Chapter III.
REMEMBERING SLAVERY
THE BOOK

Reading Session I:

I. "The Faces of Power: Slaves and Owners"

PREVIEW: This section of the book documents the many ways in which owners maintained, as the chapter introduction notes, "full command over the slaves' labor and nearly unchecked power over their persons." It also highlights the ways in which slaves rebelled against the masters' control.

Before reading this chapter, take some time to think, write, and talk about:

• The nature of power and control. Do a "freewrite" in which you write for 5-10 minutes about whatever thoughts, images, and associations come to mind when you hear the word "power." Think and write about the times in your life when you were expected to obey someone else's rules (such as parents, teachers, bosses, etc.). How did you learn about these rules? How were they enforced? What was the penalty for breaking them? Have you ever been in a situation in which you were, in your opinion, unfairly treated? How did that make you feel? How did you react?

• The chapter introduction notes, "The long struggle between masters and slaves, more than two hundred years old at the time of the Civil War" was played out with "words, symbols and rituals as well as whips and guns." What do you think that means? How can a power struggle be played out with words, symbols, rituals, whips and guns? How do those various "weapons" differ from one another? What do you think each one would be most effective in achieving?

READING GOAL: The chapter introduction mentions the variety of forms the struggle between masters and slaves took, ranging from brute force to more psychological forms of control. As you read the selections in this chapter, try to identify and keep a list of the many ways in which the owners maintained control over the slaves' work and lives. At the same time, also look for and list the ways in which slaves were able to rebel against this control.

SELECTED READINGS: If you cannot read the entire chapter, reading these particular interviews and narratives will provide an overview of the issues and topics addressed in the chapter as a whole.

• Augusta Messersmith: Describes the differences between a "good" master and a "bad" one.

• Henrietta King: Tells of the brutal punishment she suffered as a child for taking a piece of candy, and the permanent scar left in its wake.

• Jenny Proctor: Gives a harrowing description of the generally rough working and living conditions for slaves and cruelty exhibited even towards children.

• Delicia Patterson: Describes her sale on the auction block at age 15, and how she attempted to assert her own interests and to some extent succeeded.

• William Johnson: Recounts how a fellow slave learned to read and write without the master's knowledge and used these skills to help several slaves escape to the North, before being betrayed by a fellow slave.

• W.B. Allen: Tells of patrollers disrupting the prayer meeting of a group of slaves, who fought back in a surprising and clever manner.

• W.P. Jacobs: Relates how his uncle, with the help of an abolitionist and the Underground Railroad, escaped to a new life of freedom in the North.

• Arnold Gragston: Tells how, after helping others cross the Ohio River to freedom, he eventually made it himself.

FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS:

• The chapter introduction describes how the master/slave relationship was complicated because of the "conflicting interests and aspirations" of each group. Based on the narratives you read, what were the specific "interests" and "aspirations" of slaves and masters? In what ways did they conflict? What was the result of that conflict?

• How and why did masters punish their slaves in the narratives you read? What do you think was the rationale or motivation behind each form of punishment? How did it further the masters' aims? What was the immediate and longer-lasting effects of these forms of punishment on slaves?

• Review the lists you made while reading of the ways masters exerted their power over their slaves and the ways slaves rebelled. For each one, try to identify the factors that led to these specific actions. What do you think each group hoped to achieve through their show of power or rebellion? What goal was each individual action effective at achieving?
  If you had difficulty identifying your own lists, you might discuss the following:
  Forms of Control by the Masters:
  • Using brute force, such as whippings and beatings.
  • Splitting up family members.
  • Selling slaves to other masters.
  • Hiring out slaves to other slaveholders.
  • Controlling food supply and living conditions/quarters.
  • Requiring passes when leaving the plantation.
  • Controlling when, where, how, and with whom they worship.
  • Forbidding literacy and punishing those caught reading and writing.
  • Searching for and punishing fugitive slaves.
  Forms of Slave Resistance:
  • Physical uprising/Striking or speaking back.
  • Refusing to be sold to particular masters.
  • Maintaining family ties, even when separated.
  • Hiding in the woods to escape punishment.
  • Running away to the North.
  • Learning to read and write.
  • Running their own religious meetings.
  • Helping others escape to freedom.

• In some of the narratives, the former slaves describe how their masters were "good" or "kind". In what ways did those "good" masters differ from the others described in the other narratives? For what reason might a master choose to award certain privileges and comforts to his slaves? What might be gained from these kindnesses to slaves and what might be expected in return? In what ways were slaves under these masters still deprived the full rights and privileges of freedom? How were their lives still marred by slavery?

• How did the following people affect slaves' lives?
  • master/mistress
  • fellow slaves
  • overseers/foremen/drivers
  • abolitionists
  • patrollers

• Several of the narratives mention slaves who learned how to read and write, an activity that was against the law for slaves in the South. Why do you think the masters punished slaves who learned how to read and write? Why might they want to deprive slaves of these skills? What did the slaves do with their literacy in the narratives you read?

• Why might masters hire black "drivers" on their plantation to oversee and punish their slaves?

• Why would masters threaten to separate family members? Why was this so effective a form of control?

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES:

• Select one of the slave narratives you read in this chapter that particularly interested you. Re-read the narrative and try to list all of the ways in which the slave's life is controlled by the masters. Then think about and try to list all of the freedoms you enjoy in your life that were denied to the slave.

• Write a short story in which you imagine you are a slave who is being helped across the river and to freedom by Arnold Gragston. What fears run through your mind as you make this risky journey? Why are you willing to take the risk? How do you imagine your life changing once you make it to freedom?

• Re-write one of the narratives you read from someone else's point of view (such as a fellow slave, a master or mistress, an overseer). What elements of the narrative are now ignored or emphasized more? Why?

TOPICS FOR FURTHER STUDY:

• The Underground Railroad and Abolitionist Movement.
• Slave Narratives and Autobiography.
• Slave Rebellions (such as Nat Turner or the Amistad).
• Forms of Slavery and Revolutions in Other Cultures and Historical Periods

---

Previous

Return

Next