From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909

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From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909, offers primary source materials depicting African Americans in the nineteenth century in representations ranging from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin to humor on the minstrel stage, and abolitionist tracts in pamphlets and newspapers. Former-slave narratives provide an opportunity to analyze issues of authorship, while congressional speeches provide a look at the impact of contention in politics.

Former-Slave Narratives

Some abolitionist tracts offered accounts of the hardships of slavery straight from the pens of former slaves. A search on narrative yields six pamphlets that are attributed to former slaves. As the preface to the “Narrative of Henry Watson” notes, the intention of this account was to “present a faithful record of a few only of the transactions I have been eye-witness of, hoping that a perusal of them might add something to the already abundant testimony of the horrors of the slave system,” (page 4).

From the Cover of "Narrative of Henry Watson," 1849.

Despite the guarantee of providing eyewitness testimony, a review of Watson’s tale and other pamphlets such as “Life of James Mars, a Slave Born and Sold in Connecticut” and “Narrative of the Life of J.D. Green, a Runaway Slave,” hint that abolitionists may have revised these tales for dramatic effect. For example, J.D. Green’s explanation of how he felt when his mother was sold off the plantation includes the following reflection:

Oh! how dreadful it is to be black! Why was I born black? It would have been better had I not been born at all. Only yesterday, my mother was sold to go to, not one of us knows where, and I am left alone, and I have no hope of seeing her again. At this moment a raven alighted on a tree over my head, and I cried, "Oh, Raven! if I had wings like you, I would soon find my mother and be happy again."

page 6

A search for the term, slave narrative, across the American Memory site provides examples of other accounts from collections such as The African-American Experience in Ohio, First-Person Narratives of the American South, The Nineteenth Century in Print, and Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project. Documents such as Jesse Davis’s narrative were transcribed by field workers in Federal Writers’ Project who made an effort to preserve the narrator’s dialect and phrasing: “Dere was my young misses, Miss Lizzie and Miss Lennie. My mammy name Sarah, just lak old mistress name Sarah. Her b’long to marster and mistress but my pappy no b’long to them. Him b’long to de big bugs, de Davis family,” (page 264).

• What aspects of slavery do the former slave narratives in this collection discuss?
• What is the purpose of including a description of the raven in J.D. Green’s narrative?
• Are there any parts of slavery that are excluded from the accounts in these pamphlets?
• What is the tone of these pamphlets?
• How do they compare to publications from abolitionist groups such as the American Anti-Slavery Society?
• Who do you think was the intended audience for these pamphlets?
• Do you think that former slaves wrote these pamphlets?
• How do these pamphlets compare to slave narratives in other American Memory collections?

Congressional Duels

Tensions ran high during the Congressional debates over slavery and many politicians made personal attacks on those who opposed their ideology. For example, in Horace Mann’s “Letters on the Extension of Slavery into California and New Mexico,” the author addresses the jokes made at his expense by Michigan Senator Lewis Cass. Instead of criticizing his colleague for his misconduct, Mann reciprocates with a series of puns on Cass’s last name such as “Small odds, 'twixt tweedle dum and tweedle-dee, And Cass means much the same, without the C,” (page 7).

From the Cover of "The Barbarism of Slavery," 1863.

Perhaps the most excessive examples come in Charles Sumner’s 1860 speech, “The Barbarism of Slavery,” when the Senator chronicles the “exhibition of Slave-masters in Congressional history” to prove that “at lawless outbreaks or official conduct, Slave-masters are always the same,” (page 53).

Some of the most egregious events come from the debates over the Compromise of 1850 when Mr. Foote, a slaveholder representing Mississippi, made a personal attack on Missouri Senator Benton: “Mr. Benton rose at once from his seat, and . . . advanced in the direction of Mr. Foote, when the latter, gliding backward, drew from his pocket a five-chambered revolver, full loaded, which he cocked,” (page 55). Although order was restored in the Senate chamber, the drawing of Foote’s gun was a precursor to his challenging Benton to a duel:

There are instances in the history of the Senator which might well relieve a man of honor from the obligation to recognize him as a fitting antagonist . . . if the Senator from Missouri will deign to acknowledge himself responsible to the laws of honor, he shall have a very early opportunity of proving his prowess in contest with one over whom I hold perfect control; or, if he feels in the least degree aggrieved at any thing which has fallen from me, he shall . . . have full redress accorded to him . . . . I do not denounce him as a coward . . . but if he wishes to patch up his reputation for courage . . . he will certainly have an opportunity of doing so whenever he makes his desire known in the premises.

page 56

Sumner explains that this was not the last time that a challenge was presented within a speech in the Senate chambers. He notes a number of such examples, including one instance that occurred during the current Congressional session, between the Senators of Mississippi and Vermont: “‘A gentleman,’ says the Senator, 'has the right to give an insult, if he feels himself bound to answer for it' and in reply to the Senator from Vermont, he declared, that in case of insult, taking another out and shooting him might be ‘satisfaction,’” (page 58).

Sumner concludes this section by criticizing the Fugitive Slave Act and declaring:

Let Senators who are so clamorous for "the enforcement of laws," begin by enforcing the statute which declares the Duel to be a felony. At least, let the statute cease to be a dead letter in this Chamber. But this is too much to expect while Slavery prevails here, for the Duel is a part of that System of Violence which has its origin in Slavery.

page 57

• Do you think that Horace Mann’s puns and Charles Sumner’s examples from the Congressional record are appropriate conduct for the legislative branch of the federal government? Does the Congressional modus operandi of debate explain or excuse such conduct? Should there be laws barring these types of personal attacks from the Senate floor?
• Why do you think that so many politicians resorted to personal attacks on one another at this time?
• Is Sumner correct in his assessment that the threat of duels in Congress comes from the violence of slaveholders?
• How do you think that these personal attacks compare with contemporary Congressional debates--or even contemporary presidential campaigns?
• What does this comparison suggest about changes, or a lack thereof, in rhetoric and in concepts of debate, honor, and accountability?

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 abolitionist novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin was both a reaction to, and a reflection of, the political climate of its era. As a novel and a theatrical production, Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped to fuel the abolitionist effort by creating what Wendell Phillips calls in “The Philosophy of the Abolition Movement,” “rather an event than a book,” (page 29). Phillips praises the stage interpretation for its ability to present a message to its audience that other members of the community were reluctant to express:

The theatre, bowing to its audience, has preached immediate emancipation, and given us the whole of "Uncle Tom"; while the pulpit is either silent or hostile, and in the columns of the theological papers, the work is subjected to criticism, to reproach, and its author to severe rebuke.

page 25

The London Times review, “Uncle Tom in England,” offers one contemporary reaction to the novel and points to why this format might have been an ideal medium for Stowe’s message: She does not preach a sermon, for men are accustomed to nap and nod under the pulpit: she does not indite a philosophical discourse, for philosophy is exacting, is solicitous for truth, and scorns exaggeration. Nor does the lady condescend to survey her intricate subject in the capacity of a judge, for the judicial seat is fixed high above human passion, and she is in no temper to mount it. page 3

From the Cover of "Uncle Tom in England," 1852.

• According to the Times review, what did Stowe's use of the novel medium allow her to accomplish? Why couldn't she have done these things through a sermon or speech?
• Why do you think the work was so popular both as a novel and a stage production, "rather an event than a book"?
• Who is the intended audience of both formats?
• What do you think is the political or social role of fiction?
• What are the potential benefits of trying to include a message in a work of fiction? What are the potential hazards of such an endeavor?

Minstrel Humor

The “Black American Joker” offers a collection of comic minstrel dialogues and jokes for the minstrel stage. This 1897 pamphlet features sketches such as “That ‘Tale’ Did Not Wag,” a dialogue with a man who just returned from the American West that concludes with the following exchange:

From the Cover of "Black American Joker," 1897.

Inter. Oh, Steve, while there did you meet any Indians? Bones. No Injuns there--all gone to de happy hunting-ground! Inter. Oh, why do they call their heaven that? Bones. 'Case there are no Injun agents there an' no white sojers to stop them hunting one anoder! page 12

• How does this exchange portray Native Americans and the white Americans who were charged with providing food and "civilizing" them?
• What does the joke imply about the relationship between the two groups?
• How do these sketches reflect historic events of the era?

In addition to featuring sketches, the “Black American Joker” also features advice for selecting pieces for the minstrel stage. The “Negro Plays” section offers suggestions on performance styles:

[I]n all of the following described plays, the female characters may be assumed by males. In such cases let me warn the amateur against indulging in any action displaying the least trace of vulgarity.

In playing a female role, even in a negro farce, it is better to under-act than over-act. Of course the dress may be somewhat outré and the gestures exaggerated, but coarseness must be strictly forbidden . . .

In regular minstrel companies all the characters are played with black faces. I advise amateurs to follow this rule, as a white-face character in a negro minstrel entertainment is decidedly out of place.

page 72

• What does an actor in a woman’s costume convey to an audience?
• Why do you think that it was recommended that men portraying women not project vulgarity?
• What does an actor in blackface makeup convey to an audience? What is the difference in the meaning of blackface makeup depending upon whether a white or an African-American actor uses it?
• Why would a white character be “decidedly out of place” on a minstrel stage?
• Who do you think is the intended audience for these plays? What were the intended goals?

Abolitionist Newspapers

William Lloyd Garrison called for an immediate end to slavery in America. This position, echoed in his abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, placed him at odds with other abolitionists—even those working with him in the American Anti-Slavery Society. For example, in Correspondence, between the Hon. F. H. Elmore . . . and James G. Birney, one of the secretaries of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Birney describes the publications Emancipator and Human Rights as “organs of the Executive Committee” of the society (page 18).

Although Garrison was directly affiliated with The Liberator and, at least indirectly associated with the Emancipator, Joseph Alden claims in “‘Emancipator’ and ‘Liberator’” that the newspapers were at odds with one another. Alden explains that the Emancipator offered a moderate approach by focusing solely on ending chattel slavery while The Liberator called to end the Constitution, the Sabbath, the Protestant Church, and the ministry:

From Cover of "'Emancipator' and 'Liberator'," ca. 1879.

In all their "antics," the Liberator party of non-resistants, as opposed to the Emancipator party of voting abolitionists who organized as the Liberty party, were encouraged and hounded on by slaveholders . . . But neither of the above institutions has been abolished . . . while chattel slavery is legally dead. Hence the Emancipator and its co-laborers . . . accomplished their work by political action while the Liberator "died a natural death," without accomplishing one of its darling objects, except talking and doing nothing else.

page 2

The formation of the Liberty party that Alden refers to marked a philosophical split in the American Anti-Slavery Society when a number of moderate abolitionists left the organization. These members united to form the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society and the Liberty party in 1839.

• What is the role of an abolitionist newspaper?
• Who is the target audience of the abolitionist newspaper? How does this compare to the function and audience of a general newspaper?
• How is content influenced by the political ideology of a newspaper’s writers and editors?
• Do you think that newspapers should always appeal to a certain part of their audience?