Tuesday, October 1, 2013
The Freedom Generation: Are we sure all slaves wanted to leave?
As we analyze the freedom generation, the study of the future life path of newly freed slaves is the most significant area of study. After the 13th amendment was passed, former slaves were now free to proceed-- supposedly-- in any direction the desired. So what did they do? Most of the population went to find long lost family, got married, and began to find real work and in the process define work in a totally different way than before. In any of these cases, the direction that these free peoples took most often called for the relocation of themselves in to new areas. When envisioning this process, I began to create a pro and con lost of this new lifestyle that was ahead of freed slaves. Obviously, the pros included freedom, the ability to travel and relocate old family, and freedom to start a family. However, the cons of these new freedoms were significant enough to make me second guess the true benefits of the ability to travel. Once a slave was free to travel, what form of transportation did they use, what food would they find along the way, what dangers would they encounter traveling hundreds of miles to foreign areas? Things like must have been legitimate concerns of a newly free and traveling slave at this time. Individuals heading in to lands that were unfamiliar, with no money, in a region fresh off of a controversial debate of whether or not to continue slavery, seems very undesirable. With that being said, I began to wonder if it was in fact more beneficial for slaves remain in the region they were, and negotiate for work that was undeniably sought after in the American south. The common thought seems to be that as soon as slaves gained their freedom they immediately left their location of former bondage and went to find freedom elsewhere. But, redefining work that one was experienced in with a location that was familiar seemed like a more stable, safe option in many cases. A historical example of this can be found with indentured servitude. After working for a certain period of time, an indentured servant was free to leave a contracted work schedule. However, in many cases these servants desired to stay and continue to work, where they could be in a more stable environment that they were used to. Although many circumstances may have been different, the negative aspects of travel during this time period drive me to believe that not all free slaves quickly ran in the opposite direction when the gained their freedom. If there was not family to be found (or made), perhaps many of them stayed "home" and started living under conditions that they had a significant role in determining.
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I admit that there must have been many conveniences of not relocating after being freed. However, people do not do much of anything depending only on the convenience of a task or journey. Those pros that you mention – “freedom, the ability to travel and relocate old family, and freedom to start a family” -- are basic aspects of the human experience. The pros of being free and mobile that you mentioned can certainly be weighed more heavily than simple inconveniences because of their significant role in every human life. Family and people, as well as place and location, are very important to a person's life. In addition to wanting to join with or create family, former slaves had many reasons to dislike and leave the places where they were enslaved. The nature of slavery in America was so horribly dehumanizing that it still affects the way that groups of people interact with one another. That is a level of dehumanization that cannot be overlooked or understated. There surely were many negatives for a person staying in the place where he or she was once enslaved. People who remained in their homes from before freedom probably would not be seen as anything different or more human than they were seen and treated when they actually were slaves. Freedom from slavery gave African-Americans the ability to start over completely. From what we have learned in class, former slaves did not take that freedom and mobility for granted. The popularity of relocation speaks at least in part to the success of those who relocated.
ReplyDeleteI believe that more attention could be paid to those slaves who did not leave, rather than those who did. I agree with Jonathan that the desire to flee their former bondage must have been huge—and tens of thousands of slaves did seize this opportunity—but I think there is a greater, darker, reason for those who stayed. As Aubrey discussed, there was still very much a stigma attached to African’s in the south. As we’ve discussed in class, federal action and other governmental changes had very little effect on the reality of life in the south, let alone the perception of Africans.
ReplyDeleteWhile the institution of slavery had been abolished, there still were many barriers to restrict Africans mobility. Jonathan described the institution of indentured servitude but failed to capture how this was truly another form of slavery. It was not that slaves felt stability through indentured servitude, they were in a continuous circle of debt created by their previous masters. Previous masters would charge the Africans more than they would make for the year, forcing them to return to the field yet again to try and repay the debt.