Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938
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Near the end of the Civil War, word spread throughout the South that freedmen would receive 40 acres of land and a mule. Read the Casper Rumple interview, in which he describes the reaction of former slaves when they heard the news. Research the Special Field Order issued by General Sherman that gave rise to this rumor, as well as the arguments regarding land redistribution that were made when such a provision was included in the first Freedmen’s Bureau Act proposed in Congress. Would a grant of “40 acres and a mule” have produced positive or negative results? Explain. What would be the arguments for and against such a policy? How is this historical question still reflected in issues being discussed today?
Historical Issues-Analysis and Decision Making: The Individual as Historical Decision-Maker
Slaves had much less control over their own lives than free people. This does not mean, however, that they were unable to make any important decisions. In fact, enslaved peoples were historical decision-makers, just as free people were. One of the decisions slaves made was whether and/or how to resist the power of the slaveholder. Learning to read was an example of such resistance.
The following appears in the Statute Laws of Georgia for 1845 concerning educating negroes, under Section II, Minor Offences. “Punishment for teaching slaves or free persons of color to read. If any slave, negro, or free person of color, or any white person, shall teach any other slave, negro or free person of color, to read or write either written or printed characters, the said free person of color or slave shall be punished by fine and whipping, or fine or whipping, at the direction of the court.”
According to some interviewees, slaveholders punished slaves who learned to read even more harshly:
. . . ‘Ole Marse’ wuz sho hard about that. He said ‘Niggers’was made by de good Lord to work, and onct when my Uncle stole a book and was a trying to learn how to read and write, Marse Jasper had the white doctor take off my Uncle’s fo’ finger right down to de ‘fust jint’. Marster said he fixed dat darky as a sign fo de res uv ‘em!
Slaves who learned to read and write faced possible punishments, yet some chose learning. Make a T-chart showing the pros and cons of a slave’s learning to read and write. In similar circumstances, would you take the risk to learn to read and write? Explain your answer.