How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word.

Appealing cries, yearning only to go There in that holocaust of hell, those fields of woe— But—I must sit and sew.

And now—unwittingly, you've made me dreamOf violets, and my soul's forgotten gleam.

You sang far better than you knew; the songs That for your listeners’ hungry hearts sufficed Still live,—but more than this to you belongs:

O black slave singers, gone, forgot, unfamed, You—you alone, of all the long, long line Of those who’ve sung untaught, unknown, unnamed, Have stretched out upward, seeking the divine.

By Ida B. Wells-Barnett

I feel confident, however, that there are no mistakes of importance. What may appear to some to be an incorrect rendering is very likely to be a variation; for these variations are endless, and very entertaining and instructive.

 Recollect, I was eighteen years of age, was a woman fully developed, and yet this man coolly bade me take down my dress. I drew myself up proudly, firmly, and said: "No, Mr. Bingham, I shall not take down my dress before you. Moreover, you shall not whip me unless you prove the stronger. Nobody has a right to whip me but my own master, and nobody shall do so if I can prevent it."

One of my uncles, a slave of Colonel Burwell, lost a pair of ploughlines, and when the loss was made known the master gave him a new pair, and told him that if he did not take care of them he would punish him severely. In a few weeks the second pair of lines was stolen, and my uncle hung himself rather than meet the displeasure of his master. My mother went to the spring in the morning for a pail of water, and on looking up into the willow tree which shaded the bubbling crystal stream, she discovered the lifeless form of her brother suspended beneath one of the strong branches. Rather than be punished the way Colonel Burwell punished his servants, he took his own life. Slavery had its dark side as well as its bright side.

An act may be wrong, but unless the ruling power recognizes the wrong, it is useless to hope for a correction of it. Principles may be right, but they are not established within an hour. The masses are slow to reason, and each principle, to acquire moral force, must come to us from the fire of the crucible; the fire may inflict unjust punishment, but then it purifies and renders stronger the principle, not in itself, but in the eyes of those who arrogate judgment to themselves.

When the mother was delivered into the trader's hands, she said, "You promised to treat me well." To which he replied, "You have let your tongue run too far; damn you!" She had forgotten that it was a crime for a slave to tell who was the father of her child.

 It will naturally excite surprise that a woman reared in Slavery should be able to write so well. But Page 8 circumstances will explain this. In the first place, nature endowed her with quick perceptions. Secondly, the mistress, with whom she lived till she was twelve years old, was a kind, considerate friend, who taught her to read and spell. Thirdly, she was placed in favorable circumstances after she came to the North; having frequent intercourse with intelligent persons, who felt a friendly interest in her welfare, and were disposed to give her opportunities for self-improvement.

The African slave-trade was abolished by the American Congress some twenty years since; and now, by the laws of the country, if an American is found engaged in the African slave-trade, he is considered a pirate; and if found guilty of such, the penalty would be death.         Although the African slave-trader has been branded as a pirate, men are engaged in the traffic in slaves in this country, who occupy high positions in society, and hold offices of honor in the councils of the nation; and not a few have made their fortunes by this business.

The slave's name was Lewis. I had known him several years, as he was formerly from St. Louis. We were expecting a steamboat down the river, in which we were to take passage for New Orleans. Mr. Walker sent me to the landing to watch for the boat, ordering me to inform him on its arrival. While there I went into the store to see Lewis. I saw a slave in the store, and asked him where Lewis was. Said he, "They have got Lewis hanging between the heavens and the earth." I asked him what he meant by that. He told me to go into the warehouse and see. I went in, and found Lewis there. He was tied up to a beam, with his toes just touching the floor. As there was no one in the warehouse but himself, I inquired the reason of his being in that situation. He said Mr. Broadwell had sold his wife to a planter six miles from the city, and that he had been to visit her -- that he went in the night, expecting Page 44to return before daylight, and went without his master's permission. The patrol had taken him up before he reached his wife. He was put in jail, and his master had to pay for his catching and keeping, and that was what he was tied up for.

Though slavery is thought, by some, to be mild in Missouri, when compared with the cotton, sugar and rice growing states, yet no part of our slave-holding country is more noted for the barbarity of its inhabitants than St. Louis. It was here that Col. Harney, a United States officer, whipped a slave woman to death. It was here that Francis McIntosh, a free colored man from Pittsburg, was taken from the steamboat Flora and burned at the stake. During a residence of eight years in this city, numerous cases of extreme cruelty came Page 27under my own observation; -- to record them all would occupy more space than could possibly be allowed in this little volume. I shall, therefore, give but a few more in addition to what I have already related.

and my wife have been both robbed of our liberty, and you want meto be satisfied with a hope of heaven. I won't do any such thing; I have waitedlong enough on heavenly promises; I'll wait no longer. I—

“I am sure, cousin Maria, it was well understood between the Colonel andthe Judge, that I was to have one of your best-trained maidservants!”continued Mrs. Ballard

"Well, boy, whom do you belong to?" "To Colonel Lloyd," replied the slave. "Well, does the colonel treat you well?" "No, sir," was the ready reply. "What, does he work you too hard?" "Yea, sir." "Well, don't he give you enough to eat?" "Yes, sir, he gives me enough, such as it is."

  Aunt Hester had not only disobeyed his orders in going out, but had been found in company with Lloyd's Ned; which circumstance, I found, from what he said while whipping her, was the chief offence. Had he been a man of pure morals himself, he might have been thought interested in protecting the innocence of my aunt;

The experience of FREDERICK DOUGLASS, as a slave, was not a peculiar one; his lot was not especially a hard one; his case may be regarded as a very fair specimen of the treatment of slaves in Maryland, in which State it is conceded that they are better fed and less cruelly treated than in Georgia, Alabama, or Louisiana. Many have suffered incomparably more, while very few on the plantations have suffered less, than himself. Yet how deplorable was his situation! what terrible chastisements were

To him who rules both earth an s y, d f nt praver, Puts up a sa , a erve " To free him from the awful blast Of slavery's bitter galling shame-Although his portion should be ~ast With demons in eternal flame. Almighty God! 'tis this they call The land of liberty and law

That those who quietly enjo d The rights for which th ,yf~ h C Id b · e~ oug t and fell ou e the framers of a code ' That \.vould disgrace the fie cl . Could they have lookD<l . h n s ol· hell! D '-• WJt pr h • k own to the present ·1 . op et s en,1 S f. ev, tune een ree-born m ' C . en, uncharg d . h ons1gned unto a sl·_, . e wit crim

Whar did your Christ come from? From God and a woman. Man had nothing to do with him.' Oh! what b k h gave the little man. a re u es e "'T . . . . Eve trnmg alr

Her extemporaneous oration, scarcely more than three hundred words punctuated by homely metaphors and a deceptively simple argument for women's unique role in the liberation struggles of the day, was admiringly reported in the Anti-Slavery Bugle on June 21, 1851.

Early in her career as an itinerant preacher, Sojourner Truth met William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and other prominent antislavery activists in Massa-chusetts. She enthusiastically joined their ranks, earning fame for her ability to deliver folksy as well as fiery speeches that denounced slavery as a moral abomination tempting the wrath of God on America.

Heaven would frown upon the men who would not resist such aggression, even to death. If, on the other hand, a band of Christians should attempt to enslave a race of heathen men, and to entail slavery upon them, and to keep them in heathenism in the midst of Christianity, the God of heaven would smile upon every effort which the injured might make to disenthral themselves

When the power of Government returned to their hands, did they emancipate the slaves? No; they rather added new links to our chains. Were they ignorant of the principles of Liberty? Certainly they were not. The sentiments of their revolu-tionary orators fell in burning eloquence upon their hearts, and with one voice they cried, Liberty or Death.

We have been contented in sitting still and mourning over your sorrows, earnestly hoping that before this day your sacred liberties would have been restored. But, we have hoped in vain. Years have rolled on, and tens of thousands have been borne on streams of blood and tears, to the shores of eternity. While you have been oppressed, we have also been partak-ers with you; nor can we be free while you are enslaved. We, there-fore, write to you as being bound with you

Is not God a God of justice to all his creatures? Do you say he is? Then if he gives peace and tranquillity to tyrants, and permits them to keep our fathers, our mothers, ourselves and our children in eternal ignorance and wretchedness, to support them and their families, would he be to us a God of justice? I ask, O ye Christians! ! !

I will not here speak of the destructions which the Lord brought upon Egypt, in consequence of the oppression and consequent groans of the oppressed--of the hundreds and thousands of Egyptians whom God hurled into the Red Sea for afflicting his people in their land--of the Lord's suffering people in Sparta or Lacedemon, the land of the truly famous Lycurgus--nor have I time to comment upon the cause which produced the fierceness with which Sylla usurped the title, and absolutely acted as dictator of the Roman people--the conspiracy of Cataline

n fact, they are so happy to keep in ignorance and degradation, and to receive the homage and the labour of the slaves, they forget that God rules in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, having his ears continually open to the cries, tears and groans of his oppressed people; and being a just and holy Being will at one day appear fully in behalf of the oppressed, and arrest the progress of the avaricious oppressors; for although the destruction of the oppressors God may not effect by the oppressed, yet the Lord our God will bring other destructions upon them--for not

Yet who is to say that Sejour's decision to publish in a black-owned journal in France was not the right-indeed, the only-way to ensure that his explicit and grisly tale of racial exploitation, rape, murder, and suicide would ever see print? Even William Faulkner and Richard Wright, whose probing fictional accounts of perverse desire and sadistic retribution look hack to Sejour's evocation of the psy-chological and social tragedy of black-white relationships under slavery, were attacked in the twentieth century for writing in veins first probed by "Le Mulatre."

Sejour seems to have gone to France not only to find a social refuge but also to create himself anew as a Continental man of letters unburdened by the responsibilities his black literary contemporaries in America felt to speak directly to racial issues.

s of the Society. We do not know whether Allen consulted Cooper before publishing his hymnal; it is doubtful that he did so. Cooper may have attempted to exert his authority, however, before the second edition was pub- lished, for in his copy, some words in the first hymn, "The Voice of Free Grace," have been scratched out and replaced with other, pre- sumably correct, words. But none of the other hymns presents such emendations, so it appears that Cooper's authority carried little weight with

ymnody at the beginning of the nineteenth century. By the time the AME Church had won its independence in 1816, its membership numbered in the thousands, and it is highly probable that the Allen-hymnal repertory had been adopted by black Methodist congregations in both the North and the South. Thus, the hymns would have been disseminated throughout the nation, with blacks, whether enslaved or free, sharing in a common oral tradition of hy

nces.) I have traced twenty-six hymns to authors by locating concordances in eighteenth-century sources.4 While we may assume that Allen's congregation used the same tunes as did other congregations in singing the well-known hymns-such as those written by Isaac Watts, for example, or Charles Wesley-it seems obvious that in some instances the Bethelites must have com- posed their own melodies or adapted popular street tunes to their purposes.

We know from contemporary sources that the black Methodists were noted for their singing and exuberance in worship (Southern 1983, 77-79).1 The novelty of the 1801 publication arises from the fact of the enterprising young minister's publishing his own hym- nal instead of using the official Methodist hymnal. After all, Bethel was still under the governance of the Methodist Society in 1801. Allen's hymnal must have been well received, for within the same year a second edition appear

and the fact that his hymn appears in a relatively remote, upstate New York imprint as well as a Connecticut Baptist imprint indicates the reach of the circles in which Allen and his fellow African Methodists moved. That his text would have appeared in 1795, even before he had been ordained as a deacon, indicates that Allen’s text had influence beyond his region before his for-mal recognition as a church leader

It is unclear whether these would have been intended for Methodist use in New England, but it is likely that the outlying Baptist commu-nities that kept producing and purchasing editions of collections such as Joshua Smith’s Divine Hymns and Samson Occom’s Choice Collectionwould have been a ready audience for this material. Thus the texts that inspired Allen, who had spent considerable time in western Maryland and Pennsylvania during his circuit-riding years in the 1780s, covered wide ranges of geography and denominational affiliation, knitted to-gether by the camp meeting phenomenon that traveled most easily in the more rural parts of the country.

A further goal of the hymnbook beyond the principles of the Discipline appears at the end of the preface: “We exhort you to retain the spirit of singing. . . . When the spirit and the understanding are united, it is believed to be a service acceptable in the sight of God, and beneficial to the souls of the people.”8 This blending of spirit and under-standing, in using a phrase from 1 Cor. 14:15, added ideals of knowledge and literacy to the free expression of worship.

The hummingbird skipping capriciously from blossom to blossom, displayed its magnificent plumage, and for a while diverted the minds of the unhappy fugitives from grief and from ominous forbodings; wearied and fatigued by a journey which was not less tiresome than hazardous, their much exhausted natures, were greatly refreshed by the cool breeze which gave to their whole bodies a calm sensation, in which their souls soon participated and Madame and her eldest daughter were now lost in the arms of sleep, the kind restorer of vigour to the minds and bodies of men.

Every tree kissedby the zephyrs, that ruffled its leaves, was an army approaching, and in the trunk of every decored mahogany, was seen a Frenchman in ambush -not less alarming to the fugitives, were the ripe fruit that frequently fell to the earth. Then having turned into a by-path, Paulina felt herself more secure; and with a soul oppressed with mingled grief and joy, she with maternal affection embraced her daughters, and observed to them, that however just may be the cause which induces us to practice duplicity, or the laudable object which gives birth to hypocrisy.

Necessity being the source of human inventions, was now ready to commune with her mind on subjects of moment, and to give birth to the events of its decision -and in the midst of the general uproar in which the village now was -The shrieks of the defenceless, the horrible clashing of arms, and the expiring groans of the aged, Paulina hurried herself in the execution of her plans for escaping.With a feigned passport and letter, she ingeniously contrived to pass out of the village

 Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side, Thy ev’ry action let the Goddess guide. A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine, With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! Be thine

And so may you, whoever dares disgrace The land of freedom’s heaven-defended race! Fix’d are the eyes of nations on the scales, For in their hopes Columbia’s arm prevails.

I do not say they would have been contented without it, by no means, for in every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom

I humbly think it does not require the Penetration of a Philosopher to determine.--

it is impatient of Oppression, and pants for Deliverance; and by the Leave of our modern Egyptians I will assert, that the same Principle lives in us. God grant Deliverance in his own Way and Time,

The awful creatures had not catched her, Nor tommy hawked her on the head,

Young Samuel Allen, Oh lack-a-day! Was taken and carried to Canada

Some very valiant men to slay, The names of whom I'll not leave out

when my master asked me with contemptuous hard names whether I had not better be freed from my chains and go to work. I answered him, No. Well then, said me, I will send you to the West-Indies or banish you, for I am resolved not to keep you. I answered him

But notwithstanding he appeared to give up trying to obtain them from me, yet I mistrusted that he would take some time when I was off my guard, either in the day time or at night to get them, therefore I slung them round my neck, and in the day time concealed them in my bosom, and at night I always lay with them under me, that no person might take them from me without being apprized of it

For some time I beheld him from the reeds defending himself with great courage and firmness, till at last he was obliged to surrender himself into their hands.

I was named Olaudah, which, in our language, signifies vicissitude or fortune also, one favoured, and having a loud voice and well spoken

When a trader wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his wares. It is not extraordinary, if on this occasion he yields to the temptation with as little firmness, and accepts the price of his fellow creatures liberty with as little reluctance as the enlightened merchant.

Let it therefore be remembered, that, in wishing to avoid censure, I do not aspire to praise.

Icameuptothedoorthefamilysawme,werefrightened,andranaway.Isatdowntodinneralone,andeatveryheartily

asked*metoplayupontheviolinforher,whichIrefused;thenmesaidIwascrazyandmad,andsoreporteditamongtheneighbours,whichopenedthemouthsofallaroundagainstme.

Hethentookhisleaveofme;butcalledeverydayforseveraldaysafterwards,andthelasttimehesaid,"Holdfastthat"thouhastalreadyobtained,'tillJesusChristcome.'*InowreadtheScripturesverymuch.

they soon came up with and boarded us, took away all our Arms[,] Ammunition, and Provision. The whole Number of Canoes (being about Twenty,) then made for the Sloop, except Two which they left to guard us, who order'd us to follow on with them;

I ask'd them what General Winslow? For I never knew my good Master, by that Title before; but after enquiring more particularly I found it must be Master, and in a few Days Time the Truth was joyfully verify'd by a happy Sight of his Person, which so overcome me, that I could not speak to him for some Time--

After we came to the Shore, they led me to their Hutts, where I expected nothing but immediate Page 7 Death, and as they spoke broken English, were often telling me, while coming from the Sloop to the Shore, that they intended to roast me alive