Hired by the Federal Writers Project in 1937 (an agency of FDRs New Deal govt), Henry Grant was one of hundreds tasked with interviewing, documenting and recording the memories of 2,300 former slaves. "Well sir, you want to talk to me bout them good old days back yonder...

..in slavery time, does you?" ex-slave Junius Quattlebaum asks. "I call them good old days, 'cause I has never had as much since." This was the typical response given. To quote Thaddeus Russell now: "Many did tell of whippings, sadistic overseers, loved ones being sold away...

..and of wishing to be free. But we must come to terms with the fact that a majority of ex-slaves who offered an evaluation of slavery...had a positive view of the institution, and many unabashedly wished to return to their slave days."

Quattlebaum states the experience of many with this: "I has worked harder since de war betwixt de North and de South than I ever worked under my marster and missus."
The plantations weren't heaven, but to those who experienced both, slavery was clearly preferable.

William Curtis, a former slave in what is now Oklahoma, echoes the regret ex-slaves told of when freedom came: "After the war, nothing was right no more. Yes we was free, but we didn't know what to do. We didn't want to leave our old Master and our old home."

Interesting: most of those interviewed hated and feared the Union troops who freed them and would sometimes sabotage their plans. Ex-slave Gabe Emanuel of MS recalls: "One time us sot fire to a bridge de Yankees had to cross to git to de plantation. Dey had to camp on...

..de other side, 'cause dey was too lazy to put out de fire. Dat's ju' lak I figgered it...Lawdy! I sho' was happy when I was a slave."

Another slave from MS up until his 30s, Henri Necaise further states the partiality of the interviewees: "I was better off when I was a slave dan I is now, cause I had ever'thing furnished me den. Now I got to do it all myse'f."

Even still, many of the ex-slaves who remembered being whipped or sold remained positive about slavery, like Dave Harper of MO: "I was sold for $715. When de freedom come, I said 'give me $715 and I'll go back.'"

Freed in her 20s, Clara Young of AL remembered being sold & whipped but when asked her thoughts on slavery replied: "Well, leetle Miss, I tell you, I wish it was back. Us was a lot better off in dem days dan we is now. If dem Yankees had lef' us 'lone we'd been alot happier."

Many of those interviewed were well aware that their feelings and memories ran counter to the prevailing view of slavery in the 20th century. An ex-slave owned by Jefferson Davis himself, James Lucas, states thus: "I guess slav'ry was wrong, but I 'members us had some mighty...

..good times...one thing I does know is dat a heap of slaves was worse off after de War...Now dey is got to work or die. In dem days you worked an' rested an' knowed you'd be fed."

Interesting: many interviewees remembered this as the most popular song among slaves during the Civil War:

Phone is dying, will return to this thread after class.

OK, thread continued:
So, despite what we've been led to believe after emancipation, most slaves decided to stay on the plantations when given the choice. Another voice echoing the feeling of slaves once freedom came, this from one Lina Hunter: "Freedom didnt make so many...

..changes on our place right at fust, 'cause most of de slaves stayed right on dar, and things went on jus' lak dey had 'fore dere was any war. Marse Jack had done told 'em dey was free, but dat dem what wanted to stay would be tuk keer of same as 'fore de war. Dere warn't many..

..what left neither, 'cause Marse Jack had been so good to evvy one of 'em dey didn't want to go 'way."
Historian Paul D. Escott organized all the ex-slave interviews, the next page will be the numbers her calculated:

●9.6% stayed with their master after freedom but were unsure for how long
●18.8% stayed for 1-12 months
●14.9% stayed for 1-5 years
●And 22.1% stayed for over 5 years.

To contrast, only 9% left immediately upon being set free.

I am going to wrap this thread up, there are so many more preconceptions of this period in our history that need to be unlearned and I frankly do not have the time to cover them all here in this format. But let me cover a few broad points to help drive my point home:

1) there was an enormous disincentive for slaveowners to a)beat their slaves to frequently and too hard, and b) to sleep with their female slaves. This is counter to everything we've been told about american slavery as a whole.

2) As opposed to wanting to free enslaved blacks for moral reasons, Abolitionists despised the lazy, shiftless, carefree and leisureful characteristics of the slaves that ran counter to free whites at the time. They literally thought the slaves were TOO FREE.

3) The repressed, workaholic, anti-freedom society of "free" whites at this time was AWFUL. Working your fingers to the bone from Dawn to Dusk & where any form of sex, leisure, fun, or downtime of any kind is seen as the devil's breeding ground sounds like a miserable existance.

4) This is why Minstrel shows were the most popular form of entertainment for whites in the 19th century. T.D. Rice, creator of Jim Crow, understood this truth in the hearts of white Americans, and encapsulated it in his most famous song:

To conclude this thread, let me end with one final quote from Thaddeus Russell: " What these...wistful recollections of hundreds of ex-slaves point to is that slaves were able to create the culture so envied by whites not despite slavery, but because of it. In fact, slaves...

..held enormous advantages over those considered free-especially over those who wished to be good American citizens-and they participated in a broader range of activities and self-expression than any other group in early America."

If you are interested in reading more into the actual history of America and the real Americans who made it what it is today, please consider buying @ThaddeusRussell's book, A Renegade History of the United States. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416576134/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_lD7yFb6CV44S2

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