Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The South's People: African American Culture

African Americans worked on plantations of slave owners for decades. Family life had little stability due to slavery. African American's found comfort through singing and their religion. However, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass were two African American leaders that pursued freedom. The assignment is to choose one of the two heroes of the abolition movement, and describe their contributions to freedom. This is a broad assignment so please do your research.

There is plenty of information online.

This slave song depicts slavery. Enjoy.

14 comments:

  1. Harriet Tubman was a very important person in slavery. She escaped slavery when she was 29, but went back to help the rest of her family escape. In 1850, she began leading others out of slavery afterwards. Some sources show she may have stopped at former slave, Fredrick Douglas's house. In 1858 she met John Brown. John Brown and Harriet Tubman shared many of the same goals ("advocated the use of violence to disrupt and destroy the institution of slavery"). Brown later turned to Tubman for help in an attack on slaveholder a homes. She continued to work during the Civil War as a cook, nurse, and, eventually, a spy.
    When Harriet Tubman died at the age of 93, she had led hundreds of slaves to the north as a conductor in the Underground Railroad. She had helped people escape slavery even though she may have gotten caught while doing so. (151) (biography.com)

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  2. Frederick Douglass was a former slave himself. He was also an eminent human rights leader in the abolition movement and was also the first black citizen to hold a high U.S. government rank. Now, Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland. His exact birth date is unknown, but the guess it was around 1818. His mother died when he was around ten and was soon sent to the Baltimore home of Hugh Ald. There is where he learned the skills that would make him a national celebrity. When Sophia, Hugh Auld’s wife, taught him how to read, that is when Frederick’s opposition to slavery began to take place. Some years later, Douglass credited The Columbian Orator, clarifying and defining his views on human rights. He then taught other slaves to read the New Testament at weekly church services. Even though Freeland did not interfere with the lessons, other local slave owners were less understanding. They dispersed the congregation permanently, armed with clubs and stones. With Douglass moving between the Aulds, he was later moved to work for Edward Covey, who had a reputation as a "slave-breaker.” Covey’s constant abuse nearly broke the 16-year-old Douglass! However, Douglass fought back, in a scene rendered powerfully in his first autobiography. After losing a physical confrontment with Douglass, Covey never beat him again. (222) ( biography.com )

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  4. Harriet Tubman led hundreds of slaves to freedom. Harriet was born as a slave on Maryland’s eastern shore. She endured many hardships as a slave because she had to work on the fields and was constantly beaten by her masters. She escaped slavery in 1849 and in order to escape she had to leave her husband and family behind. Even though Harriet was free from slavery, she still came back to the South at least 19 times to lead her family and hundreds of other slaves to freedom and out of slavery. She risked her life for other slaves to be in freedom over and over again. She led them out of slavery through the Underground Railroad. Some slave holders offered rewards to capture Harriet and eventually totaled 40,000 dollars, but no one ever did find her to get the rewards. Later Harriet became a scout, a spy, and a nurse during the Civil War. She also met with John Brown in 1858 in planning raids on Harpers Ferry. Harriet was very helpful to him because she knew a lot about the Underground Railroads, locations of cotton warehouses, ammunition depots, and slaves waiting to be set free. After the war, Tubman returned to Auburn, New York and continued helping former slaves live new lives in freedom. She cared for her family and other needy people in her home, but it became a problem because of lack of money. She began selling her biography and giving many speeches to pay for everything. Later she had a nickname which was "Moses," after Moses from the Bible. Moses in the Bible led his people out of slavery, like Harriet led her people to freedom by going to the North. Like many other slaves, Harriet was very spiritual and was sustained by her faith in God. Harriet pursued freedom not only for herself, but for all slaves. (http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/harriet-tubman ) (words: 316)

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  5. Frederick Douglass… was a handsome man. He contributed to the anti-slavery movement by giving speeches. He delivered his first speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Nantucket. In 1843, he was chased away and beaten, but was saved by a Quaker. He went to Ireland to escape recapture. Then he came back two years later and produced some abolition papers. Some of them are called: The North Star, Frederick Douglass Weekly, Frederick Douglass’ Papers, Douglass Monthly, and New National Era. He also gave a lot of speeches on women’s rights. He believed that if women can’t vote, then he or anybody else shouldn’t be able to vote. biography.com(107)

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  6. Fredric Douglas was an African-American social reformer, Otarot, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolition movement. He was a man who was very strong minded and was entitled to his opinion. Slave owners don't like him for this because their argument was that the reason they have slaves is because they are not smart enough to do anything but work, and Fredric Douglas was a brilliant man. Douglass thought of joining a white Methodist Church but from the beginning he was disappointed when he saw it was segregated. Later he joined the African Methodist episcopalian Zion church an independent black established in New York City, which counted among its members sojourner truth and Harriet Tubman. Later he became a preacher, this helped him get closer to God and helped him learn how to talk in front of people. This helped him Later in life wen he gave his big speech. Biography.com

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  7. Frederick douglass was an African American who was born a slave. he is from Talbot County Maryland. Douglass was one of the first to escape slavery, and he became a leader to destroy slavery and get slaves freed. He was pretty well educated, and thought strongly about how to get rid of slavery. He went to a Methodist church. He almost joined a white church, but desided it wasn't a good idea because of segregation. he began giving speeches about abolition of slavery, and eventually became a pastor. he wrote many papers too, some published in newspapers. he met his former slave master and his daughter after the civil war.110 words Biography.com

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  8. Fredrick Douglass affected slavery in a huge way. He was once a slave and then he was freed. He wanted people to know what was actually happening with slavery so he started speaking all over the place about how he felt about slavery. Although he was a very good speaker he wasn’t always ready to go when he was speaking, he was actually very nervous the first couple of times that he spoke. He also wrote a book called The North Star that talked about how the slaves escaping to freedom would follow the north to freedom. Although he was a high profile person he still was a black man, and at this time that was a huge set back. This is how Fredrick Douglass contributed to the abolishment of slavery.
    (131)

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  9. Fredrick Douglass was born on February 1818, in Talbot County, and died February 20, 1895, Washington, D.C. He DEFIANTLY effected slavery, and how the slaves got free. Fredrick Douglass failed to escape 2 times before he succeeded on the 3rd try. He was assisted by Anna Murray who was a free black person. On September 3, 1838, Fredrick Douglass boarded a train to Havre de Grace, in Maryland. Douglass married Anna Murray on September 15, 1838, and settled New Bedford, Massachusetts, which was a free slave community. Later Douglass participated in a lecture that created an angry mob that came after him, but he was saved by a local Quaker family. He set the stage for other slaves, and gave them hope of escaping. He had a big contribution to the abolition of slavery. (143)

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  10. Harriet Tubman was a woman that was a slave, abolitionist, and a powerful woman. At the age of 30 in 1849, Harriet ran away to the North and ended up in Philadelphia… she learned about a movement to abolish slavery and a group of people who were dedicated to helping slaves escape to the North… these people created the Underground RailroadIn the underground railroad she help thousands of slaves to freedom. She new the need to be free from slavery. Slavery was a horrible condition to live in. But for most people that was what they saw when they were born and when they died. (Biography.com) (109)

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  11. Harriet Tubman was a run a way slave. She decided that after she ran away that she would come back and help other slaves escape. She lead them to the north were they would be free. Being a runaway slave was very dangerous. People always wanted to turn in runaway slaves because you could get a reward for capturing them. Harriet Tubman put herself in great danger when she led a group of slaves to freedom. The thing that made her a good leader was that is anyone wanted to turn back during the journey she would pull out a gun and say “You’ll be free or die a slave.” She did this because she knew that if they went back they would be putting her and all the other runaway slaves in danger. She was so well known for leading that people started calling her Moses of her People. She rescued many people from Maryland including member of her own family. Throw all of this she was never captured and never failed to deliver. She also never lost a passenger. (181)

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  12. Fredrick Douglas was born in 1818 into slavery. But he had an opportunity most slaves didn't have, and that was to learn how to read by the white children. After he learned the alphabet when he was about twelve, Douglas started reading newspapers. He would read the articles about slavery. And that fueled a passion inside of him not to be another statistic of a content slave. In result of this he tried twice to escape his plantation, but was unsuccessful. This of course until he was assisted by Anna Murray, a free black woman. He then became a world-renowned anti-slavery activist. He would go on to write autobiographies and other pieces of literature. (113)

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  13. Frederick Douglas was born a slave in 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland. His mother was a slave woman and it's believed his father was his mother's master. The boy used to live with his grandmother during his early years of childhood, but after some events with his mother dying around his age of ten, Frederick was sent to live with a man named Hugh Ald. Sophia Ald, Hugh's wife, was dedicated to teaching slaves to read and write, so it only seems logical she taught the same skills to Douglas when he was around the age of 12. Sadly, Hugh didn't allow his wife to continue teaching Douglas, so the boy simply learned more from others in his neighborhood and read many journals and papers on politics. Throughout his learning, he became well aware of his human rights and started to be against slavery--like any moral human being should be. With the help of Anna Murray, a free black woman who later became his wife, Douglas managed to become a free salve. He got involved with abolition meetings and gave speeches in meetings and even in the Anti-Slavery annual convention in Nantucket, Massachusetts around the late 1830s to early 1840s. Under the influence of the journalist William Lloyd Garrison, Douglas wrote and published his first autobiography discussing his experiences as a slave and his views against slavery in 1845. It became a large hit in both the U.S. and Europe. Douglas's work is how he reached out to people--both his speeches and books--because he had a proper and fine way of writing and speaking, making him very persuasive. He even had a large influence on how black men were treated during their service in the Civil War by talking to Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Later on, he held several political positions: president of the Freeman's Savings Bank, chargé d'affaires for the Dominican Republic, and even being nominated to be the first African American running mate for Victoria Woodhull in 1872. Douglas had an influence on everyone, and if it weren't for him and those like him, America would have had no hope for being slave-free. After all, God had a great plan for this man, and the great historical records of him display the hand of God every step of the way. (http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324#civil-war-and-reconstruction)

    Word count: 385

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  14. Harriet Tubman was born into to slavery. She had a very rough childhood. She escaped slavery when she was about 25 years old. She was a devout Christian and was also a spy during the civil war. After escaping she made many return trips to Maryland to lead slaves to freedom. In all about seventy slaves. She met and admired Frederick Douglas and followed after him in working towards abolishing slavery. She helped John Brown on his raid of Harper's Ferry, but never agreed to violence toward whites. As she grew older she became very active in the African American Episcopal Zion Church. She died very poor but made great contributions to America.(113)

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