READINGS FROM THE SLAVE NARRATIVES

1 InTIME/ unchained MemoriesCMYK TIME ImagingREADINGS FROM THE SLAVE NARRATIVESWhat was it like to be enslaved in the United States? More than 2,000 African Americans answered that question in interviews conducted during the 1930s. Their voices come to life inside thepages of this magazine and in the extraordinary new documentary unchained Memories: READINGS from the SLAVE Monday, February 10, 2003, at 8 MemoriesCMYK TIME Imagingcan constitute a state. I think wemust get rid of slavery or we mustget rid of freedom. Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet, 1856 Democratic liberty exists solelybecause we have slaves .. freedomis not possible without slavery. Richmond Enquirer,1856 Whenever I hear anyone arguingfor slavery, I feel a strong impulse tosee it tried on him personally. President Abraham Lincoln, 1865 I had crossed the line. I was free;but there was no one to welcomeme to the land of freedom. I was astranger in a strange land.

2 Harriet Tubman, who escaped from slavery in 1849 and went on to lead 300 slaves to freedom If I had my life to live over, I woulddie fighting rather than be a slaveagain. Robert Falls, former SLAVE , in WPAinterview conducted in the 1930s 12,000,000 Approximatenumber of Africans shipped acrossthe Atlantic Ocean between 1450and 1850, primarily to colonies inNorth America, South America andthe West ,953,760 Total number ofenslaved people in the southernstates in number of enslaved peoplein the free states of the Northas of ,000 Number of ex-slavesstill alive in the late ,300Ex-slaves interviewed inthe 1930s for the SLAVE Narrativesnow housed at Library of Congress. SLAVERYBYTHENUMBERSHUMAN CARGO: Flyerslike this one, distributedin Charleston, South Carolina in 1769, advertised the sale ofenslaved Africa to America:Enslaved Africans Countries of Origin(1619-1865) No man can put a chain around theankle of his fellow man without atlast finding the other end fastenedabout his own neck.

3 Frederick Douglass, liberated slaveand civil rights activist, 1883 I do not see how a barbarous com-munity and a civilized communityA NATION DIVIDED: This 1856 mapshows the division between SLAVE and freestates. The numbers in white indicate the per-centage of families in each southern state thatowned slaves. Under the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, the question of slaveryin the territories was supposed to be decided by a vote of settlers. But insteadof providing a peaceful solution, the Kansas-Nebraska Act led to fierce andbloody conflict, propelling the toward civil OF CONGRESSAMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETYinTIME/ unchained MemoriesCMYK TIME ImagingDDuring the Great Depressionof the 1930s, the FederalGovernment came up witha creative new way to putunemployed writers backto work. Armed with taperecorders and lists of questions, mem-bers of the Federal Writers Project setout to record the experiences andopinions of everyday people.

4 As partof this project, thousands of formerslaves in 17 states were result of these oral history inter-views was the SLAVE narrative Col-lection, an extraordinary set of 2,300autobiographical documents nowhoused at the Library of interviews, all of which wereconducted between 1936 and 1938,gave former slaves an unparalleledchance to share their memories oflife in bondage. For contemporaryAmericans, these NARRATIVES provide ariveting chronicle of what it was liketo be enslaved in the United the Language of the SLAVE NarrativesIn his instructions to interviewers, thedirector of the Federal Writers Projectnoted that details of the interviewshould be reported as accurately aspossible in the language of the originalstatements. In response, the inter-viewers most of whom were white made an effort to capture in writingthe speech patterns of the men andwomen with whom they spoke.

5 (Someinterviewers tape-recorded the con-versations, while many relied solelyon written notes.) In some cases, theresulting transcripts contain clear exaggerations or racist notions ofAfrican Americans. As one historianhas noted, the transcripts are a mix of accuracy and fantasy, of sensitivityand stereotype, of empathy and racism. When reading or listening to thenarratives, it is important to rememberthe process by which the interviewees words were recorded on paper. It isalso important to remember the his-torical context in which the narrativeswere produced. Certain words thatthe former slaves used may be offen-sive or disturbing. But the narrativesare a reflection of the time and place atwhich they were created. As such, theyilluminate a world that is importantfor all Americans to explore. 3 The SLAVE NARRATIVES on the WebWHATARETHESLAVENARRATIVES?More than 2,000slave NARRATIVES along with 500 photos are available online at theLibrary of Congress Born in Slavery website Formore information about the new HBO documentary unchained Memories: READINGS from the SLAVE NARRATIVES ,visit Andfor teaching materials and additional resources related to the SLAVE NARRATIVES , go to CONDITIONS: Devices such asthis one were used to restrain SLAVERY TO FREEDOM: This rare photograph shows a group of ex-slaves in Cumberland Landing, Virginia in 1862, the year after the Civil War OF CONGRESS (2)WILBERFORCE HOUSE MUSEUM, KINGSTON UPON HULL CITY MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY None of us was allowed to see a book or try to learn.

6 Mush and BeansI remember quite well howthose poor little children usedto have to eat. They werefed inboxes and troughs, under the were fed cornmeal mush andbeans. When this was poured intotheir box, they would gather aroundit the same as we see pigs, horses andcattle gather around troughs today. Octavia George, OklahomaStudying the Spelling BookNone of us was lowed to seea book or try to learn. Dey saywe git smarter den dey was if welearn anything, but we slips aroundand gits hold of dat Webster s oldblue-back speller and we hides it tilway in de night and den we lights alittle pine torch and studies datspellin book. We learn it, too. Jenny Proctor, TexasENSLAVED PEOPLE STARTED WORKING ATa very early age: many began theirlabors in the master s house, wherethey served as playmates for whitechildren. Despite this closeness,black and white children could notattend school together.

7 In fact, inmost states it was against the lawfor slaves to be New Master Was Only TwoMy earliest recollection is theday my old boss presented meto his son, Joe, as his property. I wasabout five years old and my newmaster was only two .. No, sir, Inever went into books. I used tohandle a big dictionary three timesa day, but it was only to put it on achair so my young master could situp higher at the table. I never wentto school. I learned to talk prettygood by associating with my mastersin their big house. Martin Jackson, TexasUNCHAINEDinTIME/ unchained MemoriesCMYKTIME Imaging4 Born in 1847 in Victoria County, Texas,MARTIN JACKSONwas 90 when this1937 photo was taken. PLANTATION LIFE: This group ofslaves, photographed in 1862,worked on Smith s Plantation inBeaufort, South Carolina. JENNY PROCTOR began working in thecotton fields when she was 10. Shewas 87 when she shared her memoriesof LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (7)The children were fed inboxes and troughs.

8 Same aswe see pigs, horses and cattle. APPROXIMATELY ONE IN THREE SLAVE families was split apart. One-fifth ofall enslaved children were separatedfrom their Last Time I Heard Her SpeakI never knowed my age tillafter de war .. and thenmarster gits out a big book an itshows I s 25 year old. It shows I s 12when I is bought and $800 is paidfor me .. My mammy was owned byJohn Williams in Petersburg, in Vir-ginia, and I come born to her on datplantation .. Then, one day alongcome a Friday and that a unlucky starday, and I playin round de houseand Marster Williams come up andsay, Delis, will you low Jim walkdown de street with me? My mammysay, All right, Jim, you be a good boy, and dat de las time I ever heard herspeak, or ever see her. James Green, TexasinTIME/ unchained MemoriesCMYKTIME ImagingBYAGE12, MOST CHILDREN WORKEDin the fields, where they grew cropslike tobacco, rice and cotton. Slavesgenerally worked six days a week,from sunrise to and HornsBells and horns!

9 Bells for disand horns for dat! All weknowedwas go and come by de bellsand horns! Old ram horn blow tosend us all to de field. We all line up,about 75 field niggers, and go by detoolshed and git our hoes, or maybego hitch up de mules to de plows. Charley Williams, Arkansas300 Pounds of CottonI used to have to pick cottonand sometime I pick 300 poundand tote it a mile to de cotton pick 300 to 800 pound cottonand have to tote de bag de whole mileto de gin. Iffen dey didn t do dey work,dey git whip till dey have blister on em .. I never git whip, cause I allusgit my 300 pound. Sarah Ashley, TexasUNCHAINEDCOMING AND GOING: Horns like this onewere used to call slaves to work. SARAH ASHLEYwas 93 when she recalledher days on a Texas plantation. JAMES GREEN, shown herein 1937, told of beingbought for $ inTIME/ unchained MemoriesCMYK TIME ImagingESCAPING FROM SLAVERY WAS EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT,and the penalty for being caught could be mutilation ordeath.

10 Nevertheless, about 50,000 slaves ran away eachyear but only a small fraction succeeded in attainingfreedom. Many escaping slaves made use of the Underground Railroad, an informal network of safehouses and assistance for runaway Across the River An old woman .. told me she had a real pretty girlthere who wanted to go across the river to Ripley, Ohio,and would I take her? I was scared, and backed out in ahurry. But then I saw the girl, and she was such a prettylittle thing .. I don t know how I ever rowed the boatacross the river; the current was strong and I was trem-bling. I couldn t see a thing there in the dark, but I felt thegirl s eyes .. Well, pretty soon I saw a tall light and whenI got up to it, two men reached down and grabbed her. Istarted tremblin all over again andprayin . Then, one of the men took myarm and I just felt down inside of methat the Lord had got ready for me. Youhungry, Boy? is what he asked me. That was my first trip; it took me along time to get over my scared feelin ,but I finally did, and I soon found my-self goin back across the river, withtwo and three people, and sometimesa whole boatload.