I know right. If you look up late 1800s to early 1900s there is hardly any obese people. They all dressed nice and everyone had a hat on. No girls in thongs or pajama pants running around in public. Life is easier now for sure but we pay for it with our health.
Possibly a bit but also be interesting to see how many people like to 100 as a general percentage of the population if it was 2-3000 per 10 million then it might show the scale of the number of slaves.
My ancestor was one interviewed in the Slave Narrative Project - saved at the Library of Congress. I found him there and to my surprise - I was delighted to hear his voice - They all say they loved slavery time-seems the interviewers loved to hear that part -
Speaking ill of Caucasians during the 30s for a black person could have possibly been a death sentence, so I'd take their "joy" for the so-called good ole days with a whole crate of salt .A grain isn't enough to get the disgusting stench of slavery off your soul.🤔
Beautiful. I hear their wonderful voices and I hear the sounds of what I imagine my great-great grandparents would sound like. That's the time they lived. People back then were hardy and not spoiled, like many of us now. What wonderful attitudes and such joy in their voices in these interviews. Excellent storytellers too. I miss sitting around listening to my great grandparents and grandparents telling me their life stories.
Exactly i got tired of them asking about songs and dancing like they had fun times. It's almost like the interviews wanted all black people to be happy and more submissive. Naw bro those days are over after slavery. New bread wasn't born in slavery a different story.
A lot of people are amazed to hear these transcripts. I'd be too but, feelings of utter heartbreak is all I feel for lost culture , forced torment and the continued conforming of my people. These transcripts evoke so much emotion in me. To know no justice can exist amongst such evil is unfathomable.
" To know no justice exist amongst such evil is unfathomable " That's deep. To really think about what that sentence means right there & then to actually try an imagine what that must have felt like for the slaves that were brought here from Africa. It is truly horrifying & heartbreaking to say the least!!!! American Intermediary 7/7/23
@DeanDangerousTDD7 Thank you. I will have to check this out. I have to limit the Information I take in regarding but Thank-you for dropping the source and for simply recognizing.
Slavery was never about race, no white man stepped foot in Africa the slaves that were sold were of all cultures even white slaves, the African and the Middle East was responsible for slavery not the white man.
It broke my heart 💔 I also have a copy of "The Slave Narratives" I read them I have to put it down and give myself a mental break before I pick my book back up.😞
Not in American history but white people were slaves before black people were but I'm not going to hold that against anyone living cause that was years before anyone was born
Mississippi I can hear African or Caribbean accent! Anyone else hear it? My dad was born Clarksdale Mississippi. Mr. Johnson brought a smile on my face. I understood every word.
I’ve been watching a lot of episodes of Finding Your Roots by Henry Louis Gates Jr. He can find a lot of historical records concerning slavery and slave owners. It’s astonishing to discover the odd relationships between slaves and slave owners. One slave owner, for example, died and freed his slave AND left all of his property to the now former slave. Slavery was obviously a horrible nightmare that should never have happened, but it is strange to see the sometimes complicated relationships between slaves and slave owners. The show is on PBS and it’s a must see.
It a beautiful thing that he left his slave property but we had no protection of law. Most of the time our family's property was taken during the 100 years of Jim Crow. It happened to my great grandfather. His white layer stole his land after he passed away.
@@thedarkerarchery3553 Nobody has ever been “all caught up in the heartwarming emotional side affects”. Nobody. What you’re attempting to do is sensor information and silence truths that you feel threatened by for one reason or another, and that’s never ever ok. This is universally understood basics of humanity and you will never be respected by advocating censoring and silencing of any kind of history. Cut that crap out, it’s detrimental to growth and progress. Pathetic way to live. Like if you believe Michael Jackson was guilty, now you’re never able to mention the moonwalk? What a retarded way to be.
48:32 The Lord’s Prayer 56:35 I Surrender 1:01:22 Kingdom Coming 2:06:48 Mercy Seat 2:08:31 Old Black Joe 2:13:57 Hallelujah Tis Done 2:59:04 Keep Your Lamp A Trimmed 3:00:46 Come Butter Come 3:03:51 Old Ship of Zion 3:06:58 Old Lady Goose 3:07:58 Jay Bird Singing 3:09:46 Drink Water 3:11:00 Ring Go Round
My Grandfather (mechanic ambulance driver) and his brother (Sniper) served in the Spanish Civil War in the Abraham Lincoln brigade and with the Canadian battalion MacKenzies. The veterans made tapes in the sixties. Fascinating stuff, straight from the horses mouth. The best history.
You know what really fascinating and I just cannot deny a undying respect for these voices how thankful and kind and honest of people they were. Being kind and wanting for nothing. Even in a not greatest of circumstances they stayed thankful and made the best of their life. Something I feel every single one of us spoiled Americans of every race have no clue to be thankful for what we have. So much respect and grace! ❤
Hey there! I came across your comment and I just had to reach out and say hi. Your perspective really caught my attention and I would love to get to know you better. Would you be interested in chatting sometime? Looking forward to hearing back from you! 😊
I'm thinking Charlie was lied to his entire life. The part about chasing down Garfield's assassin with Billy the Kid definitely caught me off-guard. Guiteau surrendered right away.
Of course they were lied to. They were psychologically broken down generation after generation to believe that they were created to be slaves. They were dependent on their owners for literally everything. Everything they know was taught to them by the same people who owned them. They didn't know better especially after generations of being taught from the bible that slavery was moral and it was their destiny.
Idk it’s known that history books have been edited in the favor of the government and I’ve read a few books saying Lincoln wasn’t shot then he said he got official paper work and I’ve heard the story of my ancestors being tricked into selling there land
Working as a sharecropper, "slave," is hardly being treated "nice" and without "fault." But, we are all are about to find out, to a lesser degree. Now that everyone from employees, to sports figures, to rappers, to social media influencers, to IT professionals, to Doctors in emergency rooms are working as contractors, signing contracts with penalties that could cost them much more than they receive in payment for their services. Positioned to supply their services to the letter of the contract and beyond, or pay out of pocket for punitive fees, court and lawyers fees for themselves and their "clients." NDA's will influence you to say, "They, treat me good. They treat me alright, I can't find no fault." as seems to be consistent answer here.
*This is a fantastic display of True Factual information, that should be shown to every school aged kid, **_(punk?)_** in America! Maybe then, we'll get our country back to telling the truth, and being honest, with God Almighty's help.*
@@OdeeOz I read exactly what you wrote. And again with your uneducated illogical statements. Obviously I can read English if I’m writing to you in it smart guy. And yes again I’m curious on how you think showing this to kids will get YOUR country back??? This is my country old hoss sorry to break it to ya.
You are the undereducated one then, @@Payne33 since you cannot understand the Face Value of what I wrote. This History is being squashed in Schools you numbskull!
@@OdeeOz 🤣 ok. And how may I ask is putting your religion in school or showing traumatized slaves gonna change the punk kids 🤣 your religion started the shit 🤦🏽♂️ had people coming over here burning homes snatching wife’s and killing men then planting a fucking cross and telling them they better honor it 🤦🏽♂️ yaaaaaa yeee haw partner. You tend to forget your religion aint built shit just been trying to steal it for a lonnng time. And i for one believe strongly in a higher power but your way ain’t it. Begging people to forgive you and turn the cheek for all the shit yal do
Hearing slaves actual speak the words their slave owners and their family members "treated them nice". They were clearly psychologically damaged, ontop of the fact that they were dependent on their owner for literally everything. It's not surprising that some of these slaves spoke of their owners as good people who treated them good. It's absolutely heartbreaking to hear them utter those words. How we train dogs to obey us and our commands is exactly how these slaves were trained and brainwashed. When you have no knowledge of self, when everything you know has come from your slave owners, when generation after generation of your ancestor were slaves this is all you know, not to mention slave owners used the bible and religion to justify and explain that God had intended/made them to be slaves and whites were designed to own them and "take care" of them again It's literally no surprise to hear them glowingly talk about their masters and their families. Absolute propaganda, I'm surprised this isn't taught in schools and history to try and convince modern people that the slaves were happy to be slaves and that the majority of slaves were treated "good". Again its literally heart breaking to know that these men, women were so broken down and stripped off literally everything and were programmed to accept their lots in life. That is probably the sickest part of slavery, that white people were actually able to convince slaves that they were living the best lives possible. Imagine if the recording technology was around when the first or 2nd generations of slaves were around who still knew their actual names, remember their homeland, and everything about their lives before they were put into bondage, I can guarantee that you wouldn't hear one slave say that they were treated good, and that white people were good people, and talk glowingly of their lives.
I know that's right. They would probably tell of how much they detest their lives and how they decided plans to get away. Ugh I hate this was our history. Who did God allow something like this to continue for 400 years! Where was the savior the comfort, the prince of peace? It just pains my heart. I don't understand.
I thought about the words I still hear today. Slavery wasn't that bad. You ought to just forget what happened. It is time to move on. You didn't live it and I (WA) didn't have anything to do with slavery. You should be glad you are in this country living better than most outside of these united states.
I would just correct a few things… they are/were humans enslaved by kidnappers. Calling someone a slave rather than referring to their condition of slavery suggests they are less than human. Otherwise, I dig exactly what you’re saying.
Absolutely! Slavery still exist today, just in different form… there are some Black people that’s been on welfare, their whole entire life, and the thought of getting off and doing for themselves scares the hell out of them. They wouldn’t know how to operate or take care of themselves if welfare were to go away sad really…
It’s a sign of a political slave, usually sold out or have horrid blsck mail/extortion over their head so their forced to be be apart some choose death some choose dishonor
After Hearing The First Recording I Decided To Not Bother, Hearing A Slave Say She Was Happy Being A Slave Seems To Much Like She Was Forced To Claim She Was Happy; Pull My Other Leg Please, It’s Got Bells On It: I’d Rather Watch The Simpsons, There’s More Correctness CONveyed:🤦🏽🤦🏽🤦🏽
judging by the comments, it sounds like people think slavery has been abolished. in the USA, yes, but now we benefit from slavery in other parts of the world that is just as brutal as the worst of that in the american story.
These are Oral.Histories. they are priceless first person narratives of life in the middle to late 1800's..They're simply recollections of the past. Utterly PRICELESS!
Aren’t you lucky? There are no recordings of our enslaved white European ancestors in Africa before they were all murdered. The later plantation owners in America were required to keep records of their black slaves, and there were recordings made of them in later years. This happened because they were ALIVE UNLIKE MY ENSLAVED WHITE EUROPEAN ANCESTORS, WHO WERE ALL MURDERED IN AFRICA.
@@rosemarycornwall5162 we have precious few recordings of the voices of those who lived in the 1800s. Saving as many of those existing recordings as possible through digitisation should definitely be a top priority.
@@CulturalOrigins I am very proud of my sister Linda Rive who has just been awarded the OAM for a life times work as a translator/oral historian currently working with Ara Iritija (stories from a long time ago) in Central Australia using photographs, films, sound recordings and documents. She's a lifetime collector of stories.
@@Fari-100 Their speech is super enthralling to me too. But I’d argue it’s way more distinctly American than anything. Not African. The slaves literally forged their own distinct dialect, which we hear here. The most amazing part is their dialect is still the primary “Ebonics” dialect that many black Americans use to this very day. I hear my family when I hear them speak.
@@deeptreediver hey, I can agree with that too. And all we African Americans, and Afro-Carribeans in general definitely carry the speech patterns of our ancestors. Wow, our "ebonics" is actually much more "American" than English! Ain't that a trip? 😅
@Dutty Rock yeah man, I know is cause a we African twang why the whol a we sound so 😄 if you ever hear the Naija pidgin or the Salone krio, you woulda know a truth me a talk 😄
As a Black American from NW Louisiana NE Texas area of the United States, My GGGG Grandmother born in 1890-1998 possessing over 300 acres of land that was never purchased from White people our family just owned it until they basically stole it. When I asked her about her life she said everyone was nice and there was no slavery or racism. I was happy that my family did not suffer in the racist oppression. However upon further considerations I realized my ancestors did not know any better. The life they lived is all they knew. For example, we would pick fruits and veggies from her garden but we always had to make sure to give the Mrs Betsy, the white woman down the road, the best ones before bringing them in the house. I once got a whoopin for coming straight into the house with apples. Black people purposely did nice things to white people to keep them from being mean to them and they did it second nature as if it was just good manners. My grandmother did not think that those were her fruits and she didn't owe any one anything. She felt guilty if Mrs Betsy open the door and stood on the porch. Mrs Betsy even rechecked the baskets to make sure she got the best ones. When we got back to my great grandmother's home she lectured us on why we should always smile and waive to the good white people. They may need you to do a favor for them. My uncles help put up a fence for Mrs Betsy and her Husband and they really felt proud to be used. It didn't dawn on me until later in life. Also Mrs Betsy was living on my Grandmother's land as if they owned it. We had to go inside when she had her family in town. Also, my GGGG reference d African saying " You can tell who was African because they spoke that shid ( meaning a different language) and they ate weird compared to them. She spoke of Africans as if they were foreigners back then and she knew her own grandparents who lived during slavery. She said we were Tangipo Indians not Africans. I thought she was just old and senile because it's a known fact all Black people came on boats from Africa. She went on to say her husband was African but she was Indian. Later, searching for my Great Grandfathers I found most of the men were killed. Her daughter born in 1906 said " The white people killed the men and replaced them with the Africans. " She said " Her Grandparents didn't want to move off their land so they became Black people instead of Indians". She said " the only people they call Indians are the ones who moved off their land and that Indians and Africans looked the same except they had different noses and hair." According to my ancestors the Indians really did not go extinct they killed the males and imported Africans and called them all Black people. My Mother was talking about the movie " Roots" and my Grandmother said " They were putting out movies like that to further fool people the same way they did with the Cowboys and Indian movies" With that being said, and seeing some of these recordings were from 1941, I can clearly read between the lines, see why they would want to record and I see the age disparity as well. Women were having children as early as 12. The people they were recording has parents 15 years older who they could've spoken too. I don't know what possessed me to ask my grandparents those questions but Im glad I did. Things are making more sense to me and I will pass it down to my offspring.
Wow, this is really eye opening. Thanks so much for sharing. Believe it or not, it educated me to a degree. You were truly blessed to have had your family (GGG) to explain this to you. My grandmother had to pass as white in order to just walk through certain areas as she explained. It's just so disheartening to me, yet informative/educational.. Once again, thx for sharing and blessings to you and your family from mine.....Gonzales, Louisiana ❤🙏🏿
SAME..I was writing you about my Indian/African family heritage here in East Texas but it got erased 😔 I thought everyone grew up and thought as I did but at 53 I'm finding out it's my family. We called white people "Blue Eyed Devil's" and I thought that was a southern thing but it was my Indian sides thing. I thought I was better than white people and my older sister still believes they are all really evil😳. My family were not slaves, 12 children all college educated and very POSH for so called ex slaves. I couldn't understand how my family went from the movie ROOTS to money, furs, alumni and bridge. My grandmother was the first black person to run for Mayor in 1970 in Dallas Texas. She was a politician and devout civil rights activist, where'd they all get such high minded ideals. My grandmother was apparently the black sheep and now I understand why, she married an Indian. Apparently that was beneath or frowned upon in my family. My grandmother said her father owned his land and to keep it which he did he claimed a white man up north was the owner. We still own the land and mineral rights but who knows since recently people died intestate. I don't see the movie THE HELP playing out in my family, I see Black Wall Street.
...my entire family was also rooted in Church so all my uncles are Ministers and my aunts married to ministers so very churchy. MY Dad's Mom was also Indian from the same area or mixed but same long straight indian braids with dark skin. She would not let my Dad and uncles put a bathroom in her home. We mostly stayed at motels when visiting because us little ones were afraid of the very nice outhouse. We sometimes spent the night with her in what we called a cabin because two rooms only. She would boil water and bathe us in the middle of the kitchen in a giant caldron tub thing. We loved it and jokingly teased she was going to eat us. She'd sit on her porch and let us comb her long hair when she'd wash it, fond memories.
Thx I appreciate you writing all of this did you know that some masters were against slavery and didn't want them but the government wouldn't let them go free for 3 years the master has inherited slaves yet some slaves didn't want to leave every slave has there own story
Alot of these people were born into slavery and on these plantations. This was a way of life for them and clearly they simply didn't know any better than what was taught to them. Although I appreciate the accounts of these but few accounts of slavery but the FACT of the matter even though these people were still yet mistreated. Even with kind words and small gestures, they were yet slaves and lived under servitude to their oppressors. Nothing is ok about this.
I feel the same way towards modern West and Central Africans enslaving Pygmies in Africa till this day. They also get caught committing genocide and cannibalism against the Pygmies. The media ignores it. There's nothing ok about this. Google "Pygmy Genocide" or "Pygmy Slavery". The Pygmies have their own first person accounts of the Bantu, counterparts of American blacks, actually farming Pygmies for food.
Fact is all the black slaves were captured by fellow Africans. The falseJews purchased them from black Africans, and sold them to white plantation owners. Lots of blame to go around.
Yeah but it still goes on to this day including in every single country with all different races including Chinese people Asian people Black people doing it to other black people I mean some people are still born into slavery and other countries And even in our own it's just more secretive here in America
Bless the people involved in preserving this work and the people who were bold enough to put the stories on record during some very difficult times in this developing nation. 😢❤
I hope you all, who are watching and listening to these audio tapes/recordings understand just how ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS AND PRICELESS THEY ACTUALLY ARE!!! You are privy to actual ~living~ history!!! Yes!!! It's living history,, an actual sampling of life onto a format! These are NOT just recordings, they are the extract of actual sound vibrations, and so it qualifies as living recordings! Because recordings, unlike the written word, or paintings of people or places,, capture the complete and actual oral moment/event and not simply a ~WRITERS EXPERIENCE(S)~! Thank GOD intelligent men saw the vision of capturing sound for the world to benefit from~!~
In the first 150 years of the trade, West Central Africa supplied nine out of ten African people destined for a life of slavery in the Americas. Except for a fifty-year period between 1676 and 1725, West Central Africa sent more slaves to the Americas than any other region.
💬👉 An elder Navajo ( Wally Brown ) here on RU-vid explains that is largely why Indians pass on history from one generation to the next in narration. They weren't being ignorant when signing treatys with the U.S. government when They would say things like " As long as the grass will grow and the rivers flow " Yup, 👌🪶❕ G~G.
All I kept thinking during the first interview was "of course she is going to say the government is treating her fine/well". She is probably terrified that he would report her for being ungrateful if she complained. It made me sad but I'm also grateful that these recordings were made.
100 plus years ago, nobody feared the government. They didn't know the Bolshevik had already taken over. Even people today are still coming to grips about that.
I think ist interesting that they said they were treated by their masters and they said fine. But when asked if they want to return, not only do they say no, they say they'd rather kill themselves.
@@mssha1980 cite your sources. I think that slaves were treated like expensive property for the most part and weren’t beaten near death as often as you think. Not to say they didn’t suffer abuse but still. I also think slaves didn’t know exactly what they were being subjected to as they know nothing but slavery so as long as they aren’t hurt or killed it’s like they feel that they are being treated properly. If you are’s to getting paid .50cents an hour and one day you get a dollar then you are doing pretty well in your head , better than before. Little do you know the minimum wage is $7.50 . You are doing awful but that is based on perspective. Perception is a powerful tool.
@@Bobbyagreeen Do you mean currently like how it still is now? Mental slavery is the worst bondage. Once you believe the lie you will never know freedom. The will was beatean out of most early on. They broke black men in like horses in a homosexual way. And that's historical facts. The question is when are most going to really wake up. 🤷🏽♀️
I guess no one has heard of Stockholm syndrome? Imagine being enslaved for hundreds of years…. These poor souls were afraid, and conditioned to not speak ill of their masters. The remnants can be seen till this very day. However- to be able to hear them speak. It stirs something inside of me. Bless them for enduring the unthinkable.
Exactly. These people were psychologically broken down to their core and were trained just like we train dogs today to obey your every command. Hearing these former slaves talk about how their owners treated them nice and the white people were good people is absolutely heartbreaking to hear. They were so dependent on their owners for literally everything and taught from the bible that slavery was their destiny that god had created them for. Its not surprising that they speak of their owners glowingly, actually fought in the confederate army against the people who were trying to set them free.
Human psychology isn't inherited, conditioning begins again from birth. It's not impossible or unheard of for a slave owner to be a good person, though most were terrible and the institution itself is evil.
It's really sad that such a brilliant opportunity was lost here to get some great interviews. But unfortunately, it's pretty well established that a lot of the narratives are likely to contain some bias from Black folk being afraid to speak up with a white interviewer. The questions, unsurprisingly, weren't the greatest either. Filled with questions like "tell me about the soap making process" instead of deep questions about the history of enslavement. It's amazing to hear their voices, but it's unfortunate that an opportunity to really do these interviews right is lost forever.
@Dutty Rock I'm not sure about anyone else but I am specifically talking about the use of the WPA narratives. I know of Dr. Turner -- I have an MA in history with a concentration on African American history -- but, as far as I know, he was not involved in the WPA slave narratives project. I could be wrong about that, but I don't think he was. But regardless of if he was or not, the WPA narratives were still largely conducted by white southerners that has brought the narratives into question due to formerly enslaved people not wanting to potentially make Southern whites angry (we see this a lot in cultures that have been victimized and are later interviewed. For instance, it is very well documented that Native Americans living in reservations have a hard time trusting white people going in to interview them). The big question is about the WPA narratives, which are used a lot, and get debated a lot in scholarly circles as to their potential biases
@@Page57 not all slave owners were as bad as the others.. when she said mighty good she meant not getting beat to death. Sure they weren't bought the latest air forces and were probably going bare foot. Which is why imo blacks love shoes so much.. so much more than saving up money to buy a home
I can see why exslaves would not describe some awful times as slaves to be recorded for racist to hear and exact revenge on them. My cousin heard about bad treatment of slaves personally from an exslave who was 8 years old when she and her family were freed. Every un-powerful people in colonial times had a rough time (ie) " root hog or die". If you have not heard that before, you and your family are in USA likely after 1900ad.
There's some serious suggestion that at least a few of the interviewees tailored their responses based on a certain amount of fear of their interviewers and potential backlash they might face. That being said, to a certain degree I suppose old habits die hard.
@@CulturalOrigins True. Even when you read slave narratives/books (I've read all I could find)...the writer almost always prefaces the story by saying that what they are about to say is essentially sanitized for the readers sensibilities.
Yesssssss that is what’s getting me. Talking bout Massa treated you good🤦🏽♀️ Massa. It’s just disgusting that someone could own another person! I don’t get it I don’t understand don’t want to hear the reason behind it NO NO and NO just despicable👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽
I can't imagine the mentality of a person owning another person or of a person who is owned. I hear these people formerly enslaved saying the masters were good to them and all the white people they know have been good to them and my own sensibilities scream that can't be true....these people are just scared to be honest. They are afraid of the repercussions of telling what really happened. I am sure not all enslaved people were beaten or physically brutalized, but I am sure the invisible scars were there just the same.
I looked him up. Apparently he was known for outright lying about his life experiences. For example, he claims to have hunted down President Garfield's assassin with Billy the Kid. In reality, Billy the Kid died before President Garfield was assassinated. He also claimed to be somewhere around 130 years old.
@@MrJesusdoesntsave I have I’m just saying idk how to believe who wrote it 😂 billy the kid may have been alive they got to many aliases 😂 I don’t know that anyone really know much behind billy more than a law man 😂 he could have sold out and went to witness protection 🤷🏽♂️ 😂
@@Payne33 At this point it seems like you're trying extra hard to not believe it, but why? All we have to go on are historical accounts, so that's what we have to use. I can't say "Oh what if Billy the Kid was actually an alien and he just flew away back to his planet?" At that point I'm just making stuff up to be different. Again I have to ask, why?
Birmingham, Alabama here . The food has changed it’s not the same when I was growing up. Going back to eating liked I did with my grandma. Eggs, milk, bacon, biscuits, buttermilk, not sure about these chickens, but pig is still the same.
I live by myself, and have gone back to the stuff I grew up on...Beef, Pork, Chicken, Cornbread, Beans, Peas, Greens, Biscuits, Gravy....the whole nine yards. Been doing that for a few years and at 73, I feel better than I did when I was in my 50s & was Fat As A Pig. I buy as much as I can Locally & make do with the best I can find. Mama taught me to cook starting at age 7, so I've never had any issues doing for myself. Even taught a couple of Ex Wives to cook. Now it's just me, the Dogs and 8 Horses.....None of them complain, especially the Dogs who Love My Gravy
I live in Tyler, Texas. A very small, old graveyard not far from my house, very rural area now, would have been extremely isolated in the early mid 1800's dates shown on the gravestones. Random people kept mentioning to me that slaves are buried there, but I could not see any info anywhere there. Then one day, I noticed some primitive looking markers, somewhat close together. Some were 3 or 4 ft. rectangles, some looked like a rock chisel chipped a rough arch. No writing whatsoever. These mark where the graves that hold slaves are located. The reason why there is no writing, why the markers are blank, is because it was illegal then in Texas to record any personal information about a slave. Slaves were considered 'chattel'. They were not considered at the time to have human rights. That really struck me, they are surrounded by graves that families and loved ones who were able to record a name and anything deemed important about the person, on the headstone or marker. Imagine if anyone as late as the 1940's, who recalled any information about these deceased slaves, were able to record that info onto a brass plaque historical marker for them. Imagine the families and children that would visit these graves, to remember these slaves as people somehow, imagine the hurt and conflict that could have been softened or tempered as a result of granting these slave gravesites some sort of dignity. It could have gone such a long way to ease civil tensions in the past, I believe.
I agree. As a Texan born I love the book of the narratives. The stories show slave owners were either horrible or very kind and fair. Not much in between....great stories,
That 1975 recording of "Charlie Smith" is a false story told by a guy actually named Mitchell Watkins. He invented a story (or internalized the stories of actual slaves he heard) of him being born in Africa, tricked into getting onto boat, getting sold in US and living as a cowboy. All obviously false. He was born in America after the slavery had already ended. If his story was actually true he would have been century and a half old at the time of the recording. Meaning he would have been the oldest person to ever live
@@bon5436 In this recording, he claims to have hunted down President Garfield's assassin with Billy the Kid. In reality, Billy the Kid died before President Garfield was assassinated. There's your proof.
Hearing them say master, wow. It’s one thing to read about it, or have movies. But to hear it from the ancestors who actually went through it. This should be shown on BHM not the same constant loop, we need enlightenment.
Weird how today, we call them, Boss. Boss: a person who is in charge of a servant, worker, group, or organization. "I asked my boss for permission" Sometimes when oppressed by them, we call them slavers. These lawless bosses, because of their self entitlement, make us address them as Mr. Mr. : Old English; master. Late middle English Mr. mister *Good bosses follow our Lord's laws on having their servants. Good to them *Bad bosses could care less about our Lord's laws. Harsh on them.
First History needs to be recorded Good and Bad ,so that it will not be repeated.First we are all Americans,on applications there are racial divisions which should not exist,you don't see on job application European American do you?Yet you do see African American, and why is that,when my people's blood ran during the Civil War and both World Wars as well as the Korean Conflict and Vietnam,My Mother's Cousins were both Tuskegee Pilot's yet time and time again we settle I am an American,and didn't just come from Africa,unlike these Philippino's and Mexicans.. .
Update: 8/18/21 6:02 PM; 5/26/21, I found out 16 years ago that there were many unofficial adoptions from the beginning of time up until the 1940s for the United States and still continuing all over the world where there were no paperwork, no attorney nor court, nothing legal. You just take the baby, infant, toddler, small child, and teen home with you and when the ‘census records takers’ comes around you just tell them that its your daughter/son if they will be too young to remember that they were separated from their biological parents; they are not never told about whatever happened to their parents, that they were/are not their children, and that they are not the parents. Not only did relatives take in the orphans but none relatives or friends of the parents and neighbors. Back then heads of households took in strangers when they didn’t have nobody to stay with; and the census records aren’t correct as to the ‘role’ of the infant, baby, toddler and small child to the head of households, in many cases if the infant, baby, toddler and small child isn’t no kin then they are mistreated badly, not talked to, nor cared about nor looked out for nor encouraged to do better or stay in school. This is the reasons that you may not be liked, respected, cared about, talked to, looked out for by who you think is your parents, grandparents, greats, aunts/uncles, first cousins and other kin. That’s why you can’t find midwives papers 1.) because who you think is your parents and grandparents are not 2.) because the baby, infant, toddler and small child wasn’t old enough to remember that they were separated from their parents for whatever reasons - one to a few of one hundred reasons. There’s many reasons why babies, infants, toddlers, small children and teens are separated from their biological parents. Collect the Family history anyway, because you could be possibly cousins, you would have to get an Ancestry dna test or 23&me to find out for sure. James 1:25-27
It would unwise to view these narratives with a 21st century mentality. Of course, people who lived in the 1800s had a 19th century mentality. I learned this from reading ancient history books that were written in 450 BC. Having read and heard countless narratives even if being treated "well" by slave owners it is still an abomination. And being treated badly--- which did happen all the time is unimaginable.
There's white people asking ex-slaves how they felt about slavery during the Jim Crow era, I'm sure they were being completely honest about their treatment during slavery. I mean what reason would they have to lie about?😏
Nothing is unimaginable. Hundreds of thousands of slaves absolutely had better lives than hundreds of thousands of whites. Disgusting how weak minded people are that can’t grasp how bad life can be for ANYONE. This world is full of tragedies every second, as well as wonderful miracles if you allow yourself to find them
@@onepiecefan74 That’s not what they were saying at all. It’s more about casting judgement on their responses. Some people may be very shocked to learn some slaves seemed to really like their masters. However, these people should realize they have no right to cast judgment on them as they did not experience chattel slavery. They are right about slavery being an abomination. Their truly was no difference between a good enslaver and bad enslaver (this is discussed in Beloved by Toni Morrison) as many of the “nice” slave owners were only doing that so that way the slaves would have no reason to want to rebel and end the institution of slavery. Many people often State it was the “nice” slave owner that was more dangerous than the “evil” slave owner because of this.
@@JusticeLong3317 Toni Morrison was a fiction writer who was never a slave. Who cares what she thinks. Actual slaves will tell you there were good master and bad masters. Spoilers. They preferred the good masters.
The slavery movement was such an ugly, shameful part of our history. These accounts are incredibly remarkable to me, so infinitely moving. I find myself wishing as a young man in school this material would of been brought to my attention. After being exposed to this, I have a far better idea of what was so wrongfully endured for far too long. I earnestly hope no one in my bloodline had any part of it whatsoever.
What would it change though if you found out an ancestor was a slaveholder? Your actions are your own just as theirs were their own. You better believe I'd be proud if I found out I was somehow related to John Brown, but it wouldn't change that he rose up to fight injustice on his own accord. It wouldn't suddenly mean I get credit for his fight, just as I don't think I'd be to blame if I found out I had an ancestor that was a terrible person. My outlook would be completely unchanged in the grand scheme of things. I take issue with the injustices of today and yesterday, regardless of who came before me in my ancestry. I see a lot of white people have this fear that they have an ancestor that was a massive racist/slaveholder, and I just think it's something people worry too much about. It's totally fine if one feels the urge to make it known how different you are from those that came before you, but you shouldn't feel guilt. Instead, feel empathy toward those who have been wronged. I want to state lastly, maybe I am reading too far into that last bit from your comment. Maybe it was more a comment you had in passing when you mentioned your bloodline at the end, but I do kind of pick up a certain vibe from a lot of white people that I think goes by unaddressed a lot of the time. Many are just extremely eager to clear their own names, and it does bother me because it shows a tendency that they just want no part in it whatsoever. They just want to wash their own hands rather than help the ones who's wounds have been passed down from generations prior. I'm not making an accusation at you, I'm just making this statement because it is a very common trait I've picked up from other white people, hell my currently living family members make comments like that *all the time* and I know they they are exactly the kind of people I'm talking about when I mention it, I lucked out in that I saw the error in their racist thinking/ways and I decided to be a better person in that regard. My dad for example still to this day will make comments about how he "never owned a slave so he isn't responsible for anything", to which I always reply that no one said *he* is responsible, the wrongs of yesterday are *society's* responsibility and we need to make change and amends on a *societal* level.
It truly was.... And I had the same hopes as you...that my ancestors didn't have anything to do with slavery. I've learned over the years that they did in fact and it's been hard to swallow that. But I recognize that I am not who they were. I didn't do whatever they did (and I don't know any details about how they treated others). I can't change my family history, but I can teach my children that we are all people, we are all the same. Skin color or ethnic background doesn't decrease or increase the value of our humanity. As a Christian, I believe we are all descendants of the same ancestors and therefore of one blood. I know racism still exists amongst all races, and it's as wrong today as it was then.
@@dudeman5303That's not true 😂😂😂 people like ancestors can curse their lineage and the generation to come have generational curses to fight hence why slavery was ,400 years ... Now the slave master generation to come having curses put on them for all their generation to come forever!!!! Y'all better start reading the Bible and get some knowledge to the truth and many people destiny!!! The reason it's like that cause the people took slavery to far!!!! What about after the physical enslavement how it turned to mental enslavement??? Why people avoid talking about this as well
My heart ain't feeling this something is definitely wrong. Is it me or has anybody else noticed that the first slave speaking all she talked about was how nice everyone treated her she had everything she wanted, which could be true but doubtful. I also noticed the white man in the back I don't know if he was giving her direction or what. Couldn't get past the first one
its only wrong to you because you are indoctrinated by lies. Slavery wasn't as brutal as some people want it to be. They were intregal parts of families and businesses. THey were given food and shelter and wages.
It amazes me how many people don't know or choose to bury this history. I refuse!!! They need to be heard and true history needs to be brought out in the open. I refuse to quiet their voices!!!! Thank you for posting New sub and sharing
I know you fricking lying, I’m only 2 minutes in so far and I hope that this wasn’t something said between an interviewer and an interviewee😦 the disrespect 🤬
@@user-sh2rc5kc7x Why are you being so hostile? She did not say that, notice the quotation marks. You would know whose words they are if you actually watched/listened to the video.
Right, right! I am thrilled to hear a WITNESS ACCOUNT of the lifestyle and experience of being OWNED. So much of America's History has been retold in different ways and actually rewritten in others! You're absolutely right! A whole lot of time and energy went into this, so we can learn what we didn't in SCHOOL!!
This is beyond amazing. At the 40 minute mark the man talking about working with Billy The Kid to find president Garfield’s killers is insane omg 😱 reallll history on tape
People is still mentally enslaved 😂😂😂 for them to actually believe the Colonized History books and ect.... It's sad cause you actually getting info from the horses mouth and still don't believe it!!!! That man worked for the U.S government is all he confirming cause he did what he was told without asking questions just how most Army, Airforce people is til today ‼️‼️ The government system just didn't start it exists since the Egyptian and Romans days hence why we are still under Roman ruling... People need to do their own research and study
He also said he was 144, he'd been a Mason for 100 years, he was literate, understood equality, he was a cowboy, and he was abducted from Africa. What a fascinating life!
Oh yeah. Pop was a baddie according to his account. I find no fault in him. He might of needed to have an altered ego given the life of a slave. Only God knew what this man lived as a slave. It took a special breed of our people to have survived slavery. And they wonder why AA women can come across as having a spine. When did they have time to learn to be gentle. How were they going to use their gentleness when they were dog tired, still had to keep house, raise kids, fight to keep her kids with her, fight to get food or clothes for them and the list is endless. But they ask us.......why are we so angry. Why are you so animated when you speak. These traits were passed along to us. We have to learn love, trust, hope, kindness, unity and all the rest.
Mitchell Watkins aka Charlie Smith was 144 years old in this interview and lived to tell it. He said he worked for the United States for 100 years. He was a state man. They called him the Trigger Kid. If they sent him into action, the only way he didn't catch ya was because he didn't see ya. He had authority, from those forty-fives. Salute! 💪🏾🏆
I first learned of these works while visiting The Whitney Plantation, a rare plantation experience shared from the viewpoint of the Slave. It's 30 miles from New Orleans. I highly recommend all of you take that tour. My guide was a New Orleans professor. She was wonderful. Go see for yourself. And spend some time listening to these treasures and tragedies. The Whitney: 5099 Louisiana Hwy 18 Edgar, LA 70049
What's so sad is our ancestors speak of "nice masters" who "raised them like they raised their own"..however ..there is NO SUCH THING as humane BONDAGE...had a slave ran away from these so called nice masters...they would have and WERE...hunted down and drug back to BONDAGE...they were PROPERTY....ppl dress their dogs up and let them lay in the same bed as their children ..it doesn't mean the dog is held in the same regard as the actual children int he house hold .that dog doesn't enjoy the same rights as the children....similarly ...slaves who weren't beaten and who were "fed well"...were as pets are today....property....an accessory ...and THEN..an necessity
Charlie Smith seems like an awesome dude, shooting bears and panthers on horseback. Sounds like he got a lot of respect and love. But I’m not so sure how much I believe, it may just be how his old tired brain works, but just kinda weird how he goes from black people trying to throw him off the boat coming from Africa, then being sold, but then says nobody bought him, he was simply adopted and raised as family. Anyways, awesome interview, awesome guy. Could definitely make a movie about his life and countless exciting stories and accomplishments.
Yea it may be the way he’s explaining it at that age..he may have felt he wasn’t brought but he was..and the fact he has so much gratitude for his master says a lot too..but I like him I would’ve enjoyed those stories for sure
I have many, many friends of color down in Jersey City, New Jersey..as I listen to these Historical.Narratives, I close my eyes and I swear, the accent, the ruthym of speech, I think they call.that vernacular, you how fast people speak, they're cadence..alot if my Black.friends in J.C. hail from the Carolinas and I swear! I'm listening to most of them speak! It's so amazing to me, no matter how one culture or group tries to decimate another, the speech patterns and rythym always remain in every day conversation! Thank You to whomever took the time to collect and memorialize and then share with us these PRICELESS MEMORIES with us! I wish I had more younger people in my life right now, so I could SHARE this video with them and hopefully they could maybe share it and discuss their thoughts with the class!
The George Johnson interview was extremely disturbing. He was incredibly ignorant. Lord rest his soul. How unfortunate that he was forced to work for free, learned how to hate himself systematically, had to live in a barnyard with mules and thought that was normal and nice conditions, the list of atrocities can go on and on.
Treat me good treat me nice. The gul of him to even ask her that. She wouldn't have said anything different even if you paid her. Then he had the nerve to ask her if she's happy. He is a sick and disgusting man.
So true. I didn't understand the purpose of some of those questions. However, the responses showed me just how brainwashed they were to be satisfied and thankful. Also see why so many trusted in God and so lively when they expressed themselves in church. They needed hope or someone to believe in. They needed to escape the brutality of every day living as a slave.
When you been force, beaten, mistreated and force to accept things the way is it. Offcause you get used to it somehow and accept it. When you also fear for your life you will always say they treat you nice. And you just accept things for what is it
I feel a lot of the answers were white washed, not meaning they changed anything but that in the 30s black people wouldn't feel comfortable talking candidly about their real life experiences. I wish they had used black interviewers. I could kinda see how on the one interview where the man was saying how that treated them like dogs and then said well these days dogs get treated better than us ,but he paused and realize he was talking to white people and he started to shy away from the criticism he was giving. I've read a lot of the slave narratives and there's always a reoccurring theme of a black person disobeying their master was a immoral act, as if they were letting the interviewers know hey I'm one of the good ones and I look down on black people who disrespect white people so don't send the white people to come get me because I love you more than them. Which really just means I love living more than I love black people.
@@divineintervention212 There definitely wasn’t a one size fits all approach to everything back then. Just like we learn that every family has unique bullshit these days, it’s not hard to grasp that many slaves had many different experiences. I don’t think Charlie Smith was sugar coating anything, his life was baddass. He was definitely an awesome guy with countless awesome stories. Sucks that those actual good experiences, no matter how common or rare, upsets so many people today. Wtf are we doing? We are upset that some of these beautiful humans had beautiful lives? Yep, because anything that threatens your narrative and cause makes you uncomfortable instead of happy for a fellow man having love and happiness. Seriously, if a black person having a better life than many many white people in the 1800’s bothers you, you need to reevaluate your heart.
@Kona the dragon, Do you know why a dog has no problem with being owned ? It's because the dog has no idea of what ownership is or consist of. Contrary to popular beliefs of the time slaves weren't animals and knew exactly what ownership consists of. I'm sure on some obscure plantation somewhere the enslaved were given happy hour mint juliup lunch breaks and foot rubs on Sundays.😌 It doesn't matter how well you treat a slave you're still enslaving them. There is no kind way to own a human being regardless of what fantasy narratives you'd like to believe as a coping mechanism for justification of unimaginable atrocities committed in the name of capitalism. I'm sure there were kind Nazis and well treated jews during the holocaust. I'd bet money you'd never have the unmitigated gall to proclaim that simply because some Nazis had a sliver of humanity ,and that some Jewish people weren't treated as harshly as the majority of jews during the holocaust that somehow there was a redeeming quality of the holocaust like you're attempting to convey about the horrors of slavery ? Now would you ? You asked me if it was so hard to believe that there were possibly some happy well treated slaves ? I can believe that. I'd like to quandary you though. Can you believe that in a era where a black person could be lynched for simply looking a white person in the eyes may have an ulterior motive not to be completely honest about how they were treated during slavery ? Especially since they were being asked by white people whom they didn't know and didn't really know of what their true intent was for interviewing them in the first place.😕 If you're unable or unwilling to ponder upon that concept in a unbiased manner then maybe it's you that should reevaluate your perspectives on slavery in general.😉💯
@@divineintervention212 Ok got it, every single person that didn’t carry the technical term of slavery had perfect great lives and everyone who did have the technical label of slave had terrible lives. Zero exceptions. 👍
@@divineintervention212 only slaves were got beaten, kidnapped, raped, murdered, scalped, robbed, froze to death, poisoned, wrongfully imprisoned… every other person just got everything for free with absolute freedom from any consequence or danger from anything. Got it. 👍
The survival mentality our ancestors had through all the pain, through all that was seen, through all that was taken away from them. God was their haven. One author said, "If I had to go back to slavery, I would kill myself." He was protected from so much horror by God.
Some of the missing text makes no sense. I am at @6:51 and Isom is talking about a brick. the quote should read as "I'd go out there and get to playin, one would hit me, I'd get a brick and Mail it to him, and to the yard I made it." this seems in reference to him having rocks and things thrown at him by white children and him finding bricks and tossing them at the white kids and how he would run back to the yard. How was the word "mailed" unintelligible? I know there's a clang noise just before he says "mailed it to him" but Isom stops, as if he saw the child about to make the noise and then Isom continues. I am fascinated by this. I know there are more issues coming that I know are coming. How sloppily put together was this? I know it was during the beginning of WWII but there are some glaring transcription errors in this work.
He said nailed him with it. They were kids playing rough this man was in his 80s and remembered getting his ass whooped by the slave owners for trying to play to rough and he laughed about it. So I’m guessing they just gave him a good hiding vs a kunta kinte style beating portrayed in every slave movie made nowadays
I luv these…. A chance to listen to actual accounts of slavery… the one ex slave he has my stomach hurting from laughing so hard… he is just sitting there lying 🤥… trigger the kid🤣🤣
I wish they gave the ages of the individuals. The Civil War took place eighty years before the early 1940's, so the people speaking then were likely young or very young children during the war.
There is a risk of making it seem better than it was, and there is a risk of making it seem worse. I think that perfectly describes the situation that we are in.
@@TheChadPad our memory of former slaves certainly suffers from our pre-conceived notions. I think it's one of those things where there's no 'this is how it was.' It was too big an institution and each former slave had their own experiences which could be quite different to another former slaves. And I think that variety of experiences really comes across here. I listened to all of these narratives so many times as I made the video, and I also read some of the narratives that went unrecorded (many of those were a lot darker than the ones that we have audio recordings of), and if I was going to choose a word to sum them up it would absolutely be 'diverse.' So many different experiences and different viewpoints. I think it's very important that we remember that slaves were human and had their own voices - voices we tend to speak over. Resources like this give us the chance to listen instead.
I would love to hear unedited versions of these interviews. The Library of Congress gathered all the recordings, edited them and then made transcripts? Seems to me that those recordings are important pieces of this nations history and should be available for teaching of said history in it's unmolested form. Other nations who've had embarrassing and atrocity ridden periods in there past, like Germany, have acknowledged them, erected monuments for the victims all in order to ensure that they never happen again. We've done the opposite of that in that we've hidden truths about ours, spun narratives in our teaching of them, erected monuments of insurrectionist and allowed them to become part of government that shaped laws of the land. This some argue is the reason we still struggle things like equal justice, racism, prejudices and injustice to this very day.
