Fountain Hughes, Quarterman And George Johnson: An Analysis

People are judged through their actions and characteristics, but racism can easily blur a person’s perspective. In Almost Free: A Story About Family and Race in Antebellum Virginia, Samuel Johnson, a former slave, fights for his freedom with the help of influential white friends he made throughout his life. Eventually he buys his freedom and petitions the court to stay in Virginia, where his family resides. Even after emancipated, he works hard to free his family and petitions the court in their cause. Despite his relationships, family values, and law abiding, Samuel Johnson’s skin color ultimately acts as boundary in his Virginia society.

The Slave narrative documentary; Unchained Memories, released in 2003, brought to light many things that had not before been seen, or even thought of by many people. Even before the film was released, the telling of the stories inside changed many ideas regarding slavery. The history of slavery in the United States of America has always been commonly known, but not many people have, at this point in time, had to really think of what that meant, what slavery truly was to the millions of Africans, and African-Americans who experienced it. The film and the stories themselves changed many people’s views on slavery, by enlightening them.

Grant and Jefferson are on a journey. Though they have vastly different educational backgrounds, their commonality of being black men who have lost hope brings them together in the search for the meaning of their lives. In the 1940’s small Cajun town of Bayonne, Louisiana, blacks may have legally been emancipated, but they were still enslaved by the antebellum myth of the place of black people in society. Customs established during the years of slavery negated the laws meant to give black people equal rights and the chains of tradition prevailed leaving both Grant and Jefferson trapped in mental slavery in their communities.

Johnson depicts the Negro in Harlem as a peculiar people. She says, “Why urge ahead your supercilious feet? /Scorn will efface each footprint that you make.” She continues on to say, “Your shoulders towering high above the throng, /Your head thrown back in right, barbaric song/Palm trees and mangoes stretched before your eyes, /Let others toil and sweat for labor’s sake, /And wring from grasping hands their meed of gold. and (stanzas 6-8), (p1372).

Since the beginning of slavery, leaders called on their faith to justify the immoral actions of the slave trade. These strong preachers for their communities’ strategically defined the meanings of scriptures to sway members into the ideals of North vs. South. Richard Furman and John G. Fee are historical activists using scripture to inform the community of their views. Both figures, arguments juxtaposed reveal the stark differences in their interpretations of the connection between human nature and scripture.

Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass both wrote narratives that detailed their lives as slaves in the antebellum era. Both of these former slaves managed to escape to the North and wanted to expose slavery for the evil thing it was. The accounts tell equally of depravity and ugliness though they are different views of the same rotten institution. Like most who managed to escape the shackles of slavery, these two authors share a common bond of tenacity and authenticity. Their voices are different—one is timid, quiet, and almost apologetic while the other one is loud, strong, and confident—but they are both authentic. They both also through out the course of their narratives explain their desires to be free from the horrible practice of slavery.

The WPA narratives consist of collections of interviews and first-person accounts of former slaves. The narratives talk about the institution of slavery in the southern states, particularly Texas, the lifestyle of slaves, how slave-owners treated slaves, and how slaves sought freedom. The narratives focus on Texas as a state where slavery continued to flourish amidst attempts to abolish it. In this analytical essay, the WPA narratives will be examined to reveal the experiences of enslaved people and the institution of slavery in terms of the lifestyle of slaves, slave population, disintegration of the institution, and the urban slave experience.

The fact that Grant considers himself to be better than all of the black residents of Bayonne is one of the many things that holds Grant back from being an effective coach to assist Jefferson in his quest to become a man. Another contributing factor to his ineffective teaching is his lack of self confidence. If Jefferson does not see a worthy example of how to be a man, then he will never effectively become one himself. After a few visits to see Jefferson in his cell, persevering through his own belief that he is not making a difference, being told that he was wasting his time, he realized that he was doing much more than performing a favor for Miss Emma and Tante Lou. He realized that he wasn’t only trying to turn Jefferson into a man. This was Miss Emma and Tante Lou’s way of teaching himself a lesson on how to live his life and who he really is. “I need you,” I told him. “I need you much more than you could ever need me” (Gaines, 193). This quote represents the

He greets them with a reserved yet cheerful, “Mr. President, Friends, and Fellow Citizens…” (117). He remains respectful of those in authority, while simultaneously conveying to his audience that he, a black man and freed slave, shares in their celebrated citizenship. Douglass, however, does not limit his correlation with the audience there; he then goes so far as to address them as “friends”. This greeting and introduction perfectly prefaces the righteous ridicule that is to come. These men, products of the free town of Rochester, are oblivious to the absurd juxtaposition that is present before

Slavery has always been viewed as one of the most scandalous times in American history. It may seem that the entire institution of slavery has been categorized as white masters torturing defenseless African Americans. However, not every slave has encountered this experience. In this essay I will focus on the life of two former slaves Harriet Smith and Mr. George Johnson and how in some cases their experience were similar as well as different in other aspects. The negative aspects of slave life were unquestionably heinous and for that reason especially, it is also important to also reveal the lives of slaves whom were treated fairly and with respect.

This article “The Negro Digs Up His Past’’ by Arthur schomburg on 1925, elaborates more on the struggles of slavery as well as how history tend to be in great need of restoration through mindfully exploring on the past. The article, however started with an interesting sentence which caught my attention, especially when the writer says ‘’The American Negro must remark his past in order to make his future’’ (670). This statement according the writer, explains how slavery took away the great deal freedom from people of African descendant, through emancipation and also increase in diversity. The writer (Arthur Schomburg) however, asserts that “the negro has been throughout the centuries of controversy an active collaborator, and often a pioneer, in the struggle for his own freedom and advancement” (670).

As a child, Davis practically had no say in determining his future. His father Samuel Emory Davis, although he wasn’t the most emotionally present, determined almost every aspect of his son’s life up to his death. It was he that sent Davis to boarding to school at a young age and choose what university he would attend. Even after the death of Samuel, Davis still did not take control of his life. His older brother Joseph became the next “placeholder” for the

In addition,Grants attitude begins to change after a few visit at the the cell with jefferson. Jefferson opened up to Grant about how he never had owned a radio or ate a bowl of ice cream in his life. Grant stated “I saw a slight smile come to his face, and it was not a bitter smile. Not bitter at all”. This action was a turning point for Grant. Jefferson’s thoughts revived Grants emotions and helped him see the actual person he was. Grant learned how to become educated and think like a man, rather than being negative all the time. He figured out that he wasn’t just accomplishing a good for Jefferson, but teaching his students that as an African American, you shouldn’t allow the white take control nor advantage of you.

Fredrick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write”, gives readers insight into the struggles of being a slave with intelligence, but more importantly into his experience. In his essay, Douglass shows how he fought to obtain knowledge; however, a reading of his story will reveal that what he learned changed him for the better. Michael Scott, a former EOF student read the story and believed that Douglass’s intelligence was a destructive and to a certain degree pointless. Contrary to Scott’s statement, Douglass’s knowledge wasn’t more of a curse than a blessing. Being a slave was everyone’s curse. Douglass went into depression because he hadn’t had the same experience as other slaves and finally felt what it was really like to be a slave when he was punished for his knowledge. However just because his knowledge is what got him into trouble doesn’t necessarily make him, being an intelligent slave; a curse nor does it mean that he had absolutely no alternatives to his condition. In fact, he above most other slaves had the upper hand when it came to creating his own alternative. Douglass’s intelligence helped him become autodidactic, manipulate situations to benefit him, and develop an ambition to become free.

Booker T. Washington was one of the most well-known African American educators of all time. Lessons from his life recordings and novelistic writings are still being talked and learned about today. His ideas of the accommodation of the Negro people and the instillation of a good work ethic into every student are opposed, though, by some well-known critics of both past and current times. They state their cases by claiming the Negro’s should not have stayed quiet and worked their way to wear they did, they should have demanded equal treatment from the southern whites and claimed what was previously promised to them. Also, they state that Washington did not really care about equality or respect, but about a status boost in his own life. Both