Why do slaves want freedom

I've spent the past year or two with quite a few primary sources, and the best thing, for me, has been removal of "The Argument. I just don't have any real doubt about it, and any questioning of that is, to me, akin Creationism. I'm just not interested. But that's a luxury that I enjoy in For years black and white scholars had to make the argument, and as sure as there are weighty tomes outlining evolution, there are whole histories that had to be written outlining what should be taken as basic facts of humanity--that black people, in the main, did not enjoy being property.

That black people, in the main, did not enjoy living under a whip. That black people, in the main, did not enjoy the prospect of someone selling off their families.

That black people, in the main, had been fight a long, cold war against slavery centuries before the Civil War. Having said that, I think that just as the photography of the Civil War is interesting from an artistic perspective, the oral histories of slavery are interesting to me from a literary perspective. Looking at them as literature--and the recollection of specific individuals, not agitprop for anything--I'm never surprised to come across black people saying that they liked being slaves.

Indeed, that's part of being human too, not being part of a broad mass. It's also part of the fact that slavery differed, as all things differ. It's funny. I read this to Kenyatta last night, because I thought the phrasing was so beautiful and evocative. I really felt Clara's longing for the Old South. Manumission certificate [ enlarge ]. Discussion questions. William L.

Slave 2. Slave to Free 3. Free-born 4. Entrepreneurs 5. Artists 6. Poets 7. Soldiers 8. Education 9. Citizenship The promise of freedom held out the hope of self-determination, educational opportunities, and full rights of citizenship. Recruitment handbill In this Civil War handbill for black recruits, African American soldiers are shown liberating slaves and bringing new hope for a good education and a productive way of life.

Now we are free. What do we want? We want education; we want protection; we want plenty of work; we want good pay for it, but not any more or less than any one else