1865. End of the Civil war. Booker T. Washington, still a child, is, as every other slaves, emancipated.
Here was a sudden freedom, though, which was 1865. End of the Civil war. Booker T. Washington, still a child, is, as every other slaves, emancipated.
Here was a sudden freedom, though, which was then like a difficult burden to carry. Yes, slaves were finally free! But.. What of them now? The future, uncertain, seemed to be full of challenges. And yet... Booker T. Washington might have been just a child, but he understood something crucial: the key importance of education. Without education, one cannot go anywhere in life, and, so, started here for him a lifelong journey, that of educating himself and promote education as a way to empower oneself. Obviously, it wasn't an easy endeavour...
His family was poor. His step-father (his real father was a White man who never bothered to care about him) needed him to financially help the struggling family. He therefore worked in a coal mine. The work was tough, brutish, exhausting, but the child still found the time to go to school; one of these schools for Black people that were then blossoming all across the South, and where teaching was done mostly by ex-soldiers from the Northern army. It was very rudimentary, but never mind! He learnt how to read, and he read everything he could, sharpening his mind and growing more and more ambitious in the process. More: he wanted to attend a better school, with 'real' teachers.
Supported by his mother, he therefore went on to Hampton University. Here was a key turning point in his life. Hampton indeed was the first school founded by Black people. It was, also, the most prestigious of its kind. When Booker T. Washington was admitted, the principal was General Samuel C. Armstrong, a White man who had fought under the Union flag; and, Armstrong didn't mess about: 'mind, heart and hands', education to him was as much about sharpening the intellect as about learning a trade, and, gain solid moral values. Such vision will stay with Booker Washington for the rest of his life.
He was a brilliant pupil too; so much so that, when Samuel C. Armstrong decided to open another school in Alabama, he will be asked -when he was barely 25!- to become its principal. The school in question? Tuskegee University. The rest is history.
The rest is history, first, because he became thus the first African-American ever to manage a University. This wasn't an easy fate -he knew perfectly well that, were he to fail, his failure would reflect upon Black people as a whole. Then, because the pupil surpassed the master. At Tuskegee indeed, learning was more than about books. Girls were taught about household chores, boys about farming or construction works, and all about the importance of hygiene and health. Learning a trade or gaining practical skills were as important as sharpening the mind, and when students weren't busy engrossed in books, they were working on the constructions of the surrounding buildings! The school quickly acquired a reputation...
Booker T. Washington, in fact, will use such reputation to raise founds and further his cause. For he was more than a pedagogue; he was, most importantly, an activist and campaigner, and education was at the heart of his ideas. When others were battling for political reckoning and civil rights, he considered all that as merely 'secondary causes'. It's not that they weren't important, but, his goal in educating the still then largely marginalised Black people was to teach them useful trades, requiring skills, and, therefore, rendering them indispensable to society. If anybody, including White people, could benefit from such education and usefulness, then, he thought, the rest -political reckoning and civil rights, let alone respect- would follow.
His ideas were scandalous at times, including among Black people themselves (e.g. his Atlanta speech, in which he asked them to don't engage in political lobbying, but, focus on vocational training instead, didn't go as well as he had planned...) he, nevertheless, attempted to be a bridge between Whites and Blacks, at a time when the country was still trying to recover from slavery. Booker T. Washington, of course, was deeply naïve when it comes to how strongly entrenched racism was; yet, there is no denying that his views on education were indeed empowering, if not as much as he would have wished. Here were the early days of emancipation, and a whole century of battle and challenges will follow, but his work, as such, remained a foundation stone, and inspirational to many. 'Up from Slavery' is a great insight into his views (it includes the infamous Atlanta speech).
The 'underground railroad' was a vast, clandestine, movement whose purpose, in the USA, was to help slaves escaping from the South to the North, incluThe 'underground railroad' was a vast, clandestine, movement whose purpose, in the USA, was to help slaves escaping from the South to the North, including to Canada. One of the main 'leaders' of such movement was Harriett Tubman (1820?-1913), who became since then a whole symbol. Catherine Clinton, American historian, retraces here the few that can be retraced about the life of this astonishing woman, nicknamed 'the Black Moses'.
First a slave, Harriett Tubman was in her twenties when he decided to escape. Traumatised by her experience, she decided to put her freedom to the service of a greater good: help those who stayed behind to escape as well. She therefore became a conductor in the 'underground railroad' (the only Black woman to have played such a key -and very dangerous!- role) and, for the next ten years or so, will free thus about an hundreds of slaves, leading some of her 'passengers' even up north to Canada.
A friend of John Brown (she was supposed to be part of the attack upon Harpers Ferry), brave, tenacious, generous, she would also serve during the Civil War, both as a nurse and a spy, in the Northern army, before opening up an hospice for Blacks people after the war ended. Feminist, she will also campaign for women to have the right to vote, alongside, notably, Susan B. Anthony.
Here's a straightforward biography, then, but of a woman who truly deserves to be far more well-known that she is! ...more
Fanatics? Hero? Terrorist? Martyr? Criminal mystic? John Brown, for sure, has never left anybody indifferent. Even W.E.B. Du Bois, in fact, dedicated Fanatics? Hero? Terrorist? Martyr? Criminal mystic? John Brown, for sure, has never left anybody indifferent. Even W.E.B. Du Bois, in fact, dedicated him this biography! But what about it?
Well, it's a very strong portrait. It hints towards the lyricism, and it offers, unabashedly, the view of a man painted as nothing less but a visionary, who gave his life in the name of a greater, noble, cause. Written and first published at a time when Brown was, by any account, considered as a murderous madman (1909), such portrayal was clearly a challenge to common prejudices, to say the least! But then again: isn't such a character still highly controversial, despite his good intent?
This is not a proper historical essay by any mean (it's far too emotional for that), but, as a brick thrown into a wall and by an intellectual whose legacy was no less impactful, it surely deserves to be discovered. John Brown, after all, still is a contentious figure....more
Peter Kolchin retraces here the history of slavery in the USA, from the arriving of the first slaves in Jamestown in 1619, up until after the Civil WaPeter Kolchin retraces here the history of slavery in the USA, from the arriving of the first slaves in Jamestown in 1619, up until after the Civil War, those ending, in 1865, had led to its abolition.
He retells about its origins, and offers a swift survey of its history back when the USA were still a British colony. He describes its impact during the American Civil War, then its evolution during the Antebellum. He explores how life was for slaves, their masters, and the strange relationships that tied them together. He shows how such 'peculiar institution' had shaped the South -politically, socially, economically- to such a point that southern states didn't hesitate to go onto war just so as to defend it. Finally, he recounts its abolition and its consequences, not only for African-Americans but, American society as a whole.
Divided into chronological chapters, themselves divided into thematical sub-chapters, his is a very simple approach that makes the understanding of such a complex topic quite straightforward and easy. In fact, he even compares it with other of its contemporary models, where whole groups were also 'enslaved' in the name of inegalitarian principles (e.g. in Jamaica, Haiti... but also serfdom in Russia) in an endeavour which might seem surprising at first, but, reveals itself to be very enlightening, so as to fully understand the true horror and particularism of American slavery.
From the southern plantations of Maryland to his escape up North, here's the autobiography of a runaway slave turned abolitionist, and, later, campaigFrom the southern plantations of Maryland to his escape up North, here's the autobiography of a runaway slave turned abolitionist, and, later, campaigner under the Reconstruction era.
The brutality of his 'owners', their arbitrary violence, injustices, deprivations... Nothing is spared of the horrors he had to endure. Here's a tough read, abject, schocking, sickening, which is more and more difficult to go through as we delve, pages after pages, further into how nauseous such a institution truly was. Slavery indeed is here revealed in all its bare evilness; and so if words may fail to describe it, imagine how it must have been to actually live it!
Yet, Frederick Douglas was lucky: the wife of one of his 'owners' (he will have a few...) will teach him the alphabet. She won't go further, convinced by her husband that nothing can be more dangerous than a slave knowing how to read (better to keep them in crass ignorance, so they remain as powerless as possible) but it was too late: Frederick Douglas fully understood then that in reading resides a power, that he too wanted to possess. With the help of some white kids from his neighbourhood, practising on some random newspapers found here and there, his worldview will then radically change. Not only will he understand the injustice of his condition, but, confronted with abolitionists' ideas, he will discover the unthinkable: in the northern states, black people are free. He therefore takes a bold decision: run away.
He will fail several times, and so several times will have to bear the brutality and harshness of the punishments for such attempts. Yet, one day, he will succeed and ultimately reach New York. Tellingly, he doesn't reveal how. This book was published in 1845, when slavery was still legal, and so he doesn't want to endanger whose who helped him. He had his escape; he wants to leave the way open behind him for others to free themselves too...
A very short read (barely 80 pages) but so harrowing! ...more
Born a slave in the Bermuda, separated from her family after having been sold, Mary Prince tells here her story.
A maid slaving for cruel masters, her Born a slave in the Bermuda, separated from her family after having been sold, Mary Prince tells here her story.
A maid slaving for cruel masters, her life is poignant. Sad and revolting it shows, above all, with a great sensibility, the whole brutality and hypocrisy of what was slavery as an institution. Her respite, in fact, will come only when her 'owners' will travel to London, taking her with them and where she will courageously decide to leave them. Legally free on English soil but unable to return to Bermuda without falling back into servitude again, alone and destitute, she will go and seek help towards her Church and the Anti-Slavery Society. An abolitionist will shelter her in his home. A friend of his will put down on paper her biography as she told her.
Here is a crucial account. First published in 1831, it is the first female first-hand account of slavery. It will also be a success in serving the abolitionist campaign, its violence having caused two trials for libel, which, both, contributed to add to the outrage then felt by its primary audience. Her voice truly had the strength to shake injustice! Less than a decade later, in fact, in 1838, slaves were emancipated in British colonies... Mary Prince's life story, then, was a nail in the coffin before the coffin was even fully closed....more
Born in what is now Ghana, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano (1757?-?) was among the countless victims of the Triangular Trade. Kidnapped by Africans from anotheBorn in what is now Ghana, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano (1757?-?) was among the countless victims of the Triangular Trade. Kidnapped by Africans from another tribe than his while he was still a child, sold to the Europeans, he ended up a slave in Grenada after the horrifying journey across the Atlantic. His fate, though, would radically differ from the majority of other slaves shipped to the colonies. Sold several times, one of his owner will indeed bring him to England, where he would gain his freedom and see his life change drastically.
In fact, working as a servant for the famous painter Richard Cosway, converted to Christianity, he will then live in contact with a little yet active and racially mixed intelligentsia (writers, artists, thinkers, politicians) that will open him the door of the then abolitionist movement. Cugoano, of course, will not be content with merely mingling with such people; he will also contribute to their cause by writing this punchy essay, published in 1787.
Having been a slave himself, his experience made indeed for a crucial testimony to better grasp the full horror of slavery. Being African, he also denounces many prejudices circulating then about Africans and African cultures and societies, prejudices which nevertheless served to justify slavery in the first place. In fact, the whole interest of reading Cugoano is not only that he retells his life (yet another witness to the sheer brutality of a whole institution) but, also and above all, that he argues mercilessly and methodically against the claims put forth by the partisans of slavery themselves.
Besides rectifying preconceived ideas on what constitutes the true nature of slavery among Black Africans (clientelist societies that the European influence would corrupt) he dares quoting the Bible to better slap about the face those relying upon it to defend slavery. He rejects the racist arguments, like the ones founded upon skin colours. He mocks the ideas that slaves in the colonies have a better fate than the poor and the serfs in Europe. He even turns himself a prophet, calling upon the British people to abolish such evil in order to avoid a divine punishment! Deeply Christian, Cugoano not only wishes the conversion of slaves and African people to Christianity; he also threaten those who enslave them in the first place with biblical wraths should they carry on rejecting what he considers are the teaching of the Bible. He actually doesn't shy away from claiming that, should slaves ever to revolt, their violence would be perfectly legitimate simply because of the terrible injustices they suffered...
Now, for sure, he repeats himself quite often and his style, clumsy, is far from being fluid! Nevertheless, here's a powerful attack against slavery by one of its countless victims. This sharp insight and argument is more than a great piece of debunking (against ethnocentrism, against racism, against bigotry), but also reflects all the tensions then lurking under the abolitionist debate. A burning pamphlet, which deserves to be known! ...more
23rd of February 1807: the British Parliament abolishes the Triangular Trade. If we will have to wait another two decades (1833) for slavery itself to23rd of February 1807: the British Parliament abolishes the Triangular Trade. If we will have to wait another two decades (1833) for slavery itself to be abolished across the British colonies, the end of the Triangular Trade nevertheless remained a major turning point in the abolitionist struggle. This turn, successful yet hard won step following an uphill battle that lasted more than twenty years was, also, possible mainly thanks to one MP in particular: William Wilberforce.
William Hague, himself a politician and British parliamentarian, delivers here a dense and intense biography of a man those faith, truly, moved mountains. If William Wilberforce was indeed a key figure of the British Evangelist movement, a strong believer shaped by his Christian faith and ethos, his creed also served as a pillar to his politics, including the most important campaigning topic among them all -his support for the abolitionist cause. More than the life and personality of William Wilberforce, though, harsh man even with himself, passionate, dedicated, demanding, workaholic and idealist (yet far from being naïve) the author also retells of an era rich in troubles and contradictions. We discover, for example, how the turmoil of the French Revolution, its consequences, and the wars against France weighted heavily in the debates against slavery itself in Britain.
William Wilberforce, an extraordinary man who combined humanism, evangelism, philanthropy, and, above all, strong political skills, remains one of the most important British historical persona. This biography, dense, fascinating and brilliantly engrossing, published in 2007 to celebrate the bicentenary of the abolition of the Triangular Trade, serves as a wonderful tribute. ...more
Here's a book telling of the fascinating, stunning, troubled, and crucial story of the British abolitionist movement, from the end of the 18th centuryHere's a book telling of the fascinating, stunning, troubled, and crucial story of the British abolitionist movement, from the end of the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century.
The author, of course, retells of the celebrity causes and other scandals which helped showing all the appalling horror of slavery (e.g. the Somersett case, the Zong massacre...). From Quobna Ottobah Cugoano to William Wilberforce, and from Thomas Clarkson to Granville Sharp, or, again, Olaudah Equiano, he also portrays the campaigners those optimism, bravery, and formidable tenacity allowed a first step towards the ending of such inhumane institution.
More than the mere linear history of a radical trend, though, and those repercussions would be incommensurable, Adam Hochschild has, above all, the talent to put such fight back into perspective, showing how, even today, it should speak to us all. Such an engagement, which will set a whole country ablaze while thrown into the stormy turbulence of major global events (the American and French Revolutions, the colony in Sierra Leone, revolts and insurrections in the Caribbean...) turns in fact to be indeed one of the first movements of citizens to defend Human Rights. Beyond the admirable aspect of its magnitude and success, and, the heritage of this handful of passionate idealists, their methods then completely new to put forth their ideas (investigative journalism, publishing of personal testimonies, boycotts, petitions, lobbying...) also became indeed the means to campaigns still used all over nowadays.
Here's a remarkable book, then, not only for the interest of its historical subject, but, also, for the power of its message, inferred by reading in-between the lines: respect for human dignity can prevail only if citizens, no matter how in a minority they may find themselves in, have the dedication and commitment it takes to overthrow injustice, even the most established and commonly accepted for granted. Isn't that inspiring?...more
A great overview of the Atlantic Slave Trade and its consequences, from a British perspective.
Each chapter deals with a particular topic, which rendeA great overview of the Atlantic Slave Trade and its consequences, from a British perspective.
Each chapter deals with a particular topic, which render the understanding of such a complex narrative easier to digest. From the horrors of the crossing of the Atlantic to the campaigns of the abolitionist movement, from the organisation of slave societies to cultural questions (folklore, religion) and, even, the very peculiar experiences of women, here's a highly instructive and vast panorama. More, by focusing only on key figures, events, and most famous cases, it goes straight to the point to be a very accessible read.
To tell the history of an institution which lasted more than three centuries, while acknowledging its complexity, must have been far from being easy. James Walvin, though, succeeds here brilliantly. A must-read for anyone interested in the topic. ...more
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