October 16, 1788
London, England
Upon hearing about Parliament’s debate over the slave trade, I felt compelled to do my part to help bring about an end to this barbaric practice. I was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Africa at age eleven. Eventually I found my way onto a slave ship to the West Indies. As much as 50% of my fellow passengers die on these ships each horrific trip that they make across the Atlantic and the brutality suffered by those who actually arrive at their destination is beyond belief. While in the West Indies, I witnessed countless acts of viciousness, and I found it hard to tolerate and well as understand the behavior of these purported “god-fearing” Christian men. All of their behavior seemed to contradict their religious teaching, yet it was although to them there was no conflict between the two because of their view that we were somehow not like them and did not deserve to be treated as a fellow human-being.
Next, I spent a short time in Virginia, and was sold to British Naval Officer and served as a crewman on his ship for many years, traveling all over the world. Yet, although I traveled from the Caribbean to Nova Scotia, and North Carolina to Scotland, I was never free until I purchased my freedom on July 10, 1766. Afterwards, I remained on the ship for a time, enjoying my freedom and exploring my new found independence. I then felt compelled to return to England where I married and started a family. Here, as a survivor of the slave trade and one of the fortunate few who was able to escape its stranglehold, I have focused my efforts on the Abolitionist Movement.
This movement seems to naturally relate to the ideas of democracy and equality among all men that the Americans only recently expressed in The Declaration of Independence and Constitution. These documents express the ideas that “all men are endowed by their creator by certain inalienable rights” and that it is the government’s job to protect these rights and “establish justice” for all men. Although the Americans preach these ideals, I have not seen them extended to African Americans, Native Americans, or even women. It is strange that they can so fervently desire freedom and independence, yet cannot appreciate the pain and suffering that they are causing to those that they have enslaved. Although the American government has failed up to this point to extend the same rights to African Americans, that we fought and died for alongside those that enjoy them because of our sacrifice, you can right that wrong. Acknowledge the cruelty and depravity of the slave trade and bring an end to it in England.
-Olaudah Equiano
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Harriet Tubman
ReplyDeleteAuburn New York
March 7th, 1913
Dear journal,
right now, i am on my death bed. i am writin this to let people see what it was like from my point of veiw.
what lead me to workin in the railroad is tragic. i was born into a enslaved family in maryland. i had nine brothers and sisters. my parents were both slaves. when i was a teenager i got hit on the head by an iron weight. the person who threw it was not tryin to hit me, but a runner. i also was not i was not given the rightful education so this left me in the dark on some spellins. in the late 1830's i met john tubman, a free male. we soon got married. my owner died on March 7, 1849, leaving me to be sold to a new owner. before i could be sold, i ran to the underground railroad. within 1850 to 1860 i helped make escape missions.
during the civil war i was a spy for the federal forces in south Carolina. i was also a nurse. i was called the moses of my people because i had never lost a person on the railroad. obviously our democratic government does not support equality or we would not have to go to such extreme measures. we have to go through so many hardships and terrible conditions as slaves, just because we have different skin color. that does not sound like equality to me.
the challenges we had faced were we could get killed for what we did but we do it because we know what we want, freedom. helpin people in thee underground railroad is not easy. i have been dressin women up as men , men up as women, and forgin freedom passes. It is very hard signin things for 20 people or so. lots of our people get killed each day and we must fight for our right to be accepted. i have only started working in the railroad because it helps people be free, like we all should be.
Caroline period,2
http://www.harriettubman.com/
(Accessed March 24)
http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/
(Accessed March 24)
"Rebels Against Slavery: American slave revolts"
Patricia C. McKissack
Frederick L. McKissack
Published by scholastic inc.
Copyright 1996
(Accessed March 23)
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/tubman/aa_tubman_subj.html
(Accessed March 25)
http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/tubm-har.htm
(Accessed March 25)
Julia, Period 2
ReplyDeleteDear Diary, October 21, 1848
This morning, I woke up at 3:00 AM with the greatest feeling of my life. I was born into the life of slavery and I’ve been a working for 22 years of my life; I began in the fields as soon as I turned seven. I got out of bed and my husband, William Craft, found a pair of scissors, and began to chop my hair off. Then, I dressed in a man’s clothes, and bandages for various reasons, creating a wonderful disguise so if we were caught leaving the plantation, neither of us would be recognized; we would look like an injured white man with a slave. Though we knew what the consequences would be if we were caught, if we made it, the scared feeling that we would have over the long miles would all be worth it. I am particularly nervous because instead of taking the Underground Railroad, we have decided to take all public transportations and stay in hotels to seem as if we are white citizens. “Ellen, dear, it’s time to go,” my husband whispered excitedly. We’re off.
-Ellen Craft
Dear Diary, October 31, 1848
Our plan is going perfectly. We have traveled almost a fourth of the way, and everything that we planned on doing has happened Therefore, we are prepared for anything and nothing has gone wrong. I am sitting on a train, and I am riding to a hotel. My husband is dressed as a free black person, and I am dressed as a white man. It’s getting late now, but I am not at all tired. I have never felt so alive. I haven’t worked or been whipped in days and I have the greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my entire life.
I can’t understand why we have to fight so hard like this for our freedom. We are all created equally, without regard to race. White men should not be able to decide that they are better than us. Nobody should be allowed to own a person or their land or anything. We are born with few things that cannot be taken away from us, freedom being the most important one. How can the Constitution state that our country will secure the blessings of liberty, yet still allow slavery? We are all created equally; a person is a person no matter what. We are all the same on the inside.
-Ellen Craft
To be Continued
Julia, Period 2 (continued)
ReplyDeleteDear Diary, November 8, 1848
We are ahead of schedule. The train I am on is very dirty and it’s dull and dreary but my spirits aren’t dampened because I am on the way to freeing myself. Every minute I get closer. I never though I am feeling what I am feeling.
I am very relieved at the moment that no one has questioned the identification of the white man I was impersonating, Mr. Johnson. I have plans on what to say if I am questioned, but it will still be very stressful. But I will be ready.
-Ellen Craft
Dear Diary, December 25, 1848
We are free! We made it today! I can go back to my real name and there is no way to explain the feeling I have in my stomach. I have been a slave all my life and being beaten and whipped is terrible, there is so much pain. There is much stress when you are watching someone else get whipped or beaten, especially if you are friends or married to the person. But I will never have to go through that again. I have been praying for this day the moment I learned how and I am so grateful that it has finally come.
I don’t understand why it is so difficult for white men to accept the fact that we are all created equally regardless of race, heritage, gender, or anything else, we are all the same on the inside. We should all treat each other like we treat our own family because in reality, we are all family.
-Ellen Craft
Works Cited
Admin. “The Brave Escape of Ellen and William Craft.” Through the Looking Glass. Capstone Press, 2005. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. http://lookingglassreview.com/books/the-brave-escape-of-ellen-and-william-craft.
Fradin, Judith Bloom, and Dennis Brindell Fradin. 5,000 Miles to Freedom. Washington D.C.: National Georgraphic, 2006. Print.
“Fugitive Slave Laws and Great Escapes.” University of Pittsburgh. U. Lib. System, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. http://www.library.pitt.edu/freeatlast/fugitive_laws.html.
“Miles to Freedom: The Dramatic Escape of William and Ellen Craft.” The Free Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Miles+to+freedom:+the+dramatic+escape+of+William+and+Ellen+Craft-a0140054189.
Toonari. “Ellen and William Craft.” Africana Online. Toonari, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. http://www.africanaonline.com/slavery_ellen_william_craft.htm.
Nora M Pd.6
ReplyDeleteDecember 21, 1848
Macon, Georgia
It’s cold. I can feel my feet slowly freezing up. My name is Ellen Craft and I was born into slavery. My husband William and I met when our respective masters both settled near Macon. It’s in the mist of Christmas break and we are running, running far away from all of this work and unfair slavery. I am dressed as William’s master (a sick, deaf, and young white man traveling north for medication) and he is carrying all of our bags acting as my loyal slave. Just now we are boarding the train in Macon heading towards Philadelphia, Pennsylvania or Boston, Massachusetts where we will gladly settle. It’s just far enough to disguise ourselves from everyone, but our future and even our life depends on the success or failure of our runaway. We are taking a desperate leap for liberty and freedom.
April 1850
Aboard ship on the Atlantic Ocean
My husband and I are being sent by our black community and the Boston vigilance society to Europe. Our first speaking arrangement is in England, at a conference for human rights. We’ll be going into small churches around Europe to get the support to free runaway slaves.
to be continued..
...continued Nora M
ReplyDeleteFor the past two years we’ve been living happily in Boston I was a seamstress and William a carpenter. But there has been the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Two agents are looking for us from the plantation and they’ve put a price on our heads, 1,000 dollars each. I am a black woman with no rights and for my safety I am being kicked out of my own country.
In my own dreadful experience of being a slave our democratic government does no establish equality among all Americans. Women have no rights. Blacks have no rights. We are all people, does it really matter what the color of our skin is? Blacks should not have to be obedient slaves to be able to live in America. It is unfair for my husband and me to be forced to flea America because a price has been put on our heads for Bounty Hunters. If we are caught we will be brought straight back to our plantation and most likely beaten to death. We are not fugitives because we ran away to chase our freedom. My husband and I have experienced many challenges in the time we have been married to each other. One of them is getting beaten if we do not complete a task in time. Another is being unhappy with our master, our continuous, laborious work, and our lifestyle. We don’t get to do anything, say anything, or be happy for anything. Blacks are being discriminated against everywhere. To overcome these issues is the hard part, there really is no way to. If you act up, you get punished. If you get caught, you get punished. The only thing to do is runaway and chase your freedom and liberty without getting caught. That’s simply why me and my husband left. We want to live a normal life and will achieve that goal at no cost.
We have arrived in England. It is beautiful I cannot wait to start our support sessions.
-Ellen Craft
Works Cited:
- Schneider, Dorothy, and Carl J. Schneider. "Craft, William and Ellen." Slavery in America, American Experience, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. African-American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE01&iPin=afbio0446&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 23, 2010).
-Fradin, Judith Bloom, and Dennis Brindell Fradin. 5,000 Miles to Freedom Ellen
and William Craft's Flight from Slavery. Washington, D.C.: National
Geographic Society, 2006. Print.
-"William and Ellen Craft." The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities
Council and University of Georgia , 29 Jan. 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
-Hunt, Judith. William and Ellen Craft. N.d. http://images.google.com/
imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aSP8bnxil8A/Seje6qVH2eI/AAAAAAAAAZM/
jhCM4F4G4Cc/s400/
William_and_Ellen_Craft-blog.jpg&imgrefurl=http://downontheartfarm.blogspot.com/
2009/04/
minor-but-necessary-changes.html&usg=__hlqK_0qkKn-9Ye8HDhQ_LZ-BQbE=&h=400&w=351&s
z=38&hl=en&start=2&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=S7c3yp4h_wUcWM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=109&prev=/
images%3Fq%3Dwilliam%2Band%2Bellen%2Bcraft%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3
DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLD_en%26tbs%3Disch:1.
Blogspot, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. .
-"William and Ellen." BlackPast.org. University of Washington, Seattle, Apr.
2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. .
Leia Period 9
ReplyDeleteDear Diary, 10/4/1931
It’s me, Nat Turner. It’s been about 4 weeks since I went into hiding after the rebellion. I know that the whites are going to find me and execute me soon, but I need to write some things down first. I want people to know my life struggle and that I did what I did because God told me to. He sent me signs every day telling me that it was my calling to get the people of my home town, Southampton County, Virginia, to rebel against enslavement. I also wanted to tell you some of the other things God told me to do. A while back, when I was working for Samuel as a slave, I decided to run away. Plus, I had gotten away with it, well for the first 30 days or so. Then, a month after I ran away, I received another vision telling me that it was the wrong thing to do and that I should go back to Samuel, so I did just that. A year later Samuel died so then I started working for Thomas Moore. By this time, I had learned how to read the bible and I read every night. I still try to and I still believe in God, it’s not his fault that I am going to die, its fate. This is when I started getting the visions of the rebellion.
The world is in such a bad place right now, I needed to try to make it better. I got visions from God telling me to rebel against enslavement so I did. I rounded up all of the men I could and I organized a battle which is now known as, “[t]he most remarkable instance of black resistance to enslavement.” I believe all men are created equal and I wanted to prove my point. John Locke’s whole government was based on out natural rights, life, liberty, and property. He also said that if we do not get those rights then we have the right to rebel. This is exactly what I did. Black men and women are looked down upon everywhere. This is unjust and we need to make equality. Our government is based on democracy and having slaves in your backyard isn’t democracy. Our society needs to establish fairness and it is not fair to have back slaves and have women not be able to vote. What is going on in the world today is a tragedy, so I did my part to try and stop it. Within the first 48 hours of the rebellion, we managed to kill around 60 white men. Then word got and white men were sent out to kill us. Many of my friends died that day but I luckily escaped.
I am still fasting and praying every day I’m in hiding, praying for peace and equality. God knows what I did and He will make the world a better place. I know this because I’ve seen it in my visions. I hope one day in the future people will recognize what I did as a person, not some pet that white people own. One day in the future I hope someone will pick up this diary and realize that what is going on has to stop. All men are created equal and we have to start showing it.
Sincerely,
Nat Turner
1. Asante, Molefi Kete. "Nathaniel Turner." Africa Within. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar.
2010. 2. Mellard, James M. Nat Turner, 1800-1831. N.p., 23 Mar. 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2010.
.
3.Lexicon. Nat Turner. N.p., 2005. Web. 23 Mar. 2010.
.
4. Simkin, John. "Nat Turner." Sparticus Educational. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2010.
.
5. WGBH. The Confessions of Nat Turner. N.p., 1999. Web. 23 Mar. 2010.
.
Mark
ReplyDelete3/24/10
Per. 2
Nat Turner
I was born on October 2 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia. I was a slave and the rest of my family was too. Being extremely determined, I tried to set my family free from slavery. I was now 31 and elderly. I was a slave at age 12 and ever since then my life has been hell for me. I was physically abused with overworked on the farm. One day I decided to run away and for 31 days I was out there in the wilderness. After that 31’st day, I got a sign from god to come and try to free my family. Then there Master Samuel Turner died and they were sold to another farm and now separated from me. At this point I was broken down but my faith in god kept my head high.
In the case of our family being held in slavery I had 75 other slaves with me and we fought against the whites. They were with total surprise and we killed around 55 to 80 of them. The reason I tried to kill slavery is because I got signs from god that I am one of his prophets. Because of this a prophet must kill sin which is slavery which I tried to destroy. I was extremely religious as a slave. Many people thought I was crazy which I thought was a ridiculous comment.
Because of my family being taken away from me I had to do something about it. About 70 other slaves and I created an army. We left to kill all whites on the farm. We didn’t even care what the age was. If they were white they must die. We ended up killing about 50 of those white people during the rebellion. I went to court after this event. I was found guilty and they decided to hang me and they did.
Sources I used
Nat Turner Biography March 25, 2010
http://www.biography.com/articles/Nat-Turner-9512211
“Nat Turners Rebellion” March 25, 2010
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1518.html
“Secession The War For States Rights Session Crisis” 2010 A&E Television Networks 3/25/10
http://civilwar.bluegrass.net/secessioncrisis/natturner.html