In Hope of Understanding

As it turns out, I didn't stick with The Women even one day longer. I started reading In Hope of Liberty, by James Oliver and Lois E. Horton, and I'm about 1/3 of the way through.  It's a scholarly history book, filled with many facts and details about African American life in the English colonies of the northern U.S., from the first settlements up to the Civil War. 

The story is told in chronological order, so I'm to the early 1800s now in the account. What I've learned so far is both surprising and not surprising.  What's surprising is how much information there is about how these folks fared in the northern colonies, and how well some of them were able to do, even as slaves.  What is not surprising is that they struggled to maintain the freedoms they gained and that many whites actively worked against their efforts.  Moreover, though slavery was outlawed in most of the northern states before the Civil War, the emancipation process was gradual in many of them, taking years, with some slaves not freed until the Emancipation Proclamation.

Nevertheless, the difference in the experiences of enslaved people living in the north versus the south is remarkable.  The smaller number of slaves in northern colonies helped to make whites less paranoid, it seems, and therefore more tolerant of blacks' freedoms.  So some slaves were allowed to become literate, to have time off, to travel to some extent, to make money of their own by hiring themselves out or selling their goods, to learn technical skills, to own property, and to buy their freedom. 

Some slaves were thought of as similar to indentured servants, and were freed after a certain number of years of service.  Some were freed in their masters' will, or freed by those who came to believe slavery was wrong.  The shipbuilding and fishing industries, an important part of the northern coastal economy, employed many blacks, both free and enslaved. They were valued workers and often treated as such by the ships' captains and other sailors, especially out at sea where different social customs could prevail.

Despite all that, though, those who were enslaved still suffered hardships, not the least of which was knowing they were not free.  But free blacks helped their enslaved brethren. There were fairly large populations of free blacks living in cities and towns during the 18th century, where some formed abolitionist societies.  Many blacks, both free and enslaved, along with sympathetic white citizens, wrote articles and petitioned their governors, constantly pressuring for changes to the law, for the abolition of slavery.  And when it was clear that a break with England was coming, blacks (along with non-blacks) made it known that a truly free and democratic society could not also be a slave-holding society.

In Hope of Liberty also talks about the many blacks, slave and free, who served in the wars fought, including the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. Many volunteered, hoping to be freed.  Others were sent in place of their masters who paid for the privilege of staying out of harm's way.  Some slaves who fought well in the war were freed as a reward.  Others were not, having to return to their former status once the war was over.  Some chose to fight for Great Britain when the crown offered them freedom in exchange for their service.

There was a very interesting section on Crispus Attucks, one of the first people killed in the Revolutionary War.  It's actually a much more complex story than I've been led to believe in the little history I've heard about him.  He was a runaway slave, and apparently very active politically even before he took part in what became known as the Boston Massacre. Here is a brief account of his role in that incident: Attucks. The Hortons tell a detailed story about him and many other important African-Americans of the colonial period.

Also interesting was the authors' account of African-Americans' complex relationships with Native Americans. The Hortons portray them as mostly friendly and mutually supportive.

In Hope of Liberty is very well written, and as a result of reading it, I'm getting a much fuller picture of what life what like for northern blacks in the early years of our nation's history.  I'm looking forward to learning more in the next couple of weeks.

Stay tuned!

Two Weeks, Three Books

Well, I've been guilty of neglecting my reading blog for a week, but as always, I continue to read.  I finished the memoir It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium and turned to a novel by T. C. Boyle, East is East, followed by a non-fiction book I've been meaning to read for a long time, A Life Wild and Perilous, by Robert Utley, which chronicles the lives of several American mountain men in the nineteenth century. 

The memoir by John Ed Bradley was very interesting, but somewhat sad, in that it seems he is only just beginning to come to terms with his loss.  Apparently, no matter how exciting his life as a world-traveled free-lance journalist has proven to be, he still longs for his days playing football.  He doesn't completely explain why he decided to stop playing; he could have signed on with an NFL team, it seems, but declined in order to pursue his dream of becoming a writer.  He thought that as a professional football player he would not be credible as a novelist.  Ironically, his novels have not done well, but he enjoys continued success as a sports writer, a career enhanced by his first-hand sports experience.  After reading the book, I looked on line for more information about Bradley, but didn't find much, except for his articles.  Here's one of them, about Beryl Shipley, a basketball coach who died earlier this year: SI. I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in sports and athletes.

The novel I turned to this week was quite a departure from the Bradley memoir.  Boyle is a wonderful writer, one of my favorites, but I can't read more than one of his books at a time because they are so full. East is East was no exception; it's a wacky, satirical adventure about people living on an island off the coast of Georgia. The plot involves a Japanese teenager who jumps his cargo ship, and the denizens of an artist colony, one of whom tries to help him.  Also involved are people who try to catch the Japanese kid: an INS agent, a Vietnam veteran, a sheriff and townspeople.  All are quirky, maddening yet somehow sympathetic.  There's a serious message at the bottom (as with all good satire) and a less than happy ending, but all in all it was great fun, and I recommend it highly.  When I was finished,  it occurred to me that this book achieves what the book I read earlier, Six Suspects, attempts but fails to deliver.

T.C. Boyle has written many novels and other fiction. (One of them is the book about Kellogg, The Road to Wellville, which was made into a movie.)  He has wonderful characters and entertaining plots, but what sets him apart from many writers is his language.  He enjoys words and isn't afraid to use them, but he never comes across as wordy. I have several other books by Boyle that I got at Borders' closeouts, so I'll get back to him in the future.

The book I started yesterday is one I started years ago, shortly after buying it.  It was first published in 1997 and looks to be a very interesting book.  I know John, my husband, has read it and enjoyed it.  So I'll get back to you with my thoughts about  A Life Wild and Perilous in my next post.

See you then!