Melinda,
Nova Scotia is on my most see list. A group of my Bowden ancestors, settled
there around 1834 after leaving Virginia. I was in touch with some of the
descendants, but have not heard from them in years.
Thank you for your insightful post.
Anita
>From: Melinda Skinner <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
> <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Loving the slaves
>Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:44:53 +0000
>
>Loretta,
>You are right. It is intriguing to read all the messages on this subject
>and fascinatingly revealing.
>The problem is, there were too many cruel, even sadistic, slave holders;
>and they-- when the horrible facts become known-- are held up as the evil
>people they were. Many who owned slaves worked as hard as those they
>"owned" and treated them well. Also, for some of those first-generation
>Africans who were brought to America
>the situation they found themselves in as slaves to a reasonable (and
>sometimes kind) master may have been an improvement over what they had been
>through since their initial capture and resulting transport. It is all so
>relative to individuals, and we cannot assume every European was satanic or
>that every African slave was mistreated. That being said, there is no
>question that slavery in any form by any people is wrong, cruel and-- even
>taking the "times" into consideration-- many slave holders knew that in
>their hearts. They were too desperate for labor and/or too cowardly to
>buck the established social set-up. It is as wrong for people to say that
>slavery was not so bad as it is to say that every slave was badly treated.
>There is evidence for both sides of the story; and, if you only take one
>side, that is not honest history.
>My 2 cents, as I travel to Nova Scotia (and found a handy wi-fi).
>--
>Melinda C. P. Skinner
>Richmond, VA
>
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
>From: Loretta Kelldorf <[log in to unmask]>
> > List Readers:
> >
> > I find it very interesting that people today are having difficulty
>believing
> > that it was possible for some slave owners to love their slaves as
>fellow human
> > beings! They weren't pets. The love I have read about was nothing like
>loving
> > one's pet. The capacity to love is very different in every individual.
>Some
> > people have a much greater capacity for loving than do others. When
>you read
> > about mean slave owners mistreating their slaves, you have no context
>for that
> > slave-owner's relationship to other people...black or white. You might
>consider
> > that. The man that is mean is likely to be mean to everyone. He/she
>may
> > practice it a little differently depending on how they view the
>intelligence and
> > reprisal capacity of the other person; but, they will spread their
>meanness
> > around to everyone in one way or another. Kind people spread their
>kindness
> > the same way.
> >
> > Life was hard; it was rugged in earlier times. Many people hardened
>their
> > feelings and sensitivities in order to make life bearable because they
> > anticipated many losses and hurts in a lifetime. Whatever level of
> > insensitivity they cultivated, it touched all of their relationships,
>not just
> > the relationships with their slaves.
> >
> > I have in my file the will of a lady in Sumner Co. TN who stated in the
>will
> > that she was old; her sons were grown and already gifted with land when
>they
> > married. Therefore she was willing that her total considerable assets,
>both
> > real and personal, be sold and the money used to relocate all her black
>family
> > to Illinois or Ohio where they could be free. The money was to be used
>to buy
> > them land and farm animals to furnish them a home and a means of
>livelihood.
> >
> > When I visited (within the past six years) the family home of this
>lady, which
> > was built in 1808, and talked to the present owner, he told me of
>several
> > carloads of black people who arrived one day the summer before my visit.
> He
> > said they told him they had come to visit and pay respects to the estate
>of the
> > lady who had been responsible for re-locating their families to free
>states and
> > gifting them with land and a means of establishing and maintaining
>themselves.
> > Respect, love and appreciation was part of the heritage of these black
>people
> > who continued to think of the white family as their kinsmen.
> >
> > Kinsmen. While many of you are reading wills of demeaning
>relationships, I
> > have found numerous wills where the deceased has called his slaves his
>"black
> > family". That is evidence of a kind relationship to one's fellow man.
> >
> > There is another story in TN, of a soldier kin to the lady who left her
>estate
> > to re-locate the black families, that went to fight in the Civil War as
>a
> > Confederate. Every day that he was gone, his black "Mammy" sat on the
>front
> > porch watching for him to return. She kept the vigil every day until he
>finally
> > did return. She died soon after he came home. This is genuine love of
>one
> > human for another human, not as pets, but as equal and worthy human
>beings.
> >
> > There is in the Bedford County TN Heritage History book published within
>the
> > last five years a story of a black man who followed his white slave
>owner into
> > war. The soldier was a Confederate. When he was wounded his black
>servant cared
> > for him until he could travel and took him home to recuperate. The
>black
> > servant then went to fight in the Civil War for the Union! Fought with
>the Union
> > Army for two years. When the war was over, the black soldier then had a
> > pension. The white family for whom he had been a slave was left
>landless and
> > penniless by the war. The BLACK MAN TOOK THE WHITE FAMILY IN AND CARED
>FOR THEM
> > AND PROVIDED FOR THEM. Love is in the heart; not in the law.
>Sensitivity is a
> > form of love.
> >
> > In my own family, my great grandmother's brother and his wife in TN
>had in
> > their probate files lists of the expenses encountered during their
>illness. We
> > are talking now about 1880. When I read the lists of expenses hoping to
>get a
> > clue to their last illness I was impressed by how many entries there
>were for
> > items for "the black family". While no specific names were given, how
>much
> > better name can you have than to be called FAMILY? There were no other
>names in
> > the list, white or black. The mention of the black family was to
>differentiate
> > the expenses from their own personal expenses for whatever reason they
>may have
> > needed to do that. I was touched that they gave equal concern and equal
> > provision to their black family.
> >
> > To be sure, the world is full of meanness. But it is also full of
>kindness.
> > Where do you intend to put your focus? If you want to change the way
>the world
> > thinks, then inspect your own thinking. So many of you are full of anger
>over
> > things past; you cannot do anything today to change what was. Your
>inspection
> > of meanness and speculation about how people may have felt a hundred or
>two
> > hundred years ago is neither productive nor constructive. It is a
>given that
> > Slavery is wrong in any time and in any place. No thinking and feeling
>person
> > argues the rightness of slavery in this enlightened time in which we
>live today.
> > What people thought then is gone. You need to deal with today. Focus
>on
> > positive education, positive instruction, positive goals. That is what
>changes
> > things in positive ways. Of course black people have struggled. Many
> > minorities of all colors have struggled. Pioneers struggled. Struggle
>is a
> > part of existence. History is important and getting history correct is
> > important. But, be careful where you place your emphasis. Who is to
>say you
> > have the right call on what is exactly right in history or the exactly
>right way
> > to record it? You are a filter the same as any other person. Check
>your
> > filters. Concern yourselves with those things about which you can do
>something
> > constructive. Intellectual conversation can be constructive but it
>shouldn't
> > beat the same dead horse to death again and again. What are you trying
>to prove?
> > Some discussions can be concluded.
> >
> > Frankly, I am very tired of reading about your soapbox on slavery. It is
>not the
> > only wrong thing that took place in history! Thinking of the
>affection of one
> > white human being for a black human being as being comparable to the
>way we
> > feel about our pets is the last offense for me. You are trying to
> > intellectualize emotions in the most cruelly unemotional way. Where is
>your
> > personal sensitivity? Let the real psychologist ponder the emotions of
>affection
> > between people. Are there no other subjects to intellectually inspect
>and
> > enlarge upon than slavery?
> >
> > Loretta Kelldorf
> > NOT a Historian but a fair genealogist
> > Education : Speech and Hearing Pathology
> > Psychology
> > Special Education w/ emotionally disturbed, mentally
>retarded,
> > language-learning
> > disabled.
> > Lifetime pet owner of many wonderful companions.
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