Uphill From An Ugly Past
By Dr. David Currie, PHD The United States may arguably be the greatest country in the world, but through its short history, America has often tread a tempestuous path. A particularly ugly part of America’s history is brought to light in the collected writings of persons born into slavery prior to the Civil War. As it was illegal to teach enslaved persons to read or write in most of pre-Civil War America, such documents are truly rare. Today, at least four sites make available authenticated correspondence, diaries and biographies written by, or dictated by persons born into slavery in America. Prepare to find stories of everyday life in slavery and of the unimaginable practice of selling and trading human life. Read of cruelty and kindness from unexpected places, of the relationships formed between slaves and their owners’ families, and of the often desperate search for news of family and friends. View slavery through the eyes of children kidnapped or born into slavery, coping with intolerable transport and living conditions and groundless punishments. Learn how abuse often began at the hands of white children. From escape and revolt to being kidnapped back into slavery, from relentless despair to an unstoppable desire for freedom among slaves loaned out to tradesmen, there is nothing in these documents short of intriguing. The authors and their owners, alike, often knew that slavery would eventually be abolished among civilized people.  | Find authenticated documents authored by slaves of pre-Civil War America at: | At left, Sarah Gudger at the confirmed age of 121, interviewed in 1937 for the Slave Narratives from the Federal Writer’s Project of 1936-1938; photograph from the Manuscript Division, and Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. | | Ed. Note: The Library of Congress lists a number of American universities as having posted authenticated slave narratives. |
Dr. David Currie |
