Black women, mothering, and protest in 19th century American society by Marci Bounds Littlefield, Ph.D
Part 2
Motherhood and Survival
Motherhood for black women was survival. Black women had children, set up households, nursed and cared for their children, and formed communities. As mothers, black women loved their children and cared for them in spite of the multiple tasks they performed. The bond between mother and child was strong, and slave women often took extreme measures to care for their children. A slave confirms this: "I remember well my mother often hid us all in the woods, to prevent master selling us. When we wanted water, she sought for it in any hole or puddle, formed by falling trees or otherwise.
After a time, the master would send word to her to come in, promising he would not sell us. But at length, persons came, who agreed to give the prices he set on us ... My mother, frantic with grief, resisted taking her child away; she was beaten and held down. She fainted, and when she came to herself, her boy was gone. She made much outcry, for which the master tied her up to a peach tree in the yard, and flogged her" (Finkelman 237). Slave women were very protective of their children despite the harsh reality of slavery.
Black women were often forced to become mothers and wives, and this represented a key aspect of their survival. Hilliard Yellerday, an ex-slave, commented on this point: "When a girl became a woman, she was required to go to a man and become a mother. There was generally a form of marriage. The master read a paper to them telling them they were man and wife ... Master would sometimes go and get a large, hale, hearty Negro man from some other plantation to go to his Negro woman. He would ask the master to let this man come over to his place to go to his slave girls. A slave girl was expected to have children as soon as she became a woman. Some of them had children at the age of twelve and thirteen-years-old. Negro men six feet tall went to some of these children" (Hine and Thompson 80).
Motherhood and Protest
Black women often responded to slavery by engaging in various forms of protest: participating in revolts, committing arson, running away, poisoning owners, and refusing to accept sexual exploitation, abortion and infanticide.(Hine and Thompson,1998). The following excerpts are from 19th century newspapers that described various methods of protest exercised by black women.
" $30 REWARD, Ran away from subscriber, on Difficult Run, near Geo W. Hunter's Mill, Fairfax County Va., on Sunday, a Negro woman, having with her a CHILD SIX MONTHS OF AGE, NEARLY WHITE (Provincial Freedom1856).
SUICIDE BY DROWNING AND SLAVE TRADING--A negro woman belonging to Dmpsey Weaver, Esq., jumped into the river, night before last, with a child in each arm, and all three were drowned. Owing to her misconduct, her master threatened to sell her, and she determined not to be sold. It is said that her husband had promised to end his existence in the same way at the same time, but he did not do so (Frederick Douglass' Paper 1853).
Horrible Poisoning Affair
Augusta, Sept. 19--On Sunday last, in Pike County, Alabama, thirty-seven were poisoned six of whom are dead by a negro cook, who mixed arsenic with the food of the family. She was instigated to do this horrid act by Comista, a Hungarian.... The negro woman was burnt; and Comista will meet the same fate on Monday next (The National Era 1857).
These newspaper excerpts provide a snapshot of the ways black women attempted to rebel again a system that intimidated them. Resistance took many forms, ranging from covert to overt acts, the latter of which included learning to read and teaching their offspring to have dignity and pride. Black women displayed an amazing amount of courage when they initiated resistance to slave society. Even infanticide, which represented one of the most extreme forms of resistance, is a prime example of black women's unwillingness to participate in increasing the slave work force. Abortion, a more widely documented tactic, was also employed by black women as a protest tactic. Herbert Gutman offers evidence suggesting that abortion was a practice used by black women: "He discusses a time in a planter and between four to six women 'of breeding age' for twenty-five years and only two children had been born on the place to full term. It was later discovered that the slaves had concocted a medicine with which they were able to terminate their unwanted pregnancies and the older female slaves had been instrumental in all the abortion on this place."
By all accounts, these acts of protest represent another aspect of motherhood that cannot be ignored: black women loved their children, which helps to explain why abortion or infanticide was even considered in the context of motherhood. The extreme system of exploitation shaped how black women experienced motherhood. While black women were courageous in resisting slavery, these acts could not supplant the impact of being born into bondage and forced to reproduce and supply the slave workforce. Nevertheless, black women also chose to resist oppression by teaching their children values and promoting education in the hope that one day, their children would live in a slave-free society.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7075/is_1_2/ai_n31352354/pg_2/?tag=mantle_skin;content
photo: black american woman Black Stallion
Part 2
Motherhood and Survival
Motherhood for black women was survival. Black women had children, set up households, nursed and cared for their children, and formed communities. As mothers, black women loved their children and cared for them in spite of the multiple tasks they performed. The bond between mother and child was strong, and slave women often took extreme measures to care for their children. A slave confirms this: "I remember well my mother often hid us all in the woods, to prevent master selling us. When we wanted water, she sought for it in any hole or puddle, formed by falling trees or otherwise.
After a time, the master would send word to her to come in, promising he would not sell us. But at length, persons came, who agreed to give the prices he set on us ... My mother, frantic with grief, resisted taking her child away; she was beaten and held down. She fainted, and when she came to herself, her boy was gone. She made much outcry, for which the master tied her up to a peach tree in the yard, and flogged her" (Finkelman 237). Slave women were very protective of their children despite the harsh reality of slavery.
Black women were often forced to become mothers and wives, and this represented a key aspect of their survival. Hilliard Yellerday, an ex-slave, commented on this point: "When a girl became a woman, she was required to go to a man and become a mother. There was generally a form of marriage. The master read a paper to them telling them they were man and wife ... Master would sometimes go and get a large, hale, hearty Negro man from some other plantation to go to his Negro woman. He would ask the master to let this man come over to his place to go to his slave girls. A slave girl was expected to have children as soon as she became a woman. Some of them had children at the age of twelve and thirteen-years-old. Negro men six feet tall went to some of these children" (Hine and Thompson 80).
Motherhood and Protest
Black women often responded to slavery by engaging in various forms of protest: participating in revolts, committing arson, running away, poisoning owners, and refusing to accept sexual exploitation, abortion and infanticide.(Hine and Thompson,1998). The following excerpts are from 19th century newspapers that described various methods of protest exercised by black women.
" $30 REWARD, Ran away from subscriber, on Difficult Run, near Geo W. Hunter's Mill, Fairfax County Va., on Sunday, a Negro woman, having with her a CHILD SIX MONTHS OF AGE, NEARLY WHITE (Provincial Freedom1856).
SUICIDE BY DROWNING AND SLAVE TRADING--A negro woman belonging to Dmpsey Weaver, Esq., jumped into the river, night before last, with a child in each arm, and all three were drowned. Owing to her misconduct, her master threatened to sell her, and she determined not to be sold. It is said that her husband had promised to end his existence in the same way at the same time, but he did not do so (Frederick Douglass' Paper 1853).
Horrible Poisoning Affair
Augusta, Sept. 19--On Sunday last, in Pike County, Alabama, thirty-seven were poisoned six of whom are dead by a negro cook, who mixed arsenic with the food of the family. She was instigated to do this horrid act by Comista, a Hungarian.... The negro woman was burnt; and Comista will meet the same fate on Monday next (The National Era 1857).
These newspaper excerpts provide a snapshot of the ways black women attempted to rebel again a system that intimidated them. Resistance took many forms, ranging from covert to overt acts, the latter of which included learning to read and teaching their offspring to have dignity and pride. Black women displayed an amazing amount of courage when they initiated resistance to slave society. Even infanticide, which represented one of the most extreme forms of resistance, is a prime example of black women's unwillingness to participate in increasing the slave work force. Abortion, a more widely documented tactic, was also employed by black women as a protest tactic. Herbert Gutman offers evidence suggesting that abortion was a practice used by black women: "He discusses a time in a planter and between four to six women 'of breeding age' for twenty-five years and only two children had been born on the place to full term. It was later discovered that the slaves had concocted a medicine with which they were able to terminate their unwanted pregnancies and the older female slaves had been instrumental in all the abortion on this place."
By all accounts, these acts of protest represent another aspect of motherhood that cannot be ignored: black women loved their children, which helps to explain why abortion or infanticide was even considered in the context of motherhood. The extreme system of exploitation shaped how black women experienced motherhood. While black women were courageous in resisting slavery, these acts could not supplant the impact of being born into bondage and forced to reproduce and supply the slave workforce. Nevertheless, black women also chose to resist oppression by teaching their children values and promoting education in the hope that one day, their children would live in a slave-free society.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7075/is_1_2/ai_n31352354/pg_2/?tag=mantle_skin;content
photo: black american woman Black Stallion
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