Whenever human beings interact, they rub off on one another. The ways in which they rub off on one another can rarely be predicted. When this involves large groups of people over extended periods of time this often leads to …
Miscegenation in the Antebellum South
Sexual relations between Blacks and Whites was the worst kept secret about the institution of slavery. Consider this quote from Mary Chesnut, “Our men seem to think themselves patterns – models of husbands and fathers. But in reality, like the …
The Myth of Benevolent Slavery
There are always those who you will come across from time to time who seem to have been raised to believe that something called Benevolent Slavery existed. That sure, there were horrible Masters, but there most certainly were good masters …
A Society with Slaves NOT A Slave Society
English writer Samuel Johnson really pissed off our founding fathers in 1775 when he pointedly asked, “How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?”Boo-yah! Many of the men who would become known …
Did Blacks Own Slaves?
Yes, there were Black slave-owners in the Antebellum South; less than half of all Black slave-owners owned just a single Slave, most likely this slave was one of their family members whom they had purchased from their former owners. So …
Abolitionists Were Really Liberal, Right?
Conservatives in 1831 tried and convicted Nat Turner, a Virginian slave of leading a slave revolt. His punishment? Turner was hanged, skinned, dismembered, and his body parts were distributed souvenirs to the family of his victims. I don’t even think …
Moving On: So what are the lessons we should learn from Slavery?
They say absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well, no Duh. Please name a freedom or right taken to the absolute level that doesn’t corrupt. Absolute Freedom of Press would mean that people could print things that they know to be false …
Unintended Consequences: Southern Drawl
The distinctive Southern drawl we know today is the unintended consequence of southern Planter’s children imitating the broken English of their enslaved African caretakers who few English words they could pronounce, they did so with heavy African intonation. “Our children …
Every Race Has a Flag but the Coon
Every Race Has a Flag but the Coon was written in 1901 and was one of the biggest hits in America that year. It was written by two white men, composer J. Fred Helf and lyricist Will A. Heelan. The …
It All Starts with Binah
My family begins in America with an adolescent girl named Binah, my 6th great grandmother, an enslaved African who had her first child, a boy, at the age of 12 in 1778. Binah was owned by a man named Darling …