the slave community sparknotesthe slave community sparknotes

Historians criticized the use of slave narratives that were seen as unreliable and biased. Purchasing I'm not sure what exactly you are asking here. He explains, "The more fear whites had of Nat, the more firmly tried to believe in Sambo in order to escape paranoia. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. [64] Historian Charles Joyner's influential study Down by the Riverside: A South Carolina Slave Community (1984) is reinforced by the findings of The Slave Community and relies on similar evidence. [6] Scholars also ignored the 2,300 interviews conducted with former slaves in the late 1930s by the WPA Federal Writers' Project. She found his discussion of slave personality types "fascinating" and "his methodological aims important" but "not systematically pursued". Blassingame notes, "Antebellum black slaves created several unique cultural forms which lightened their burden of oppression, promoted group solidarity, provided ways for verbalizing aggression, sustaining hope, building self-esteem, and often represented areas of life largely free from the control of whites. Dont know where to start? Stampp's study lacks the racist interpretation found in American Negro Slavery and approaches the issue from the position that there is no innate difference between blacks and whites. A cultural and social history, The Slave Community purports to explore the lived experience and cultural activities of enslaved people as well as their relationships with each other and white people in the Southern United States. It gives accounts of slaves being able to hold onto certain valuable aspects of their culture and what was important to them. The Question and Answer section for The Slave is a great One prominent example discussed by Blassingame is the Ewe story of "Why the Hare Runs Away", which is a trickster and tar-baby tale told by southern slaves and later recorded by writer Joel Chandler Harris in his Uncle Remus stories. Baby Suggs sensed a "dark and coming thing" in the distance, but the atmosphere of jealousy created by the townspeople clouded her perception. The carpenters constantly summon and yell at Douglass, who cannot help them all at once. Beginning with the first chapter, Blassingame argues that, despite the unparalleled shock (13) of enslavement for Africans, they preserved aspects of their native African culturesincluding elements of their languages, folk magic and stories, and music and dancing while also assimilating to the culture of the Southern United States. [41], Besides fugitive slave narratives, Blassingame uses abolitionist periodicals such as The Liberator, National Anti-Slavery Standard, Pennsylvania Freeman, Anti-Slavery Bugle, and Genius of Universal Emancipation. Kilson's review in the American Historical Review described Blassingame's aims as "imperfectly realized" because he "lacks a clear analytical perspective". Engerman concedes that The Slave Community "is a book written at a time of transition in the interpretation of slavery and black culture", but "the author at times seems unsure of the direction in which he is pointing." Even though plantation owners liked to think of enslaved people as docile, white people were still concerned about the threat of general violence and revolts. He argues that slaves had instead been infantilized, or "made" into Sambos, by the brutal treatment received at the hands of slaveowners and overseers. Blassingame explains, "Our sense of self-esteem is heightened or lowered by our perception of the images others have of us." Because Gardners shipyard is struggling to meet a deadline, however, Douglass becomes a helping hand for seventy-five different carpenters and learns no new skill. Douglass alludes to Henrys famous declaration, Give me liberty or give me death. While Henry faces a choice between political independence and oppression, escaping slaves must choose between two unattractive optionsthe familiar ills of slavery and the unknown dangers of escape. 210 journal of social history about slave culture and personality without acknowledging this diversity and virtually without reference to slaves on farms, in urban areas and in industry) who together constituted nearly half of the slave community. What source or textbook are you using for your questions. He believes that children recognized submissiveness as a convenient method to avoid punishment and the behavior in the quarters as the true behavioral model. [54] Kenneth Wiggins Porter regards Blassingame's dependence on printed sources as a "major weakness" and believes he does not use enough white sources like plantation records and travel narratives, particularly Frederick Law Olmsted's account of life in the antebellum South. Douglass is to learn the trade of ship caulking. After you claim a section youll have 24 hours to send in a draft. Please wait while we process your payment. They encouraged monogamous relationships to "make it easier to discipline their slaves. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South Revised Edition by John W. Blassingame (Author) 170 ratings Kindle $9.99 Read with Our Free App Hardcover $29.39 1 Used from $29.39 1 Collectible from $29.75 Paperback $9.99 - $66.15 91 Used from $4.27 17 New from $56.09 2 Rentals from $12.21 "[17] Blassingame asserts that the most significant instance revolved around Protestant Christianity (primarily Baptist and Methodist churches): "The number of blacks who received religious instruction in antebellum white churches is significant because the church was the only institution other than the plantation which played a major role in acculturating the slave. According to this theory, "a person's behavior is generally determined by the socially defined roles or the behavioral patterns expected of him in certain situations. As an isolated figure, he appropriately resembles the protagonist of a traditional comingofage story. Rather than accepting the fugitive slave narratives without question, Blassingame admits to scrutinizing his reading of the texts. She becomes a Jew. His written work is based on authentic accounts from actual slaves and gives a real account of the experiences of black slaves in America. But Batiatus is training the men in order to sell them off. The physical presence of the money Douglass earns with his labor reinforces his sense of the injustice of slavery. This book paints a picture of some slaves obeying slave owners while others resisted their bondage and tried to escape. "[12] He argues that culture developed within the slave community independent of the slaveowners' influence. The The Slave Community Note includes chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Jacob names the baby Benjamin, and he takes the infant on a pilgrimage to the Jewish holy lands of Israel. Consequently, the slave did not have to be infantile or abjectly docile in order to remain alive (Blassingame, 249). $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% During breakfast, William Hamilton and several other men arrive at the house. Mills suggests, "All controversy and revision aside, The Slave Community remains a significant book, and the author's position that the bulk of both slaves and slaveowners lay between the stereotyped extremes proves durable. This book was written in an effort to project the experiences of American slaves from their standpoint rather than from the standpoint of the slave owners. Tensions at the shipyard increase when the white carpenters suddenly strike to protest the free black carpenters who Gardner has hired. In the Journal of American History, Willie Lee Rose writes that Blassingame's use of the fugitive slave narratives is marred by his neglect of the WPA interviews. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. The Exploration of Metaphysical Slavery in The Slave. To the uninformed observer, it would appear a positive thing that slave owners grant a holiday to their slaves. He concludes that an "E. P. Thompson for the American Black community during slavery is still off-stage", and that the topic needs exploration by a social or economic historian. [28] Blassingame remarks, "In this regard, Nat, the actual and potential rebel, stands at the core of white perceptions of the slave. Instead, Blassingame suggests that black American slaves were instead forced to endure servant hood at the expense of their culture, family life, religion and life values. He asserts that the retention of African culture acted as a form of resistance to enslavement: "All things considered, the few Africans enslaved in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century America appear to have survived their traumatic experiences without becoming abjectly docile, infantile, or submissive" and "since an overwhelming percentage of nineteenth-century Southern slaves were native Americans, they never underwent this kind of shock [the Middle Passage] and were in a position to construct psychological defenses against total dependency on their masters. Jacob has been sold to the pagans as a slave, but he still practices devout Judaism. He concludes that Blassingame's "analysis is incomplete in its presentation of a different and more complex scene" even though he "effectively shows the difficulties of the concentration-camp image and the Sambo myth". The two girls begin to grow apart. Likewise, enslaved people trying to hold onto their family names and keep their families togetherdespite slave owners selling spouses and childrenfound ways to assert themselves through forming and protecting bonds old and new. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South by John W. Blassingame is a nonfiction history discussing slavery in the United States. [69], Blassingame explains that he incorporated the suggestions published in Revisiting Blassingame's The Slave Community "without long protestation or argument". "[34] He remarks, "Placed on a continuum of total institutions, the concentration camp is far removed from the Southern plantation. Jacob falls in love with his master's daughter, Wanda, but his Jewish beliefs prevent him from taking a pagan woman for a wife. At the end of the Easter holidays, all the slaves but Douglass are taken home. [65], Historian Deborah Gray White builds on Blassingame's research of the family life of the slaves in Ar'n't I a Woman? The Slave study guide contains a biography of Isaac Bashevis Singer, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. In The Slave Community, Blassingame argues that "historians have never systematically explored the life experiences of American slaves." "[32], Blassingame concludes that there were a variety of personality types exhibited by slaves positioned on a scale between the two extremes of Sambo and Nat. GradeSaver, 6 August 2022 Web. For instance, he challenges Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman's economic and statistical study of slavery in Time on the Cross. He points to his dissatisfaction with Freeland in a pun on Freelands name. History and African sections. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. [48] David Goldfield writes in Agricultural History that the book was the most impressive and balanced attempt to understand the slave's responses to plantation life to date. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! This book analyzes the experience of slaves in the South during misjudgement and confusion. Therefore, Blassingame concludes: Like most personal documents, the autobiography provides a window to the larger world. Community; [63] In Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South (1978), Albert J. Raboteau comments, "We should speak of the 'invisibility' of slave religion with irony: it is the neglect of slave sources by historians which has been the main cause of this invisibility." By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy. Thanks Writer Lyla you are indeed awesome . These songs gave them a sense of hope and belonging that brought them joy and a commonality between them all. According to Blassingame, "Sometimes children internalized both the true personality traits and the contradictory behavioral patterns of their parents." Word soon spreads, and Douglass surreptitiously begins to hold a Sabbath school in the cabin of a free black. In the quarters, he "acted like a man", castigating whites for the mistreatment of himself and his family; in the field working for the master, he appeared obedient and submissive. Douglass spends time at home recovering, and later he becomes an apprentice at Hugh Aulds own shipyard. Douglass tells Sandy Jenkins of his fear, and Sandy feels the same way. Jacob dies during this trip to Pilitz, and they discover the bones of his wife, reuniting her to Jacob by burying them together. We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. Consequently, the slave did not have to be infantile or abjectly docile in order to remain alive. These autobiographical stories tend to privilege a model of heroic individualism over social interaction and support. You'll also receive an email with the link. The irony with which Douglass writes of American human rights in theory and in practice also seems present in the Narratives subtitle, An American Slave. creating and saving your own notes as you read. Blassingame, John W. (1972). Instruments reproduced by slaves include drums, three-stringed banjos, gourd rattles, and mandolins. When children understood that they were enslaved (usually after their first whipping), parents dissuaded angry urges to run away or seek revenge. [8] Noting the agency slaves possessed over their lives, he contends, "Rather than identifying with and submitting totally to his master, the slave held onto many remnants of his African culture, gained a sense of worth in the quarters, spent most of his time free from surveillance by whites, controlled important aspects of his life, and did some personally meaningful things on his own volition. Sandy Jenkins initially intends to accompany them, but eventually decides to remain. He remarks, "Nothing demonstrated his powerlessness as much as the slave's inability to prevent the forcible sale of his wife and children."[21]. Their slaves. hold onto certain valuable aspects of their culture and what was to! 12 ] he argues that `` historians have never systematically explored the Life experiences of slaves. Order to remain alive their slaves., `` our sense of hope and belonging that brought them joy a... South by John W. 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