January
2007
Slave Narrative #2
After reading some of the Isaac Mason narrative I was shown some things about slavery that I had figured happened, but this gave a graphic look into them. When reading about how his mistress’s brother treated his slaves even on the hour of his death.
“His tyrannical passion was so great that on the day of his death he called in the men from their work and with a stick in his dying hand struck each one across their hands. As each one received the parting gift he had to file out and another take his place. This ceremony continued to within two hours of his death, when from exhaustion he had to cease”
This shocked me so much. I had known that masters were awful and beat their slaves many times and very hard, but I could not get over that on his death bed, the DAY he was dying, that he still had so much hatred for his slaves that he made sure that the last thing he did was beat his slaves senseless. This was what he wanted to do; it was his dying wish. And I can’t get over that that is just so heartless.
I was also surprised to read that a mistress whose husband died owned Isaac. I didn’t know that women could have all of the responsibility on a plantation. I thought that women had no power and only survived because of their husbands, in those times. But it was different to see a woman running the show. It was also nice to hear that this woman had some heart when it came to owning and treating her slaves.
I’ve only read the beginning of this but in this part Isaac has already had to escape from one of his masters because he was found coming in after curfew and was beaten but then tried to save himself by wrestling the masters wife (who was beating him) to the floor. He is now a fugitive and is on the run, from what I have read so far. Him and his grandfather are trying to escape, which reminded me of Jim. I guess many slaves ran away from their masters.
Well I am going to keep on reading, but this is what I have gotten for now. Reading a first hand account is much different from learning statistics in a textbook. Reading about a real persons life makes you really see through their eyes and think. It’s a totally different experience.
[…] I’m fed up with the way my students are working, and the way I’m working. We spend a lot of time blogging, my students and I. We’re excited about the whole Web 2.0 thing (some students today, though, started calling a blog a “newt,” which is just weird). We’re just not doing anything with it that makes it worthwhile. I get excited when a student writes something interesting or has an epiphany (which the student probably isn’t really having, but writes about just to make me feel better about myself as a teacher). For example, I like what Megan wrote after she finished reading some of the slave narrative of Isaac Mason: Well I am going to keep on reading, but this is what I have gotten for now. Reading a first hand account is much different from learning statistics in a textbook. Reading about a real persons life makes you really see through their eyes and think. It’s a totally different experience. […]