Chapter II.
REMEMBERING SLAVERY
THE TAPES/BROADCASTS

Listening Session and Listener's Guide Part 2

PREVIEW: The second tape/broadcast documents slaves' experiences during the Civil War and the transition to a life of freedom. Before listening to the tape/broadcast, take time to write and think about the following:

• One of the major themes of this second tape/broadcast, as Tonea Stewart's narration highlights, is how change, even for the better, always presents new challenges. Think and/or write about a time in your life when you experienced some major change or transition that affected you, for better or worse. What factors sparked the change? What were the major effects of the change? What were the minor ones? What effects on your life were immediately apparent to you? What ones took longer before their impact was fully evident? How did you grapple with the change? What advice would you give to those undergoing similar transitions in their own lives?

• Part Two addresses a major period in American History -- the Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction -- from the point of view of those slaves who lived during this period. Find an American History Textbook and skim the section covering this period. What point of view is the text written in? Can you detect the attitude of the writer(s) about these events? What primary source materials, if any, are described or utilized (such as documents, photographs, newspapers, diaries)? Whose voices, if any, are heard? Those of famous "historical" figures? Are there any firsthand accounts by "ordinary" Americans? If so, what do they contribute to the chapter? If not, why do you think they were omitted? What might we learn from hearing and reading the views of ordinary American people during this period? Should these accounts be considered historical sources? Why or why not?

LISTEN TO PART TWO OF REMEMBERING SLAVERY: Approximate Time Length: 1 Hour. Remember to set aside enough time to listen to the entire tape/broadcast once all the way through, without stopping. You can go back and listen to parts again later.

LISTENING GOAL: The second tape/broadcast of Remembering Slavery features former slaves describing the effects of the Civil War and its aftermath. As you listen, think back about the first part's descriptions of slave life before emancipation and try to identify the ways in which slaves' lives changed during and after the Civil War (in ways great and small), as well as the ways in which they remained the same. What factors made the transition from slavery to freedom difficult? How do individuals on the tape grapple (or fail to grapple) with these changes?

OVERVIEW OF PART TWO: On the second tape, you'll hear these interviews and narratives (in order):

• Delia Garlic: Recounts the indescribable "awfulness" of slavery and the coming of the war.

• Fountain Hughes: Remembers living through slavery, the coming of the Civil War and its immediate effects.

• Mary Barbour: Recalls her family's nighttime departure from their plantation to join with the Yankees and the thrill of their newfound freedom.

• William I. Johnson: Remembers hearing the promise of freedom from imprisoned Yankee soldiers and recounts his service for the Union army during the war.

• Give Us a Flag: A song sung by the black volunteer soldiers.

• Sarah Debro: Describes first hearing the sound of cannon fire, and her reluctance to leave her mistress as well as her mistress's reluctance to let her go.

• Tom Hester: Describes a meeting he said he saw between Generals Ulysses Grant and Robert E. Lee.

• Eva Strayhorn: Recounts her mother's refusal to leave the South without her husband, and the coming of the "bushwackers" and looters.

• Harriet Smith: Describes black soldiers joining the Union troops marching, and a young woman who joined them on horseback.

• Billy McCrea: Discusses the establishment of the Freedman Bureau and the Yankee troops' departure back to the North.

• Alice Gaston: Recalls her family being split when the Yankees arrived, and her mistress begging her not to reveal to the Yankees where she was hiding.

• Tempie Cummings: Recounts how her mother risked her life to foil her master's plan to keep his slaves ignorant of their freedom.

• Laura Smalley: Remarks on how much time passed before the slaves actually learned they were free.

• Fountain Hughes: Describes how, even when free, he and his family still suffered, having no home or means of support.

• Robert Glenn: Tells how and why he chose to remain working for his former master and eventually was able to assert his freedom and independence.

• Isom Mosely: Describes the practice of sharecropping.

• Laura Smalley: Describes the problems of sharecropping and how it kept the former slaves in the power of Southern whites.

• Harriet Smith: Talks about her husband's politicking, rounding up votes among new black voters, and the violent repercussions his actions met with.

• Fountain Hughes: Tells of his pride in never having owed anything to anyone.

• John Henry Faulk: Recalls talking with a former slave about his good intentions and discovering his own misconception about the real nature of freedom.

• Langston Hughes: A recitation of his poem "Mother to Son," which symbolizes what these experiences of elders mean to their descendants.

• Fountain Hughes/Harriet Smith: Remember the shift from horses to cable cars to automobiles.

FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS:

• What specific challenges, changes, and difficulties did former slaves face with the coming of freedom? How were their lives improved? How were some still enslaved? What might have been done to ease the transition to freedom?

• How did Southern whites attempt to maintain their control over slaves during and immediately after the Civil War?

• How do the former slaves describe the Yankee and Rebel troops? Do they see the Rebels as the villains and the Yankees as their saviors? How do their descriptions of the soldiers differ from portrayals of Civil War soldiers you've seen or heard in other sources?

• Why did some slaves remain with or try to serve their masters even after they were set free? Why did some choose to remain in the South even though they had no jobs or land?

• How did relations between slaves and masters change during and after the Civil War? What do you think it was like for the former slaves to live in the South alongside those who had once been their owners?

• Several of the narratives emphasize how the slaves had "nowhere to go" and "no home" once they were set free. Why would this be such a problem? Why is it so important to have a "place" you can call "home"?

• How were the former slaves still exploited economically, such as by practices like sharecropping?

• William Johnson, who eventually served in the Union army during one of the fiercest battles of the war, says he didn't know initially what the war was about. Why would slaves be kept ignorant about the war? How might slaves have learned about the war? Would they necessarily side with one side over the other? How might slaves' view of the war differ from those of white northerners and southerners?

• How and why did owners prevent some slaves from learning about their freedom? What does this indicate about the kind of power the masters had?

• In Sarah Debro's narrative, she remembers her former mistress, Polly, crying at the sound of cannon fire. Her Aunt Charity says Polly was crying not because the Yankees were killing the men, as Sarah believed, but because she was scared the slaves would be set free. What does this tell us about how we interpret the actions and motivations of others? How does it relate to the way we evaluate the past and document history?

• What was the "Oath of Peace," as described by Eva Strayhorn? What was the "Freedman's Bureau," mentioned by Billy McCrea and Robert Glenn? Why would the Union soldiers and Northern leaders institute these offices? What do they indicate about life in the South immediately after the Civil War?

• Why did Robert Glenn decide to continue working for his master? Why would he feel, as he says, he was "still under obligations" to him? What makes him change his view about these obligations and helps him assert his independence and freedom?

• Why would granting blacks the power to vote be viewed as dangerous or threatening by some Southern whites? What threat did Harriet Smith's husband pose with his politicking that led to his shooting?

• Why does Harriet Smith observe that poor white people were behind the shooting and that rich people "don't bother nobody"? How does this comment tie economics to racial hatred? Why might these be connected?

• Why does Fountain Hughes take such pride in never having owed anyone money in his life? How might his experiences as a slave and eventually as a free man have contributed to his determination never to owe anything to anyone?

• John Henry Faulk recalls a conversation with a former slave in which his efforts to explain he was a "different kind of white man" were met with the response, "you still got the disease." Why does Faulk say this experience "profoundly affected" him? What did he realize about himself and the meaning of freedom? What did Faulk's well-intentioned words indicate about his own prejudices and assumptions? What is the difference between "giving" rights and being "born" with them?

• Tonea Stewart's narration notes that society gave many former slaves the impression that this was something to be ashamed of. How and why might certain people give that impression? In what ways might former slaves have been made to feel ashamed? How might that sense of shame be countered?

• How does Langston Hughes' poem, with which the recording concludes, relate to the narratives and experiences you've heard? How does the poem illustrate the connection between contemporary African American art and culture and the past?

• Why does the tape end with Fountain Hughes and Harriet Smith's remembrance of seeing the first cable cars and automobiles? Why is this an appropriate conclusion to the tapes?

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES:

• Toward the end of the second tape/broadcast, Tonea Stewart's narration claims we must hear former slaves' stories today because, "how can you know how far you have come if you don't know where you started?" What "benchmarks" do you use in your own life to remind for yourself "how far you've come"? Why is this an important thing to do as individuals? Why is it important for larger groups and communities to also reflect on the connections between the past and the present? What do the narratives indicate about how far African Americans have come? What about how far America as a nation has come -- and how far it still has to go? Historically, what other forms of enslavement and subjugation have existed? Which ones still exist today? How might they be fought?

• Watch a popular movie or television series set during the Civil War (such as Birth of a Nation, Gone With the Wind, Glory, or Ken Burns' Civil War series) and write a review of it, judging it in terms of such areas as its ability to entertain and/or inform. What point of view or bias is apparent in the piece? How much of the piece, if any, touches on themes and issues raised by the interviews with former slaves you heard on the tapes/broadcasts? What aspects of the tapes/broadcasts are not found at all in the piece you watched?

• Read more poems and literature by African American writers, especially those affiliated with the Harlem Renaissance and try to identify ways in which the legacy of slavery informs these works.

• Tonea Stewart's narration asserts that the slave narratives "illustrate the connection of the slave experience to contemporary American life." Write about any connections you see between American life, politics, and culture today and what you've heard on these tapes. How is your own life as you live it today affected by America's past?

• Taking Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" as an example, try writing your own poem that addresses, in symbolic terms and images, the importance of the past and older generations and the ways they influence and affect the present (for you individually, or in general terms for all of society).

TOPICS FOR FURTHER STUDY:

• Civil War History and Historical Sources
• Life and Culture in America During the Civil War
• Life for Civil War Soldiers
• African American Troops in the Civil War
• The Harlem Renaissance
• On-Going Struggles in America Concerning Equal Rights; the Civil Rights Movement

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