Cornerstones of Georgia History

6. Slavery in Antebellum Georgia

6 Slavery in AntebellumGeorgia On the eve of the Civil War, four of every nine Georgia residents lived in bondage. Almost half the capital in the state was invested in human property. A century earlier Georgians had debated the question of slavery. Now, the state was what Oglethorpe had feared: a rich land with resources concentrated in few hands. To be sure, numerous Georgians owned small farms, but about 20 percent of the free families possessed 90 percent of the wealth. During the three decades before 1860, the "peculiar institution" wasa topic of heated national discussion. Abolitionists saw slavery as a cruel, tyrannicalviolation of the rights on which the American republic wasfounded. To them, slavery was a sin because it destroyed families and denied freedoms and opportunities that other Americans took for granted. Southern apologists, on the other hand, spoke of a patriarchal society where fatherly masters protected contented, childlike servants, offering them cradle-to-grave security. The paternalists argued that their civilizationwas more humane than the free labor system of the North precisely because close personal bonds developed between master and slave. 63 The Sale of a Child None were more qualified to speak about slavery than those who endured it. One example was John Brown, a runaway slave, who published his autobiography in London in 1855.According to the original preface, the book was designed "to advance the anti-slavery cause by the diffusion of information ." John Brown, or Fed, as he was known as a bondsman,lived his early life near theVirginia-North Carolina border.1 The following selection is a poignantaccountof a Georgia slave trader's purchase of young Brown, separatinghim from his mother. I remained at James Davis's for nearly eighteen months. Once during that period, I remember he took me into the town to a tavern kept by one Captain Jemmy Duprey. There wasa negro speculator there, on the look-out forbargains, but he would not have me. I did not know where I was going, when my master took me with him, but when I got back I told my mother, who cried over me, and said she was very glad I had not been sold awayfrom her. But the time arrived when we were to be finally separated. Owing to a considerable rise in the price of cotton, there came a great demand for slaves in Georgia. One day a negro speculator named Starling Finney arrived at James Davis's place.2 He left his drove on the highway, in charge of one of his companions , and made his way up to our plantation, prospecting for negroes. It happened that James Davis had none that suited Finney, but being in want of money, as he was building a new house, and Finney being anxiousfor a deal, my master called me up and offered to sell me. I was then about or nearly ten years of age, and after some chaffering about terms, Finney agreed to purchase me by the pound. How I watched them whilst they were driving this bargain! and how I speculated upon the kind of man he waswho sought to buy me! His venomous countenance inspired me with mortal terror, and I almost felt the heavy thong of the great riding-whip he held in his hand, twisting around my shoulders. He was a large, tall fellow, and might have killed me easily with one blow from his huge fist. He had left his horse at the gate, and when the bargain for me was struck, he went out and led him to the door, where he took the saddle off. I wondered what this was for, though suspicious that it had something to do with me; nor had I long to wait before I knew. A ladder was set upright against the end of the building outside, to one rong of which they made a stilyard fast. The first thing Finney did was to weigh his saddle, the weight of which he knew, to see whether 6 4 & C O R N E R S T O N E S O F G E O R G I A H I S T O R Y the stilyard was accurately adjusted. Having satisfied himself of this, a rope was brought, both ends of which were tied together, so that it formed a large noose or loop. This was hitched over the hook of the stilyard, and I was...