A Slave Tale
I was born in 1834 on a large plantation, that contained over a thousand acres, and over one hundred enslaved souls, located thirty some old miles south east of Atlanta, Georgia. I was descended from imported Africans, and probably from some of the darkest of the native race. Darker than most of my fellow slaves on this plantation. My master is a well-known man, who has deep roots in the state of Georgia. It is rumored that he has property in other states, and he is involved with workings of the government as well. Some of my earliest memories of childhood were of being an unkempt child. I remember my ma trying her might to comb out my hair with everything imaginable to attempt to present an array of neatness. I think that it was a loss cause, because soon after her attempts, I would be back out into the barn playing in the same stuff. I would find myself back into the same demise of her scolding me while she used her instrument of torture on my head. I only had a meager set of clothes. The only attire that I had were a pair of woolen britches that have been covered with patch upon patch. The only way that I knew it was made of wool was the roughness of the material that it rub
After we got the fields plowed, we would get the seed to plant. The planting took place in mid May. The weather was getting a bit on the hot side, but one could catch a cool breeze now and then. We would take our hoes and gunny bags and start to make our way slowing down the straight rows hoeing and depositing our seeds and covering them over with dirt. All the while being over seen by Zeck. Zeck was the overseer, master's hired hand; he made sure that the up most care was took in every operation of the cotton fields. Zeck was a fair man, unlike most, who was cruel to their charges. He would deal out punishment when the situation was warranted. He would keep everything in running order. Some slaves believed that witches would sometimes go into the rooms of the cabins. They would hide themselves until the family went to bed. When they claimed to see the witch they would get their bible out if they had one and say to the witch, "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost want do you want?" The slave would take their bible and put it on the spot where they thought they had seen the witch. The belief was once this was done, the witch was driven out of that cabin. I dream that they will not be judged for the color of their skin, or for the texture of their hair. I want them to be judged for the men that they are, the lives that they will lead, and the examples that are left after they are gone. On the nearby plantation, the younger slaves were made to do some light work on Sunday, such as minding the birds and crows from the corn, rice and potatoes. When these plants were coming up the crows and other birds were very destructive. They would pull them up, and often the whole crop would have to be carefully replanted.
Some topics in this essay:
Atlanta Georgia,
Sam Sam,
Methodist Church,
Slave Auctions,
Sadie Minnie,
Voodoo Witches,
Zeck Zeck,
Sundays Sundays,
Holy Ghost,
Mack Mack,
cotton fields,
white folks,
black white,
coffin placed,
whipping post,
witch cabin,
methodist church,
colored folks,
hopes dreams,
day called,
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Approximate Word count = 3674
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page double spaced)
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