Felix ENGL 227 Project
magsags07
There is no single picture or piece of literature that can fully describe the concept of slavery in early America; not even several items absolutely describe what slavery was like. Slavery in America encompassed slaves, mistresses, masters, children, abolitionist, plantations, the government, and many more people. Each different group of people and objects have a different story to tell. The point is that slavery in the eighteen, nineteen, twentieth, and even twenty-first century was experienced from all different points of view. The goal of my Collex Project is to describe what slavery was like from the abolitionist to The Kingsley Platation home in Jacksonville, Florida. Each collection tells a different story to hopefully create a broader understanding of the impact Slavery had in America.
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"Am I Not a Man and a Brother?
 This is an image of a supplicant male slave in chains that appeared on the 1837 publication of John Greenleaf Whittier's antislavery poem, "Our Countrymen in Chains." The design was originally adopted as the seal of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery in England in the 1780s, and appeared on several medallions for the society made by Josiah Wedgwood as early as 1787. This was the first and most identifiable image of the 18th century abolitionist movement. The design was symbolic both artistically and politically. In addition, the figure's nudity signified a state of nobility and freedom, yet he was bound by chains. Although the intent and the effect of the emblem was to focus on the evils of the African slave trade, its ultimate effect was to underscore the perception of black inferiority. Ironically, although the image became the emblem of the anti-slavery movement, the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was forceful that its only goal was the abolition of the slave trade, not of slavery itself. This section of my project represents the stance abolitionist took on slavery. (The Library of Congress) |
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The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slaveholding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. The law increased federal and free-state responsibility for the recovery of fugitive slaves. People suspected of being a runaway slave could be arrested without warrant and turned over to a claimant on nothing more than his sworn testimony of ownership. A suspected black slave could not ask for a jury trial nor testify on his or her behalf.
The print shows a group of four possibly-freed black men ambushed by a posse of six armed whites in a cornfield. One of the white men fires on them, while two of his companions reload their muskets. Two of the blacks have been hit; one has fallen to the ground while the second staggers, clutching the back of his bleeding head. The two others react with horror. Below the picture are two texts, one from Deuteronomy: "Thou shalt not deliver unto the master his servant which has escaped from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee. Even among you in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates where it liketh him best. Thou shalt not oppress him." The second text is from the Declaration of Independence: "We hold that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." On the other hand, this piece depicts the actions taken towards runaway slaves; actions not embraced by abolitionist.
(The Library of Congress)
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The domestic slave trade of the southern states
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The Domestic Slave Trade of the Southern States was written by Winfield Collins, a professor of History and English at Claremont College, in 1904. This text adds to my collection of Slavery in early America by outlining the history of trade beginning with negroes caught in Africa, to the importation of foreign negroes into the United States even after the passage of law, first by Virginia, then by other states forbidding such importation. Mr. Collins thinks that "at least 27,000 slaves were introduced into the United States from 1808 to 1860 inclusive." As to the domestic trade, in the transfer of negroes from the older and more northernly of the Southern States to the newer and more southernly, particurally from Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina to the cotton belt. Mr. Collins concludes that while the greater part of this transfer consisted of the migration of masters with their slaves, after 1825 there was an average sale of 10,000 to 12,000 negroes from the "selling states" to the "buying states". I believe this to be an interesting section of my exhibit because the author does not necessarily present a chosen side; instead he provides general statements of the facts about the trade in negroes between the various Southern States. |
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In addition to the various perceptions of Slavery in early America, Henry Walton Bibb (1815-1854) was born in Shelby County, Kentucky to a slave mother and Kentucky state senator, James Bibb. Henry Bibb's master, David White, hired young Henry out to several neighboring plantations, where he often was treated inhumanely. Henry W. Bibb's autobiography, Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave (1849), elaborates on his life story, which he presented during his antislavery lectures. Following Lucius C. Matlack's introduction, Bibb includes the report of an investigation that was conducted to ascertain the truthfulness of his testimony. The report concludes with findings that are consistent with Bibb's account. The text itself describes Bibb's childhood as a slave and his many experiences in slavery. As he describes Slavery he states, " And I challenge America to show a milder state of slavery than this." Henry Bibb's narrative was one of the earliest and rarest books ever written by an African-American slave. |
Narrative of the life and adventures of Henry Bibb, an American slave
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Seduction and the Ruses of Power
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Saidiya V. Hartman is a specialist in African American literature and history. Her contributions to my projects regarding slavery can be seen as profound and original. In the text Seduction and the Ruses of Power, Hartman begins with a conversation between her and a defendant, Celia, who had experienced rape by her master. The conversation arose from the 1885 case, State of Missouri v. Celia. Hartman defines and analyzes the term rape yet it is difficult considering Celia was an enslaved woman whose offense was neither recognized nor legislated by law. I thought this exerpt would show yet another position taken during slavery in early America; the woman's position. The experiences women underwent during slavery were tretcherous. Slave owners especially victimized African American women; offspring from the rape of the women slaves by slave owners increased slave populations and owners' holding. Until slavery was abolished, African American slaves had no legal recourse for rape much like in Celia's case. The first time Newsome, her master, raped Celia was on the day he purchased her. He only stopped four years later when she killed him and Celia was found guilty by the court and sentenced to be hung. Hartman concludes that, "Missouri v. Celia raises critical questions about sexuality, agency, and subjectivity." Hartman's text not only illustrates first-hand what enslaved women experienced during slavery, but it also shows that woman possessed no consent, worthless resistance, and were held criminally responsible if situations progressed like that of Celia's. Rarely did outcrys against sexual oppression even make it past the scene of the action. |
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/pnp/habshaer/fl/fl0500/fl0539/photos&topImages=207750pr.jpg&topLinks=207750pv.jpg,207750pu.tif&title=HABS%20FL-478-6&displayProfile=0
This is a photograph of the Kingsley Plantation located at 11676 Palmetto Avenue, Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. The history of the island spans more than 1000 years beginning with the Timucuan Indians. With many owners to follow him, Zephaniah Kingsley settled on Ft. George Island in 1814 after leasing it from McIntosh. He purchased the land and buildings for $7,000 US in 1817 and grew items from Sea Island Cotton to beans and potatoes. The plantation was worked by approximately 60 slaves along with his wife, Anna Magjinine Jai, who managed the plantation. Jai was an enslaved woman from what is now Senegal whom he had purchased in Cuba and eventually freed. Much like many of the other masters during this time, Kingsely engaged in interracial marriage and intercourse, although Jai remained the Matriarch. Despite his marriage to slaves, Kingsley was an advocate of slavery as an institution, rationalizing it as "a necessary evil" beneficial not only to the owner and slave, but the overall economy as well. I believe the plantation homes that slaves spent much, if not their whole lives working at, play a huge role in my project. The different groups of people and the various positions taken on slavery are important and make the slavery institution what it was, but the platation homes tell a different story and contribute to the realization of slavery in early America.
No issue has been more controversial and divisive in the first 100 years of the American republic than that of slavery. When addressing slavery in America and the impact it had on society, there is no one right place to start nor enough time to fully grasp all the different aspects of the issue. Although slavery was the biggest and most controversial instiution that existed in America, not every individual supported slavery. By 1838 more than 1.350 anti-slavery societies existed with almost 250,000 members, including women. The abolitionist brought about the Underground Railroad and idividuals like Harriet Beecher Stowe composed pieces of literature relative to the anti-slavery movement. Furthermore, fugitive slave laws like the Slave Act of 1793, the 1848 slave code of the state of Georgia, and the Fugitive Slave Laws of 1850 affected many people; mainly slaves and embraced the Declaration of Independence. In addition to the abolitionist and the slave laws, the African slave trade is one of the most historic elements to slavery dating back to the 1500,s. Slaves like Henry Walton Bibb can justify what the life of a slave was actually like along with many more slaves. Aside from the experiences of a slave, Saidiya Hartman contributed to my project by addressing another huge issue during slavery, the treatment of women. Women had to endure the threat and the practice of sexual exploitation and it was not uncommon for their voices to not be heard. The final section takes a look at a plantation home in Florida. Plantation homes were where more than half of the slavery institution took place and where the slaves experienced most of the horrible times. The plantation homes unfortunately bring slavery to life. After examining each point of view, it is clear to see that slavery had an enormous affect on American society and many different types of people can agree first-hand.
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