Slavery

[Christine]

I just found my husband's ggg grandfather's probate records (coincidentally named John Booth). He lived in Alabama, and we knew he had a few slaves. I thought I understood the emotions of that time mixed with our time and the effect it had on me. I thought I was 'open minded' enough to not judge him based on today's standards.

I found the page listing the 'negros' and their 'value.' (1864) The adult males were 'valued' at $3500. Then I saw the value for the little 'negro' boy - William Thomas - $500. It hit me so hard when I saw that John's horse ($800) was 'valued' more than the little boy! A child who had no more 'value' than a horse. I felt like somebody punched me. I thought about my own children and grandchildren, and wondered how I would have felt had someone given them a value of less than an animal! https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH...Z:84657420

A few pages later were records of his guardianship of his step children and the process of settling their estate from their late father. Their 'negros' were to be hired for the benefit of the children. But included in the advertisement for the hire were many conditions; "the highest bidder and persons hiring said negros will be bound to give said negros two new suits of cotton cloths and one suit of wool cloths one pair of new shoes one new blanket and wool hat, said negros shall not be carried out of the county nor be carried into any sickly place. person hiring shall pay all doctor bills that may be necessary for the health of said negros and they shall not be treated with any cruel punishment. any person or persons hiring of said negros and not complying with these obligations shall be liable to damages in all cases. 8th day of January 1849." https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH...Z:84657420

I want to hope that the humane conditions were based on kindness, charity, and love, and not an economic necessity. . .

Do you think we will ever truly understand slavery and its impact on everybody - not just the slaves, but the owners, the abolitionists, the fence sitters - and us?

[Rob Wick]

We can't even handle the racial implications of our own age, so no, I'm not sure we can ever understand what happened during that time and how it affected all those involved. Sad, too.

Best
Rob

[Rsmyth]

I agree with Rob on this one. How can we come to terms with issues that plague us today? I am not talking about slavery but race.

[L Verge]

Slavery pre-dates the great American issue by centuries and involves a variety of races and ethnic groups. Until we learn how to deal with man's inhumanity to man from all sides, our current and future problems will never go away. And this applies to mankind around the world - not just in America.

[Rsmyth]

I agree with Laurie on his too. Prior to the slavery issue here British sailors feared Muslem pirates operating out of North Africa. Many English ships were captured and the crews sold into slavery, then taken further south. Prior to our Revolutionary war every warring nation counted their defeated as booty to be taken and utilizes as slaves.

[LincolnMan]

Christine: your post is very heartbreaking, indeed. Like the others have said-we'll never understand what the people of the era went through. And we today do not understand our own stuff.

[Gene C]

While slavery is a terrible stain on our history, let's put it in perspective.
While we have made mistakes as a country, we are far from the worlds worst offenders of human rights.

According to the National Geographic - Almanac of World History
Atlantic Slave Trade 1502-1870
Imported into the U.S. 0.4-0.5 Million
Imported into the Carribean 4-5 Million
Imported into the Guianas 0.5 Million
Imported into Brazil 3.6 - 5 Million

According to Wikipedia
Jews killed by the Gemans in the Holocaust 6 Million (1 million were children)
Kmer Rouge in Cambodial killed an estimated 1.5 -2 Million (1/5 the population of Cambodia in 1974-1979)

Millitary death toll during the civil war --- estimated 618,000 to 700,000 (we have paid a heavy price for our mistake)

[LincolnMan]

Gene: also, slavery is still going on all over the world.

[Rob Wick]

Gene,

You'll get absolutely no argument from me that other nations have committed heinous acts, but I don't think we can take any solace that other nations imported more slaves. Part of the reason we didn't need to was that they were propagating themselves into the population. Plus, it has always struck me as odd that other nations were able to abolish slavery without fighting a bloody war, yet we couldn't. It also seems to have lingered far too long into our national psyche, especially since it took 100 years to guarantee blacks the right to vote.

Best
Rob

[Gene C]

I agree Rob, I just had no idea of the number of slaves imported to Central and South America until I read it recently. Slavery was not abolished in Brazil until 1888.

I admire the people of the underground railroad and the risks they took.
This all reminds me of the wonderful issue of what is the proper ballence of responsability and control betwwen a people and its government? When the "right" people are in control, it's great. But when the "wrong" ones take over, it's a dissaster.

[Linda Anderson]

Gene,

You'll get absolutely no argument from me that other nations have committed heinous acts, but I don't think we can take any solace that other nations imported more slaves. Part of the reason we didn't need to was that they were propagating themselves into the population. Plus, it has always struck me as odd that other nations were able to abolish slavery without fighting a bloody war, yet we couldn't. It also seems to have lingered far too long into our national psyche, especially since it took 100 years to guarantee blacks the right to vote.

Best
Rob

The right to vote was granted only to black men. It took another fifty years for women to gain that right.

[Rsmyth]

Black and white women Linda. As we move away fron slavery to injustices I think of 1968 when I entered the military. Many 18 year olds were headed to Viet Nam never to return and did not have the right to vote.

[Laurie Verge]

Whether we will ever cure all of our injustices is unlikely. I, personally, think we should take pride in what has been accomplished - especially in the past fifty years - and continue to move forward without always looking back and feeling guilty (and yes, I'm a historian telling you not to look to the past!).

[Rob Wick]

I don't know that I would see it as a question of feeling guilty. I read Taylor Branch's three-volume history of the Civil Rights movement and the life of Martin Luther King, and the one feeling I consistently came away with was how something like this can never happen again in a country that claims in its founding document that all men are created equal. I think it requires a constant understanding of what happened in the past, with the necessary praise for accomplishments made to overcome it, but I think as a society we are far from overcoming it completely, and unless we vigilantly remember what happened, we do a grave disservice to those who fought and the many who died.

Best
Rob

[MaddieM]

I found this quite by accident. I found it interesting, in that, if this is anything to go by, the North seemed to have a form of apartheid going on despite fighting for the abolition of slavery.

Someone has asked about Native Americans fighting in the Civil War. Here is the answer.

Hopefully, this is within the deadline. The answer is, no one really knows for sure. In 1863, in the Union Army, Native American's were typically classified as 'Colored Troops', and not allowed, for the most part, to serve with 'White' units. There are only a few known examples of Native Americans serving in the Union Army at Gettysburg, (and the only reason I know about them is from reading 'Civil War Times' magazine.

On the Confederate side, there were numerous American Indians serving in units from Texas (Hoods Brigade), but the Confederates did not classify Native Americans by race (oddly enough), nor did they classify hispanics by race, either. Therefore, while we know these people served, and no doubt were at Gettysburg, proving it is a different matter.

Most of the 'all Native American' units served in the TransMississippi Theatre during the war, in places like Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, and such.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/U-S-History-6...ysburg.htm

---

"Fourscore and seven years ago our father brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

This statement is completely at odds with what was perpetrated on the Native Americans.