THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK ESSAYS AND SKETCHES

THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK ESSAYS AND SKETCHES

Jordan roll

“Steal away to Jesus”

grotesque

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

I sit and sew—a useless task it seems, My hands grown tired, my head weighed down with dreams—

Sonnet

affectionate

 I HAVE often been asked to write my life, as those who know me know that it has been an eventful one

FORMERLY A SLAVE, BUT MORE RECENTLY MODISTE, AND FRIEND TO MRS. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

1. My brudder* sittin' on de tree of life, An' he yearde when Jordan roll; Roll, Jordan, Roll, Jordan, Roll, Jordan, roll! O march de angel march, O march de angel march; O my soul arise in Heaven, Lord, For to yearde when Jordan roll.] 2. Little chil'en, learn to fear de Lord, And let your days be long; Roll, Jordan, &c. 3. O, let no false nor spiteful word Be found upon your tongue; Roll, Jordan, &c.

* The first seven spirituals in this collection, which were regularly sung at the church.

SLAVE SONGS OF THE UNITED STATES.

chattel.

. They lived together in a comfortable home; and, though we were all slaves, I was so fondly shielded that I never dreamed I was a piece Page 12 of merchandise

mulattoes

I WAS born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away.

: “OLaud! dow has promis' in dine own wud, to be a fadah to de fadaless, an'husban to de widah! O Laud, let dy wud run an' be glorify! Sof'en de haudhaut ob de presseh, an' let my po' chile cum back! an'——

Fahwell, my chile! fahwell; may God A'mighty be wid you!” were theparting words of the poor old slave, who with streaming eyes gazed upon herparting child for the last time

“Cousin, if you will listen for a moment, I wish to say a word to you,” saidMrs. Ballard. “The Judge, as you know, has a countryseat in Cuba near thecity of Havana, where we design making every year our winter retreat. As wecannot take with us either free Negroes or white servants, on account of theexisting restrictions, I must have a slave, and of course I prefer a well-trainedone, as I know all yours to be. The price will be no object; as I know it will benone to you, it shall be none to me.

  Mrs. Franks was herself a handsome lady of some thirty-five summers, butten years less in appearance, a little above medium height, between themajestic and graceful, raven-black hair, and dark, expressive eyes. Yet it oftenhad been whispered that in beauty the maid equalled if not excelled themistress. Her age was twenty-eigh

Experience has taught me that nothing can be more heart-rending than for one to see a dear and beloved mother or sister tortured, and to hear their cries, and not be able to render them assistance. But such is the position which an American slave occupies.

Very soon after my return to Baltimore, my mistress, Lucretia, died, leaving her husband and one child, Amanda; and in a very short time after her death, Master Andrew died. Now all the property of my old master, slaves included, was in the hands of strangers, --strangers who had had nothing to do with accumulating it. Not a slave was left free. All remained slaves, from the youngest to the oldest.

Mr. and Mrs. Auld were both at home, and met me at the door with their little son Thomas, to take care of whom I had been given. And here I saw what I had never seen before; it was a white face beaming with the most kindly emotions; it was the face of my new mistress, Sophia Auld. I wish I could describe the rapture that flashed through my soul as I beheld it. It was a new and strange sight to me, brightening up my pathway with the light of happiness. Little Thomas was told, there was his Freddy,--and I was told to take care of little Thomas; and thus I entered upon the duties of my new home with the most cheering prospect ahead.

   As to my own treatment while I lived on Colonel Lloyd's plantation, it was very similar to that of the other slave children. I was not old enough to work in the field, and there being little else than field work to do, I had a great deal of leisure time. The most I had to do was to drive up the cows at evening, keep the fowls out of the garden, keep the front yard clean, and run of errands for my old master's daughter, Mrs. Lucretia Auld.

I speak advisedly when I say this,--that killing a slave, or any colored person, in Talbot county, Maryland, is not treated as a crime, either by the courts or the community

Mr. Gore told him that he would give him three calls, and that, if he did not come out at the third call, he would shoot him. The first call was given. Demby made no response, but stood his ground. The second and third calls were given with the same result. Mr. Gore then, without consultation or deliberation with any one, not even giving Demby an additional call, raised his musket to his face, taking deadly aim at his standing victim, and in an instant poor Demby was no more. His mangled body sank out of sight, and blood and brains marked the water where he had stood.         A thrill of horror flashed through every soul upon the plantation, excepting Mr. Gore. He alone seemed cool and collected. He was asked by Colonel Lloyd and my old master, why he resorted to this extraordinary expedient. His reply was, (as well as I can remember,) that Demby had become unmanageable. He was setting a dangerous example to the other slaves,--one which, if suffered to pass without some such demonstration on his part, would finally lead to the total subversion of all rule and order upon the plantation. H

  MR. HOPKINS remained but a short time in the office of overseer. Why his career was so short, I do not know, but suppose he lacked the necessary severity to suit Colonel Lloyd. Mr. Hopkins was succeeded by Mr. Austin Gore, a man possessing, in an eminent degree, all those traits of character indispensable to

 I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, Page 15 among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.

Mr. Severe's place was filled by a Mr. Hopkins. He was a very different man. He was less cruel, less profane, and made less noise, than Mr. Severe. His course was characterized by no extraordinary demonstrations of cruelty. He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. He was called by the slaves a good overseer.

The nearest estimate I can give makes me now between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age. I come to this, from hearing my master say, some time during 1835, I was about seventeen years old.

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.

I have heard the bible and have_ learned that Eve caused man to sin. Well, if woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right side up again.

Sojourner Truth never leurncd to read or write. "I cannot read a book, but_ I can read the people,"

vinced that God had called her to leave the city and go out into the countryside .itestifying of the hope that was in her," the hope that others, regardless of color or condition, could experience the spiritual conversion and empowerment that she now felt.

Sojourner Truth was the name triumphantly adopted by Isabella, a one-time slave, after forty years of struggle first to become free and then to settle on the mission she felt God intended for her.

The voice of Freedom cried, “Emancipate your slaves.”

of the North, East, and West

brethren

Blacks or Coloured People, are treated more cruel by the white Christians of America, than devils themselves ever treated a set of men, women and children on this earth.

t 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

These positions I shall endeavour, by the help of the Lord, to demonstrate in the course of this Appeal, to the satisfaction of the most incredulous mind--and may God Almighty, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, open your hearts to understand and believe the truth.

rivate school, where he came under the influence of a respected black joμrnalist who wrote for French newspapers in New Orleans. Following a custom of New Orleans's free black class, Sejour went to Paris when he was nineteen to further his education. He stayed on to launch a literary career unhampered by the racial pro-scriptions of the _antebellum Squth.

Georges lay for twelve days somewhere between life and death. Alfred visited him often; and, driven on by some fateful chance, he became enamored of Zelia.

'Don't worry, master, they'll have to walk o~er my ho Y e ore t ey get to you,' said the slave with a calm and resigned air.

ow 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

Richard Allen, born a slave, freed by his own savings, and one of the leading black citizens of early national Philadelphia, produced the first known hymnbook compiled by an African-American in 1801.2 He also produced the second such book in the same year, presumably in response to strong interest among the congregation of what would become the Mother Bethel church of the African Methodist Episcopal denomi-nation.

The once verdant plains, round its environs had been crimsoned with the blood of innocence, and the nature of the times afforded no security to the oppressed natives of Saint Nicholas

flambeau

But though protected by the mantle of night, Madame was hastening on her way to safety and quiet; she frequently would turn her eyes bathed with the dew of sorrow, and heave her farewell sigh towards her ill-fated village; and like [ ] when departing out of Sodom, Paulina prayed for mercy for theenemies of her country, and the destroyers of her peace

A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,

WASHINGTON! Be thine.

Vindication

John Sadler fled across the water, And thus escaped the dreadful slaughter.

Oliver Amsden he was slain, Which caused his friends much grief and pain. Simeon Amsden

The names of whom I'll not leave out.

When I was in Smyrna I have frequently seen the Greeks dance after this manner.

his is also immediately proclaimed in the vicinity, on which the bride retires from the assembly. Some time after she is brought home to her husband, and Page 9 then another feast is made, to which the relations of both parties are invited: her parents then deliver her to the bridegroom, accompanied

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

On my return, I was received both by my father and mother with great joy and affection, and was once more restored to my paternal dwelling in peace and happiness. I was then about six years old.

She took not the least sustenance along with her, to support either herself or children. I was able to Page 6 travel along by her side; the other two of her offspring she carried one on her back, and the other being a sucking child, in her arms. When we became hungry, my mother used to set us down on the ground, and gather some of the fruits which grew spontaneously in that climate. These served us for food on the way.

 I WAS born at Dukandarra, in Guinea, about the year 1729.

had kill'd Captain Howland, the Passenger and the other hand; we came to the Larboard side of the Sloop, and they order'd us round to the Starboard, and as we were passing round the Page 6 Bow, we saw the whole Number of Indians, advancing forward and loading their Guns, upon which the Mate said, "my Lads we are all dead Men," and before we had got round, they discharged their Small Arms upon us, and kill'd Three of our hands,

at the Sight of which we were not a little rejoiced, but on our advancing yet nearer, we found them, to our very great Surprize, to be Indians of which there were Sixty; being now so near them we could not possibly make our Escape; 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;

we was detain'd