Gender, Race, and Class in Today’s America

Historical-Effects of Slavery on the African American Male

There have been innumerable accounts of how the slaves were treated during their years of servitude.  Many of these accounts were dire and inhumane.  The lives of these individuals were difficult to live.  The degradation of their human life was very arduous.  Sadly, this culture was not considered human. There are many slaves that died at the hands of their white slave masters and others that encountered a colored enslaved person.  It was a horrible time in American history.

In 1999 Dateline ABC News presented a story on the real voices of actual slaves and their accounts of living as a slave.  The original interviews were conducted by John Henry Faulk, a graduate student in the 1930’s.  The audio was captured on a 200-pound portable recorder.  There were several slaves interviewed.  This included Fountain Hughes, Harriet Smith and Laura Smalley.  For the sake of this curriculum unit, Mr. Hughes’s remarks will be used.  However, comments by Ms. Smith and Ms. Smalley are incorporated here since there is limited “live” voices to give an account of what took place on the plantation as a slave almost 200 years ago.

Fountain Hughes.  Mr. Hughes was born a slave in 1848 in Virginia. At the time of the interview, he was 101 years old.  His grandfather belonged to Thomas Jefferson. As a slave, his job was to cut and hang tobacco.  Oftentimes, he would work all night long in the fields.  He stated, “it didn’t matter ‘bout you tired, being tired. You’re afraid to say you are tired”.  He said when he thinks of it today, he does not know how he’s living.  He spoke of his treatment as a slave, but mainly spoke of how he was viewed from society. He said the slave was nothing more than property.  In his own words he stated: “They sell us like we were horses or cows…hogs like that.  They put you up on the bench and bid on you the same as cattle, you know”.⁶  After becoming a free man, Mr. Hughes went to Baltimore and worked hauling manure.

Frederick Douglass.  Mr. Douglass was born in 1817 in Talbot County, Maryland.  He was unsure of his actual birth date, but believes it was in 1817. He was a slave for 20 years.  In addition to being a slave, he was an abolitionist, writer, and eventually a diplomat  He describes slavery as dehumanizing of one’s character, soul-killing, and he held a hatred of slavery.  Speaking of the horrible life of a black slave at the hands of his white slave master, Douglass says, “Nothing has been undone to cripple their [blacks] intellects, darken their minds, debase their moral nature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind; and yet how wonderfully they have sustained the mighty load of a most frightful bondage, under which they have been groaning for centuries.”  He goes on to say “he [the white slave master] has no  powers of endurance in such a condition, superior to those of his black brother”.⁷  It got to the point where Mr. Douglass fought back against his white slave master and the white slave master backed off.  He went from a slave to an abolitionist to a politician.  He spent most of his life-giving speeches on behalf of many groups including women, Native Americans and African Americans.

Henry “Box” Brown.  Mr. Brown was born a slave in 1815 in Louise County, Virginia, (actual date is unknown).  He shipped himself in a wooden box from Virginia to Philadelphia, PA.  After the Civil War, many slaves sought to migrate from southern states where slavery was still being practiced to northern states that allowed blacks to be free.  Mr. Brown married and had 4 children but he was not able to live with them because they were sold at auction.  This occurrence drove Mr. Brown to the drastic measure of seeking to obtain his freedom by any means necessary.  He received help from his church and a white person to execute his plan of escape. The plan was with a white man named Samuel Smith.  Mr. Smith shipped the box that contained Mr. Brown in 1849.  The box was shipped via railway and marked as “dry goods”.  There was a hole placed into the box for air and it was stuffed with cloth.  The box arrived in Philadelphia.  After his success, he tried the stunt again but it was discovered prior to its execution.  He was arrested and sent to jail.  His life thereafter resulted in him performing for audiences and showing them how he escaped slavery by mailing himself.  Mr. Brown’s story is important to show the desperation of a man that lived a terrible existence as a slave and how it drove him to the point where he took drastic measures of placing himself in a box and actually mailing himself to freedom.  The loss of his family truly caused him to mentally break.  Please note, this trip in the box was exhausting.  The box was marked that it should stand upright, but that did not completely occur.  Also, he had limited water and food.  At one point, he was even turned upside down which caused him to feel ill from blood rushing to his head.

Booker T. Washington [1856-1915].  Mr. Washington was born in Franklin County, Virginia.  He was born into slavery and worked on the plantation.  His mother was a slave and his father was an unknown white man that is believed to be a man from another plantation.  His account of being on the plantation includes working excessive hours and carrying 100-pound sacks.  He was beaten for not performing well.  He was not allowed to learn because of his slave status.  However, his mother would share books with him.  He eventually obtained a job as a houseboy.  This was at the home of Lewis and Viola Ruffner who were coal miners.  Here again, Mrs. Ruffner allowed Booker to learn.  Once he was freed, he went to school and went on to college.  He eventually founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute Alabama.

Mr. Washington’s  racial views did not coincide with other abolitionist of his day.  He felt that separation from white people was acceptable as long as it was economically beneficial to Blacks, along with better educational opportunities and justice in the courts.  He accepted “racial subservience”, a position not accepted by other black leaders of the day, including W.E.B. Dubois.  During this era, he was invited to the White House by 2 United States Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.  This was a huge opportunity for a former slave.⁸

The interesting thing about the African American historical figures discussed here is their resilience to obtain freedom.  They carried the stripes of their past, but were able to enjoy some semblance of freedom as a free person.  Many freed slaves went on to be prominent individuals in society.  They brought great insight of their struggles into obtaining great strides.  They are pioneers for the African American race.  Much respect and appreciation are given to them for standing in the balance for their future lineage.