Drew Wolf

Profesor Jones

HIS 1101

23 April 2020

In Search of the Promised Land

In Search of the Promised Land a Slave Family in the Old South by John Hope Franklin

and Loren Schweninger follows the family of Sally Thomas, a quasi-free slave living in the

1800’s southern America. Sally and her family face many obstacles as Sally works to ensure her

family is safe and free.

As they were not completely freed, quasi-free slaves had certain rights that allowed them

to do such things as own property, start their own business, and earn a wage. They were even

able to purchase their own freedom as well as the freedom of their family and loved ones. This is

what Sally strived to accomplish. But as much rights as they had being quasi-free slaves they

also had many restrictions. There were many things they were not allowed to do since they were

still technically slaves. Sally and her family had to live under many restrictions such as giving a

portion of her wage to her owner known as “freedom dues”. Freedom dues were payments

quasi-free slaves had to pay to owners for allowing them to be “free” to do work. Another

restriction or problem Sally Thomas and her family faced was that since they were technically

still slaves they could be sold at any time then be completely uprooted and forced to work

elsewhere and lose everything.

These restrictions placed on the family forced them to make risky and costly decisions

about how they would live and survive. For instance Sally knew that she would not be able to
buy her son Henry’s freedom because he was valued too high. So in order to save him from

possibly being sold to a cotton or sugar plantation in the deep south where he would likely be

worked to death, she told him to run and escape. This was a big risk if he was caught he would

face harsh punishment. He was able to make it all the way to Indiana where he would go on to

start his own barbershop as a free man. Living in the south like they did they were under constant

threat of assault as they would not be given the same protection as a white person. Sally Thomas

feared being kidnapped and losing everything she had worked for. Not only this but she feared

that her children could also be kidnapped and taken from her and she would not be able to help

them. They also had to be very mindful of their behavior in order to not face persecution from

people as they were very hostile towards blacks in the south. For example James' teacher Alonso

Summer was nearly whipped to death by a gang of ruffians because he was accused of helping

slaves escape. He was given no fair trial or chance he was simply beaten because of accusations.

Because of this racial attitude Sally Thomas did her best to keep a low profile and avoid any

expression of anger, assertiveness, or arrogance as this could get her and her family into trouble.

She lived under constant fear because of the way she saw all the slaves around her get treated so

poorly. Another restriction faced by Sally and her family were laws that made it difficult for

blacks to learn how to read and write. Very few freed blacks attended schools in southern states

at the time and slaves were prohibited from learning. For example “... an 1834 law stipulated that

any white person caught teaching a slave to read or write could be fined up to one hundred

dollars and imprisoned for up to six months” (Franklin 26). Restrictions like this made it difficult

for Sally to get her children a proper education. She was able to enroll her youngest son James in

school so he could learn to read and write.

 The title of the novel “In Search of the Promised Land” could be interpreted in many

different ways. My interpretation is that the title is not referring to a physical place but a state of

mind and being, It is freedom from shackles and ownership. It is also living without the fear of

having your life changed completely with no control because you were sold to someone else or

you could be attacked and persecuted because of the racial divide. Sally worked tirelessly saving

money working to allow her sons and grandchildren access to this promised land so they would

not live in the same fear that she does.

Throughout her work as a laundress she acquired many customers and made many

connections because of her devotion and dedication to her work and securing a safe future for her

family. These connections were not only essential to keeping her business successful but it also

earned her a respect amongst everyone. This example from the book shows this “... she was such

a fixture in the city that when the United States census marshall arrived at 10 Deaderick Street in

the summer of 1840, he listed her by name as the head of the household. It was extremely rare

for slaves to be cited in such a manner” (Franklin 46). She was shown great respect even from

the US government despite her status as a slave. Another example of the benefits of her respect

she had earned as well as her connections was when she sent James to visit New Orleans. She

knew many of the rivermen through her business and connections with Captain Rapier. This

allowed her James to travel while being looked after so he would not be in danger as he was able

to see the world which is not something many blacks could do back then as they could be

kidnapped or assaulted.

The racial attitudes of the north and south were different but still very similar in many

ways. The North was much more progressive with their legislature on slavery and rights but the

racial attitude of the south was still somewhat prevelent. As racism was still a major issue that
Blacks faced in the north. Also runaway slaves who were able to escape to the north still lived

under the threat of capture from slave catchers who were able to bring runaway slaves back to

the south to face punishment. Because of this many fled to Canada such as Sally’s son Henry.

Through all of the obstacles and struggles Sally was able to secure freedom for her

children and give them a fighting chance for the tough future ahead of them.