Essay 2

The relationship between White supremacists and African Americans before and after the Civil War was an interesting one. Were African Americans still enslaved after being freed? I will use this essay to explain why I believe that we were! It seems that before and after the Civil War manipulation of the African American race was a slave master’s goldmine.  I will use examples from the text “When I was A Slave by Norman R. Yetman” and “Southern Horrors and Other Writings” by Ida B. Wells. I will show how the slaves worked long and hard in Cotton and Tobacco Fields regulated through the teachings of the “Willie Lynch methods”. White Slave Owners used these methods to acquire great wealth without paying for labor or working themselves. The Willie Lynch methods were in order to become a great Slave owner through the way of divide and conquer, fear, violence, and to have the slaves only believe that the slave masters were the ones who loved them. In Addition to that Slave masters used Religion to control the beliefs of the slaves. They used religion as a pacifier to slaves. Religion taught slaves that to make it to heaven you don’t need riches and you don’t need to practice Violence. The Willie Lynch speech was originally given on the bank of the James River in the colony of Virginia in 1712.  A Direct Quote from the Willie Lynch is “I shall assure you that Distrust is stronger than trust and envy stronger than Adulation, Respect or Admiration. The Black slaves after receiving this introduction shall carry on and will become self-refueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands. Don’t forget you must pitch the old black male vs. the young black male, and the young black male against the old black male. You must use the dark skin slaves vs. the light skin slaves, and the light skin slaves vs. the dark skin slaves. You must use the females vs. the males, and the males vs. females. You must also have the white servants and overseers (who) distrust all blacks. But it is necessary that your slaves trust and depend on us. They must love, respect and trust only us. Gentlemen these kits are your keys to control. Use them have your wives and children use them, never miss an opportunity. If used intensely for one year, the slaves themselves will remain perpetually distrustful.

  After the civil war the slaves were freed. They still used the same drive as they did when they were slaves with the right to work for money so now the motivation to work was different. After the civil war former slaves were able to own their own businesses and properties. A way the former slave owners would try to and limit black owned businesses would be through lynchings incorporated by a white supremacist group called the Ku Klux Klan better known as the KKK. They were formed in the south in the 1860’and died out in the early 1870’s.The second uprising of the KKK flourished nationally in the early and mid 1920’s. They adopted the same costumes and code words as the first Klan and introduced cross burnings.

The three interviews I choose talk about are Millie Evans, Mrs. M. S. Fayman, and John Finnelly from the text When I Was a Slave for examples of the work ethnic before the civil war. I will use examples of post civil war activities as far as work ethnics and White Supremacist violence through the text Southern Horrors by Ida B. Wells.  In The Text When I was A Slave by Norman R. Yetman. The first is an Interview of Millie Evans in El Dorado, Arkansas by Mrs. Carol Graham. At the time of the interview Millie Evans was 88. In the interview Millie Evans explains her accounts as a slave. She talks about her experience as a slave born in North Carolina in 1899 on a slave plantation. Milllie Evans has no account of her slave Masters name but she does remember only calling them Master and Mistress. Her slave owner had about 100 slaves and he was rich.  She believed her master loved his slaves. The mistress watched over all of the female slaves while the master minded all of the male slaves. “We had the best Mistress and Master in de world, and dey was Christian folks and dey taught us to be Christian like too”.    Slave owners in that time instilled religion in people as a form of a pacifier to calm them down of all of the injustices they faced as slaves. Another example of this would be “He told us to never steal nor to tell false tales and not to do anything dat was bad. He said:” you will reap what you sow: dat you sow it single and reap it double. I learned dat when I was a little child and I ain’t forgot it yet”. She also talks about the slaves work ethnic for survival on the plantation. They made their own clothes from the cotton they picked. The women folks carded and spun and wove cloth, then dyed it and made clothes.  Slaves made their own dye from tree bark and tree leaves. Using these resources slaves produce items such as petticoats, drawers, and dresses. Mille Evans father was taught how to make shoes by his master. The slaves made vinegar out of apples and they wash clothes in tub hung the clothes to dry and beat them clean with a stick.  They made their own perfume from rose leaves, cape jasmines, and sweet basil additionally the also produced their own chewing tobacco. Slaves had other jobs such as picking cotton and tobacco but made clothes and other items as a means of survival because they had no way of providing. Slaves worked hard for many hours with no pay. The slave masters had no reason to spend money so most of them saved it. To further illustrate my point here is a quote from Millie Evans “De reason so many white folks was rich was dey made money and didn’t have nothing to do but save it. Dey made money and raised everything dey used, and just didn’t have no use for money. Didn’t have no banks in dem days so master just buried his money”.

 The second interview was Mrs. M.S. Fayman in Maryland who was 87 at the time of the interview. Mrs. Fayman was born in St. Narzaire parish in Louisiana in 1850. She attended private school until she was abducted and sold into slavery. She was sold to Pierce Buckraw Haynes a well known slave trader and a plantation owner in Kentucky. Her job as slave was to act as a tutor and companion for his children. While on the plantation she wore good clothes similar to those worn by white children. Haynes was a merciless brutal tyrant with his slaves punishing them severely both by the lash and in jail on the plantation. The slaves were beaten to instill fear thanks in part to the will lynch rules. Slaves were whipped at the end of the day if their work was not completed. Slaves lived in bored and gated houses to prevent or deter escape and on the outside near each window there were iron rings firmly attached to the walls. An iron rod was inserted and locked each and every night making it impossible to escape. Mrs. Fayman didn’t witness this first hand but she did see this on a regular basis. Her job being a French tutor kept her out of harms way until she became free. After gaining her freedom she graduated fro Fisk University in 1874 and taught French there until 1883.

The third interview was of John Finnely in Forth Worth, Texas. He was 86 when interviewed. John Finnely was born on a Cotton plantation. His job as a slave was an open hand. He picked cotton, he got to go hunting with his master, and he was also used as a gun rest and fetcher. After a kill he would fetch the prey for his master. He was also used to turn the squirrels for him. He also mentions how when the master didn’t get his way he whipped a female slave. “ De worst whippin’  I seed was given to Clarinda. She hit Massa with de hoe’ cause he try ‘fere with her and she try to stop him. She's put on de log and given five hundred lashes. She am over dat log all day and when dey takes her off, she am limp and act dead like “. The Master would also set up fights with other slaves for entertainment. The white slave owners would watch the slaves fight while they watched and drank. This act reminds me of such sports in this day and age such as Boxing, UFC and etc. People watching others fight to the near death for their enjoyment while they drink alcoholic beverages.

    In the text Southern Horrors and Other writings by Ida B. Wells gives me the understanding of the work ethnic of free slaves and the White supremacist violence post civil war. Ida B. Wells talks about Lynching and Reconstruction, The Rise and Fall of Reconstruction, and The History of Lynching. In her writings she explains how after the slaves were allowed to own businesses and property. She also mentions how the freedom of the slaves bought upon the rise of a White Supremacist group called the Ku Klux Klan known as the KKK. She talks about three Black men who were killed. “On the morning of March 9,1892, the bodies of Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell and Wil Stewart were found shot to pieces in a field A mile north of Memphis, Tennessee,” by hands unknown”. The men had owned and operated the peoples grocery store, A store in competition with a grocery owned and operated by a white man”.(p.2 fourth paragraph) This is an example of how White Supremacist controlled the wealth of American people through the violence. Lynching was a law passed if a colored person was found guilty of raping White women. but White Supremacist used this tactic to justify senseless lynchings to control Black people who were successful with their business. “Thomas Moss, Calvin Mcdowell, and Lee Stewart had been lynched in Memphis, one of the leading cities of the South, In which no lynching had taken place before , With just as much brutality as other victims of the mob; and they had committed no crime against White women. “After the civil war ended President Abraham Lincoln Appointed provisional military governors for Louisiana, Tennessee, and North Carolina to insure the rights of the free black slaves.  Shortly after the troops were removed and the North turned a blind eye to the violence the White Supremacist committed to the Black people. It was a form of modern day slavery through fear of being murdered.     In conclusion I learned that violence and manipulation was a corner stone of this nation, since the beginning of the slavery era up until the end of slavery violence was a key factor. White slave owners used such methods of violence as keys to becoming rich.  They used torture, whippings, rape, and sadistic punishment to keep slaves in line in order to work for free and make them rich. After the civil war White Supremacist used similar tactics such as lynching and brutal murders to control the wealth and quantities of Black owned businesses. There was no such thing as a successful Black owned business because they were usually lynched and shot to death or just brutally murdered.  They used lies that these men raped White women to kill these men without even being found guilty in a court of law. In turn, Black owned businesses were closed and black people headed north to escape the violence. The only differences between the two were slaves were considered to be property and free Blacks weren’t. Slave owners would never kill a slave because the slaves were investments. White Supremacist killed Free Blacks to install fear in them as a form of modern day slavery. 

Lib 101 free write

Human rights are our rights that we are born with and not giving to us.Language is deveolped as we communicate throughout our lives. They are similiar to me because we have the right to free speech as well as human rights. I believe they are connected because it seems you cant have one without the other.

           After reading the texts from the Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, the letter of Benjamin Benneker to Thomas Jefferson, and The Mary Anderson Interview, I will to the best of my ability show the different emotions and feelings of enslaved Black men and a free black man during the time of the slavery era. In this essay I will elaborate on what I took from these readings and the emotional and mental distress, as well as the physical hardships these men endured during those times. I will also show some of the similarities that these men might have had that can relate to certain movies such as roots and modern day people.

              In the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano the story gave me the impression that Olaudah was emotionally depressed, fearful, and mortified beyond any means of an average person. Olaudah was from a family of seven children. He was the youngest of six boys and older than his only sister. He was his mother’s favorite child, and he was trained in the art of war. His daily exercise would consist of shooting and throwing javelins in which he excelled. As A reward for hard work and progression his mother would reward him with emblems that resembled those of great warriors in his community. At the tender age of 11 life was over as he knew it and his happiness was put to an end. One day as the Adults of his neighborhood traveled far into the fields as they always did do labor they were approached by kidnappers. Olaudah and his sister were left at home alone to mind the house while their parents were off to work in the fields. The kidnappers made their way over the over the walls and seized both children, They grabbed them and bounded their mouths so fast the children didn’t have a chance to let out a scream before being carried through the woods.. When nightfall arrived the robbers would stop at a small house in which to get refreshments and shelter. The children would then be unbounded at this house but still was not feed for the kidnappers wanted them weak from hunger to prevent escape. The children were overpowered by fatigue and grief, and their only relief was some sleep which allayed their misfortune for a short time. At this point in the story I started to feel the pain of two young children being taken away from their home terrified, and starving. As the story goes on it talks about Olaudah being shipped from slave master to slave master. It also talks about being separated from his sister to one brief encounter with his sister to never seeing her again. Every slave master he encountered was different from the last. Some were abusive and mean while others weren’t. I believe the real turning point in his life is when he was first put on a slave ship and shipped off! That’s where he first saw men of a different culture who spoke a different language they were of pale complexion with long hair. Olaudah thought he was going to be eaten by these people instead he found out he was being sent away to be enslaved. On the slave ship Olaudah witnessed injustices he has never seen before or thought were even humanly possible. After the slave ship Olaudah was sold! In his words I quote ‘Surely this is a new refinement in cruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for it, thus aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even to the wretchness of slavery.” That quote to me summed up everything Olaudah was feeling from enslavement until freedom.

                 Benjamin Banneker’s letters to Thomas Jefferson is a free Black man writing about the moral injustices his people were bestowed upon as a whole and in attempt for change he expressed himself in this letter to Thomas Jefferson who at that time was the United States of America secretary of state. This letter was a plea of justice for African American people! Benjamin Bannekker was a free African American, an Astronomer, Mathematician, and An Author of the Almanac. He was a self educated man as well as very religious. In this letter he writes from a religious point of view trying to gain some kind of sympathy from Thomas Jefferson. A quote from this letter that really caught my attention is that” your sentiments are concurrent with mine, which are, that one universal father hath given being to us all; and that hath not only made us all of one flesh but that he hath also, without  partiality afforded  us all the same sensations and endowed us all with the same faculties; and that however variable we may be in society or religion, however diversified in situation or color, we are all of the same family, and stand in the same relation to him”.  I like this Quote because he pointed out to Thomas Jefferson that we are all children of the universal father regardless of our social status we are all equal in his eyes. His letter was to me was brilliant in terms of using the universal father and religion to get his point across. To me I took from this letter Frustration, Disbelieve, hurt, and restlessness from the moral injustices his race faced on a daily basis.

             Lastly, in the memoirs from the slave narrative collection there is an Interview of a lady named Mary Anderson who was born on a slave plantation in North Carolina on May 10, 1851. The thing that mostly caught my attention was the fact that she didn’t have the same story of misery that most of the slaves shared. The interview was conducted by Pat Matthews and Mary Anderson was 86 years old during this interview. In the interview she describes her slavery days as more pleasant than the horrific tales we’ve grown accustomed to hearing. She talks about her Slave Master Sam Brodie and his Missus Evaline being more family structured and nurturing rather than cruel and abusive people. Her master Sam Brodie provided all of his slaves with good food, afforded them with plenty of warm clothing, and kept them housed comfortably. She described her experience as a slave as most pleasant and comfortable.  The interview for me was very refreshing because it showed me a different side of slavery. It showed that not all Slave Masters were brutes in those days.

                In conclusion, the texts I have read remind me of the movies Roots and Armistead just normal people longing for freedom. Benjamin Banneker’s letters to Thomas Jefferson reminds me of the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr's I have a dream speech. All of these texts are powerful in its unique way of slave’s feelings in the time of the slavery era. I now have a more profound respect for people who endured slavery. I am more thankful that times have changed. Slavery is still alive in America just not in the form of bondage. Free at last free at last thank god almighty we’re free at last.

              

My twitter is dontewigg

In The text The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano I have noticed A contraditiction in feelings. In the story Olaudah talks about planning an escape to return home. He was in charge of the poultry. One morning while feeding the poultry he tossed a pebble and killed one forcing him to flee earlier than planned. He wasn’t ready to flee but the fear of being punished by the slave master made him flee.” This alarmed me very much, and I expected an instant flogging, which to me was uncommonly dreadful; for I had seldom been beaten at home, I therefore resolved to fly; and accordingly I  ran into a thicket that was hard by and hid in the bushes”(Equiano 10). While hiding from the slave master Equiano acquired A bunch of mixed feelings which made his thoughts of being free a contradiction. He talks about the joy of wanting to be free but the fear of being caught.

Donte Wiggins

SSP 245

9/30//11

 The topic I chose to write about is the Death Penalty. The reason that I chose to write about the Death Penalty is because I believe it’s morally wrong and violates Human rights. In this proposal I will use several case studies. Two of my case studies will be Troy Davis and Raymond “Tookie” Williams. One man was sentenced to death and executed but many believed he was innocent. The other man was also sentenced to death and executed but accomplished more in prison than most people accomplish in a life time. In this proposal we will examine the moral beliefs of people who trust in this system and the people who are against it. I learned that the purpose for the Death Penalty was to be the ultimate punishment to Capital crimes. Some people believe that the death penalty is being used as a form of revenge for families of the victims and the judicial system.

           In the texts from the Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah equiano, the latter’s of Benjamin Benneker to Thomas Jefferson, The Mary Anderson Interview, and From other related sources I will to the best of my ability show the different emotions and feelings of enslaved Black men and 1 free black man during the time of the slavery era. In this essay  I will try to elaborate on what I took from these readings and the emotional distress, Mental as well ass physical hardships these men endured during those times. I will also try to show some of the similarities that these men might have had with certain movies and modern day people.

              In the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano the story gave me the impression that Olaudah was  very emotionally depressed, fearful, and mortified beyond means of any average person. Olaudah was from a family of seven children. He was the youngest of six boys and only older than his only sister. He was his mother’s favorite child. As A child he was trained in the art of war. His daily exercise would consist of shooting and throwing javelins. As A reward  for hard work and progression his mother would reward him with emblems, After the manner of their greatest warriors. This was how he was raised until the tender age of 11when all of this was put to an end as well as his happiness. One day as the Adults of his neighborhood traveled far into the fields as they always did to labor A bunch of kidnappers showed up in the neighborhood. Olaudah and his sister were left at home alone to mind the house while their parents were off to work. The kidnappers made their way over the over the walls and seized both children. The kidnappers grabbed them and bounded their mouths so fast the children didn’t have a chance to let out a scream before being carried through the woods. The childrens hands were tied and mouths bounded then carried through the woods. When nightfall came around the robbers would stop at a small house in which to get refreshments and shelter. The children would then be unbounded at this house but still was not feed for the kidnappers wanted them weak from hunger to prevent escape. The children were  overpowered by fatigue and grief, and their only relief was some sleep which allayed their misfortune for a short time. At this point in the story I started to feel the pain of two young children being taken away from their home terrified, and starved. As the story goes on it talks about Olaudah being shipped around from slave master to slave master. It also talks about being separated from his sister to one brief encounter with his sister to never seeing his sister again. Every slave master he had was different from the last. Some were abusive and mean while others weren’t. I believe the real turning point in his life is when he was first put on a slave ship and shipped off. That’s where he first saw men of a different culture who spoke a different language. They were pale complexion with long hair. Olaudah thought he was going to be eaten by these people. When he found out that he was being sent away to be a slave he eased up thinking it was gonna be similar to what he just experienced. On the slae ship olaudah witnessed injustices he has never seen before or thought were even humanly possible. After the slave ship Olaudah was sold. In his own words I quote ‘Surely this is a new refinement in cruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for it, thus aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even to the wretchness of slavery.” That quote to me summed up everything Olaudah was feeling from birth until the remainder of his time as a slave.

                 Benjamin Banneker’s letters to Thomas Jefferson is a free Black man writing about the moral injustices his people were bestowed upon as awhole and in attempt for change he expressed himself in this letter to Thomas Jefferson who at that time was the United States of America secretary of state. This letter was a plea of justice for African American people. Benjamin Bannekker was a free African American, an Astronomer, Mathematician, and An Author of the Almanac. He was a self educated man as well as a religious man. In this letter he writes from a religious point of view trying to gain some kind of sympathy from Thomas Jefferson. A quote from this letter that really caught my attention is that your sentiments are concurrent with mine, which are, that one universal father hath given being to us all; and that hath not only made us all of one flesh but that he hath also, without  partiality afforded  us all the same sensations and endowed us all with the same faculties; and that however variable we may be in society or religion, however diversified in situation or color, we are all of the same family, and stand in the same relation to him.  I like this Quote because he pointed out to Thomas Jefferson that we are all children of the universal father and no matter what our social status we are all equal in his eyes. His letter was to me was brilliant in terms of using the universal father and religion to get his point across. To me I took from this letter Frustration, Disbelieve, hurt, and restlessness from the moral injustices his race faced on a daily basis.

              In the memoirs from the slave narrative collection There is an Interview of a lady named Mary Anderson. Mary Anderson was born on a slave plantation in North Carolina may 10,1851. She was born a slave. The thing that mostly caught my attention was the fact that she didn’t have the same story of misery that most of the slaves shared. The interview was conducted by Pat Matthews; Mary Anderson was 86 years old during this interview. In the interview she describes her slavery days as more pleasant than the horrific tales we grown accustomed to hearing. She talks about her Slave Master Sam Brodie and his Missus Evaline being more family sturcted and nurturing rather than cruel and unusual abusive people. Her master Sam Brodie provided all of his slaves with good food, Afforded them with plenty of warm clothing, and kept them housed in comfortable housing. She described her experience as a slave as most pleasant and comfortable.  The interview for me was very refreshing because it showed me a different side of slavery. It showed that every Slave Master wasn’t a brute in those days.

                In these three texts that I have read it reminds me of the movies Roots and armestead not to mention Benjamin Banneker’s letters to Thomas Jefferson reminds me or rather is similar to the Rev.Dr Martin Luther King jr’s I have a dream speech. All of these texts are powerful in its own unique way of slaves feelings in the time of the slavery era.