Class Reflection-Week of 2/18/08

I must admit, when speaking about history and especially history class, it’s very seldom that I will genuinely find a topic of particular interest.  However, this class we discussed “minstrel shows.”  These shows, or plays, consisted of working, white Americans dressing up like black slaves, yes that’s right slaves, and acted out what they believed and perceived of the slaves’ so “glorious” and “free” lifestyles.  I must admit, I found this fact really quite frustrating and aggravating.  I found it extremely hard to believe that they would outwardly express their displeasure with their lifestyle because they thought the slaves had it so much better.  I mean, they really couldn’t be serious or have actually believed this, right?  Professor said something to the effect that the minstrel show performers envied the slaves work environment because they seemed so happy at work, I mean after all, they were aloud sing.  To this, I would ask them if they had ever heard the tone of the songs or the words to the songs that the slaves so gleefully touted.  They were sad and depressing, and their songs were the ONLY things that they had that would even help them to escape the hells that EVERY single day inevitably brought them.  I’m sure it’s safe to say no slave ever whistled to the tune of “Whistle While You Work,” but more along the lines of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” and if you have ever heard THAT song you must know it’s not a happy one!  Secondly, they were actually getting paid to work as opposed to the slaves.  The slaves had no choice BUT to work, for if they refused it would most likely result in their horrific death.  I suppose the adage holds true in this case, ignorance is bliss, for if they only had the slightest notion of  how good they had it!

Post #1: In the Month of September

During the colonial American era, when slavery was disgustingly popular, millions of slaves were entrapped in a world they could have never imagined.  While many of them hoped to eventually gain their freedom, mainly through indentured service, so many became in arrears to their masters, that the only way they could realize this freedom was to run away in hopes of becoming their own master one day.

 

The Geography of Slavery provided the bulk of the information I collected on the run away slaves I ultimately examined.  The method I used to gather the information was rather unorthodox I believe, as I chose to look at the ads published in the month September closest to the day of the fifteenth, which is my birthday.  Instead of choosing three runaway slaves, I decided to pick three different ad types, under which the slaves were listed, and then compared and contrasted the language and descriptions that were used to describe the individuals the subscribers were seeking.  I chose one of each of the fallowing: runaway slave, runaway servant, and captured slave.

 

After reviewing many of the runaway slave ads, which are by far the most the published literature of any, one ad in particular that published on September 15, 1785, for a man that went by the name of Thomas Valentine, seemed to be out of the ordinary.  Typically finding, the runaway slave ads usually consisted of individuals that were of either a black or yellowish black complexion.  However this particular ad was unlike that of any other, as the individual in this ad was described to have had an Indian look.  Another very interesting and notable difference was the type of clothing this runaway was described to have been wearing.  It seems as though this slave was extremely well cared for.  Instead of the ordinary slave attire, which usually consisted of a linen shirt and just some slave trousers, this man was wearing an “Irish linen shirt, a short brown jacket, striped Holland trouisers, London made shoes, silver buckles, and a tolerable good hat; but he may change his cloaths, as he has many.”  This was very atypical in terms of attire for a slave, and in no other ad did I find a runaway slave that was dressed so fashionably.

 

Another ad published on September 13, 1787 was for a runaway servant.  The most interesting component of these ads was again the individuals being sought.  In contrast to what I expected to find, which was individuals of some black descent, many of them were described as being Irish, or of some form of Irish descent. In this particular ad, the wanted servant is described as a “stout well made IRISHMAN” differing to the “black” or “yellowish black” description that was so commonly found in the runaway slave ads.

 

 

What was also of particular interest to me was the use of the following terminology throughout the ad. For instance when the owner describes the look of the servant he mentions his “dejected countenance,” basically meaning he was sad looking. Although I have obviously never encountered a runaway servant, or has any recent historian I’m sure, when I picture such a person’s countenance, it would not be one of dejection but rather one of hope, excitement, nervousness, maybe even fear or apprehension, or something along those lines, possibly even a combination of all that were mentioned above, but not sadness. Therefore, I am left wondering why the owner decided to use valuable space in the ad to mention this seemingly useless piece of description because surely most servants and slaves alike are going to have a miserable look about them whilst under the watchful eye of their master. What also struck me as awkward was the last sentence of the ad where the owner says his servant “boarded a vessel from Norfolk to Richmond”. How does he know that his servant did so? Did he see him? Did someone else see him or is this claim just speculation?  You figure if he knew of such evidence he would have acted far more quickly, or even stopped it while the event was in progress.

 

The final ad I examined was an ad of a captured slave named Peter. Titled Virginia Gazette and Weekly Advertiser (Nicolson), Richmond, September 24, 1789, this ad, although relatively small in length, definitely enhanced my understanding of the history of captured slaves and allowed for further critical thinking upon the subject at hand.  First of all, after reading several of the captured slave ads, I noticed that most begin by stating the name of the slave followed by who he/she belongs to. This made me wonder what exactly happened after the slave was captured. For example, I’m sure many of the captured would have been reluctant to supply authorities with their name and masters names, because then the chance of being returned to that which they ran away from, would immediately be very likely and they would undoubtedly be thrust back into a world of hell.  I’d also very much like to know how they obtained such information.  I also wander whether the injuries described in the ad- “he has lost his toes, and been shot in one of his knees”- were obtained during his capture or maybe because he of lack of cooperation. Could these injuries be punishment? Through this ad I have also learnt that an owner had to prove his property. This brings to yet another curiosity, which still remains very uncertain to me.  This entire period is thought to have been undocumented, hence the estimation that between five and twenty-seven million slaves were forced into servitude, just how exactly then were these masters able to prove their ownership of the slave, seeing as though it is not mentioned, at least in any of the ads I read. Surely descriptions of slaves and a man’s word of honor wouldn’t be sufficient alone.

 

Ultimately, upon the reading and analysis of these ads regarding the colonial American slave era, my understanding, as well as many historians I’m sure, has definitely helped in my development and understanding of this dark period in American history.  Runaways and captures of slaves and servants was more common than I thought, and the way in which such events were described through adds gave me an insight into a part of American colonial history that I had never experienced or even imagined.

 

 References

Slavery in the colonial United States    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_colonial_United_States

The Geography of Slavery 

http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/ 

 

 

Class Reflection-Week of 2/11/08

Tonight’s discussion regarding the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights provoked some serious thought from me.  Trying to put into perspective that more than two centuries ago, a few delegated persons from what was known as the United States sat down to draft up what would eventually be known as the United States Constitution.  Not only has this document be preserved, and actually put on display just miles from George Mason’s campus where you can see the original document with your own eyes, it has basically provided the foundation for the establishments of the entire legal and political systems in the United States.  There are so many things that come and go, and although this document was most recently modified in 1990, it’s probably safe to say that the Constitution, and the principles that lye within it, will most likely be around for as long as the United States stand.  It kind of leaves a bitter taste in my mouth though, being as though it is thought to have been drafted, stemming from the diaries of arguably, George Mason’s biggest rival, James Madison!

Class Reflection-Week of 2/4/08

The first thing that strikes my mind is the teaching style that is used for this particular history class.  This is my second time taking History 120 (the reason why is because this was the ONLY C in my whole college career and I want to go to graduate school, so in terms of GPA, every little bit helps) and I really like how professor makes this class interactive.  My first go around, the professor literally lectured for every single minute of the more than 2 and half hour long lecture.  Given that this is a entry level, general education required class, I really appreciate the fact that professor makes this class interactive, in that he gives people the chance to voice their opinions and ideas.  It also really helps because it seems like he’s really enjoying himself while he’s teaching.  As far the material we learned and discussed tonight, it’s amazing to think how humans use to treat other humans during those times.  It’s really just crazy to think that people use to claim ownership of another person, and then turn around and sell them or trade them, as if they had a transferable title of ownership like a car or something.  Also, the amount of people that were involved in the whole slavery thing is extraordinary.  It’s estimated that between 5 and 20 million people were traded or sold?!  

How to upload picture

Hey guys I played around on the site for a bit and figured out how to add a picture for your profile.  It’s really quite intuitive, all you have to do is:1) from the main site, go up to the left hand corner and roll your curser over “my account” and go down and click the option “edit profile”2 ) click “choose file” under the “my picture” option and go into your computer and choose the picture you want and click upload image! 3) use the provided cropping tool(if needed) and choose the part of the picture you want to be shown4) click “crop image” at the bottom right of the page and you’re all finished!