United States or Bosnia and Herzegovina ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"My mammy did de cookin' for de white folks dere. Dey all thought a lot of her. I never knowed much what slav'ry was 'bout, to tell de truf. De folks never treated us wrong an' chullun in dem days didn' get to run aroun' lak dey do today an' we didn' get to hear no gossip 'bout de other niggers. Since we didn' live in no quarters we didn' hear nothin.
You is 'fraid to go to de horspital, 'cause de docters might cut on yo' stummick. I think slav'ry was a lot easier dan de War. Dat was de debbil's own business. Folks what hankers for war don' know what dey is askin' for. Dey ain' never seen no bloodshed. In war-times a man was no more dan a varmint. "When my white folks tol' us us was free, I waited.
An' den li'l Marse Ben, he wa'nt much older dan us. "Our marster's name was Cunel John Holiday. He got dat title in a war before de slav'ry war. He was too old to fight in dat one, or I spect he'd got another title, lak Gen'ral or somethin'. He an' Miss Julia dat was his wife was mighty good to us an' so was Marse Tom and Marse Ben, an' Miss Maria an' all.
No slav'ry chains to tie me down, And no mo' driver's ho'n to blow fer me No mo' stocks to fasten me down Jesus break slav'ry chain, Lord Break slav'ry chain Lord, Break slav'ry chain Lord, Da Heben gwinter be my home. Harriett's parents remained with the widowed woman for a while. Had they not remained, she might not have met Gaylord Jeannette, the knight in Blue, who later became her husband.
Dere was no trouble twixt niggers den. "We lay down an' res' at night in de week time. Niggers in slav'ry time riz up in de Quarters, you could hear 'em for miles. Den da cornshucking tuk place. Den we would have singin'. When one foun' a red ear of corn, dey would take a drink of whiskey frum de jug an' cup. We'd get through' bout ten o'clock.
"In his train see sweet Peace, fairest Queen of the sky, Ev'ry bliss in her look, ev'ry charm in her eye. Whilst oppression, corruption, vile slav'ry and fear At his wished for return never more shall appear. Your glasses charge high, 'tis in great Charles' praise, In praise, in praise, 'tis in great Charles' praise." Some one outside the door coughed, and then rattled the latch vigorously.
Mos' of de cullud mens go back to where dey was raised. "Dat was afte' freedom, but my daddy say dat de niggers earn money on Old Boss' place even durin' slav'ry. He give 'em every other Sat'dy fer deyse'ves. Dey cut cordwood fer Boss, wimmens an' all. Mos' of de mens cut two cords a day an' de wimmens one. Boss paid 'em a dollar a cord.
Dere may be more'n dat now, but anyways dere is five generations livin'. "What I think 'bout slav'ry? Well, leetle Miss, I tell you, I wish it was back. Us was a lot better off in dem days dan we is now. If dem Yankees had lef us 'lone we'd been a lot happier. We wouldn' been on 'lief an' old age pension fer de las' three years.
Sometimes I quit one an' go live wid de other one. All of 'em sho' did treat me good. I's havin' a heap harder time now dan I ever had in slav'ry times. I sho' is. "Dey raised de young folks better dem days. Dey learnt 'em to work. Dey didn' min' work. Today dey don' care 'bout nothin' but havin' a good time. Dey ain' studyin' 'bout no hereafter, neither.
In de middle of de day us rested an' waited for de horn to blow to go back to de fiel'. Slaves didn' have nothin' turrible to worry 'bout if dey acted right. Dey was mean slaves de same as dey was mean marsters. "Now-a-days folks don' live right. In slav'ry times when you got sick a white docter was paid to git you well. Now all you gits is some no-count paten' medicine.
Word Of The Day