This past fall I participated in Amazing Grace: How Writers Helped End Slavery, a masters level course offered by the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History. The course, led by Columbia Professor, and GLI President, James Basker, examined the role of abolitionist writers in the 19th century struggle to end that "peculiar institution." The final project was to compile our own abolitionist writing anthology that could be used in the classroom. I wanted to share the work I generated during this course as perhaps the primary sources I chose could prove useful in your own classrooms. In this blog "mini-series" (Amazing Grace) I will share with you my reflections, my anthology introductions, and the sources themselves. Most, if not all, of the sources I reference can be found in James Basker's book American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation. |
Standout Primary Source:
Henry Bibb Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb...
Henry Bibb Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb...
Reflection:
When digging for primary sources to include in my classroom, I look for eyewitness accounts that will grab the attention of my students. Though the American Antislavery Writings anthology contains many such sources, the one that stands out as the most historically significant in discussing slavery and abolitionism is that of Henry Bibb. I have used excerpts from Bibb’s autobiography in class before but never the excerpt presented in this course. I found Bibb’s accounts of the slave trade to be historically minded, dispassionate, and very matter of fact. Usually I tend to gravitate towards works that evoke emotion but Bibb’s accounts are so important to understanding the slave trade and does so without sensationalism, that it is hard to ignore. What stands out most is his ability to convey the indignity and inhumanity of the trade by simply retelling the facts – something only a person intimately involved in the trade could do so masterfully. The explanation of the care taken to attract potential bidders and the explicit details of the examinations will help my students understand just how these enslaved people were treated – as cattle or an inanimate object. Particularly of importance is his account of how intelligence is paramount in inspections, that intelligence was seen as a red flag that a slave might be burdensome or arouse trouble on the plantation. This account is not only “sticky” but steers clear of bias or sensationalism that can cloud the discussion of the facts surrounding the slave trade.
Honorable mention: Patrick Henry’s letter, James Forten’s pamphlet, and Defoe’s The Life, Adventuress, and Piracies, of … Captain Singleton.
One source that I have used for many years in my classroom that should be considered for future iterations of this Amazing Grace course is Susan B. Anthony’s Make the Slave’s Case Our Own speech from 1859. He eloquence is on display in this powerful argument of persuasion. She quotes the scriptures and uses a simple but effective argument. She puts the onus on the listener by humanizing those who have been so dehumanized through the slave trade. By asking her white audience to imagine a slave’s fate as their own and thus compelling us to consider the golden rule by “walking a mile in their shoes.” Undoubtedly no one in the audience would seek to change places with an African American in 1859 but it so succinctly gets at the very moral issue that slavery was.
When digging for primary sources to include in my classroom, I look for eyewitness accounts that will grab the attention of my students. Though the American Antislavery Writings anthology contains many such sources, the one that stands out as the most historically significant in discussing slavery and abolitionism is that of Henry Bibb. I have used excerpts from Bibb’s autobiography in class before but never the excerpt presented in this course. I found Bibb’s accounts of the slave trade to be historically minded, dispassionate, and very matter of fact. Usually I tend to gravitate towards works that evoke emotion but Bibb’s accounts are so important to understanding the slave trade and does so without sensationalism, that it is hard to ignore. What stands out most is his ability to convey the indignity and inhumanity of the trade by simply retelling the facts – something only a person intimately involved in the trade could do so masterfully. The explanation of the care taken to attract potential bidders and the explicit details of the examinations will help my students understand just how these enslaved people were treated – as cattle or an inanimate object. Particularly of importance is his account of how intelligence is paramount in inspections, that intelligence was seen as a red flag that a slave might be burdensome or arouse trouble on the plantation. This account is not only “sticky” but steers clear of bias or sensationalism that can cloud the discussion of the facts surrounding the slave trade.
Honorable mention: Patrick Henry’s letter, James Forten’s pamphlet, and Defoe’s The Life, Adventuress, and Piracies, of … Captain Singleton.
One source that I have used for many years in my classroom that should be considered for future iterations of this Amazing Grace course is Susan B. Anthony’s Make the Slave’s Case Our Own speech from 1859. He eloquence is on display in this powerful argument of persuasion. She quotes the scriptures and uses a simple but effective argument. She puts the onus on the listener by humanizing those who have been so dehumanized through the slave trade. By asking her white audience to imagine a slave’s fate as their own and thus compelling us to consider the golden rule by “walking a mile in their shoes.” Undoubtedly no one in the audience would seek to change places with an African American in 1859 but it so succinctly gets at the very moral issue that slavery was.
Introduction: Henry Bibb, The Narrative Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself, 1849[i] Henry Bibb (1815-1854) was an American author and abolitionist who was born a slave. His terrible condition was such that he was sold to over a half-dozen different owners, in various states throughout the south. Bibb had to watch as all six of his younger siblings were sold off from the family to other slaveholders. Escaping to Detroit in 1842, he began his career as an abolitionist writer and would go on to publish an autobiography detailing his life experiences. Not long after the publishing of his work, Bibb was on the move again as the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act – as part of the Compromise of 1850 – meant that his northern neighbors were now legally required to capture and return him to slavery. Bibb traveled to Canada, began publishing his own abolitionist paper, The Voice of the Fugitive, and traveled the United States giving speeches. This excerpt from Chapter IX of his autobiography retells of his experiences in the slave trade and describes how slaves were prepared to be sold and how they were evaluated by potential slave owners. Again, the first-person perspective serves to coolly remind the reader that though inspected, bought, and sold as draft animals or inanimate objects, these enslaved Africans were human beings. In particular, this excerpt from Chapter IX serves to inform the reader of the intricacies of the slave auction. Pay particular attention to the warning signs that Bibb reveals slave owners were acutely aware of and avoided in slaves to be purchased. As you investigate this excerpt, consider the following questions:
[i] Basker, James G. "Henry Bibb from ‘The Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave, Written by Himself’"American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation. New York: Library of America, 2012. 52-53. Print. | Source: Henry Bibb, The Narrative Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself, 1849[i] WHEN we arrived at the city of Vicksburg, he intended to sell a portion of his slaves there, and stopped for three weeks trying to sell. But he met with very poor success. We had there to pass through an examination, or inspection by a city officer, whose business it was to inspect slave property that was brought to that Market for sale. He examined our backs to see if we had been much scarred by the lash. He examined our limbs, to see whether we were inferior. As it is hard to tell the ages of slaves, they look in their mouths at their teeth, and prick up the skin on the back of their hands, and if the person is very far advanced in life, when the skin is pricked up, the pucker will stand so many seconds on the back of the hand. But the most rigorous examinations of slaves by those slave inspectors, is on the mental capacity. If they are found to be very intelligent, this is pronounced the most objectionable of all other qualities connected with the life of a slave. In fact, it undermines the whole fabric of his chattelhood; it prepares for what slaveholders are pleased to pronounce the unpardonable sin when committed by a slave. It lays the foundation for running away, and going to Canada. They also see in it a love for freedom, patriotism, insurrection, bloodshed, and exterminating war against American slavery. Hence they are very careful to inquire whether a slave who is for sale can read or write. This question has been asked me often by slave traders, and cotton planters, while I was there for market. After conversing with me, they have sworn by their Maker, that they would not have me among their negroes; and that they saw the devil in my eye; I would run away, &c. I have frequently been asked also, if I had ever answer run away; but Garrison would generally this question for me in the negative. He could have sold my little family without any trouble, for the sum of one thousand dollars. But for fear he might not get me off at so great an advantage, as the people did not like my appearance, he could do better by selling us all together. They all wanted my wife, while but very few wanted me. He asked twenty-five hundred dollars, but was not able to get us off at that price. He tried to speculate on my Christian character. He tried to make it appear that I was so pious and honest that I would not runaway for ill treatment; which was a gross mistake, for I never had religion enough to keep me from running away from slavery in my life. But we were taken from Vicksburgh, to the city of New Orleans, were we were to be sold at any rate. We were taken to a trader's yard or a slave prison on the corner of' St. Joseph street. This was a common resort for slave traders, and planters who wanted to buy slaves; and all classes of slaves were kept there for sale, to be sold in private or public--young or old, males or females, children or parents, husbands or wives. Everyday at 10 o'clock they were exposed for sale. They had to be in trim for showing themselves to the public for sale. Every one's head had to be combed, and their faces washed, and those who were inclined to look dark and rough, were compelled to wash in greasy dish water, to look slick and lively. When spectators would come in the yard, the slaves were ordered out to form a line. They were made to stand up straight, and look as sprightly as they could; and when they were asked a question, they had to answer it as promptly as they could, and try to induce the spectators to buy them. If they failed to do this, they were severely paddled after the spectators were gone. The object for using the paddle in the place of a lash was, to conceal the marks which would be made by the flogging. And the object for flogging under such circumstances, is to make the slaves anxious to be sold. The paddle is made of a piece of hickory timber, about one inch thick, three inches in width, and about eighteen inches in length. The part is applied to the flesh is bored full of quarter inch auger holes, and every time this is applied to the flesh of the victim, the blood gushes through the holes of the paddle, or a blister makes its appearance. The persons who are thus flogged, are always stripped naked, and their hands tied together. They are then bent over double, their knees are forced between their elbows, and a stick is put through between the elbows and the bend of the legs in order to hold the victim in that position, while the paddle is applied to those parts of the body which would not be so likely to be seen by those who wanted to buy slaves. |