacks

in

Virginia

at

this

early

date.

;.

Ilenry

David

Thoreau,

“Essay

on

Civil

Disobedience,”

in

Walden

and

U!/.u'r

!§sra_vs,-

p.

296.

4.

Karl

Marx,

(In/iiral,

vol.

|,

p.

329.

I60

/

THE

SOCIOLOGY

OF

EUROPEAN

AND

ANIERICAN

RACISM

5.

Frederick

Douglass

and

others,

“Reply

of

the

Colored

Delegation

to

President

Johnson,”

in

Philip

S.

Foner,

ed.,

The

Life

and

Writings

of

Frederick

Douglass,

vol.

4,

p.

192.

6.

For

a

general

discussion

of

whites

and

blacks

as

workers,

see

W.

E.

B.

Du

Bois,

Black

Reconstruction

in

America,

1860-1880,

pp.

3-31,

and

Harold

M.

Baron,

“The

Demand

for

Black

Labor:

Historical

Notes

on

the

Political

Economy

of

Racism,"

Radical

America

5

(March—April

1971):

1-46.

7.

Abraham

Lincoln,

“Message

to

Congress

in

Special

Session,

July

4,

1861,”

in

The

Collected

lVork.t

of

Abraham

Lincoln,

ed.

Roy

P.

Basler,

vol.

4,

p.

438.

8.

See

the

essay

on

\Vendell

Phillips

in

Richard

Hofstadter,

The

American

Political

Tradition

and

the

Men

IV

ho

Made

It.

9.

See

C.

Vann

\Voodward,

Tom

IVats0n:

Agrarian

Rebel.

Also,

Wood-

ward,

The

Origin:

of

the

New

South

(Baton

Rouge,

La.,

1951).

10.

In

the

past

two

decades,

Professor

Herbert

Gutman

has

been

developing

in

numerous

articles

a

history

of

the

American

working

class

from

the

Civil

¥Var

to

the

beginning

of

the

twentieth

century,

much

of

which

deals

with

the

complex

relationship

between

black

and

white

workers.

A

book

based

on

this

monumental

body

of

work

will

soon

be

published,

and

it

gives

promise

of

being

a

major

contribution

to

our

understanding

of

the

develop-

ment

of

the

American

people.

See,

for

example,

Herbert

G.

Gutman,

“The

Negro

and

the

United

Mine

\Vorkers

of

America:

The

Career

and

Letters

of

Richard

L.

Davis

and

Something

of

Their

Meaning:

1890-1900,”

in

The

Negro

and

the

American

Labor

Movement,

ed.

Julius

Jacobson,

pp.

49—127.

11.

Robert

Hill,

a

Jamaican

scholar,

has

been

at

work

on

a

study

of

Marcus

Garvey.

This

discussion

of

the

UNIA

Freedom

Halls

comes

both

from

personal

communications

and

from

an

address

given

by

Hill

in

Montreal

at

a

Black

Writers

Congress

in

1968.

APPIENDIXIES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

EDITOlR’S

INTRODUCTION

TO

VOLUMES

2-19

It

has

taken

a

monumental

struggle

on

the

part

of

black

Americans

to

transform

their

status

in

American

society

to

gain

a

place

for

the

voices

of

those

who

had

been

slaves

in

the

writing

of

their

own

history.

After

a

century

of

almost

total

neglect,

the

past

ﬁve

years

have

witnessed

the

republication

of

some

of

the

slave

nar-

ratives

originally

published

in

the

nineteenth

century.‘

And

yet

the

main

body

of

the

material

left

by

those

who

had

been

slaves

has

not

yet

been

published

except

in

very

abbreviated,

edited,

and

selected

form.

The

unpublished

interviews

conducted

in

the

twen-

tieth

century

with

ex-slaves

have

simply

not

been

made

generally

available

(except

in

very

selected

and

edited

form)

and

yet

they

are

the

most

signiﬁcant

source

of

material

on

the

lives

of

the

slaves,

their

communities,

and

their

struggles.

This

volume

is

both

a

sub-

stantive

essay

on

slavery,

which

makes

an

effort

to

allow

the

slaves

to

enter

into

the

creation

of

their

written

history,

and

an

introduc-

tion

to

the

main

body

of

such

largely

unpublished

interview

materials.

The

material

will

be

published

in

two

or

three

series.

This

volume

is

published

along

with

six

others,

which

contain

material

from

the

Works

Projects

Administration

Writers’

Project

interviews.

A

second

series,_

with

the

remainder

of

the

WPA

materials,

will

contain

twelve

volumes;

the

second

will

also

contain

reprints

of

two

volumes

of

interviews

collected

at

Fisk

University

at

the

end

of

the

|()2()S,

ﬁrst

|)lll)llSllL‘(l

in

a

mimeographed

small

edition

in

163

164

/

APPENDIXES

1945.2

It

is

hoped

that

there

will

be

further

volumes

in

a

third

series

containing other

similar

materials.

We

have

chosen

to

reprint

the

interviews

without

editing

them

in

any

way or

removing

from

the

collection

interviews

which

might

appear

of

only

slight

interest.

We

leave

to

the

judgment

of

scholars

and

the

general

public

the

value

and

usefulness

of

particular

interviews.

We

have

also

retained,

whenever

it

has

not

interfered

with

the

photographic

reproduction

of

the

material,

all

the

editorial

notes

made

by

the

original

editors

in

preparing

the

materials

for

possible

publication.

These

notes

may

be

of

use

in

probing

the

richness

of

the

collection.

Appended

to

this

ﬁrst

volume

are

various

letters

and

documents

found

bound

with

the

ﬁrst

volume

of

the

WPA

materials,

the

Alabama

interviews,

which

may

prove

of

great

help

to

the

reader

in

utilizing

the

material.

As

has

been

suggested

at

the

beginning

of

this

volume,

the

pub-

lication

of

these

slave

narratives

and

this

volume

should

lead

to

a

vast

outpouring

of

fresh

interpretations,

which

will

give

a

full,

rounded,

and

dynamic

picture

of

the

lives

of

the

slaves.

There

are

many

subjects

which

the

narratives

can

help

illuminate

far

be-

yond

the

boundaries

that

have

so

far

been

reached.

Four

in

par-

ticular,

which

have

been

only

brieﬂy

noted

in

this

book,

seem

to

be

worthy

of

mention

at

this

point.

They

are,

I

think,

illustrative

of

the

problems

the

interviews

will

help

clarify.

The

ﬁrst

of

these

is

the

question

of

the

social

structure

of

the

slave

communities.

This

matter

has

created

a

great

deal

of

contro-

versy

but

very

little

substantial

research.

What

were

the

relations

between

house

slaves

and

ﬁeld

slaves?

Were

house

slaves

necessarily,

or

even

usually,

more

docile

than

ﬁeld

slaves?

How

were

house

slaves

used

to

control

ﬁeld

slaves?

How

did

the

house

slaves

act

to

aid

the

ﬁeld

slaves?

Were

house

slaves

usually

more

privileged

than

ﬁeld

slaves?

Were

house

slaves

usually

able

to

perpetuate

their

class

position

by

passing

it

on

to

their

children?

Were

house

Slaves

often

demoted

to

ﬁeld

slaves?

And

were

there

many

house

slaves

who

were

required

to

work

in

the

ﬁelds

as

well,

particularly

at

harvest

time?

The

slave

narratives

contain

much

that

is

relevant

to

these

questions.

Second,

the

narratives

contain

a

great

deal

of

revealing

infor1na-

tion

about

and

accounts

of

Reconstruction.

Some

of

this

has

been

used

in

this

volume

but

much

more

study

remains

to

be

done

with

the

materials.

In

many

ways,

these

narratives

are

as

rich

in

insight

iz1>i"ro1<’s

INTRODUCTION

T0

VOLUMES

2-19

/

165

into

the

history

of

black

people

in

America

for

the

years

following

the

Civil

War

as

they

are

in

materials

concerning

slavery

itself.

Third,

an

entire

book

could

be

written

based

primarily

on

the

slave

narratives

about

black

American-Indian

relations.

The

narra-

tives

from

Oklahoma

are

particularly

rich

in

such

material.

Some

of

the

peoples

of

the

Indian

Territory,

such

as

the

Creeks

and

the

Cherokees,

were

owners

of

black

slaves

who

were,

however,

treated

very

differently

from

those

black

slaves

OWn€Cl

by

whites.

Blacks

became

part

of

the

Indian

kinship

structure,

they

were

gen-

erally

treated

well,

and

they

became

Creek

or

Cherokee

in

culture.

Runaway

slaves

often

were

sheltered

in

Indian

communities

and

then

sent

on

their

way.

Finally,

the

narratives

are

a

great

source

of

black

folklore

and

folk

poetry.

This

volume

has

only

scratched

the

surface

of

this

material,

not

because

it

is

unimportant

but

because

it

is

of

the

great-

est

importance,

and

entire

volumes

ought

to

be

based

on

it.

There

is

nothing

unclear

or

ambiguous

about

black

folk

stories

or

folk

poetry

for

those

willing

to

go

beyond

the

literal

pedantry

of

Ger-

man

historiography

of

the

last

part

of

the

nineteenth

century.

As

Sterling

Stuckey

has

pointed

out,

the

great

twentieth-century

American

historian

W.

E.

B.

DuBois

was

able

to

relate

“the

music

of

the

slaves

to

the

total

culture

of

America,”

thus

emphasizing

the

strengths

of

the

black

slaves

and

the

cultural

weaknesses

of

much

of

white

American

life.“

This

study

of

slavery

based

on

the

slave

narratives

and

interviews

with

ex-slaves

has

not

been

able

to

give

a

precise

picture

of

the

historical

development

of

the

black

community.

It

does

not

present

an

analysis

which

differentiates

slave

behavior

of

the

eighteenth

century

from

that

of

the

nineteenth

century,

and

it

has

stressed

the

continuity

of

black

life

before

and

after

the

Civil

War.

A

reason

for

this

is

that

the

bulk

of

the

slave

narratives

only

present

material

on

black

life

since

approximately

1835.

There

is

a

need

to

assert

the

continuities

in

black

community

life

that

emerge

from

a

careful

reading

of

the

narratives

against

a

long

tradition

which

has

asserted

that

there

was

no

black

community

or

distinct

behavior,

that

the

slaves

were

victims

tossed

about

by

the

white

master

class

without

any

means

of

defense.

Yet,

even

when

this

task

is

accomplished,

it

will

still

be

necessary

to

establish

methodologies

to

enable

us

to

see

the

changes

in

black

life

since

1619.

Utilizing

these

slave

narratives

and

other

available

materials,

there

should

be

no

diﬂiculty

in

devis-

ing

methods

which

can

present

the

time

sequences

in

black

history.

166

/

APPENDIXES

Not

only

has

this

work

slighted

the

historical

development

of

the

black

community,

it

has

not

emphasized

the

regional

differences

in

American

slavery.

That

has

been

done

in

order

to

establish

certain

overall

realities:

there

was

a

black

community

under

slavery,

there

was

the

development

of

distinct

Afro-American

behavior

patterns

(for

example,

black

religion),

slaves

were

treated

harshly

but

they

were

able

to

resist

in

speciﬁc

ways,

and

so

forth.

But

the

slave

narra-

tives

offer

wonderfully

clear

material

on

regional

differences.

For

ex-

ample,

the

Texas

narratives

are

ﬁlled

with

accounts

of

black

cow-

boys

and

black

slave

cowboys.

It

is

clear

that

the

slave

cowboy

had

much

more

individual

autonomy

than

did

slave

ﬁeld

hands

on

cotton

plantations.

It

is

hoped

that

these

narratives

will

be

utilized

to

probe

such

differences,

and

their

relationships

to

regional

differ-

ences,

as

well

as

to

develop

a

comprehensive

picture

of

the

changes

in

slave

life.

This

volume

is

an

introduction

to

a

body

of

material

in

which

the

slaves

speak

for

themselves.

If

the

volume

is

to

have

any

merit

beyond

the

presentation

of

the

views

of

the

author

on

certain

mat-

ters

concerning

American

slavery

and

racism,

it

will

come

from

its

linkage

with

the

slave

narratives—a

body

of

material

intrinsically

of

greater

signiﬁcance

because

it

presents

the

reﬂections

upon

their

experiences

of

those

who

were

there,

who

suffered,

and

who

built

for

themselves

and

those

who

were

to

come

after

them

a

way

of

life

upon

which

people

stand

and

challenge

modern

American

society.

Notes

1.

There

is,

despite

a

ﬂurry

of

recent

republications

of

S0me

of

the

slave

narratives,

only

the

beginning

of

an

awareness

of

the

importance

of

these

documents.

Even

when

the

complete

WPA

narratives

will

be

published,

there

will

remain

scores

of

items

either

unpublished

or

published

in

the

nineteenth

century

in

obscure

places

(such

as

church

bulletins

and

black

newspapers)

not

generally

available.

2.

Fisk

University,

“God

Struck

Me

Dead,”

mimeographed

(Nashville:

Social

Science

Institute,

1945);

Fisk

University,

“Unwritten

History

of

Slav-

ery,”

mimeographed

(Nashville:

Social

Science

Institute,

1945).

“God

Struck

Me

Dead”

was

republished,

with

an

introduction

by

Clifton

H.

Johnson,

by

Pilgrim

Press

of

Philadelphia

in

1969.

The

“Unwritten

History

of

Slavery"

was

republished

by

Microcard

Editions

of

\Vashington,

D.C.,

in

1968.

3.

Sterling

Stuckey,

“Twilight

of

Our

Past:

Reﬂections

on

the

Origins

of

Black

History,”

Arnistad

2

(1971):z61—z95.

SLAVE

NAlRRATIVlES*

A

Folk

History

of

Slavery

in

the

United

States

From

Interviews

with

Former

Slaves

TYPEWRITTEN

RECORDS

PREPARED

BY

THE

FEDERAL

WRITERS

PROJECT

1936-1938

ASSEMBLED

BY

THE

LIBRARY

OF

CONGRESS

PROJECT

WORK

PROJECTS

ADMINISTRATION

FOR

THE

DISTRICT

OF

COLUMBIA

SPONSORED

BY

THE

LIBRARY

OF

CONGRESS

Illustrated

with

Photographs

INDIANA

NARRATIVES

WASHINGTON

1941

'

Front

matter

of

the

Work

Projects

Administration

Project.

FEDERAL

WORKS

AGENCY

WORK

PROJECTS

ADMINISTRATION

FOR

THE

DISTRICT

OF

COLUMBIA

Paul

Edwards,

Administrator

Amelie,

S.

Fair,

Director,

Division

of

Community

Service

Programs

Mary

Nan

Gamble,

Chief,

Public

Activities

Programs

-1111;

LIBRARY

or

CONGRESS

PROJECT

Official

Project

No.

165-2-26-7

Work

Project

No.

540

Mary

Nan

Gamble,

Acting

Project

Supervisor

Francesco

M.

Bianco,

Assistant

Project

Supervisor

B.

A.

Botkin,

Chief

Editor,

Writers’

Unit

INTRODUCTION

I

This

collection

of

slave

narratives

had

its

beginning

in

the

second

year

of

the

former

Federal

Writers’

Project

(now

the

Writers’

Pro-

gram),

1936,

when

several

state

Writers’

Projects—notably

those

of

Florida,

Georgia,

and

South

Carolina—recorded

interviews

with

ex-

slaves

residing

in

those

states.

On

April

zz,

1937,

a

standard

questionnaire

for

ﬁeld

workers

drawn

up

by

John

A.

Lomax,

then

National

Advisor

on

Folklore

and

Folkways

for

the

Federal

Writers’

Project,’

was

issued

from

Washington

as

“Supplementary

Instructions

#9-E

to

The

Ameri-

can

Guide

Manual”

(appended

below).

Also

associated

with

the

direc-

tion

and

criticism

of

the

work

in

the

Washington

ofﬁce

of

the

Federal

Writers’

Project

were

Henry

G.

Alsberg,

Director;

George

Cronyn,

Associate

Director;

Sterling

A.

Brown,

Editor

on

Negro

Affairs;

Mary

Lloyd,

Editor;

and

B.

A.

Botkin,

Folklore

Editor

succeeding

Mr.

Lomax.’

On

August

31,

1939,

the

Federal

Writers’

Project

became

the

Writers’

Program,

and

the

National

Technical

Project

in

Washington

was

termi-

nated.

On

October

17,

the

ﬁrst

Library

of

Congress

Project,

under

the

sponsorship

of

the

Library

of

Congress,

was

set

up

by

the

Work

Projects

Administration

in

the

District

of

Columbia,

to

continue

some

of

the

functions

of

the

National

Technical

Project,

chieﬂy

those

con-

cerned

with

books

of

a

regional

or

nationwide

scope.

On

February

12,

1940,

the

project

was

reorganized

along

strictly

conservation

lines,

and

on

August

16

it

was

succeeded

by

the

present

Library

of

Congress

Project

(Official

Project

No.

165-2-26-7,

Work

Project

No.

540).

The

present

Library

of

Congress

Project,

under

the

sponsorship

of

the

Library

of

Congress,

is

a

unit

of

the

Public

Activities

Program

of

the

Community

Service

Programs

of

the

Work

Projects

Administration

‘

Mr.

Lomax

served

from

June

25,

1936,

to

October

23,

1937,

with

a

ninety-

day

furlough

beginning

July

24,

1937.

According

to

a

memorandum

written

by

Mr.

Alsberg

on

March

23,

1937,

Mr.

Lomax

was

“in

charge

of

the

collection

of

folklore

all

over

the

United

States

for

the

Writers’

Project.

In

connection

with

this

work

he

is

making

recordings

of

Negro

songs

and

cowboy

ballads.

Though

technically

on

the

payroll

of

the

Survey

of

Historical

Records,

his

work

is

done

for

the

Writers

and

the

results

will

make

several

national

volumes

of

folklore.

The

essays

in

the

State

Guides

devoted

to

folklore

are

also

under

his

supervision.”

Since

1933

Mr.

Lomax

has

been

Honorary

Curator

of

the

Archive

of

American

Folk

Song,

Library

of

Congress.

iliolklore

Consultant,

from

May

2

to

July

31,

1938;

Folklore

Editor,

from

August

1,

1938,10

August

3|,

1939.

I

69

170

/

APPENDIXES

for

the

District

of

Columbia.

According

to

the

Project

Proposal

(WPA

Form

301),

the

purpose

of

the

Project

is

to

“collect,

check,

edit,

index,

and

otherwise

prepare

for

use

WPA

records,

Professional

and

Service

Projects.”

The

Writers’

Unit

of

the

Library

of

Congress

Project

processes

mate-

rial

left

over

from

or

not

needed

for

publication

by

the

state

Writers’

Projects.

On

ﬁle

in

the

Washington

ofﬁce

in

August,

1939,

was

a

large

body

of

slave

narratives,

photographs

of

former

slaves,

interviews

with

white

informants

regarding

slavery,

transcripts

of

laws,

advertisements,

records

of

sale,

transfer,

and

manumission

of

slaves,

and

other

documents.

As

unpublished

manuscripts

of

the

Federal

Writers’

Project

these

records

passed

into

the

hands

of

the

Library

of

Congress

Project

for

processing;

and

from

them

has

been

assembled

the

present

collection

of

some

two

thousand

narratives

from

the

following

seventeen

states:

Alabama,

Arkansas,

Florida,

Georgia,

Indiana,

Kansas,

Kentucky,

Maryland,

Mis-

sissippi,

Missouri,

North

Carolina,

Ohio,

Oklahoma,

South

Carolina,

Tennessee,

Texas,

and

Virginia.’

The

work

of

the

Writers’

Unit

in

preparing

the

narratives

for

deposit

in

the

Library

of

Congress

consisted

principally

of

arranging

the

manu-

scripts

and

photographs

by

states

and

alphabetically

by

informants

within

the

states,

listing

the

informants

and

illustrations,

and

collating

the

contents

in

seventeen

volumes

divided

into

thirty-three

parts.

The

following

material

has

been

omitted:

Most

of

the

interviews

with

in-

formants

born

too

late

to

remember

anything

of

signiﬁcance

regarding

slavery

or

concerned

chieﬂy

with

folklore;

a

few

negligible

fragments

and

unidentiﬁed

manuscripts;

a

group

of

Tennessee

interviews

showing

evidence

of

plagiarism;

and

the

supplementary

material

gathered

in

connection

with

the

narratives.

In

the

course

of

the

preparation

of

these

volumes,

the

Writers’

Unit

compiled

data

for

an

essay

on

the

narratives

and

partially

completed

an

index

and

a

glossary.

Enough

additional

material

is

being

received

from

the

state

Writers’

Projects,

as

part

of

their

surplus,

to

make

a

supplement,

which,

it

is

hoped,

will

contain

several

states

not

here

represented,

such

as

Louisiana.

All

editing

had

previously

been

done

in

the

states

or

the

Washington

office.

Some

of

the

pencilled

comments

have

been

identiﬁed

as

those

of

John

A.

Lomax

and

Alan

Lomax,

who

also

read

the

manuscripts.

In

a

few

cases,

two

drafts

or

versions

of

the

same

interview

have

been

included

for

comparison

of

interesting

variations

or

alterations.

‘

The

bulk

of

the

Virginia

narratives

is

still

in

the

state

office.

Excerpts

from

these

are

included

in

The

Negro

in

Virginia,

compiled

by

Workers

of

the

Writers’

Program

of

the

Work

Projects

Administration

in

the

State

of

Vir-

ginia,

Sponsored

by

the

Hampton

Institute,

Hastings

House,

Publishers,

New

York,

1940.

Other

slave

narratives

are

published

in

Drums

and

Shadows,

Sur-

vival

Studies

among

the

Georgia

Coastal

Negroes,

Savannah

Unit,

Georgia

Writers’

Project,

Work

Projects

Administration,

University

of

Georgia

l’rcs.~.,

1940.

A

composite

article,

“Slaves,”

based

on

excerpts

from

thrcc

intervit-\\'s,

was

contributed

by

Elizabeth

Lomax

to

the

/I/nerican

Smﬂ

issue

of

I)ircuio/I,

Vol.

1,

No.

3,

1938.

FRONT

MATTER

or

THE

WPA

PROJECT

/

171

II

Set

beside

the

work

of

formal

historians,

social

scientists,

and

novelists,

slave

autobiographies,

and

contemporary

records

of

abolitionists

and

planters,

these

life

histories,

taken

down

as

far

as

possible

in

the

narrators’

words,

constitute

an

invaluable

body

of

unconscious

evidence

or

indirect

source

material,

which

scholars

and

writers

dealing

with

the

South,

especially,

social

psychologists

and

cultural

anthropologists,

cannot

afford

to

reckon

without.

For

the

ﬁrst

and

the

last

time,

a

large

number

of

surviving

slaves

(many

of

whom

have

since

died)

have

been

permitted

to

tell

their

own

story,

in

their

own

way.

In

spite

of

obvious

limitations—

bias

and

fallibility

of

both

informants

and

interviewers,

the

use

of

leading

questions,

unskilled

techniques,

and

insufficient

controls

and

checks—this

saga

must

remain

the

most

authentic

and

colorful

source

of

our

knowl-

edge

of

the

lives

and

thoughts

of

thousands

of

slaves,

of

their

attitudes

toward

one

another,

toward

their

masters,

mistresses,

and

overseers,

toward

poor

whites,

North

and

South,

the

Civil

War,

Emancipation,

Reconstruction,

religion,

education,

and

virtually

every

phase

of

Negro

life

in

the

South.

The

narratives

belong

to

folk

history—history

recovered

from

the

memories

and

lips

of

participants

or

eye-witnesses,

who

mingle

group

with

individual

experience

and

both

with

observation,

hearsay,

and

tradi-

tion.

Whether

the

narrators

relate

what

they

actually

saw

and

thought

and

felt,

what

they

imagine,

or

what

they

have

thought

and

felt

about

slavery

since,

now

we

know

why

they

thought

and

felt

as

they

did.

To

the

white

myth

of

slavery

must

be

added

the

slaves’

own

folklore

and

folk-say

of

slavery.

The

patterns

they

reveal

are

folk

and

regional

patterns—the

patterns

of

ﬁeld

hand,

house

and

body

servant,

and

artisan;

the

patterns

of

kind

and

cruel

master

or

mistress;

the

patterns

of

South-

east

and

Southwest,

lowland

and

upland,

tidewater

and

inland,

smaller

and

larger

plantations,

and

racial

mixture

(including

Creole

and

Indian).

The

narratives

belong

also

to

folk

literature.

Rich

not

only

in

folk

songs,

folk

tales,

and

folk

speech

but

also

in

folk

humor

and

poetry,

crude

or

skilful

in

dialect,

uneven

in

tone

and

treatment,

they

constantly

reward

one

with

earthy

imagery,

salty

phrase,

and

sensitive

detail.

In

their

unconscious

art,

exhibited

in

many

a

ﬁne

and

powerful

short

story,

they

are

a

contribution

to

the

realistic

writing

of

the

Negro.

Beneath

all

the

surface

contradictions

and

exaggerations,

the

fantasy

and

ﬂattery,

they

possess

an

essential

truth

and

humanity

which

surpasses

as

it

supplements

history

and

literature.

Washington,

D.C.

B.

A.

Botkin

June

12,

1941

Chief

Editor,

Writers’

Unit

Library

of

Congress

Project

MEMORANDUM

June

9,

1937

TO:

STATE

DIRECTORS

or

THE

FEDERAL

WRITERS’

PROJECT

FROM:

Henry

G.

Alsberg,

Director

In

connection

with

the

stories

of

ex-slaves,

please

send

in

to

this

office

copies

of

State,

county,

or

city

laws

affecting

the

conduct

of

slaves,

free

Negroes,

overseers,

patrollers,

or

any

person

or

custom

affecting

the

institution

of

slavery.

It

will,

of

course,

not

be

necessary

to

send

more

than

one

copy

of

the

laws

that

were

common

throughout

the

state,

although

any

special

law

passed

by

a

particular

city

would

constitute

worthwhile

material.

In

addition,

we

should

like

to

have

you

collect

and

send

in

copies

of

any

laws

or

accounts

of

any

established

customs

relating

to

the

admission

to

your

State

of

bodies

of

slaves

from

Africa

or

other

sections,

the

escape

of

slaves,

etc.

Also,

we

should

like

to

see

copies

of

advertise-

ments

of

sales

of

slaves,

published

offers

of

rewards

for

fugitive

slaves,

copies

of

transfers

of

slaves

by

will

or

otherwise,

records

of

freeing

of

slaves,

etc.

Public

records

of

very

particular

interest

regarding

any

transaction

involving

slaves

should

be

photostated

and

copies

furnished

to

the

Washington

oﬂice.

Furthermore,

contemporary

accounts

of

any

noteworthy

occurrences

among

the

Negroes

during

slavery

days

or

the

Reconstruction

period

should

be

copied,

if

taken

from

contemporary

newspapers.

If

such

records

have

been

published

in

books,

a

reference

to

the

source

would

be

sufficient.

We

have

been

receiving

a

large

number

of

extremely

interesting

stories

of

ex-slaves.

The

historic

background

of

the

institution

of

slavery,

which

should

be

disclosed

with

the

information

we

are

now

requesting,

will

be

very

helpful

in

the

execution

of

the

plans

we

have

in

mind.

Copies

sent

to:

Alabama

Georgia

Maryland

North

Carolina

Tennessee

Arkansas

Kentucky

Mississippi

Oklahoma

Texas

Florida

Louisiana

Missouri

South

Carolina

Virginia

West

Virginia

Ohio

Kansas

17:

MEMORANDUM

July

s9.

1921

ro=

STATE

DIRECTORS

or

THE

FEDERAL

VVRITERS'

PROJECT

FROM:

Henry

G.

Alsberg,

Director

The

following

general

suggestions

are

being

sent

to

all

the

States

where

there

are

ex-slaves

still

living.

They

will

not

apply

in

toto

to

your

State

as

they

represent

general

conclusions

reached

after

reading

the

mass

of

ex-slave

material

already

submitted.

However,

they

will,

I

hope,

prove

helpful

as

an

indication,

along

broad

lines,

of

what

we

want.

GENERAL

SUGGESTIONS:

1.

Instead

of

attempting

to

interview

a

large

number

of

ex-slaves

the

workers

should

now

concentrate

on

one

or

two

of

the

more

interest-

ing

and

intelligent

people,

revisiting

them,

establishing

friendly

relations,

and

drawing

them

out

over

a

period

of

time.

2.

The

speciﬁc

questions

suggested

to

be

asked

of

the

slaves

should

be

only

a

basis,

a

beginning.

The

talk

should

run

to

all

subjects,

and

the

interviewer

should

take

care

to

sieze

upon

the

information

already

given,

and

stories

already

told,

and

from

them

derive

other

questions.

3.

The

interviewer

should

take

the

greatest

care

not

to

inﬂuence

the

point

of

view

of

the

informant,

and

not

to

let

his

own

opinion

on

the

subject

of

slavery

become

obvious.

Should

the

ex-slave,

however,

give

only

one

side

of

the

picture,

the

interviewer

should

suggest

that

there

were

other

circumstances,

and

ask

questions

about

them.

4.

We

suggest

that

each state

choose

one

or

two

of

their

most

successful

ex-slave

interviewers

and

have

them

take

down

some

stories

word

for

word.

Some

Negro

informants

are

marvellous

in

their

ability

to

participate

in

this

type

of

interview.

All

stories

should

be

as

nearly

word—for-word

as

is

possible.

5.

More

emphasis

should

be

laid

on

questions

concerning

the

lives

of

the

individual’s

since

they

were

freed.

SUGGESTIONS

TO

INTERVIEWERS:

The

interviewer

should

attempt

to

weave

the

following

questions

naturally

into

the

conversation,

in

simple

language.

Many

of

the

inter-

views

show

that

the

workers

have

simply

sprung

routine

questions

out

of

context,

and

received

routine

answers.

1.

What

did

the

ex-slaves

expect

from

freedom?

Forty

acres

and

a

mule?

A

distribution

of

the

land

of

their

masters’

plantation?

1.

\Vhat

did

the

slaves

get

after

freedom?

Were

any

of

the

planta-

'73

1

74

/

APPENDIXES

tions

actually

divided

up?

Did

their

masters

give

them

any

money?

Were

they

under

any

compulsion

after

the

war

to

remain

as

servants?

3.

What

did

the

slaves

do

after

the

war?

What

did

they

receive

generally?

What

do

they

think

about

the

reconstruction

period?

4.

Did

secret

organizations

such

as

the

Ku

Klux

Klan

exert

or

attempt

to

exert

any

inﬂuence

over

the

lives

of

ex-slaves?

5.

Did

the

ex-slaves

ever

vote?

If

so,

under

what

circumstances?

Did

any

of

their

friends

ever

hold

political

office?

What

do

the

ex-slaves

think

of

the

present

restricted

suffrage?

6.

What

have

the

ex-slaves

been

doing

in

the

interim

between

1864

and

1937?

What

jobs

have

they

held

(in

detail)?

How

are

they

sup-

ported

nowadays?

7.

What

do

the

ex-slaves

think

of

the

younger

generation

of

Ne-

groes

and

of

present

conditions?

8.

Were

there

any

instances

of

slave

uprisings?

9.

Were

any

of

the

ex-slaves

in

your

community

living

in

Virginia

at

the

time

of

the

Nat

Turner

rebellion?

Do

they

remember

anything

about

it?

10.

What

songs

were

there

of

the

period?

The

above

sent

to:

Alabama,

Arkansas,

Florida,

Ga.,

Kentucky,

La.,

Md.,

Mississippi,

Mo.,

N.

Car.,

Okla.,

S.

Car.,

Tenn.,

Texas,

Virginia,

W.

Va.,

Ohio,

Kansas,

Indiana

STORIES

FROM

EX-SLAVES

The

main

purpose

of

these

detailed

and

homely

questions

is

to

get

the

Negro

interested

in

talking

about

the

days

of

slavery.

If

he

will

talk

freely,

he

should

be

encouraged

to

say

what

he

pleases

without

reference

to

the

questions.

It

should

be

remembered

that

the

Federal

Writers’

Project

is

not

interested

in

taking

sides

on

any

question.

The

worker

should

not

censor

any

material

collected,

regardless

of

its

nature.

It

will

not

be

necessary,

indeed

it

will

probably

be

a

mistake,

to

ask

every

person

all

of

the

questions.

Any

incidents

or

facts

he

can

recall

should

be

written

down

as

nearly

as

possible

just

as

he

says

them,

but

do

not

use

dialect

spelling

so

complicated

that

it

may

confuse

the

reader.

A

second

visit,

a

few

days

after

the

ﬁrst

one,

is

important,

so

that

the

worker

may

gather

all

the

worthwhile

recollections

that

the

ﬁrst

talk

has

aroused.

QUESTIONS:

1.

Where

and

when

were

you

born?

2.

Give

the

names

of

your

father

and

mother.

Where

did

they

come

from?

Give

names

of

your

brothers

a11d

sisters.

Tell

about

your

life

with

them

and

describe

your

hontc

and

the

“quarters.”

l)esc1"i|1c

FRONT

MATTER

or

THE

WPA

1>Ro_1EcT

/

175

the

beds

and

where

you

slept.

Do

you

remember

anything

about

your

grandparents

or

any

stories

told

you

about

them?

3.

What

work

did

you

do

in

slavery

days?

Did

you

ever

earn

any

money?

How?

What

did

you buy

with

this

money?

4.

What

did

you

eat

and

how

was

it

cooked?

Any

possums?

Rabbits?

Fish?

What

food

did

you

like

best?

Did

the

slaves

have

their

own

gardens?

5.

What

clothing

did

you

wear

in

hot

weather?

Cold

weather?

On

Sundays?

Any

shoes?

Describe

your

wedding

clothes.

6.

Tell

about

your

master,

mistress,

their

children,

the

house

they

lived

in,

the

overseer

or

driver,

poor

white

neighbors.

7.

How

many

acres

in

the

plantation?

How

many

slaves

on

it?

How

and

at

what

time

did

the

overseer

wake

up

the

slaves?

Did

they

work

hard

and

late

at

night?

How

and

for

what

causes

were

the

slaves

punished?

Tell

what

you

saw.

Tell

some

of

the

stories

you

heard.

8.

Was

there

a

jail

for

slaves?

Did

you

ever

see

any

slaves

sold

or

auctioned

off?

How

did

groups

of

slaves

travel?

Did

you

ever

see

slaves

in

chains?

9.

Did

the

white

folks

help

you

to

learn

to

read

and

write?"

10.

Did

the

slaves

have

a

church

on

your

plantation?

Did

they

read

the

Bible?

Who

was

your

favorite

preacher?

Your

favorite

spirituals?

Tell

about

the

baptizing;

baptizing

songs.

Funerals

and

funeral

songs.

11.

Did

the

slaves

ever

run

away

to

the

North?

Why?

What

did

you

hear

about

patrollers?

How

did

slaves

carry

news

from

one

planta-

tion

to

another?

Did

you

hear

of

trouble

between

the

blacks

and

whites?

12.

What

did

the

slaves

do

when

they

went

to

their

quarters

after

the

day’s

work

was

done

on

the

plantation?

Did

they

work

on

Saturday

afternoons?

What

did

they

do

Saturday

nights?

Sundays?

Christmas

morning?

New

Year’s

Day?

Any

other

holidays?

Cornshucking?

Cotton

Picking?

Dances?

When

some

of

the

white

master’s

family

married

or

died?

A

wedding

or

death

among

the

slaves?

13.

What

games

did

you

play

as

a

child?

Can

you

give

the

words

or

sing

any

of

the

play

songs

or

ring

games

of

the

children?

Riddles?

Charms?

Stories

about

“Raw

Head

and

Bloody

Bones”

or

other

“hants”

or

ghosts?

Stories

about

animals?

What

do

you

think

of

voodoo?

Can

you

give

the

woros

or

sing

any

lullabies?

Work

songs?

Plantation

hol-

lers?

Can

you

tell

a

funny

story

you

have

heard

or

something

funny

that

happened

to

you?

Tell

about

the

ghosts

you

have

seen.

14.

When

slaves

became

sick

who

looked

after

them?

What

medi-

cines

did

the

doctors

give

them?

What

medicine

(herbs,

leaves,

or

roots)

did

the

slaves

use

for

sickness?

What

charms

did

they

wear

and

to

keep

off

what

diseases?

15.

What

do

you

remember

about

the

war

that

brought

your

free-

dom?

What

happened

on

the

day

news

came

that

you

were

free?

What

did

your

master

say

and

do?

When

the

Yankees

came

what

did

they

do

and

say?

16.

Tell

what

work

you

did

and

how

you

lived

the

ﬁrst

year

after

the

war

and

what

you

saw

or

heard

about

the

Ku

Klux

Klan

and

the

Nightriders.

Any

school

then

for

Negroes?

Any

land?

176

/

APPENDIXES

17.

Whom

did

you

marry?

Describe

the

wedding.

How

many

chil-

dren

and

grandchildren

have

you

and

what

are

they

doing?

18.

What

do

you

think

of

Abraham

Lincoln?

Jefferson

Davis?

Booker

Washington?

Any

other

prominent

white

man

or

Negro

you

have

known

or

heard

of?

19.

Now

that

slavery

is

ended

what

do

you

think

of

it?

Tell

why

you

joined

a

church

and

why

you

think

all

people

should

be

religious.

2o.

Was

the

overseer

“poor

white

trash”?

What

were

some

of

his

rules?

The

details

of

the

interview

should

be

reported

as

accurately

as

possi-

ble

in

the

language

of

the

original

statements.

An

example

of

material

collected

through

one

of

the

interviews

with

ex-slaves

is

attached

here-

with.

Although

this

material

was

collected

before

the

standard

question-

naire

had

been

prepared,

it

represents

an

excellent

method

of

reporting

an

interview.

More

information

might

have

been

obtained

however,

if

a

comprehensive

questionnaire

had

been

used.

Notes

by

an

editor

on

dialect

usage

in

accounts

by

interviews

with

ex-slaves.

(To

be

used

in

conjunction

with

Supplementary

Instructions

9E.)

Simplicity

in

recording

the

dialect

is

to

be

desired

in

order

to

hold

the

interest

and

attention

of

the

readers.

It

seems

to

me

that

readers

are

repelled

by

pages

sprinkled

with

misspellings,

commas

and

apos-

trophes.

The

value

of

exact

phonetic

transcription

is,

of

course,

a

great

one.

But

few

artists

attempt

this

completely.

Thomas

Nelson

Page

was

meticulous

in

his

dialect;

Joel

Chandler

Harris

less

meticulous

but

in

my

opinion

even

more

accurate.

But

the

values

they

sought

are

different

from

the

values

that

I

believe

this

book

of

slave

narratives

should

have.

Present

day

readers

are

less

ready

for

the

overstress

of

phonetic

spelling

than

in

the

days

of

local

color.

Authors

realize

this:

Julia

Peterkin

uses

a

modiﬁed

Gullah

instead

of

Gonzales’

carefully

spelled

out

Gullah.

Howard

Odum

has

questioned

the

use

of

goin’

for

going

since

the

g

is

seldom

pronounced

even

by

the

educated.

Truth

to

idiom

is

more

important,

I

believe,

than

truth

to

pronuncia-

tion.

Erskine

Caldwell

in

his

stories

of

Georgia,

Ruth

Suckow

in

stories

of

Iowa,

and

Zora

Neale

Hurston

in

stories

of

Florida

Negroes

get

a

truth

to

the

manner

of

speaking

without

excessive

misspellings.

I11

order

to

make

this

volume

of

slave

narratives

more

appealing

and

less

diﬂicult

for

the

average

reader,

I

recommend

that

truth

to

idiom

be

paramount,

and

exact

truth

to

pronunciation

secondary.

I

appreciate

the

fact

that

many

of

the

writers

have

recorded

sensi-

tively.

The

writer

who

wrote

“ret”

for

right

is

probably

as

accurate

as

the

one

who

spelled

it

“raght.”

But

in

a

single

publication,

not

devoted

to

a

study

of

local

speech,

the

reader

may

conceivably

be

puzzled

by

different

spellings

of

the

saute

word.

The

words

“wlizifolks,”

“wliufolks,”

“wl1i'folks,”

etc.,

can

all

be

heard

in

the

South.

But

“white-

FRONT

MATTER

OF

THE

WPA

PROJECT

/

I77

folks”

is

easier

for

the

reader,

and

the

word

itself

is

suggestive

of

the

setting

and

the

attitude.

Words

that

deﬁnitely

have

a

notably

different

pronunciation

from

the

usual

should

be

recorded

as

heard.

More

important

is

the

recording

of

words

with

a

different

local

meaning.

Most

important,

however,

are

the

turns

of

phrase

that

have

ﬂavor

and

vividness. Examples

occur-

ring

in

the

copy

I

read

are:

durin’

of

de

war

outman

my

daddy

(good,

but

unnecessarily

put

into

quotes)

piddled

in

de

fields

skit

of

woods

kinder

chillish

There

are,

of

course,

questionable

words,

for

which

it

may

be

hard

to

set

up

a

single

standard.

Such

words

are:

paddyrollers,

padrollers,

pattyrollers

for

patrollers

missis,

mistess

for

mistress

marsa,

massa,

maussa,

mastuh

for

master

ter,

tuh,

teh

for

to

I

believe

that

there

should

be,

for

this

book,

a

uniform

Word

for

each

of

these.

The

following

list

is

composed

of

words

which

I

think

should

not

be

used.

These

are

merely

samples

of

certain

faults:

ah

bawn

capper

com’

do

9°?‘

.°"‘f"!“‘:"!"l"

ebry,

ev’ry

hawd

muh

9.

nakid

10.

ole,

ol’

11.

ret,

raght

12.

snaik

13.

sowd

14.

sto’

15.

teh

16.

twon’t

17.

useter,

useta

18.

uv

~

19.

waggin

20.

whi’

2|.

Wu‘/.

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

for

I

born

caper

come

dough

every

hard

mY

naked

old

right:

snake

sword

store

tell

tWan’t

used

to

of

wagon

white

was

178

/

APPENDIXES

I

should

like

to

recommend

that

the

stories

be

told

in

the

language

of

the

ex-slave,

without

excessive

editorializing

and

“artistic”

introduc-

tions

on

the

part

of

the

interviewer.

The

contrast

between

the

directness

of

the

ex-slave

speech

and

the

roundabout

and at

times

pompous

com-

ments

of

the

interviewer

is

frequently

glaring.

Care

should

be

taken

lest

expressions

such

as

the

following

creep

in:

“inﬂicting

wounds

from

which

he

never

fully

recovered”

(supposed

to

be

spoken

by

an

ex-slave).

Finally,

I

should

like

to

recommend

that

the

words

darky

and

nigger

and

such

expressions

as

“a

comical

little

old

black

woman”

be

omitted

from

the

editorial

writing.

Where

the

ex-slave

himself

uses

these,

they

should

be

retained.

This

material

sent

]une

zo

to

states

of

:

Ala.,

Ark.,

Fla.,

Ga.,

Ky.,

La.,

Md.,

Miss.,

Mo.,

N.C.,

Ohio,

Okla.,

Tenn.,

Texas,

Va.,

and

S.

Car.

Negro

Dialect

Suggestions

(Stories

of

Ex-Slaves)

Do

not

write:

Ah

for

I

Gwainter

for

gwineter

(going

to)

Poe

for

po’

(poor)

Oman

for

woman

Hit

for

it

Ifn

for

iffen

(if)

Tub

for

to

Fiula

or

ﬂab

for

ﬁre

Wuz

for

was

Uz

or

uv

or

0’

for

of

Baid

for

bed

Poar

for

poor

or

po’

Daid

for

dead

]’in

for

jine

Oub

for

our

Coase

for

cose

Mah

for

my

Utba

for

other

Oval?

for

over

Y

0’

for

you

Otbub

for

other

Gi’

for

give

Wha

for

whar

(where)

Cot

for

caught

Undab

for

under

Kin’

for

kind

Fub

for

for

Cose

for

’cause

Y

ondab

for

yonder

Tb0’t

for

thought

M

aster

for

marster

or

massa

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Worcester,

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H.

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John

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Quincy

Adams

When

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Sam.

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A

and

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Archer.

The

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March

30,

1863.

Boston,

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]ohn.

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Fugitive

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London,

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Robert.

From

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Aﬁluence,

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William.

Life

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Herbert,

ed.

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‘

Recent

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original

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Publication

lllf()flIl;lll()ll

for

hooks

published

before

1930

has

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omitted.

'7‘)

1

80

/

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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London,

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1969.

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Orland

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1939.

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Dying

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A

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Man.

Boston,

1768.

Aunt

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Isaac

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Charles.

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i7;

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1969.

Barber,

John

Warner.

A

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Amistad

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Being

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1969.

Bayley,

Solomon.

Narrative

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Some

Remarkable

Incidents

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Life

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Solomon

Bayley,

Formerly

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in

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State

of

Delaware,

North

America,

Written

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Himself.

zd

ed.

London,

182

5.

Bayliss,

John

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New

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Company,

1970.

Bibb,

Henry.

Narrative

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Life

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Henry

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An

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New

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Uni-

versities

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[1849]

1969.

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Ray

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journal

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in

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New

York:

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1961.

Black,

Leonard.

Life

and

Suﬁerings

of

Leonard

Black,

a

Fugitive

from

Slavery,

Written

by

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New

York,

1847.

Blake,

Jane.

Memoirs

of

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]ane

Blake.

Philadelphia,

1834.

Boen,

William.

Anecdotes

and

Memoirs

of

William

Boen,

a

Colored

Man

Who

Lived

and

Died

Near

Mount

Holly,

New

Iersey.

Phila-

delphia,

1834.

Bontemps,

Arna,

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Equiano,

James

Pennington,

and

William

and

Ellen

Craft).

Boston:

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Press,

1969.

Botkin,

Benjamin,

ed.

Lay

My

Burden

Down.

Chicago:

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Hallie

Q.

Homespun

Heroines

and

Orbcr

lVomcn

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I)istinc-

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Xenia,

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'5

BIBLIOGRAPHY

/

1

8

1

Brown,

Henry

Box.

Narrative

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the

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Written

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1969.

Brown,

Isaac.

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Exposed!

n.

.,

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BIOWII:

Jane.

Narrative

of

the

Life

of

lane

Brown

and

Her

Two

Chil-

dren.

Hartford,

1860.

Brown,

John.

Slave

Life

in

Georgia:

A

Narrative

of

the

Life,

Suﬁerings,

and

Escape

of

Iohn

Brown,

A

Fugitive

Slave.

London,

1855.

Brown,

Josephine.

Biography

of

a

Bondsman

by

His

Daughter.

Boston,

1855.

Brown,

Sterling;

Davis,

Arthur;

and

Lee,

Ulysses.

The

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New

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Brown,

William

J.

The

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I.

Brown

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William

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The

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His

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His

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New

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1969.

-——.

The

Narrative

of

William

Wells

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A

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New

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Negro

Universities

Press,

[1848]

1969.

Browne,

Martha.

Autobiography

of

a

Female

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New

York:

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Universities

Press,

[1857]

1969.

Bruce,

Henry

Clay.

The

New

Man:

Twenty-nine

Years

a

Slave,

Twenty-nine

Years

a

Freeman.

New

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[1895]

1969.

Bruner,

Peter.

A

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Advances

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Not

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but

the

True

Story

of

a

Struggle.

Oxford,

Ohio:

n.p.,

n.d.

Burton,

Annie

L.

Memories

of

Childhood’:

Slavery

Days.

Boston,

1919.

Campbell,

Israel.

Bond

and

Free:

or

Yearning

for

Freedom

from

my

Green

Brier

House:

Being

the

Story

of

My

Life

in

Bondage

and

My

Life

in

Freedom.

Philadelphia,

1861.

Catterall,

Helen

H.,

ed.

Iudicial

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and

the

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5

vols.

New

York:

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Books,

1968.

Chandler,

Charles.

The

Story

of

a

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n.p.,

1894.

Charlton,

Dimmock.

Narratives

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Dinzmock

Charlton,

A

British

Sub-

ject,

Taken

from

the

Brig

“Peacock”

by

the

U.S.

Sloop

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Enslaved

While

a

Prisoner

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and

Retained

F

orty-ﬁve

Years

in

Bondage.

n.p.,

n.d.

Child,

Lydia

Maria.

Authentic

Anecdotes

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New-

buryport,

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i.

The

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New

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[1865]

1968.

———.

Isaac

T.

Hopper:

A

True

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New

York:

Negro

Universities

Press,

[1853]

1969.

Clarke,

James

Freeman.

Anti-Slavery

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New

York:

Arno,

[1884]

1969.

Clarke,

Lewis.

Narrative

of

the

Suﬁerings

of

Lewis

Clarke,

During

a

Captivity

of

More

than

Twenty-Five

Years

Among

the

Algerines

of

Kentucky..Bost0n,

1845.

——,

and

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Milton.

Narratives

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Lewis

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(llarlce,

Sons

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a

Soldier

of

the

Revolution

During

a

Cap-

tivity

of

More

than

Twenty

Years

Among

Slaveholders

of

Ken-

182

/

BIBLIOGRAPHY

tucky,

One

of

the

So-Called

Christian

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North

America,

Dictated

by

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Arno,

[1846]

1969.

Clinkscales,

John

George.

On

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His

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New

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[1916]

1969.

Cofﬁn,

Levi.

Reminiscences

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Levi

Coﬂin,

The

Reputed

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the

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New

York:

Augustus

Kelly,

[1880]

1969.

Coleman,

Julia,

ed.

Child’s

Anti-Slavery

Book.

New

York,

1859.

Cooper,

Thomas.

Narrative

of

the

Life

of

Thomas

Cooper.

New

York,

1832.

Coppin,

Bishop

L.

J.

Unwritten

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New

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Universities

Press,

[1919]

1968.

Craft,

William.

Running

a

Thousand

Miles

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the

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William

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Ellen

Craft

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New

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Arno,

[1860]

1970.

Cugoano,

Ottobah.

Thoughts

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Sentiments

on

the

Evil

of

Slavery.

London:

Dawsons,

[1787]

1969.

Curtis,

Anna

L.

Stories

of

the

Underground

Railroad.

New

York:

Island

Workshop

Press

C0-Operative,

1941.

Davis,

Noah.

A

Narrative

of

the

Life

of

Reverend

Noah

Davis,

A

Colored

Man,

Written

by

Himself.

Baltimore,

1859.

Dinah.

The

Story

of

Dinah,

as

Related

to

Iohn

Hawkins

Simpson,

after

Her

Escape

from

the

Horrors

of

the

Virginia

Slave

Trade.

to

London.

London,

1863.

Dormigold,

Kate.

A

Slave

Girl’s

Story:

The

Autobiography

of

Kate

Dormigold.

Brooklyn,

New

York,

1898.

Douglass,

Frederick.

Life

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Times

of

Frederick

Douglass,

Written

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Himself.

New

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Crowell,

[1882]

1966.

—i.

The

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and

Writings

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Frederick

Douglass.

Edited

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Philip

Foner.

4

vols.

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1950.

i.

My

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My

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New

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[1855]

1968.

-———.

Narrative

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the

Life

of

Frederick

Douglass,

An

American

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Written

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Garden

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Doubleday,

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Books,

[1845]

1963.

Drew,

Benjamin.

North-Side

View

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Slavery:

The

Refugees

or

The

Narratives

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Fugitive

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in

Canada,

Related

by

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New

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Universities

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[1856]

1968.

DuBois,

Sylvia.

A

Biography

of

the

Slave

Who

Whipt

Her

Mistress

and

Gained

Her

Freedom.

New

Jersey,

1883.

Eldridge,

Elleanor.

Memoirs

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Elleanor

Eldridge.

Providence,

1838.

Eliot,

William

Greenleaf.

The

Story

of

Archer

Alexander

From

Slavery

to

Freedom,

March

30,

1863.

Westport,

Conn.:

Negro

Universities

Press,

[1885]

1970.

Equiano,

Olaudah.

The

Interesting

Narrative

of

the

Life

of

Olaudah

Equiano,

or

Gustavus

Vassa,

the

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Written

by

Himself.

New

York:

Negro

Universities

Press,

[1789]

1969.

Fairchild,

James

H.

Underground

Railroad.

Cleveland,

1877.

Fedric,

Francis.

Slave

Life

in

Virginia

and

Kerttucl.-y:

Or

Fifty

Years

of

Slavery

in

the

Southern

States

of

America,

by

Iirattcis

I"edrit',

an

Escaped

Slave.

London,

186

3.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

/

1

83

Fisk

University.

“God

Struck

Me

Dead.”

Mimeographed.

Nashville:

Social

Science

Institute,

1945.

Reprinted

with

an

introduction

by

Clifton

H.

Johnson,

Philadelphia:

Pilgrim

Press,

1969.

———.

“Unwritten

History

of

Slavery.”

Mimeographed.

Nashville:

Social

Science

Institute,

1945.

Reprint.

Washington,

D.C.:

Microcard

Editions,

1968.

F

itzhugh,

George.

Cannibals

All

Or

Slaves

Without

Masters.

Cambridge,

Mass.:

Harvard

University

Press,

I960.

Franklin,

Henry.

A

Sketch

of

Henry

Franklin

and

Family.

Philadelphia,

1887.

Frederick,

Reverend

Francis.

Autobiography

of

Reverend

Francis

Fred-

erick,

of

Virginia.

Baltimore,

1869.

Grandy,

Moses.

Narrative

of

the

Life

of

Moses

Grandy,

Late

a

Slave

in

the

United

States

of

America.

New

York:

Arno,

[1844]

I968.

Grant,

Douglas.

The

Fortunate

Slave:

An

Illustration

of

African

Slavery

in

the

Early

Eighteenth

Century.

London:

Oxford

University

Press,

1968.

Green,

J.

D.

Narrative

of

the

Life

of

I.

D.

Green,

A

Runaway

Slave

from

Kentucky.

Huddersﬁeld,

England,

1864.

Green,

William.

Narrative

of

Events

in

the

Life

of

William

Green

(Formerly

a

Slave),

Written

by

Himself.

Philadelphia:

Rhistoric

Publishers,

[1853]

1969.

Grimes,

William.

Life

of

William

Grimes,

the

Runaway

Slave,

Written

by

Himself.

New

York,

1825.

Gronniosaw,

James

A.

U.

A

Narrative

of

the

Most

Remarkable

Particu-

lars

in

the

Life

of

Iames

Albert

Ukawsaw

Gronniosaw,

an

African

Prince,

as

Related

by

Himself.

Leeds,

1814.

Hall,

Elder

Samuel.

Forty-Seven

Years

a

Slave:

a

Brief

Story

of

His

Life

as

a

Slave

and

After

Freedom.

Washington,

Georgia,

1912.

Hammon,

Briton.

A

Narrative

of

the

Uncommon

Sufferings

and

Surpris-

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53

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the

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3

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1962.

Stuckey,

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“Through

the

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“Twilight

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1966.

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1946.

——-.

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2d

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Edward

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London:

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1963.

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Negro

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25

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Turner,

Lorenzo

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Africanisms

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Chicago:

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1949.

Valentine,

Charles.

Culture

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Chicago:

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1968.

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Pierre

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Race

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i.

Race

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1967.

Wade,

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1968.

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1944.

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———.

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1945

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“The

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Collec-

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American

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19

(1967):534-553.

INDEX

Abercrombie,

Anthony,

103

Abolitionism,

109,

111-112,

118

Adams,

Isaac,

117

Adams,

John

Quincy,

109

Afro-American

societies,

31

Akan

people,

20,

27

Alaﬁn,

18-19

Allada,

19

American

Railway

Union,

156

Anansi

the

Spider,

98-100

Anderson,

Mary,

142

Anokye

(priest),

20

Appeal

(Walker),

113

Aptheker,

Herbert,

74-75

Aries,

Philippe,

129,

147

Armstrong,

Campbell,

68

Arwine,

Stearlin,

135

Ashanti,

18,

20-21,

25,

27

Banks,

Phoebee,

117

Barker,

W.

H.,

119

Baron,

Harold

M.,

121, 149,

160

Bascom,

William,

30-31,

42,

43,

49,

51,

52

Beady,

\/Vcs,

36,

57

Beard,

Charles,

159

Beatings,

55,

57,

‘S8,

80, 84,

102-

104,135,144,155

Beckwith,

Martha,

98,

120

Benin,

18,

19-20

“Benin

Gap,”

21

Bernard,

Jesse,

88-89,

94

Bibb,

Henry,

108,

111

Bills,

J.

B.,

80

Bills,

Jeff,

80

Biri,

24

Bonner,

Siney,

40

Boozier,

Colonel,

114

Botkin,

B.

A.,

xvii,

xxi,

41,

52

Bouki,

None’,

98-99

Bows,

earth,

44

Boyd,

Dr.,

41

Bradley,

Martha,

103

Brady,

Nora,

88

Brazil,

slavery

in,

126,

147

Breeding

of

slaves,

88,

136

Br’er

Rabbit

stories,

97-100

Brice,

Chris,

141

Brim,

Clara,

34

Brook

Farm

Association,

151

20]

202

/

INDEX

Brooks,

Preston,

115

“Broomstick,

jumping

the,”

80,

84-88,

90

Brown,

Barton,

82

Brown,

Fred,

63, 86

Brown,

John,

110-111

Brown,

Norman

O.,

147

Brown,

William

Wells,

111

Brutality

Whippings,

105,

126,

135

See

also

Beatings

Burns,

Anthony,

lll

“Bush-mail,”

107

Butler,

Ellen,

35

Butler,

Henry,

65

Cade,

John

B.,

xvi,

xxi

Cain,

Louis,

58

Calhoun,

Jeff,

87

Calloway,

Walter,

60

Cannon,

Sylvia,

73

Capitalism,

128-129,

159

slavery

and,

22,

138

Carder,

Sallie,

61-62,

64,

80

Carruthers,

Richard,

37,

57

Carter,

Cato,

35,

59

Cauthers,

Jack,

65

Chapman,

Amy,

64,

105

Charleston,

South

Carolina,

113

Chessier,

Betty

Foreman,

80

Chew,

Peter

xiv,

xx

Children,

slave,

55,

68,

69,

73,

77-93

Choice,

Jeptha,

88

Christianity,

slaves

and,

32-33,

48,

50-51

Cities,

West

African,

17,

19

Civil

War,

153-155

slaves

and

the,

96, 97,

113-119,

155

Clark,

Anne,

58

Clark,

Ed,

120

Clothing,

slave,

73-74

Colbert,

January,

104

Colbert,

Polly,

71,

80-81

Colbert,

William,

104

Cole,

Thomas,

5

8

Coleman,

Eli,

5

7,

88

Collins,

Harriet,

48

Colored

Farmers

Alliance,

15

6

Communications,

slaves

and,

107-109

Conrad,

George,

118

Contract,

social,

150-152,

158

Cooking,

slaves

and,

71-72,

77

Coramantee

slaves,

27-28

Cornish,

Laura,

66

Courlander,

Harold,

32,

44-45,

52,

98,

120

Courtship,

slaves

and,

77,

78,

85

Craft,

Ellen,

lll

Craft,

William,

111

Crane,

Sallie,

68

Cultures,

African,

6-8,

14-28,

30-31

Cunningham,

Adeline,

35

Curtain,

Philip,

126,

147

Dahomey,

18,

20,

42

Daily,

Will,

87

Darling,

Katie,

59,

88

Davenport,

Carey,

34,

59

Davenport,

Sarah,

86

Davidson,

Basil,

21,

29

Davidson,

Eli,

87

Davis,

David

Brion,

147

Davis,

Elizabeth,

81

Davis,

Harriet,

83

Davis,

Minnie,

36

Davis,

Richard

I..,

160

Davison,

Elige,

61,

88

l)a\vson,

/\11tl1ony,

62,

8|

INDEX

/

203

Day,

John,

67

Dayrell,

Elphinstone,

119

Debs,

Eugene,

156

Declaration

of

Independence,

151,

155,

159

Degler,

Carl,

147

Dennert,

44

Douglass,

Frederick,

xiv,

4-5,

6,

12,

109, 111,

120,151—152,

153-154,

60

Dowdy,

Daniel,

71,

81

Dowdy,

George,

81

Dowdy,

Henry,

81

Dowdy,

James,

81

Dowdy,

Jeff,

81

Dowdy,

Joe,

81

Dowdy,

Lewis,

81

Dowdy,

Mary,

81

Dowdy,

Newt,

81

Dowdy,

Sarah,

81

Dowdy,

Smith,

81

Dowdy,

William,

81

Draft

riots

(New

York

City,

1s63),155

Drums,

43-45

Du

Bois,

W.

E.

B.,

28,

96,

119,

120,l39,140,l49,l60,165

Earth

bows,

44

Eason,

George,

87

Elegba

(god),

47.

See

also

Legba

Elkins,

Stanley,

9,

12-13,

74,

119

Emancipation

Proclamation,

118

Emerson,

Ralph

Waldo,

111

Emmanuel,

Mom

Ryer,

134

Epps

(slaveholder),

12

Erikson,

Erik,

101,

120

Erinle

(god),

42

Fabor,

Lewis,

36

Fage,J.[X,23,24,25,29

Family

life,

of

slaves,

77-93

Fanon,

Frantz,

95,

119

Fanti,

27

Fathers,

slave,

77-93

Federal

Writers’

Project,

Slave

Narratives,

xv,

xvi,

163, 164,

167-178

Federalist

Papers,

159

Feldstein,

Stanley,

xx

Fernandes,

Jim,

134

Fisk

University

project,

xvi,

163

Fitzhugh,

George,

56,

75,

139

Fon,

21

Food,

slaves

and,

54,

5

5,

68-72,

90, 95,

117

Ford,

William,

114

Foreman,

Arnold,

80

Foreman,

John,

80

Foucault,

Michel,

129,

147

Franklin,

John

(slave),

117

Franklin,

John

Hope,

78, 79,

93

Frazier,

E.

Franklin,

78-79,

91-

93,

94

Freedman’s

Bureau,

149

Freedmen,

109-113,

118,

155

Freedom

Halls,

15

7,

160

Freud,

Sigmund,

130,

148

Fugitive

Slave

Act,

111,

151,

152

Fulani,

16

Gabon,

26-27

Gara,

Larry,

110,

120

Garrison,

William

Lloyd,

110,

15

1

Garvey,

Marcus,

157,

160

Genovese,

Eugene,

x,

13,

75

,

127,

137,

139, 147,

148,

149

George,

Octavia,

69,

82

Giles,

Dave,

82

Glaberman,

Martin,

x,

120

Glazer,

Nathan,

92,

94

Gluekman,

Max,

29

Gorman,

William,

121

Goveia,

Elsa,

137,

148

Grant,

Ulysses

S.,

117

Gray,

Ambus,

145

Grinstead,

Albert,

82

Grinstead,

Ann,

82

Grinstead,

Elias,

82

Grinstead,

John,

82

Grinstead,

Silas,

82

Grinstead,

William,

82

Guilt,

slaves

and

feelings

of,

102

Gullah

people,

30-31

Gutman,

Herbert,

90-91,

94,

160

Hardin,

John,

63

Harper’s

Ferry,

110

Harris,

Joel

Chandler,

97,

119

Harris,

Marvin,

136,

147,

148

Hausa,

27

Hawkins,

Annie,

82

Hawkins,

G.

W.,

143

Hegel,

G.

W.

F.,

3,

12

Henry,

Ida,

59,

62

Henson,

Josiah,

111

Herbert,

Thomas,

148

Heritage,

African,

6-8,

14-28,

30

Herndon,

Zack,

136

Herskovits,

Melville

J.,

26,

29,

42,

52

Higginson,

James

Wentworth,

1 1

l

Higginson,

Thomas

Wentworth,

1

19

Hildreth,

Richard,

xv,

xx

Hill,

Jerr,

134

Hill,

Robert,

160

Hillyer,

Morris,

63

Hobbes,

Thomas,

130

Hodges,

Odelinc,

35

I:~loeti11k,

Ilarry,

44,

102,

120

204

/

INDEX

Hofstadter,

Richard,

160

Holloway,

H.

B.,

143-144

Houses,

slave,

70-71,

77,

84

Huddleston,

Booker,

84

Hutson,

Andrew,

82

Hutson,

Clent,

82

Hutson,

Frank,

82

Hutson,

George,

82

Hutson,

Gilbert,

82

Hutson,

Hal,

71,

82

Hutson,

Horace,

82

Hutson,

Mack,

82

Hutson,

Marie,

82

Hutson,

Nancy,

82

Hutson,

Rosie,

82

Ibo,

26,

27

Illiteracy,

108

Indians,

American,

23, 26,

83,

89

117,150,151,

158,165

Iron

pots,

use

of

in

religious

services,

39-43

Islam,

16

Jamaica,

Maroon

Wars

in,

27

James,

C.

L.

R.,

x,

120

James,

Fred,

141

Jefferson,

Thomas,

137

Jenkins,

Henry,

145

Jepson,

Jacob,

4

Jim,

Uncle,

65

Johnson,

Charles,

50, 51, 52,

145,

149

Johnson,

Clifton

H.,

166

Johnson,

Hannibal,

114

Johnson,

Jimmie,

141

Johnson,

Nellie,

83

Johnson,

Samuel,

24,

29

Jones,

Islcnry,

1

15

147,

H8

Jortlzm,

Winthrop,

126,

I27,

HI,

INDEX

/

205

Joseph,

Alfred,

82

Joseph,

Clementine,

82

Kamen-Bornu,

24

Keys,

Sarah,

87

King,

Martha,

83

Kinship

system,

77-93

Klein,

A.

Norman,

28

Knight,

Franklin

W.,

13

Ku

Klux

Klan,

140,

142-145

Kye,

George,

68,

73

Lamming,

George,

75

,

120

Latter-Day

Saints,

151

Laurens,

Henry,

26

Legba

(god),

47,

48,

97-98.

See

also

Elegba

Lee,

Robert

E.,

97

Lester,

Julius,

xvii,

xxi

Lincoln,

Abraham,

117,

118-119,

l21,l37,152—155,160

Lloyd,

Colonel,

4

Locke,

John,

131

Logan,

Mrs.

Mattie,

70,

72

Lomax,

John

A.,

xvi

Long,

Thomas,

119

Love,

Betty,

81

Love,

Isom,

83-84

Love,

Kiziah,

83-84

Love,

Sam,

83,

84

Loyal

League,

113-114

Luster,

Bert,

70,

84

Mack,

Marshall,

84

Mack,

Sylvestus,

84

MacPhearson,

C.

B.,

131,

148

Malice,

Ti,

98-99

Mandingo,

27

Manley,

Governor

(North

Carolina),

80

Manley,

Melinda,

80

Manning,

Allen,

84

Marcuse,

Herbert,

147

Marion,

Andy,

141

Maroon

Wars

(Jamaica),

27

Marriage,

slaves

and,

79-81,

136

Marriage

and

Family

Among

Negroes

(Bernard),

88

Marx,

Karl,

13,

138,

139, 148,

149,

15

3,

15

9

Mauny,

R.,

29

McCray,

Charlie,

84

McCray,

Mandy,

84

McCray,

Peter,

84

McCray,

Ruthi,

84

McCray,

Stephen,

70,

84

McCray,

Wash,

84

McCray,

Winnie,

84

McIntosh,

Adam,

83

McIntosh,

August,

83

McIntosh,

Flora,

83

McIntosh,

Jackson,

83

McIntosh,

Millie,

83

McIntosh,

Nancy,

83

McIntosh,

Nero,

83

McIntosh,

Rhoada,

83

Mclntosh,

Rolley,

83

Mclntosh,

Sammy,

83

McPherson,

James

M.,

114-116,

121

Meadows,

Noah,

81

Methodism,

130

Metraux,

44

Mexican-Americans,

15 8

Mintz,

Sidney

W.,

12,

43-45,

52

Miscegenation,

125,

137

Moss,

Claiborne,

142

Mothers,

slave,

77-93

Moynihan,

Daniel

P.,

75

Nash,

Gary

B.,

148

National

Labor

Union,

15

6

206

/

INDEX

National

Negro

Convention

movement,

110

Neel,

Harriet,

80

Negro

Family

in

the

United

States,

The

(Frazier),

91

Neimark,

Paul

G.,

5

2

News,

spread

of,

among

slaves,

107-109

Nichols,

Charles,

xx,

120

Northrup,

Solomon,

5-6,

12,

108

Oba,

the,

19-20

Oliver,

Salomon,

Jr.,

68, 70,

84

Oliver,

Salomon,

Sr.,

84

Olorun

(god),

47

Ortiz,

43

Osei

Tutu

(king),

20

Oshun

(goddess),

42

Ottoman

Empire,

slaves

in

the,

125

Ouidah,

19,

21

Ouverture,

Toussaint

L’,

28

Owens,

Henry,

43

Owens,

Jesse,

43,

5 2

Oyo,

18-19,

20, 21,

24

Oyo

Mesi,

19

Patrol

system,

61-65,

105,

108,

141,

151

Patterson,

Orlando,

27,

29

Peace

movement,

15

8

Pennington,

James,

111

Perry,

Jack,

82

Perryman,

Jacob,

117

Personality,

slave,

95-119

Phenomenology

of

Mind,

The

(Hegel),

3

Phillips,

Ulrich

B.,

26,

29,

105,

120

Phillips,

Wendell,

11_1,

155-156,

160

Pinkerton,

Allan,

113

Plantation

system,

after

the

Civil

War,

146-147

Polaynai,

Karl,

131,

148

Populist

movement,

156

Pots,

iron,

use

of

in

religious

services,

39-43

Poyas,

Peter,

112

Prosser,

Gabriel,

112,

113

Puerto

Ricans,

15

8

Punishment,

methods

of,

5

5-65

Puritanism,

130,

148,

15

8

Quarles,

Benjamin,

113,

121

Quattlebaum,

Junius,

1

35

Racism

making

of

American

society

and,

150-159

slavery

and,

125-147

Raines,

Mary,

69

Rainwater,

Lee,

75

Rattray,

25

Reconstruction

period,

ex-slaves

during

the,

141-146,

156

Reddick,

Lawrence

D.,

xvi

Reed,

Phillis,

87

Reich,

Wilhelm,

147

Religion

slaves

and,

32-51,

108,

113

West

Africa

and,

16

Resistance

to

slavery,"F‘5

-1

19

Revolts,

slave,

51,

54,

l1(‘—1

13

Richards,

Leonard

L.,

149

Richmond,

Virginia,

113

Rodney,

Walter,

15,

21,

22, 24,

25,

28,

29

Russel,

Benjamin,-72,

107

Rutledge,

Sabe,

99

INDEX

/

207

Sango

(king

of

Oyo),

24

Savannah

Writers’

Project,

xvii

Scarborough,

Dorothy,

41

Scobell,

John,

113

Segregation,

145

Sexual

relationships,

slaves

and,

79,

86

Shango

(god),

42

Sharecropping,

142

Shopona

(god),

42

Simms,

Andrew,

85

Simpson,

Robert

Bruce,

52

Sinclair,

Cecilia,

119

Slave

trade,

Africa

and

the,

18-26

Social

contract,

15

0-1

5

2,

15

8

Social

life,

slaves

and,

77-93

Souls

of

Black

Folks,

The

(Du

Bois),

140

Southall,

James,

67,

85

Southern

University

Project,

xvi

Stampp,

Kenneth,

74,

76, 77,

78,

93

Steal

Away

(spiritual),

41

Stowe,

Harriet

Beecher,

5

Strikes,

slave,

105-107

Stuckey,

Sterling,

165,

166

Suicide,

slaves

and,

103

Sutton,

Mrs.,

39

Sylvis,

William,

15

6

Szwed,

John

F.,

75

“Tar

Baby”

stories,

98

These

Are

Our

Lives,

xvi

Thirteenth

Amendment,

118,

140

Thomas,

L.

V.,

29

Thompson,

Edward

P.,

131-132,

148

Thompson,

John,

108,

109

Thoreau,

Henry

David,

151,

159

Townes,

Dick,

65

Transcendentalists,

15

1

Treatment

of

slaves,

5

3-74,

125

Troutman,

Colonel,

144

Truancy,

slaves

and,

105'-107

Tubman,

Harriet,

111,

120

Turner,

Nat,

38,

108,

109, 112,

1

13

Twain,

Mark,

136,

148

Twelve

Years

a

Slave

(Northrup),

6

“Uncle

Tip

Toe,”

64-65

Uncle

Tom’s

Cabin

(Stowe),

5

Underground

Railroad,

51,

110,

120

Universal

Negro

Improvement

Association,

157

Uprisings,

See

Revolts,

slave

Valentine,

Charles

A.,

75

Vansina,

Jan,

29

Vesey,

Denmark,

112,

113

Village

life,

West

African,

17

Voices

from

Slavery

(Yetman),

xvii

\Val1<er,

David,

108,

109,

113

Ward,

Matthew,

146-147,

149

Watson,

Tom,

156,

160

Weber,

Max,

132,

139

Webster,

Timothy,

113

Weddings,

slave,

80,

81,

84-88

West

Africa,

history

of,

14-28

West

Indies,

slavery

in

the,

137

Whippings,

55-65,

82,

85,

103-

106, 134,

144

White,

James,

85-86

White,

John,

85-86

White,

Mary,

85-86

White,

Mingo,

35,

60,

102

White,

Ned,

<50,

102-103

208

/

INDEX

White,

Tom,

102

Woodward,

C.

Vann,

149, 156,

Whitten,

Norman

E.,

Jr.,

75 160

Whittier,

John

Greenleaf,

xv,

Work

arrangements,

in

West

xx—xxi

Africa,

17, 27

Wilkerson,

Nannie,

84

Williams,

Alfred,

66

Yancey,

William,

75

Williams,

Eric,

13,

148

Yemoja

(goddess),

42

Williams,

James,

xx-xxi

Yetman,

Norman

R.,

xvii,

xxi

Williams,

John,

63

Yorubas,

18, 19,

21, 24, 27,

42,

43

Women,

slave,

7,

38,

55,

77-93,

47

105

Young

Man

Luther,

The

Woods,

Tom,

63, 68,

86

(Erikson),

101

ABOUT

THE

AUTHOR

GEORGE

P.

RAw1cK

is

Associate

Professor

of

Sociology

at

Washington

University,

St.

Louis,

Missouri.

He

earned

his

A.B.

from

Oberlin

College

and

his

M.S.

and

Ph.D.

in

history

from

the

University

of

Wisconsin.

As

a

postdoctoral

fellow,

he

studied

sociology

and

an

thropology

at

Cornell

University.

He

has

taught

at

several

colleges

and

universities

and

is

the

author

of

numerous

scholarly

articles

and

reviews.