April+Sivilay

Milani Blackerby  

I was born a slave [ indentured servant ], working as a housemaid in the Blackerby Plantation. I am 25 years old. I married my husband, Tre`, when I was 9. At the time, Tre` was 12 years old. A year later, I had a beautiful daughter named Eva, who is now 15. My owners are named Laura and James Blackerby. For a living, I work in the fields picking out cotton and cleaning the master's house. My daughter picks cotton with me sometimes out in the fields and my husband is a driver. He helps around the plantation and makes sure everything else is in order. This is a journal that my owner gave me and I'm going to share all the things that happened to me in my life. From the people that died, to the things I've done. This is my life; my story to tell.

 Entry Number 1: Nat Turner  My daughter and I were picking cotton in the fields. It was a sunny day and the birds were chirping loud & clearly. While I was picking out cotton, I saw one of my great friends, Nat Turner from the other plantation. We haven't seen each other in ages. I introduced him to my daughter and we started talking to each other. Turner was born & raised in Southampton, Virginia. He was a preacher and believed in God. He came down to South Carolina because he was sold to one of my owner's friend who lives next door in the other plantation. He told me that he heard things that God had told him to protect his kind. He, then, thought about a plot that he was going back to Virginia to do some kind of killing spree. He told me he was tired of all the owners bossing him and his kind around. Turner asked me if I wanted to join him in the killing, but I didn't want to kill anyone. Plus, I am a religious person. So, I told him no. I hope he doesn't go on with his plot because even though the slave owners treat us badly, it doesn't mean that we have to kill them. He, also, shouldn't have to kill someone to get his way. Like myself, he was a very religious person. And the Bible says that we shouldn't kill. I think it's wrong that he thinks killing people would solve everything. I hope he makes the right choice and stay down here in South Carolina. I'll continue this journal entry when I have more information on what he's going to do. [ Two weeks later. ] I told him that he shouldn't go on with his plan of rebellion. Turns out he didn't listen to me. A few days later, he left the plantation and headed to Virginia. He said he would be back in two weeks or so. A week after he left, word spread around that on August 21, 1831, he killed his old owner & the owner's family in Virginia for a rebellion. We also heard that him & a mob of slaves had over 50 whites killed. I think it's horrible that a nice man would do such a thing to kill white like that, even their children were killed. The good part was that he was trying to rebel, to free the slaves and make ourselves heard. But he didn't have to kill. Unfortunately, we also heard that Nat tried to escape from the people that were trying to capture him. He was trialed and executed on November 11, 1831.

Entry Number 2: Harriet Tubman  Today was an interesting day. One of the slaves in our plantation, Alize, escaped today. She was 15 years old. Before she left, Alize told me that she was going to run away because she couldn't take it anymore. She said that the life was too harsh & she didn't want to go through it any longer. She told me her plans that she was going to escape to the North, where the slaves were free. Her attitude reminded me so much of one of my role models, Harriet Tubman. Tubman was one of the people that helped my grandpa and grandma escape when I was 2 years old. When she was still down here, she used to tell me & my friends all kinds of stories about her. Harriet Tubman was born around 1820 and was a slave in Dorchester County. She had a rough life. Her real name was Araminta [ Minty for short ] and her parents were named Benjamin Ross & Harriet Green. She had four sisters and four brothers. She changed her name to Harriet when she was older in memory of her mother. When she was 5, Harriet was "rented" to do housework. She used to tell us that she could never do the housework right, so she was beaten for it. A few years later, she did field work. "Even though I was small & tiny, I was pretty strong", she said before. At age 15, she got hit in the head with a heavy weight because the owner was trying to hit another slave, but missed. After that, she always had "sleeping fits" and her head was never the same. In 1844, she married a free black man [ John Tubman ] & received his last name. The marriage didn't last long, so she went to her lawyer & found out something that made her furious. She found out that she was supposed to be born free because her mother was freed on the death of her former owner. That's when she knew that she had to leave South Carolina and be free. Before she left, she said this to motivate us; " I had a reason this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other."

I think that Harriet Tubman is brave for what she had done; escape. After she was free, she came back & tried to help others escape to freedom [ Underground Railroad ]. She was one of the most known person that helped in the Underground Railroad. She is an inspiration to us because she represents something that all of us should be. I told my daughter about Harriet Tubman so that she'd be inspired to make a change. She was a great woman. Sadly, she died on March 10, 1913 of pnemonia. But she got what she wanted; to be free.

Entry Number 3: Underground Railroad  After Harriet died, we made a memorial for her outside of our plantation. After the memorial, we started talking about her. When I started talking about how she helped with the Underground Railroad, a lot of people in my plantation didn't know what the Underground Railroad was. The Underground Railroad was first made in 1780. It was conducted by many white people & some blacks, including Harriet Tubman. The railroad moved hundreds of slaves to the North every year. From 1810 to 1850, the South lost 100,000 slaves. The homes that the slaves stayed in to get rest were called "stations" or "depots". Harriet Tubman, made nineteen trips and freed over 300 slaves. The Underground Railroad was discovered in 1862.

I think that the Underground Railroad was great because it helped slaves get to freedom. Yes, it may have been difficult and there was a lot at risk. But everyone made it through. I'm happy that a lot of slaves are freed. I would have gone and escape to the North, too. But because I have a family and I don't want to risk losing them, I decided to stay here with them until my contract is over. I still have at least 8 more years. As long as I have my family, I'll be alright.

 Essential Questions 

1. How does one's understanding of slavery affect his understanding of the people and events of the 1850s and 1860s? - - The understanding of the slavery affects the understanding of the people and events of the 1850s and 1860s because if you don't know what the slavery affects were, nothing else would make sense to you. During 1850s and 1860s, all there was, was slavery. 2. Why would slavery ever be condoned in the United States? - - Slavery would probably be condoned in the United States because during that time, other people around the world had slaves. The United States, then, catched on and had slaves, too. It'll be hard to forget about slavery because it happened already. 3. Was the Civil War the only means to end slavery in the United States? - - No, the Civil War wasn't the only thing that could end slavery. It ended slavery officially, but the slave owners had to give their slaves back, which would be a very long time. 4. What are some of the long-term effects of slavery that are linked to the people and events of the past? - - Some long term effects are that people are always going to look back on slavery and still believe that blacks are under the whites. There are still going to be plenty of racist, prejudice, and mean people in this world. Not everyone thinks that we should all be equal. But the truth is that we are different; at the same time, we are equal. Whether those racist or prejudice people like it or not, that's how it is.