Different Voices, One Message: Literature as Resistance in the Anti-Slavery Movement

The struggle for emancipation was not one which began and ended with the Civil War. African Americans during the period of slavery had very few options left to them regarding their own freedom. The law that held them in slavery could not be trusted to emancipate them. For those who were fortunate enough to have obtained their freedom, the only power they had they had in the abolitionist fight was the power of the written word. African American writers used varying writing styles to carry their message across. Some used pious and moral instruction, others used political exhortation and social prophecy, but all were delivered in a distinctly vintage nineteenth century rhetorical vein which was evocative and powerful.

RESISTANCE THROUGH MORAL AND CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION

Harriet Jacobs and Maria W. Stewart assert that slavery produces deprivation and degradation on its helpless victims. It is a disadvantage to blacks because it robs them of the opportunity for virtue, morality and enlightenment. Jacobs argues that slavery is as much a curse to whites as it is to blacks. She demonstrates this point by showing how the morality of each is corrupted. Stewart in turn affirms that slavery prevents blacks from fulfilling their God-given potential and deprives them from true self-actualization. Both authors' work would have been received by predominantly white abolitionists and it is to this audience that they plead their case.

HARRIET JACOBS

Jacobs is writing to a predominantly white, Northern and female audience, who were concerned with notions of virtue and morality. Jacobs, knowing this, tailors her argument to compliment social norms of the time and to thus hopefully present a convincing anti-slavery argument and to arouse an abolitionist sentiment within her audience.

To read about a famous and topical example of the master/female slave relations that Jacobs typically refers to, click herefor more information.

MARIA W. STEWART

Maria W. Stewart's Lecture Delivered at Franklin Hall calls for African-Americans to strive for higher education and Christian living. Stewart's writing includes frequent biblical references and has a clearly Christian focus. She was a contributor to William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator. Stewart's Religion and the Pure Principles of Morality, the Sure Foundation on Which We Must Build, focuses on the theme of self-improvement for people of color in the United States both slave and free. Stewart herself received early religious instruction from a minister that she worked for and had a conversion experience in 1830, of which she publicly announced in 1831. It was a turning point for her and led her to her life's work for the antislavery and feminist movements. She writes, "from the moment I experienced the change, I felt a strong desire, with the assistance of God, to devote the remainder of my days to piety and virtue, and now possess that spirit of independence that, were I called upon, I would willingly sacrifice my life for the cause of God and my brethren"(203)

Stewart sees slavery's burden as the yoke that prevents her people from obtaining enlightenment through education. She feels that if blacks were to be allowed to receive a decent education, then prejudice would cease because blacks could prove their equality through their intellectual pursuits and contributions. She writes if blacks could "turn their attention more assiduously to moral worth and intellectual improvement, this would be the result: prejudice would gradually diminish, and the whites would be compelled to say, unloose those fetters! Though black their skins as shades of night, their hearts are pure, their souls are white." (204) Stewart does not think of people of color as inferior but is alluding to biblical references of purity. That is, her statement is based from biblical statements such as "he will make you as white as snow", which is an allusion to purity and not a racial commentary. She even writes, "many think, because your skins are tinged with a sable hue, that you are an inferior race of beings; but God does not consider you as such. He hath formed and fashioned you in his own glorious image, and hath bestowed upon you reason and strong powers of intellect." (203)

She sees slavery as compounding to the problem of prejudice based on color and keeping blacks from enlightenment. She writes, "I have learnt. from bitter experience, that continual hard labor deadens the energies of the soul, and benumbs the faculties of the mind; the ideas become confined, the mind barren, and, like the scorching sands of Arabia, produces nothing; or like the uncultivated soil, brings forth thorns and thistles." (205)

Like Jacobs, Stewart pleads with her audience not to judge black people to harshly as they have not had the same opportunities and privileges afforded to whites. In a manner that reads as political sermon, she writes, "o ye fairer sisters, whose hands are never soiled, whose nerves and muscles are never strained, go learn by experience! Had we had the opportunities that you have had, to improve our moral and mental faculties, what would have hindered our intellects from being as bright, and our manner from being as dignified from yours?" (206)

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

In the same vein as Stewart, Frederick Douglass in his Narrative emphasizes that education is as important as freedom itself. He describes this idea when describing his motivation for learning how to read. Slaveholders kept their slaves illiterate and uneducated to ensure their slaves ignorance, as literacy could be a powerful tool. Yet, Douglass detects this tactic after overhearing a conversation between his master and the master's wife. Thus, Douglass comes to realize that the only advantage his master has over him is the ignorance he keeps in him. In order to reverse this strategy, Douglass becomes determined to learn how to read order to free himself from the binding chains of slavery. After learning to read Douglass uses his education and his writings as a way to liberate himself, both physically and mentally, from slavery

Frederick Douglass understands that a lack of education was part of the basis of his oppression. After overhearing his master say, "If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master- to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. If you teach that nigger how to read there would be no keeping him.(274)." Douglass comes upon a realization, following this conversation, that Literacy and education are the key elements towards gaining freedom. He writes, "from that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom(275)." His desire for freedom was enhanced with literacy. Though it was punishable offence for a slave to be able to read in the ante-bellum South, Douglass learned to read through various clever methods. "The plan which I adopted, and the one which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these I could, I converted into teachers"(277). At the same time, this method of achieving freedom is a means of resistance towards his master and ultimately slavery itself. His literacy enabled to him to read and learn more about his wretched state of slavery. His hope for a better future started with his education. He first had to learn about a different way of life before he could plan for one. His education expanded his mind about life, slavery, and most importantly freedom. Without his education Douglas would have never known of this better life. Thus, without his education Frederick Douglass may have never seen beyond his master's property. Douglass recounts this aspect of his narrative as a potential source of inspiration to other blacks so that they too may shirk the mental chains of slavery by freeing their minds through education and so that they too may hope to aspire to the successes that Douglass attained.

For more information on Harriet Jacobs, click here

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

In this speech addressed to white Americans, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Frederick Douglass uses The Constitution as the basis for his speech. The Constitution, which emphasizes the promotion of the general welfare, the securing of the blessing of liberty for all, clearly seemed to be antislavery in nature. Yet, Douglass continually reminds his audience that the 4th of July is not a holiday that include blacks, it simply reminds them that they have no independence. By using the freedom theme incorporated in the 4th of July he points out how differently blacks and whites view the day's celebration. The Constitutional benefits afforded to whites are not shared with blacks. In this speech Douglass cleverly and effectively grabs the attention of the audience, only to present the hypocrisy represented by this holiday. Thus, through the use of clever rhetoric, Douglass explains his denouncement of the holiday and argues the case for abolition.

Douglass begins his speech by comparing the colonists' struggle for independence and that of the American slave for emancipation. He baits his audience by glorifying the revolution. Yet, he points out the difference in the struggles by reminding them that blacks are not free from bondage. "I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us." Douglass states that the blessing enjoyed by whites are not shared by the black population and that blacks, whether free or enslaved, cannot be a part of the union until slavery is abolished. He refutes any pro-slavery argument in saying that if the framers of the Constitution intended for slavery to be a part of American life they would have mentioned it as an issue within the document. "Let me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it". He argues further , that since no pro-slavery arguments can be found, antislavery rhetoric abounds.

By celebrating the 4th of July, white Americans are hailing the ideals of the forefathers, while hypocritically maintaining slavery which is in contradiction of those ideals. "What to the American slave is the Fourth of July?" I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he and his people are the constant victim. To him, "your celebration is a sham....A thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody than are the people of these Unites States." This speech strongly denounces slavery and rhetorically raises many inconsistent ideals of the Constitution and the American practice of maintaining slavery .

HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET

Like Douglass, Garnet describes the constitution as a "glorious document" (281) He writes, Sages admired it, and the patriotic of every nation reverenced the God-like sentiments which it contained" (281) Furthermore, like Douglass, he too sees the hypocrisy of a creed on which the new nation of the United States of America was based. He continues, "when the power of government returned to their hands, did they emancipate the slaves? No; they rather add new links to our chains" (281). He tells his audience "forget not that you are native born American citizens, and as such you are justly entitled to all the rights that are granted to the freest." (283) Garnet refers to the Constitution in order to show his audience his belief in the utter unjustness and unlawfulness of slavery.

In the same style as Walker, Garnet relies heavily on the use of biblical writings to validate his argument. He bases his argument on the sinfulness of submitting to slavery. He writes, "the divine commandments you are in duty bound to reverence and obey. If you don not obey them, you will meet with the displeasure of the Almighty. He requires you to love Him supremely, and your neighbor as yourself-to keep the Sabbath day holy-to search the Scriptures-and to bring up your children with the respect for his laws, and to worship no other God but Him. But slavery sets all these at naught and hurls defiance in the face of Jehovah" (282) Furthermore, he writes "your condition does not absolve you from your moral obligation" (282). Like Walker, he cautions whites that God will seek His revenge. He speaks of "the exceeding sinfulness of slavery, and of a future judgment, and of the righteous retribution of an indignant God." (283)

Garnet's message is crystal-clear; "liberty or death". He writes, "no oppressed people have ever secured their liberty without resistance". He lists some famous black people who rose in rebellion against oppression and he cites Nat Turner as a patriot who future generations will remember "among the noble and brave"

DAVID WALKER

David Walker uses a bold, derisive style, which quickly conveys to the reader that he is vehemently opposed to the enslavement of "his people." From the beginning of his Appeal, Walker makes a call to God to open the hearts of the readers and allow them to understand and feel the horrors of American slavery. He beseeches to his audience, "and may God Almighty who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ open your hearts to understand and believe the truth. (1)" Walker calls for justice from God and warns the Christian oppressors. He writes, "is not God a God of justice to all his creatures? Do you say He is? Then if he gives peace and tranquility to tyrants, and permits them to keep our fathers, our mothers, ourselves, and our children in eternal ignorance and wretchedness, to support them and their families, would He be to us a God of justice?"(5) Walker makes a bold statement against white Christianity in the United States. His belief in God and the Bible is made evident by his early references to the wrath that God brought upon Egypt in biblical times for oppressing its minorities. Alluding to the biblical story of Exodus, Walker writes, "I will not speak of the destructions which the Lord brought upon Egypt, in consequence for the oppression and consequent groans of the oppressed" (4) Walker believes in another form of Christianity other than that of the white slaveholders in the United States. He calls for God to stop the preachers in America from accepting slavery and allowing excuses to explain it. According to Walker there is no explanation for slavery or for the ignorance of his people. Walker's Christianity is based on an unwavering belief that God will make sure that there is justice for all of his people. He also devotes a great deal of his writing to the devastation that slavery has on not only the slaves themselves, but also on anyone participating in the system.

Walker uses a writing style that forces the reader to ask themselves questions about the implications of Walker's accusations. He uses exclamation points to relate the fury he feels toward the oppression. He wants his audience to stand up against slavery in whatever way they can. Walker seems most concerned with the ignorance of his people and recognizes this as a problem that must be overcome.

WEB SITE REFERENCES:

Adams, Julie. Julie Adams Home Page. [web page] July 1997; http://www.gc.cc.va.us/~gcadamj/jacobs.jpg [Accessed 19 Nov 1998].

Adams, Julie. Julie Adams Home Page. [web page] June 1998; http://www.gc.cc.va.us/~gcadamj/hjhome.htm [Accessed 19 Nov 1998].

AFRO-America's Black History Museum. [web page] Oct 1998; http://afroam/org/history/slavery/docile1.gif [Accessed 21 Nov 1998].

AFRO-America's Black Resistance. Slavery in the US. [web page] Oct. 1998; http://afroam.org/history/slavery/scroll.gif [Accessed 21 Nov 1998.]

The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School. United States Constitution. [web page] July 1998; http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/usconst.htm [Accessed 17 Nov 1998].

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" [web page] Feb 1997; http://douglass.speech.nwu.edu/doug_a10.htm [Accessed 22 Nov 1998].

The Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural Center. Photo cover of Frederick Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. [web page] Feb 1996; http://www.ggw.org/freenet/f/fdm/doug3.gif [Accessed 20 Nov 1998].

The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. [web page] Aug 1997; http://www.nps.gov/frdo/ [Accessed 18 Nov 1998.]

Hansen, Sandra R. Women's History Alive. [web page] Sept. 1998; http://www.wmol.com/whalive/jacobs.htm [Accessed 21 Nov 1998].

Jackson, Leon. David Walker Bio Sketch. [web page] Sept 1996; http://pilot.msu.edu/user/jacks302/walker.htm [Accessed 20 Nov 1998].

Maryland's African-American Heritage. [web page] July 1997; http://tqd.advanced.org/10854/media/hhgarnet.gif [Accessed 22 Nov 1998].

NYPL Digital Schomburg African American Women Writers of the 19th century. Lecture at Franklin Hall. [web page] Jan 1998; http://digilib.nypl.org:80/dynaweb/digs/wwm9722/@Generic_BookView [Accessed 16 Nov 1998].

Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Inc. Jefferson-Hemings DNA Testing: An on-line Resource. [web page] Nov 1998; http://www.monticello.org/Matters/people/hemings_resource.html [Accessed 20 Nov 1998].

BOOK REFERENCES:

Douglass, Frederick. "Classic Slave Narratives". Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, N.Y: Penguin Group, 1987. 245-331.

Garnet, Henry Highland. "An Address to the Slaves of the United States of America." The Norton Anthology. Ed. Henry Louis Gates and Nellie Y. Mckay. N.Y.: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1997. 279-286.

Jacobs, Harriet. "Classic Slave Narrative". Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, N.Y: Penguin Group, 1987. 333-513.

Stewart, Maria W. "Lecture Delivered at the Franklin Hall." The Norton Anthology. Ed. Henry Louis Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. N.Y.: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1997. 204-207.

Walker, David. (1995). David Walker's Appeal. Canada: Harper Collins.