Mark Saber

11/16/2015
The Peculiar Institution: Slaves Tell Their Own Story
Although not much was written about African American slaves before the 1930s, we
have a wide collection of narratives and interviews from former slaves, collected by the Federal
Writers Project. Its possible from these accounts to study the experiences and mindset of these
former slaves, and determine what was considered most meaningful to them.1
We all know the slaves had it bad. They were often beaten, raped, and starved. They were
forced to work long hours and treated as inferiors. But through all their tribulation, they could
always lean on each other. One former slave uses the story of the rabbit and the tortoise to
illustrate this point. He says that the tortoise didnt win the race because he outperformed the
rabbit. The tortoise won the race because he actually got a bunch of his friends and put em long
the way. He never ran the race. The tortoise here represents the slaves who are running the
race. Although they might get tired along the way, its ok because they have their friends to help
them. They band together to survive and make the best of their situation until they can win (gain
their freedom).2 Mutual support and friendship were extremely valued among them.
We can gather that many of the slaves also found God to be very important in their lives.
Even though they suffered in this life, the slaves hoped to be rewarded with paradise in the next.
In one account, a certain slaves master was excessively sadistic and cruel. He would whip the
1 Ch. 9 Essay Question, 2015
2 Wheeler, William Bruce, Susan D. Baker, and Lorri Glover, (Source 9) Discovering the American Past:
A Look at the Evidence; Volume I: To 1877 (Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012), 245.

slaves until they bled every day for his own pleasure. The slave calls out to God at the end the
account. He quotes a passage where Jeremiah weeps for his people in the Old Testament. Is
there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there, that thy people can be healed?.... Not only
does this slave read the bible, but he knows parts of it by heart.3 Just as Gods personal message
to Jeremiah was fulfilled many times in the Old Testament, this slaves hopes that it will be
fulfilled now for his people. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you.
For I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.4
The slaves did what they had to in order to survive. They depended on their friends and
their faith in God to get them over the hurdles of oppression. These were invaluable for African
Americans in bondage, and gave them a meaning to their lives.

3 Ibid. (Excerpt from The Life of John Thompson, a Fugitive Slave), 258.
4 Jeremiah 1:19