Letter From Former Slave To Slave Owner

[GriLtCheeZ]

http://newsone.com/nation/casey-gane-mccalla/letter-from-former-slave-to-slave-owner-goes-viral/

"Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin’s to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.
As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor’s visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams’s Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.
Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me."

That'll be 40 acres, a mule and $11,680. Awesome!

 

[MARIS61]

Here's the complete book it came from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38479/38479-h/38479-h.htm#

Some amazing stories.

 

[magnifier661]

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Whether or not some of you feel that this letter seems “too modern”, to be true, it is in fact, well documented. This is in complete contrast to the “Willie Lynch letter,” which has been completely debunked as a relatively recent fraud, probably written in the late 1960’s.
Jourdan’s letter in full, appeared in an August 22, 1865 edition of the New York Daily Tribune.

It is also not the only letter of its kind. Frederic Douglass wrote a somewhat similar letter “To My Old Master” (Thomas Auld ) in 1848.
Some of the people here commented that “it was illegal to teach a slave to read,” and therefore wondered how a former slave could have possible written such as well- spoken document.

1) First- it is not true that it was illegal to teach a slave to read for the vast majority of American history. That was only true for a very few years before the Civil War, and only in a few southern states. The essence of slavery was that 99% of the time, an owner could do whatever he/she wanted with a slave. If you wanted to teach them to read and put them to work as a book keeper or printer you could. If you wanted to give them a gun to go hunting you could. If you wanted to teach a slave to read the bible in order to be a better Christian, that was your right. In many cases, literate slaves were more valuable because they could perform skilled work.

2) Black people were not stupid –they often taught themselves to read and write as did many other people at the time. This gentleman may have spent weeks or months revising his letter with or without the help of his friends, minister, or anti-slavery activists.

3) At the time, many people made use of “scribes” and dictated their letters. So even though a person could not write himself, they could compose and publish letters, which were the primary forms of communication.

The history of African Americans, including that of enslaved people, is much more complex than most people were taught to believe. In addition, there is much more information and good historical research available today than say, in 1968, before the creation of African- American studies departments in most universities.

We should all make sure our ideas and comments are based on some real research and documentation. That is the difference between stating an informed opinion and simply venting emotional hot air. Best of luck in your writing and research.

Paul Ruffins, Diverse Issues in Higher Education Magazine

Down below, after the barrage of racial comments. Are people that naive?

 

[MARIS61]

Down below, after the barrage of racial comments. Are people that naive?

I've heard naive people are born at the rate of one per minute.

No data has been compiled on their death rate but I would imagine it is in the same ballpark.