"Lawdblessyer,sur,Iknowsallaboutit.Deyainna'eramanindissettlementw’atwon'tellyeroleJuliusMcAdoo'uzbawnan'raise'ondisyersameplantation.IsyoudeNorv'ngemmanw'at'sgwineterbuydeolevimya'd?"
This is so hard to read. It saddens me.
64 Matching Annotations
- Dec 2017
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ualearn.blackboard.com ualearn.blackboard.com
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docsouth.unc.edu docsouth.unc.edu
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To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.
This spoke volumes! Blacks are already poor and already suffering as they help another race get money. Its said to even think that a human being feels superior to another one.
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The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife,--this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, for merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America; for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face
This was a mouthful but it definitely needed to be said. The history of Blacks is very cruel. From being brought to a place unknown to being treated as less than, Blacks have been through much pain.
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www.gutenberg.org www.gutenberg.org
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The slave was rarely killed, he was too valuable; it was easier and quite as effective, for discipline or revenge, to sell him "Down South."
Slaves were very much so valuable because they basically built everything and supplied the plantation owner with the services they needed. Many people were just cold hearted
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www.poets.org www.poets.org
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Heart of what slave poured out such melody As “Steal away to Jesus”? On its strains His spirit must have nightly floated free, Though still about his hands he felt his chains
Though the slaves were not free, when they would sing these songs it would make them feel as if they were free from bondage and oppression.
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docsouth.unc.edu docsouth.unc.edu
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I gaze upon the panorama of the past, I realize how crowded with incidents my life has been
This line just relates to the events I find myself going through now. As I look back at everything I've been through, it truly has been a lot.
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If I have portrayed the dark side of slavery, I also have painted the bright side.
This sentence kinda makes me scratch my head because as I read narratives from many slaves and as I see movies pertaining to the subject I never see the good in slavery.
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- Nov 2017
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docsouth.unc.edu docsouth.unc.edu
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As a child, I loved my mistress; and, looking back on the happy days I spent with her, I try to think with less bitterness of this act of injustice. While I was with her, she taught me to read and spell; and for this privilege, which so rarely falls to the lot of a slave, I bless her memory. She possessed but few slaves; an
Her mistress was much like Fredrick Douglass's. She taught her how to read and did many things that many slave owners thought to be insane. The slave owners did not want slaves to know things. It is true that knowledge is power and they knew that if these slaves had that power that they would try to rebel
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I have not written my experiences in order to attract attention to myself; on the contrary, it would have been more pleasant to me to have been silent about my own history. Neither do I care to excite sympathy for my own sufferings. But
From this line alone I can tell that she is a very strong woman. She starts off by saying that she did not want to tell her story because she does not want sympathy. Many people have suffered many trials and tribulations that they wish to not express but many express them looking for sympathy or acceptance from many people who can not even relate to them
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www.gutenberg.org www.gutenberg.org
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By an amendment to the Constitution the Negro was given the right of franchise, and, theoretically at least, his ballot became his invaluable emblem of citizenship.
This specific line got my attention because I once wrote an essay on how the Constitution was never meant for African Americans. It was written before slavery was abolished and it never really had a drastic change that would include the rights of African Americans. There will never be equality until the change of a system that was never meant for Blacks occurs.
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docsouth.unc.edu docsouth.unc.edu
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The best that we can do, however, with paper and types, or even with voices, will convey but a faint shadow of the original. The voices of the colored people have a peculiar quality that nothing can imitate; and the intonations and delicate variations of even one
This line shows how significant that these songs are. It would be very hard to duplicate these voices because the way they were sung by these people was so emotional and strong through their experience.
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www.poetryfoundation.org www.poetryfoundation.org
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And now—unwittingly, you've made me dreamOf violets, and my soul's forgotten gleam.
In this line she talks about how this person has made her dream of the light in her soul that was lost. She really feels for this person because she uses strong imagery to describe her feelings.
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I had not thought of violets late,The wild, shy kind that spring beneath your feetIn wistful April days, when lovers mateAnd wander through the fields in raptures sweet.
She speaks as if she is in love. This certain someone has her thinking happy thoughts and of things that are only beautiful.
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So far from sweet real things my thoughts had strayed,I had forgot wide fields; and clear brown streams;
In this line she switches from speaking of things so lovely to describing thiings that aren't as sweet and beautiful.In this line she stops and discusses how her mind went stray.
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www.poetryfoundation.org www.poetryfoundation.org
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I sit and sew—a useless task it seems, My hands grown tired, my head weighed down with dreams—
It seems as though she wants to do more than sew. She has dreams of doing something but I cannot depict if she wants to help slaves or leave the situation that she is in
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The little useless seam, the idle patch; Why dream I here beneath my homely thatch, When there they lie in sodden mud and rain,
Does she feel that her sitting there not taking action is useless?
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Appealing cries, yearning only to go There in that holocaust of hell, those fields of woe— But—I must sit and sew.
From this line alone it seems as though she is a white woman(maybe the masters wife) who is watching all the gruesome things going on to these slaves yet she is unable to say anything because women did not have rights for a very long time and their opinions did not matter.
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www.poets.org www.poets.org
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What merely living clod, what captive thing, Could up toward God through all its darkness grope, And find within its deadened heart to sing These songs of sorrow, love and faith, and hope? How did it catch that subtle undertone, That note in music heard not with the ears? How sound the elusive reed so seldom blown, Which stirs the soul or melts the heart to tears.
I think this line is explaining the cry for help that many slaves are crying in the songs that many do not understand. Many slaves made songs as a way of escaping the things they were enduring and I just think that this particular person is expressing the cries that people do not hear or that are not evident.
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Heart of what slave poured out such melody As “Steal away to Jesus”? On its strains His spirit must have nightly floated free, Though still about his hands he felt his chains.
In this line it seems that the author is saying that the minstrel is a slave and that he sings a song so beautiful that entails that he is free though he feels enslaved and in bondage.
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O black and unknown bards of long ago, How came your lips to touch the sacred fire?
I really want to understand this metaphor because of course someone would not out their lips on a sacred fire so I am a little confused.
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ualearn.blackboard.com ualearn.blackboard.com
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“My dear,” said Franks, “I have been watching the conduct of that girl forsome time past; she is becoming both disobedient and unruly, and as I havemade it a rule of my life never to keep a disobedient servant, the sooner wepart with her the better. As I never whip my servants, I do not want to departfrom my rule in her case.
Franks discusses how Maggie has become disobedient and he wishes to not keep her and to sell her because he does not want to whip her.
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Maggie had long been the favorite maidservant of her mistress, havingattained the position through merit. She was also nurse and foster mother tothe two last children of Mrs. Franks, and loved them, to all appearance, as herown. The children reciprocated this affection, calling her “Mammy.
Because she was a slave these actions from the masters children were very surprising and inaccurate. Having respect for a slave was not the "way" to treat a slave.
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They met for the purposeof completing arrangements for refitting the old ship “Merchantman,” whichthen lay in the harbor near Fell's Point.
They are having a meeting concerning fixing a ship that will hold slaves so that they could trade them.
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- Oct 2017
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docsouth.unc.edu docsouth.unc.edu
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MY master had family worship, night and morning. At night the slaves were called in to attend; but in the mornings they had to be at their work, and master did all the praying.
Religion is the biggest thing that slave owners are focused on though they do not treat people equally as they should according to God's will.
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I have often laid and heard the crack of the whip, and the screams of the slave.
This is a scary thing to go through. I could not imagine the fear of hearing or watching a slave being beaten because i would think that I was next
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The man who stole me as soon as I was born, recorded the births of all the infants which he claimed to be born his property, in a book which he kept for that purpose.
This reminds me of how Douglass talked about salve owners not allowing the slaves to know their ages because they were trying to not allow them to have that knowledge to use for rebellion
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ualearn.blackboard.com ualearn.blackboard.com
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America, it is to thee. Thou hoasted land of lihnty,-h is to thee I raise my song,
This statement tries to undermine America's patriotism but exposing America for what it truly is which was the opposite of what it claims to be.
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ualearn.blackboard.com ualearn.blackboard.com
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.. •.1 SOJOURNER TRUTH
Q1: Sojourner did very well by addressing not only the issues with slavery but also the issues with women having power during that time. By being an advocate for women she not only showed that she was fighting for African Americans but she was also fighting for women. She also went through her own battles by being black and being a woman. Her tactics used in her speech to address both issues is significant to me and very smart. She compares her strengths being a woman to a man showing that equality may have not been voiced but in reality physically she was able to do anything a man could
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- Sep 2017
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docsouth.unc.edu docsouth.unc.edu
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Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off, and the child is placed under the care of an old woman, too old for field labor. For what this separation is done, I do not know, unless it be to hinder the development of the child's affection toward its mother, and to blunt and destroy the natural affection of the mother for the child. This is the inevitable result.
I cannot imagine growing up without knowing who my mother is. The thought of a mother being taken from her newborn is unimaginable.
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ualearn.blackboard.com ualearn.blackboard.com
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The shriek of virgin purity, Doomed to some libertine's embrace,
Many young women who slave owners found attractive would be seduced by them. This could occur for a very long time even until the master would impregnate the young woman or until he did not find her attractive. This was taking the purity of these young girls and basically striping them of their youth.
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Stripped of those _r,•r h-~ human race. Bequeathed to a l t. d <l t.:ranl ._ no . Boun to a petty _Y • 1--h . ·1 o.-1 ler c1c
This quotation explains how Europeans took Africans from their native land and striped them of their rights they were granted at birth, that should be guaranteed to all humans. He also goes on to say that these rights are taken from petty oppressors whose skin is paler than blacks.
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America, it is to thee. Thou hoasted land of lihnty,-h is to thee I raise my song, Thou lund of blood, and crime, and wrong.
I love how he starts off as if he is about to say such great things about our country but instead reveals what many tried to hide from the world. America is seen as a great place. A land of the "free" but that freedom is limited to many people.
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digitalcommons.unl.edu digitalcommons.unl.edu
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In every man’s mind the good seeds of liberty are planted, and he who brings his fellow down so low, as to make him contented with a condition of slavery, commits the highest crime against God and man
Christianity is the biggest religion that many people believe in. They believe that God gave his only son for our sins and that if we live in his faith we will have everlasting life. Many people who are for slavery claim to be Christians but do not abide by the rules that God placed before us. Treating thy neighbor how you would like to be treated is an example. NO race is superior to the other and this quotation highlights this
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Slavery has fixed a deep gulf between you and us, and while it shuts out from you the relief and consolation which your friends would willingly render, it afflicts and persecutes you with a fierce-ness which we might not expect t
I really like this part because even today the thought of slavery divides us. People of color still face injustices and they are tired. Our ancestors were too afraid to fight back and they resisted to do so. In this day and age we are fighting back until we receive justice.
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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
In this statement it seems as though Garnet feels for the slaves and though he can not relate to them and their hardships he wishes that freedom can be granted to them.
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docsouth.unc.edu docsouth.unc.edu
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And as the inhuman system of slavery, is the source from which most of our miseries proceed, I shall begin with that curse to nations, which has spread terror and devastation through so many nations of antiquity
Slavery is very inhumane. When the slaves were being brought over, they were forced to lay in their own and someone else's feces. They were beaten and as stated before even murdered. Slavery was the source of blacks misery and it was the source of their pain. I am impressed with Walker because he is using such language that it seems many others were scared to use.
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Who are not too deceitful, abject, and servile to resist the cruelties and murders inflicted upon us by the white slave holders, our enemies by nature.
I find it interesting that he addresses whites by asking who do they think they are to ignore the fact that colored folk were being done this way. He also says that white slave holders are blacks enemy by nature and I feel where he is coming from considering that these slave owners would embarrass, beat, and even murder blacks all because they felt superior to a black person.
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we Coloured People of these United States, are, the most wretched, degraded and abject set of beings that over lived since the world began, down to the present day, and, that, the white Christians of America, who hold us in slavery, (or, more properly speaking, pretenders to Christianity,) treat us more cruel and barbarous than any Heathen nation did any people whom it had subjected, or reduced to the same condition, that the Americans (who are, notwithstanding, looking for the Millennial day) have us.
Walker starts off very strong and his words are powerful. He questions white Christians on their religion and calls them "pretenders to Christianity because a they are going against everything that is Christian-like by treated colored people cruel and seeing them as animals instead of humans
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ualearn.blackboard.com ualearn.blackboard.com
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that a negro's as vile as a dog; society rejects him; men detest him; the laws curse him ....
This is a vivid and painful quotation because in all reality its true. Blacks have been treated as the worst of worst. They are often compared to animals and society is not built for us. No matter how humble or kindhearted blacks are, they are treated with no respect.It goes unnoticed because of the fear they established in African American.
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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?
Its no secret that many of the injustices that were being done were done without recognition and no one could do anything about it. It was really a big deal for Sejour's work to be published because it shed a light on some things that had been in the dark for so long. Many were unaware of t\he circumstances blacks dealt with.
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u had better make you must decide by the circumstances that surrou�dyou, and according to the suggestion of expediency.
Right off the bat they acknowledge some sort of resistance that this group of people has. They explain that for liberty to be secured resistance must be there. I want to understand on a deeper level what the author means. Does he mean that in order to be free you must resist something before accomplishing that freedom?
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ualearn.blackboard.com ualearn.blackboard.com
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30). Certainly the hymns in his collection have vivid imagery and highly personalized texts-the kind that would have attraction for the newly converted ex-slaves who com
Once again the songs had strong imagery that the congregation could relate to, which in turn made them sing along and enjoy the music.
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hymn books of Baptists and other denominations for his hymnal. His main criterion apparently was whether or not the hymns had appeal for his congregation. In his writings he expresses concern about the "emotional natures" of his people, many of them ex- slaves, being swallowed up in cold, intellectual ri
Thus far it has been nothing but good reviews of Allen's songs. Many copies were made and many people loves his songs. They explained how his main focus was to appeal to his people by outlining the emotional natures that many of his congregation, who were ex slaves, faced. These songs were well liked because his people could connect to them. When you like a song, you mainly like it because it relates to you. This is true for Allen's songs. Other hymns would not work because they werent appealing to the emotions or relating to the lives of the people who would sing them.
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E FIRST HYMNAL compiled expressly for the use of a black congregation, entitled A Collection of Spiritual Songs and Hymns, Selectedfrom Various Authors, was published in 1801 by Richard Allen, who is identified on the title page as "African Minis- ter." Now Richard Allen is justly celebrated as one of the founders of the world's first black Christian denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (hereafter AME), which he served as the first bishop, and for his civil-rights activities in Philadelphia, but little attention has been given to his pioneering role in laying the foundation for black-American hymno
I love how they start out by telling us his role in creating hymns for African Ministries and explain how his work doesnt get the recognition it deserves. He provided alot for the people in the congregation and it shouldnt go unrecognized
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ualearn.blackboard.com ualearn.blackboard.com
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Books became the meeting places for texts with disparate origins, but the texts in their collected form also created literally embodied meeting places,
When I read a book, i definitely get a sense of actually being there. These hymns created a safe place for many people and it embodied a sense of direction. These people were able to feel comfort in their struggles and by Allen doing things for those who werent able to read, it gave them a sense of belonging
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But the material fact of the book went beyond congregational utility to make the statement that its very existence assumed a market, a church, an imagined community
When slaves would sing negro spirituals in the fields, they established an imagined community because they all were singing to connect and communicate with eachother but to also share this common dream of escaping oppression and thats what i feel like these books were doing.
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Lining out, the reading of a hymn by a leader before it is sung back by the congregation, was a common solution to uneven levels of literacy and book ownership going back to the Eng-lish Renaissance,
This reminds me of when the pastor back home reads a scripture and wants the congregation to respond back. I never knew where its origin came from but its very interesting to know that it was done for people who were not able to read
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jtoaa.americanantiquarian.org jtoaa.americanantiquarian.org
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The intelligence of the defeat of the army recently stationed at Cape Marie, reached the ears of the unhappy Paulina, and with horror she heard that her beloved brother in his attempt to regain St. Nicholas, breathed out his valuable life in the cause of freedom, and for his country.
I felt this on a whole other level considering that I have a brother who was heavy in the streets. It isnt war but the area I live in isnt even safe for children. I always warned my brother of dreams I would have that signified his death. I always worried about him when he would leave home. My fears came true when he ended up in the hospital from being pistol whipped in the head. Though he didnt die it changed his lifestyle.Maybe if she would have been able to warn her brother, the outcome might have been different.
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DURING the long and bloody contest, in St. Domingo, between the white man, who flourished the child of sensuality, rioting on the miseries of his slaves; had the sons of Africa, who, provoked to madness, and armed themselves against French barbarity; Madame Paulina was left a widow, unhappy -unprotected, and exposed to all the horrors of the revolution
For the story to start off so vivid and detailed really spoke to me. The person telling the story displays brutal imagery about what was going on during the revolution and what the result of it had been
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Truth alone can make us happy
Yes honesty is the best policy but the truth can also be a painful thing
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Silence having ensued, there was a stillness in the air. All at Saint Nicholas, desirous to know the issue of the combat, remained in doubtful anxiety.
Maybe I'm thinking way beyond but Saint Nick to many is Santa Claus, is she referring to a white man of that time whom she has never met?
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After much unpleasant reflections on her pitiable situation, Madame Paulina resolved to address a letter, soliciting the advice of her brother, then at Cape Marie', and at the head of a party of his patriot brethren, who like him, disdained slavery, and were determined to live free men, or expire in their attemptsfor liberty and independence.
It seemed as though shes puts all her trust in her brothers. She values her brothers opinion and by asking him about slavery I feel that she deep down she wants that freedom as do many others but fear puts her in a painful place.
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web.archive.org web.archive.org
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"Their colour is a diabolic die." Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
For some reason I think she is implying how others view blacks as evil, dirty, and animal/savage like yet she ends the poem by saying that anybody could seek God and Christianity, even people who are seen as the lowest of low.
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Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
Wheatley is very much so aware of the injustices that she is facing being take from her home to become a slave of someone else. She looks at the positive side of her kidnapping just as many other blacks did because their faith in God allowed them to believe that brighter days were coming
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TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
A Pagan is basically someone who believes in a religion aside from the normal religions or someone who follow their own beliefs. I feel that she is saying mercy brought her to America and closer to God who is believed to be our Saviour.
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www.pbs.org www.pbs.org
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Eunice Allen see the Indians coming, And hopes to save herself by running, And had not her petticoats stopped her,
This caught my attention because I am able to imagine this scene and bring it to life in my mind. I can see the woman trying to run in an petticoat and tripping because of the way that it made.
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"Bars Fight"
The title threw me off a little because it will make you think that this happened in an actual bar or venue where people drink.
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The Indians did in ambush lay, Some very valiant men to slay,
This was very interesting to know because I had not known that this event occurred between white colonist men and the Native Americans.
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docsouth.unc.edu docsouth.unc.edu
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When my master returned from the island, his wife told him of the affair, but for the present he seemed to take no notice of it, and mentioned not a word about it to me. Some days after his return, in the morning as I was putting on a log in the fire-place, not suspecting harm from any one, I received a most violent stroke on the crown of my head with a club two feet long and as large round as a chair-post.
In life, I have noticed that those who but into others affairs are always the ones to suffer. Though his mistress was the one who had the problem with the masters wife, he came to her rescue when she was about to be whipped which caused him to take a harsh punishment from the master upon his return, throughout the years I have learned to stay out of others affairs. This quotation only guides me more into staying out.
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the enemy laid siege and immediately took men, women, children, flocks, and all their valuable effects
First thing I thought about was a situation that happened back home with a robbery. Someone who did not have what another family had felt that it was necessary to take from them not only their possessions but their life. Many often forget the harsh reality that others live in. For this I say cherish the things and people that you have because many do not have it and they are willing to risk it all throwing their life away to get it.
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My father told the messenger he would comply rather than that his subjects should be deprived of their rights and privileges, which he was not then in circumstances to defend from so sudden an invasion.
In my eyes, a father is the noblest being of all. My father has sacrificed a lot on the account of his family so this speaks volumes to me. Men have certain pride issues to where they feel like as a man they should do certain things and maybe my father is one of them. It would days where my brother and sisters would say we were hungry and my dad would go and get us food yet he would go without. For this man to take the blame instead of allowing everyone else to perish really hit home.
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- Aug 2017
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docsouth.unc.edu docsouth.unc.edu
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I was named Olaudah, which, in our language, signifies vicissitude or fortune also, one favoured, and having a loud voice and well spoken.
I relate to this because it desrcribes my personality. I am very loud yet I am favoured. Many people think that me being loud is ghetto and not lady like. To see that it is favoured by these people makes me less isecure about the way I am and the way I speak.
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I might say my sufferings were great: but when I compare my lot with that of most of my countrymen, I regard myself as a particular favourite of Heaven,
This reminds me some what of 12 years a slave. He was a very talented black man who was striped his rights of freedom though he was not in the south. I heard that many people up north still recieved trerrible treatment though slavery did not exist. The way blacks were treated up north can be compared to the way people see morality. If I label something as bad and I get others to think that what I think is bad is indeed bad then I thus started a ripple effect. Just because they saw blacks in the south being mistreated, they wanted in on the action which created a break in between blacks and whites up north.
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I BELIEVE it is difficult for those who publish their own memoirs to escape the imputation of vanity;
This particular sentence not only caught my eye because it was the first thing I read but it also spoke volumes to me in its meaning. The author claims that it is hard to publish things about yourself without people blaming you for admiring yourself and it made me think of humans competitive nature. When I am back home and someone accomplishes something and feel they need to share it, many will bash this person even though they shared a positive post about something positive going on in their life. Many people feel that bragging about your accomplishments comes off as an insult to those who have not accomplished what they desire to.
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