Instead, Blassingame suggests that black American slaves were instead forced to endure servant hood at the expense of their culture, family life, religion and life values. Additional materials, such as the best quotations, synonyms and word definitions to make your writing easier are also offered here. Blassingame introduced the whole meaning of the slavery that was taking place. The Slave Community contradicted those historians who had interpreted history to suggest that African-American slaves were docile and submissive "Sambos" who enjoyed the benefits of a paternalistic masterslave relationship on southern plantations. Freeland works his slaves hard, but treats them fairly. While Garrison and Phillips make a direct connection between Douglass and the Revolutionaries, Douglass uses a reference to the Revolutionaries to highlight the differences between the plight of slaves and the glamour of the Revolutionaries battle for rights. In fact, statistical analyses rely so heavily on inferences that one must carefully examine the data bases to evaluate the conclusions based on them. This book provides valuable accounts to historians that can be used to get a better idea of what slaves went through and how they were able to survive and rise above their experiences. One prominent example discussed by Blassingame is the Ewe story of "Why the Hare Runs Away", which is a trickster and tar-baby tale told by southern slaves and later recorded by writer Joel Chandler Harris in his Uncle Remus stories. "[10] "African survivals" persisted in the form of folk tales, religion and spirituality, music and dance, and language. Previous. Originally published in 1972, the book was heavily revised, expanded, and republished in 1979. Blassingame grants that slaveowners did have control over slave marriages. "[29], Despite slaveowner paternalism and charges of submissiveness, Blassingame contends, "There is overwhelming evidence, in the primary sources, of the Negro's resistance to his bondage and of his undying love for freedom. Slave traders arrive to taunt them and size them up as though to sell them. Focusing on the perspective of the slave, new studies incorporated the slave narratives and WPA interviews: George Rawick's From Sunup to Sundown: The Making of the Black Community (1972), Eugene D. Genovese's Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974), Peter H. Wood, Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 Through the Stono Rebellion (1974), Leslie Howard Owens's This Species of Property: Slave Life and Culture in the Old South (1976), Herbert G. Gutman's The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 17501925 (1976), Lawrence W. Levine's Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom (1977), and Albert J. Raboteau's Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South (1978). Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. The contents of the outline is never to supplant the original book but rather to help readers figure out a smart read. The Slave was a novel written by Polish author Isaac Bashevis Singer and was published in 1962. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South Revised Edition by John W. Blassingame (Author) 170 ratings Kindle $9.99 Read with Our Free App Hardcover $29.39 1 Used from $29.39 1 Collectible from $29.75 Paperback $9.99 - $66.15 91 Used from $4.27 17 New from $56.09 2 Rentals from $12.21 For instance, he challenges Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman's economic and statistical study of slavery in Time on the Cross. Then Auld suddenly changes his mind and sends Douglass back to Baltimore with Hugh Auld. He asserts that by concentrating on the slaveowner, historians have presented a distorted view of plantation life that "strips the slave of any meaningful and distinctive culture, family life, religion, or manhood." Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of The Slave Community by John W. Blassingame. This book analyzes the experience of slaves in the South during misjudgement and confusion. Read more about the reference to Patrick Henry and what it means. He points to his dissatisfaction with Freeland in a pun on Freelands name. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. At first, Thomas Auld announces his intent to send Douglass to Alabama. Spartacus is one of the slaves he buys. John W. Blassingame was a black historian interested in the issue of slavery in America. The The Slave Community Note includes chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South - 1972 PB at the best online prices at eBay! [61], Since its publication in 1972 and revision in 1979, The Slave Community has influenced subsequent historiographical works on slavery in the United States. Douglass remains in jail because he is identified as the leader and instigator. Give us your email address and well send this sample there. Plot Summary. Bringing African's over to America brought a whole new culture to America. However, Blassingame emphasizes that all aspects of culture were not eliminated. (one code per order). $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% Although the importance of The Slave Community was recognized by scholars of American slavery, Blassingame's conclusions, methodology, and sources were heavily criticized. Have a pleasant . Historians criticized the use of slave narratives that were seen as unreliable and biased. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South by John W. Blassingame is a nonfiction history discussing slavery in the United States. Douglass explains that this strategy helps keep blacks enslaved. I'm sorry, your question has no connection to your chosen category. They never tell anyone about the accident even though they did not intend to harm the boy. Except for his friendship with the local boys in Baltimore, Douglass has been a figure of isolation and alienation in the Narrative. Douglass remembers Freeland as the best master he ever had. A:True B:False. This book paints a picture of some slaves obeying slave owners while others resisted their bondage and tried to escape. As an isolated figure, he appropriately resembles the protagonist of a traditional comingofage story. Well occasionally send you promo and account related email. Blassingame addresses the historiography of slavery published between 1972 and 1978 in the revised edition. He starts to fight back but decides against it, as lynch law dictates that any black man who hits a white man may be killed. According to Blassingame, these periodicals printed slave interviews, letters, and autobiographies, but "gave even more coverage to white Southerners than to slaves and frequently reprinted articles, letters, and proceedings from a large number of Southern newspapers". add to "up next" mark as owned At Thomas Aulds, Douglass and the others learn that someone has betrayed them. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Overall, the portrait Blassingame provides is one of nuance. [35], In The Slave Community, Blassingame uses psychologist Harry Stack Sullivan's interpersonal theory to interpret the behavior of slaves on antebellum plantations. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. "[18] Christianity and enslaved black ministers slowly replaced African religious survivals and represented another aspect of slave culture which the slaves used to create their own communities. Next, Blassingame details how enslaved people created a unique culture out of their African roots and Southern adaptations. Blassingame responded to questions and critiques from the panel. george bentley is a problem because he is a slave in support of slavery. Douglass points out that their decision was far more difficult than that of Patrick Henry, whose choice between death and an oppressed lifeGive me liberty or give me deathwas merely rhetorical. To install StudyMoose App tap You can get a custom paper by one of our expert writers. By clicking Check Writers Offers, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy. The carpenters constantly summon and yell at Douglass, who cannot help them all at once. "[4] Historians dismissed the written works of slaves such as the 19th century fugitive slave narratives as unreliable and biased because of their editing by abolitionists. 20% He was also criticized by many for his use of slave accounts and not enough accounts by white slave owners. The community celebrated long into the night but grew jealous and angry as the feast wore on: to them, the excess of the feast was a measure of Baby Suggs's unwarranted pride. In their prefaces to Douglasss Narrative, Garrison and Phillips place Douglass in the context of the American Revolutionaries battle for rights and freedom. The irony with which Douglass writes of American human rights in theory and in practice also seems present in the Narratives subtitle, An American Slave. Furthermore, enslaved people had complex relationships with white people, specifically slave women being white mens mistresses or raising the children of plantation owners. in 1940. He further states that slaves were respected in a somewhat different way than one typically views respect because of what they were worth to white slave owners. [63] In Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South (1978), Albert J. Raboteau comments, "We should speak of the 'invisibility' of slave religion with irony: it is the neglect of slave sources by historians which has been the main cause of this invisibility." Yet the slaves value their education so highly that they attend Douglass's school despite the threat of punishment. From Douglass's fight with Covey to the end of Chapter X. Get your custom essay on, The Slave Community by John W. Blassingame , Get to Know The Price Estimate For Your Paper, "You must agree to out terms of services and privacy policy". Music, songs, and dances were similar to those performed or played in Africa. He continues, "Given the concern with the 'personal autonomy' and culture of the slave, much of the book is devoted to the African heritage; to slave music, religion, and folklore; and to the discussion of the slave family and other personal relationships." They know what it feels like to be unable to protect their own children. to start your free trial of SparkNotes Plus. While ministers preached obedience in the presence of the slaveowners and other whites, slaves often met in secret, "invisible" services unsupervised by whites. April 17, 2023, SNPLUSROCKS20 "The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South" by John W. Blassingame is the first book about slavery written by a historian in the viewpoint of slaves rather than slave owners. and then Add to Home Screen. Douglass is grateful that Mr. Freeland is not a hypocritically religious man. Slaveholders use holiday time to make their slaves disaffected with freedom and to keep them from revolting. [38], Blassingame contends that historians have "deliberately ignored" autobiographies of ex-slaves, particularly the fugitive slave narratives. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South is a book written by American historian John W. Blassingame. (2017, Mar 16). You can help us out by revising, improving and updating The Slave study guide contains a biography of Isaac Bashevis Singer, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. "[27], According to Blassingame, the Sambo figure evolved from white Americans' attitudes toward Africans and African Americans as innately barbaric, passive, superstitious, and childlike. [31] Blassingame concludes that the Sambo and Nat stereotypes "were real." You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Not affiliated with Harvard College. IT IS A SUMMARY. Those women and men know life under cruel, unstable owners. Rawick surmises that if Blassingame had consulted the WPA slave interviews, he would have developed a picture of the "heroic struggles of black women on behalf of themselves and of the whole black community". She becomes a Jew. Douglass writes travel passes, signed by their master, for each of them. Check out our sample guides: A SuperSummary Plot Summary provides a quick, full synopsis of a text. [73], Reviewing the revised edition in the Journal of Southern History, Gary B. Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis, The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions. "[35] According to Blassingame, the goal of the irrationally organized and understaffed plantation was not the systematic torture and extermination of its laborers, who were "worth more than a bullet". Blassingame wanted to "solve the myriad dilemmas posed by George Bentley", but he also wanted to answer the questions, challenges, and critiques raised by scholars since the publication of The Slave Community. The Slave Community contradicted those historians who had interpreted history to suggest that African-American slaves were docile and submissive "Sambos" who enjoyed the benefits of a paternalistic master-slave relationship on southern plantations. She found his discussion of slave personality types "fascinating" and "his methodological aims important" but "not systematically pursued". Douglass tells Sandy Jenkins of his fear, and Sandy feels the same way. In the Journal of American History, Willie Lee Rose writes that Blassingame's use of the fugitive slave narratives is marred by his neglect of the WPA interviews. Du Bois criticized Phillips's depiction of slaves,[2] the book was considered the authoritative text on slavery in America until the 1950s. Plantation Life In The Antebellum South Summary. Word soon spreads, and Douglass surreptitiously begins to hold a Sabbath school in the cabin of a free black. There, they live through Benjamin's childhood, until he finds his calling as a lecturer. In Baltimore, Hugh Auld apprentices Douglass to a shipbuilder named William Gardner. This ability is what helped many slaves report more positive life experiences in spite of being enslaved. They encouraged monogamous relationships to "make it easier to discipline their slaves. Douglass is to learn the trade of ship caulking. Check out this sample Study Guide. Sethe refuses to let her children exist in such a world. The physical presence of the money Douglass earns with his labor reinforces his sense of the injustice of slavery. Chapter 104. on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% The men transport their prisoners to Thomas Aulds house. When four of Gardners white apprentices attack Douglass, Douglass enjoys neither the right to defend himself nor the right see his attackers punished for their crime. [64] Historian Charles Joyner's influential study Down by the Riverside: A South Carolina Slave Community (1984) is reinforced by the findings of The Slave Community and relies on similar evidence. Georgia. "The Slave Summary". 24, 25. This page was last edited on 2 January 2023, at 02:37. In practice, plantation owners and managers understood that enslaved people had diverse personalities and had to be controlled using methods beyond brutal coercion. [5], Like Phillips, Stampp and Elkins relied on plantation records and the writings of slaveowners as their main primary sources. History and African sections. What source or textbook are you using for your questions. "[34] He remarks, "Placed on a continuum of total institutions, the concentration camp is far removed from the Southern plantation. In a review in the William and Mary Quarterly, George Mullin is especially critical of Blassingame's use of psychology, stating that Blassingame "reduc[es] slave behavior and culture to a question of roles and psychological characteristics". Stampp's study lacks the racist interpretation found in American Negro Slavery and approaches the issue from the position that there is no innate difference between blacks and whites. The family was, in short, an important survival mechanism."[24]. "[12] He argues that culture developed within the slave community independent of the slaveowners' influence. Kaye, Anthony E. "'In the Neighborhood': Toward a Human Geography of U.S. Slave Society". creating and saving your own notes as you read. Consequently, the slave did not have to be infantile or abjectly docile in order to remain alive (Blassingame, 249). Douglass meets and befriends other slaves on Freelands property, including the intelligent brothers Henry and John Harris. A black man, they reasoned, who loved his wife and his children was less likely to be rebellious or to run away than would a 'single' slave. A figure of isolation and alienation in the South during misjudgement and confusion a. People had diverse personalities and had to be unable to protect their own.! Antebellum South is a book written by Polish author Isaac Bashevis Singer and published. By one of nuance also criticized by many for his use of slave narratives the slave community sparknotes abjectly docile in to. Being enslaved the cabin of a text time to make your own notes as you read of ex-slaves, the. 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