MACRO by Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (October 10, 2014) CIVIL WAR SLAVE IN VIRGINIA LINKED TO GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE ARLINGTON PLANTATION HOUSE COMMENTS: A Relic 3 minutes ago Looks like yet more proof that Blacks were treated better than what fake history tells us (well feed, nice clothes etc). david 19 hours ago So let me get this straight rare photographs were found General Lees home in Arlington Va and sold on ebay hmm. Since General Lees home and land that he owned his now The National Arlington. Cemetary and it is owned by the federal government now. So the person who found this picture or box of scraps and sold it on the internet wadnt there a crime commited there. Yes there was fruit loop 1 hour ago Lee didnt own Arlington OR the slaves. They were the property of his father-in-law George Washington Parke Custis (Martha Washingtons grandson). Custis left Arlington to Robert E. Les son Custis Lee, and ordered that all his slaves be freed within five years of his death. The Lee daughters taught all the slaves to read and write before they were freed, and apprenticed others out to learn a trade if they wished. General Lee sent the slaves who wished to go to Liberia at his own expense (Custis was almost bankrupt when he died). The last of the slaves received his manumission papers in 1862. Selina Gray virtually ran Arlington, and stayed with Mrs. Lee for a time after she was freed. She also wrote to the Lees after the war, asking for money. They sent it to her. Woofie 12 hours ago I do not defend slavery at all. It was a sad and unfortunate event that slavery was brought to the new world when those coming here were seeking freedom. The mere idea that any person can own another is beyond me. I also cannot defend those who are now making a living off of keeping the controversy going. Shame on them. I do however have issue with the way slavery in now depicted in US history. It is completely ridiculous to believe that slave owners would abuse their slaves as the norm. Im sure there were some a-holes that took sport in it but I think they were a very small minority. Slaves were expensive to purchase and to keep not to mention completely necessary for the successful operation of the plantations. Its like saying dairy farmers beat the shot out of cows and feed them only enough to stay alive. Healthy and content slaves would have been a priority for a successful operation. In several cases I am aware of the slaves were supervised by other slaves who in effect ran the plantation and Im sure many others did as well. Slaves supervised and helped raise the owners children regularly. You do not entrust your children to someone you deem inhuman. In addition some slaves left the plantations to go to town and purchase supplies. They also prepared the meals - would you let someone who hated you make your dinner? There are also cases - many of them - where the slaves protected the property and belongings on the owners during the civil war. Many fought for the Confederacy. Again, do you arm someone who hates you? I wish there where better documentation on slavery and the role it played in building this country. I think the truth would be much more interesting than the skewed views on the politically correct. Again - I do not defend slavery, I simply believe that the actual truth of it is not being told in our schools or society. gary 22 hours ago did you know that Arlington National Cemetery used to be Robert E Lees farm and the union started to bury soldiers there so Lee could never farm it again? It all started out of a hateful joke on Lee that still goes on to this day. nate 42 minutes ago An 1890 article by one of Stanleys pioneer officers which proves that bIacks were not stolen from Africa but were rescued. This article was originally published in The Century Magazine April, 1890. SLAVE TRADE IN THE CONGO - PART ONE The heart of Africa is being rapidly depopulated in consequence of the enormous death-roll caused by the barbarous slave-trade. It is not merely the bondage which slavery implies that should appeal to the sympathies of the civilized world; it is the bloodshed, cruelty, and misery which it involves. During my residence in Central Africa I was repeatedly traveling about in the villages along the Congo River and its almost unknown affluents, and in every new village I was confronted by fresh evidences of the horrible nature of this evil. I did not seek to witness the sufferings attendant upon this traffic in humanity, but cruelties of all kinds are so general that the mere passing visits which I paid brought me in constant contact with them. It is not alone by the Arabs that slave-raiding is carried on throughout Central Africa. With respect to slavery in the Congo Free State, the western limit of the slave-raiding operations of the Arabs is the Aruwhimi River, just below Stanley Falls, but intertribal slavery exists from this point throughout the State to the Atlantic Ocean. During my six years residence on the Congo River I saw but little of the Arabs, and therefore in this article I am detailing only my experiences bearing upon the subject of slavery among the natives themselves. I first went to the Congo in 1883, and traveled without delay into the interior. Arriving at Stanley Pool, I received orders from my chief, Mr. Henry M. Stanley, to accompany him up river on his little boat the En Avant .. Stanley at that time was engaged in establishing a few posts at important and strategic points along the upper river. Lukolela, eight hundred miles in the interior, was one decided upon, and I had the honor of being selected by him as chief of this post. As no white man had ever lived there before, I had a great deal of work in establishing myself. The position selected for our settlement was a dense forest, and until now it had been more familiar with the trumpeting of elephants and the cry of the leopard than with human beings. At first the natives rather objected to my remaining at all, and stated their objections to Stanley. Said they: We have promised to allow you to put a white man here, but we have been talking the matter over, and we have concluded it would be better to put your white man somewhere else. We, the assembled chiefs, have held a council, and have come to the conclusion that it is not desirable to have such a terrible creature in the district. Stanley said: Why, what is there in him that you object to? You have never seen him. (I had not yet landed, being at that time very sick and unable to leave the boat.) They said, No, we have not seen him, but we have heard about him. Stanley then said, What have you heard about him? They replied: He is half a lion, and half a buffalo; has one eye in the middle of his forehead, and is armed with sharp, jagged teeth; and is continually slaughtering and devouring human beings. Is this so? Stanley answered them, I did not know that he was such a terrible creature; but I will call him, and let you judge for yourselves. Upon my appearing this illusion was immediately dispelled, as, after suffering several days from an acute sickness, I really did not look very formidable or bloodthirsty. Here I lived for twenty months, the only white man, so that I had every opportunity of studying native character and customs. In order to place before the reader a picture of savage life untouched by civilization, I could hardly do better than lightly sketch a typical village at Lukolela as I have intimately known it. The whole district contains about three thousand people, the land occupied by them extending along the bank for two miles, the villages being dotted through this distance in clusters of fifty or sixty houses. The houses are built on each side of one long street or in open squares. They are roofed with either palm leaves or grass, the walls being composed of split bamboo. Some of these dwellings contain two or three compartments, with only one entrance; while others are long structures, divided up into ten or twelve rooms, each with its own entrance from the outside. At the back of these dwellings are large plantations of banana trees; while above them tower the stately palm trees, covering street and hut with their friendly shade. It is in the cool of the early morning that the greater part of the business of the village is transacted. Most of the women repair, soon after six, to their plantations, where they work until noon, a few of them remaining in the village to attend to culinary and other domestic matters. Large earthen pots, containing fish, banana, or manioc, are boiling over wood fires, around which cluster the young boys and girls and the few old men and women enjoying the heat until the warm rays of the morning sun appear. Meanwhile the fishermen gather up their traps, arm themselves, and paddle off to their fishing grounds; the hunters take their spears or bows and arrows and start off to pick up tracks of their game; the village blacksmith starts his fire; the adze of the carpenter is heard busily at work; fishing and game nets are unrolled and damages examined; and the medicine man is busy gesticulating with his charms. As the sun rises the scene becomes more and more animated; the warmth of the fire is discarded, and every department of industry becomes full of life--the whole scene rendered cheerful by the happy faces and merry laughter of the little ones as they scamper here and there engaged in their games. At noon the overpowering heat of the tropical sun compels a cessation of work, and a lazy quietude prevails everywhere. Then all the shady nooks of the village are filled with groups who either sleep, engage in conversation, or pass their time in hairdressing or in attending to some other toilet matter which native etiquette demands, such as shaving off eyebrows or pulling out eyelashes--an operation which is also extended to all hairs on the face except those on the chin, which are plaited in the form of a rats tail. The closer the finger nails are cut, the more fashionable is it thought. At the finger ends the nails are cut down to the quick, and any one posing as either beau or belle always has some of the finger and toe nails pared entirely off. The midday meal is now eaten, the whole village assuming an air of calmness, broken only by the occasional bursts of boisterous mirth from groups engaged in discussing the merits of the native wine. All mankind have the same weakness in requiring at times drink stronger than water. Nature has provided the African with the juice of the palm tree, a most palatable beverage, resembling when fresh a very strong lemon soda, but intoxicating in its effects. It is obtained in the following way: the villagers in charge of this particular industry climb the tree, trim away some of the leaves, and then bore three or four holes, about half an inch in diameter, at the base of the frond, to the heart of the tree. From each of these holes will flow each day about half a pint of juice, a small gourd being first placed to receive it. The contents of these gourds are collected every morning. This beverage is called by the natives malafu , and is well known to all European travelers as palm wine. Between three and four oclock the village again resumes its air of activity, which is kept up until sundown. In this region, being close to the equator, the sun sets at six oclock. All tools are put away, and work is suspended. The fires are again lighted, mats are brought out and spread about, and the principal meal of the day is eaten; after which the natives gather around the fire again and talk over the events of the day and the plans for the future. The young people repair to the open places and indulge in their native dances until midnight. This dancing at night is a sight to be remembered. The performers arrange themselves in circles and dance in time to the beating of the drums, which is their only accompaniment, and occasionally break out into native songs. The surrounding tropical scenery stands outlined in bold relief, the nearer trees occasionally catching the lurid light of the fires, which also strikes on the gleaming bodies of the dancers, making a violent contrast of light and shade, the whole scene being rendered impressive by the wild but harmonious music. At midnight, when all the villagers have retired to their huts, stillness reigns, broken only at times by the weird call of a strange bird, the cry of a prowling leopard or some other wild animal, and the varied sounds of tropical insects. THE EFFECT OF SLAVERY This is a fair picture of the life carried on from day to day in a hundred Congo villages, and but for the existence of slavery it would continue undisturbed from one years end to another. It is the presence of the slave in the village that brutalizes the otherwise harmless and peaceful community. It is the baneful influence that gives one man the power of life and death over the wretch he has purchased that impels the savage instinct to spill in executions and ceremonies the life-blood of the man, woman, or child he has obtained--perhaps in exchange for a few brass rods or two or three yards of Manchester cloth. Here at Lukolela, for instance, I had hardly settled down in my encampment when I was introduced to one of those horrible scenes of bloodshed which take place frequently in all the villages along the Congo, and which will be enacted so long as the life of a slave is counted as naught, and the spilling of his blood of as little account as that of a goat or a fowl. In this particular instance the mother of a chief having died, it was decided, as usual, to celebrate the event with an execution. At the earliest streak of dawn the slow, measured beat of a big drum announces to all what is to take place, and warns the poor slave who is to be the victim that his end is nigh. It is very evident that something unusual is about to happen, and that the day is to be given up to some ceremony. The natives gather in groups and begin studiously to arrange their toilets, don their gayest loin-cloths, and ornament their legs and arms with bright metal bangles, all the time indulging in wild gesticulations and savage laughter as they discuss the coming event. Having taken a hasty meal, they produce from their houses all available musical instruments. The drums are wildly beaten as groups of men, women, and children form themselves in circles and excitedly perform dances, consisting of violent contortions of the limbs, accompanied with savage singing and with repeated blasts of the war horns, each dancer trying to outdo his fellow in violence of movement and strength of lung. About noon, from sheer exhaustion, combined with the heat of the sun, they are compelled to cease; when large jars of palm wine are produced, and a general bout of intoxication begins, increasing their excitement and showing up their savage nature in striking colors. The poor slave, who all this time has been lying in the corner of some hut, shackled hand and foot and closely watched, suffering the agony and suspense which this wild tumult suggests to him, is now carried to some prominent part of the village, there to be surrounded and to receive the jeers and scoffs of the drunken mob of savages. The executioners assistants, having selected a suitable place for the ceremony, procure a block of wood about a foot square. The slave is then placed on this, in a sitting posture; his legs are stretched out straight in front of him; the body is strapped to a stake reaching up the back to the shoulders. On each side stakes are placed under the armpits as props, to which the arms are firmly bound; other lashings are made to posts driven into the ground near the ankles and knees. A pole is now planted about ten feet in front of the victim, from the top of which is suspended, by a number of strings a bamboo ring. The pole is bent over like a fishing-rod, and the ring fastened round the slaves neck, which is kept rigid and stiff by the tension. During this preparation the dances are resumed, now rendered savage and brutal in the extreme by the drunken condition of the people. One group of dancers surround the victim and indulge in drunken mimicry of the contortions of face which the pain caused by this cruel torture forces him to show. But he has no sympathy to expect from this merciless horde. Presently in the distance approaches a company of two lines of young people, each holding a stem of the palm tree, so that an arch is formed between them, under which the executioner is escorted. The whole procession moves with a slow but dancing gait. Upon arriving near the doomed slave all dancing, singing, and drumming cease, and the drunken mob take their places to witness the last act of the drama. An unearthly silence succeeds. The executioner wears a cap composed of black cocks feathers; his face and neck are blackened with charcoal, except the eyes, the lids of which are painted with white chalk. The hands and arms to the elbow, and feet and legs to the knee, are also blackened. His legs are adorned profusely with broad metal anklets, and around his waist are strung wild-cat skins. As he performs a wild dance around his victim, every now and then making a feint with his knife, a murmur of admiration arises from the assembled crowd. He then approaches and makes a thin chalk mark on the neck of the fated man. After two or three passes of his knife to get the right swing, he delivers the fatal blow, and with one stroke of his keen-edged weapon severs the head from the body. The sight of blood brings to a climax the frenzy of the natives: some of them savagely puncture the quivering trunk with their spears, others hack at it with their knives, while the remainder engage in a ghastly struggle for the possession of the head, which has been jerked into the air by the released tension of the sapling. As each man obtains the trophy, and is pursued by the drunken rabble, the hideous tumult becomes deafening; they smear one anothers faces with blood, and fights always spring up as a result, when knives and spears are freely used. The reason for their anxiety to possess the head is this: the man who can retain that head against all comers until sundown will receive a present for his bravery from the head man of the village. It is by such means that they test the brave of the village, and they will say with admiration, speaking of a local hero, He is a brave man; he has retained two heads until sundown. When the taste for blood has been to a certain extent satisfied, they again resume their singing and dancing while another victim is prepared, when the same ghastly exhibition is repeated. Sometimes as many as twenty slaves will be slaughtered in one day. The dancing and general drunken uproar is continued until midnight, when once more absolute silence ensues, in utter contrast to the hideous tumult of the day. I had frequently heard the natives boast of the skill of their executioners, but I doubted their ability to decapitate a man with one blow of the soft metal knives they use. I imagined they would be compelled to hack the head from the body. When I witnessed this sickening spectacle I was alone, unarmed, and absolutely powerless to interfere. But the mute agony of this poor black martyr, who was to die for no crime, but simply because he was a slave,--whose every piteous movement was mocked by frenzied savages, and whose very death throes gave the signal for the unrestrained outburst of a hideous carnival of drunken savagery,--appealed so strongly to my sense of duty that I decided upon preventing by force any repetition of this scene. I made my resolution known to an assembly of the principal chiefs, and although several attempts were made, no actual executions took place during the remainder of my stay in this district. A few words are necessary to define the position of the village chiefs as the most important factors in African savage life; especially as in one way or another they are intimately connected with the worst features of the slave system, and are responsible for nearly all the atrocities practiced on the slave. The so-called chiefs are the head men of a village, and they rank according to the number of their warriors. The title of chieftain is not hereditary, but is gained by one member of a tribe proving his superiority to his fellows. The most influential chief in a village has necessarily the greatest number of fighting men, and these are principally slaves, as the allegiance of a free man can never be depended upon. A chiefs idea of wealth is--slaves. Any kinds of money he may have he will convert into slaves upon the first opportunity. Polygamy is general throughout Central Africa, and a chief buys as many female slaves as he can afford, and will also marry free women--which is, after all, only another form of purchase. Joshua 22 hours ago I collect old photos and whoever sold that photo for $700 did not know what they had. The photo is worth several thousands of dollars easy. Zelly 3 hours ago Slavery is a part of American history as well as the history of many great and not so great civilizations in the world. Read your history book and learn about the societies through the ages. Rob 3 hours ago I have a question and would enjoy some input, answers that are factual. How many people from Mexico and other South Americans no their native language. Spanish being the oppressed language, dating back to 1492. Here in North America, the Native Indian languages are still known. We used it in WW11 for secrete coding. I think we should have kept that secrete. Could still be useful. Anyone from South America, have a answer with the name of the language or tribal information. citizen X 14 hours ago The lady in the picture is well dressed, wearing hoop skirts, the fashion of the day. Her companions in the picture are well dressed also. The history states that Selina was entrusted with their home by Mary, and she defended it, and their belongings. This is not the actions of someone who was property. It is obvious she was not viewed that way by the Lees, and did not view herself that way. The relationships were complex, (Yahoo, 2014) Go to: news.yahoo/slave-photo-discovered-robert-e-lees-home-200712161.html?soc_src=copy
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:27:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015