"The Song of the South"

Preserving folk takes and oral tradition is an important part of history. Ever since we read “The Tar Baby” in class and other Brer Rabbit folk tales I have been wondering about where exactly I had first heard of the tales. Only recently I remembered that when I was little my grandmother use to have a collection of Disney books and movies. Apparently all of these kinds of African American folk tales were recorded in the old styled (and I mean old styled 1946!) Disney films. I don’t know if any of you have ever seen or are interested in seeing the movie “Song of the South” it incorporates a lot of the stories we have read. From what I can remember it revolves around “uncle Remus” who regales children with the folklore of the past. If any of you don’t know who he is that’s the Zippity Doo Dah guy. In any case recently I looked online and they actually have this film at Vulcan video down the street. I may rent it just to have a better understanding of the stories. I strongly recommend you guys at least you tube the folk tales. I personally feel that they are super complex in nature. I’m not implying that these films will enlighten you about any themes or anything we haven’t talked about. For the most part if nothing else it gives a nice visual. It also kind of emphasizes the importance of the stories. If Disney thought they were important enough to document you know they must have been well known. They are considered classics. Perhaps it is a way of infusing the past and present by letting future generations have a glimpse at the issues of the past through stories. As we discussed that isn’t an easy thing to do. Although the history of these tales appear to be less well known it’s important that they continue to be circulated. Hence even if the Disney versions aren’t extremely useful they have helped keep the stories alive. Above is a picture of the movie cover for the “Song of the South” from the Disney archives (http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/movies/songofsouth/songofsouth.html).

Brer Rabbit is brown Rabbit in the middle of the cover. The bear and the fox, his nemesis’’ can be seen in the corners behind the trees. I suppose this is a more contemporary depiction of the tales. For the record, I also want to point out that if you do watch this movie there are liable to be some more derogatory or seemingly racist remarks. Just remember the context in which it was made.

Slave Ships

       This photo helps give us an idea of what a ship transporting slaves may look like, just as it was being talked about in "Slave Ship" From My People.We are given a description of the kind of conditions that slaves are put through while they are being transported in order to be sold.  In this picture, we see the slaves were put in the bottom of the ship with very little room. Because of the lack of space, people are literally stacked on top of each other. Every person shown in this photo looks extremely malnourished and you can see every bone in their body. It seems as if the slave traders crowded as many people as they thought possible into the bottom of the ship so they could make the amount of money they needed. Many slaves had sit at the bottom of ships in such a crowded and uncomfortable way for many days. The transportation of the slaves were not quick allowing for more uncomfortable situations. Slaves were given very few meals, just enough to keep them alive. The faces in the photo displays the miserableness of every person face. This kind of treatment is brutal and it is very sad to see this is the kind of treatment was something that happened frequently to slaves. It paints a vividpicture of the kind of obstacles slaves had to live through. 

The image above is a political cartoon drawn for the 1864 U.S. presidential election. I retrieved the image from http://www.1776mag.com/7-political-cartoons-of-abraham-lincoln/.

This was one of many political cartoons drawn about Abraham Lincoln and his views on slavery. It shows Abraham Lincoln on the left shaking hands with a middle to lower class laborer and having a union allied with liberty, while the left side shows one of his opponents shaking hands with a white rich landowner (most likely a plantation owner from the south) and having a union allied with Slavery.

I chose this picture because the left and right side of this picture not only depict the differences between the two candidates, but also they represent the divide of our nation between the North and South. When this picture was published, America was standing on the edge of a major change that completely reshaped our nation and freed an entire people from a lifetime of enslavement.

The fact that Lincoln is shaking a working man's hand with white and black children running out of the school in the background shows just how naive this publication was. Ironically, it ends up taking almost 100 years for blacks and whites to go to school together because of segregation laws. But it is definitely better than the choice on the right where men are being sold just for the sake of money, money, and more money. So many men have been corrupted by the power of greed and i cant believe that people were willing to treat other human beings in this manner just for a profit. I will never be able to understand how they could sit there and believe slavery was alright. It just boggles my mind. Im so grateful for how the 1860 election turned out. If there hadnt been major splits in party views and if 4 candidates had not run, Abraham Lincoln would not have won the election. Looking at this strange fact, its almost as if it was meant to be. I'm glad that the vision on the left came true and we can call ourselves a nation of Liberty. I honestly wouldnt want to be any part of America during the time of slavery.

Rewards

This image has a direct association with some of the accounts found in Harriet Jacobs' narrative. Soon after Jacobs' escape, Dr. Flint offered a reward for her return.

"$300 Reward! Ran away from the subscriber, an intelligent, bright, mulatto girl, named Linda, 21 years of age. Five feet four inches high. Dark eyes, and black hair inclined to curl; but can be made straight. Has a decayed spot on a front tooth. She can read and write, and in all probability will try to get to the Free States. All persons are forbidden, under penalty of law, to harbor or employ said slave. $150 will be given to whoever takes her in the state, and $300 if taken out of the state and delivered to me, or lodged in Jail. Dr. Flint"

As can be easily discerned, there are striking similarities between the reward found in Jacobs' narrative and the offering found in the photograph above. Both rewards are so closely phrased it seems almost as though they came from a template. One can also notice the variance in the price for five human-beings versus one. This certainly shows the disparity in Dr. Flint when Jacobs escaped. It should also be noted that there is a distinct difference in the terminology used in the 1800s as compared to the present. As can be seen from the postings, blacks of mixed descent were referred to as mulattos. Today, individuals with such backgrounds are typically referred to as biracial, multiracial, mixed-race or multiethnic. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that slave holders would refer to themselves as subscribers. Indeed, photographs such as the one above provide much corroboration with narratives like Jacobs' and Douglass'.

This image is a flyer for a slave auction to take place in the south during the early to mid 1800's. What interested/ disturbed me was the ongoing theme in this class that slaves are a false commodity. The flyer reads, " a choice cargo of about 250 fine healthy negroes" which gives me the impression that these people are not judged upon their character or morality, but instead being inspected as inventory upon one of these slave ships. When I read this I couldn't help but think about cattle on a farm that have their ears tagged and marked, much like a type of brand. It appalls me to think of the extent at which these peoples liberties and rights have been stripped, only to be worked and beaten from sun-up to sunrise.

The flyer also mentions that sailors on the ship have taken extra precautions in and care to keep these slaves free of small-pox. Once again this paints a picture of a type of inspection process that added to the idea of slaves being a false commodity. It makes me question if persons infected with small- pox were regarded as "damaged" goods and sent away or if they were just left to die.

Whippings

I am surprised to see no one has wrote about this image. This picture is the most popular slave image that pops up into every image of google. Although slavery occurred many years ago, it is still difficult to comprehend the idea of slave owners whipping humans so hard that the scars become thick and raised from the skin. This picture is disturbing to look at; I know this picture is real, but I don't feel a connection with this photo because it's just too unbearable. Slave masters whipped slaves until the blood would drain from their backs and create a puddle on the ground. Reading about the whippings in Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs's narratives creates an image in my head of what the slaves looked like after and this is far worse than what I picture in my head. It is hard for me to picture something so horrible because my mind does not want to believe it. A common whip that was used during this time period was the Kurt. The kurt was a stout whip with a long handle that had about five dangling wide lashes. How is it possible for humans to even think of a tool like this to use on other humans?

Slave Auction

I found the above image interestingly disturbing because not only did it show the pain and anguish of the slaves, but revealed the lack of shame slaveholders and auctioneers had in that time period. The way these slaves were showcased on a large platform so everyone could observe their agony is disgraceful. It reminded me of a passage from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in which he and fellow slaves are evaluated and "ranked together...with horses, sheep, and swine" (Douglass 373). Douglass, like the slaves in the image above, are aware that they are being objectified like cattle or auctioned off like prizes. Additionally, the mothers desperately clutching their children appropriately portrays the feelings Douglass describes when he and his fellow slaves realize what it meant to be divided: "to sunder forever the dearest friends, dearest kindred, and strongest ties known to human beings" (374). The artist makes visible on the face of the little girl the desperation of knowing that the auctioneer is about to separate or "sunder forever" her ties with her mother.
I feel the artist perfectly depicts the slaveholders and auctioneers as indifferent and apathetic towards the feelings of the slaves they are inhumanely auctioning. All the white men in the image are standing around completely at ease amidst families being ripped apart. In the background of the image, a black man, most likely a husband and father, is being whipped in order to represent the physical cruelty of slavery. The brutality and inhumanity of slaveholders and auctioneers of the time is clearly evident in this image.

Cartoon, Abolition of the Slave Trade

This is a cartoon published by the British in 1789. It is a satire of slavery in the United States. This cartoon places African American slaves retaliating against their white masters. The image is of the roles being switched. Black slaves are now the masters, and the white masters are now portrayed as slaves. The bottom of the cartoon states, "Abolition of the Slave Trade, or the Man the Master." I like the title because it is almost as if the British are making fun of how disfunctional the United States is by the institution of slavery suggesting we should just get rid of the "Master" being the white southern slave owners. You see the African Americans beating up the white slaves, dancing, and feasting. Whereas, the white slaves are carrying barrels, loads, and getting beat up. I wonder how the United States felt when this cartoon was produced. I wonder if any white southern slave holder read this cartoon and saw how cruel and animal like slavery is when the roles are switched on them. I imagine white northern abolitionist enjoyed this cartoon as in reinforced their beliefs. I wish this was not a fact we have to face because as we see we looked like complete inhumane people to Europeans, and I'm sure to others as well. I believe this to be a very clever and thought out cartoon especially for being published in a newspaper in 1789!