Suck on the Marrow

Primer, Or A History of These United States (Abridged)

81 Primer, Or A History of These United States (Abridged) A fiction based on fact: The characters and narratives in Suck on the Marrow are fictional, true to the reality of how history proceeds. As the circumstances and sites depicted in our history are inspired by actual documents and facts (many of which are cited and glossed in the following pages), any resemblance to real people or events is not the least bit coincidental. A half hand: Slaves were often listed in sale advertisements, deeds, and other registries according to their worth: a half hand, like the one mentioned in “Born on This Place,” would be worth half the going rate of a fully able-bodied worker, a quarter hand worth 25 cents on the dollar, and so on. A blue bag: Perpetual access to the contents of this household requirement might be worth more or less than a slave, depending on how much you value your linens. A blue bag, like the one mentioned in “Taming Shad” was a bag of bluing substances, usually derived from anil or indigo, used to brighten white fabrics that have yellowed in the wash. “Aspire”: Like so much of history, this version was inspired by another’s. “After Tomas Tranströmer,” is how many books would phrase this fact. Auctions: One way to move human property was through slave auctions such as those referred to in “You are not the one Melinda sings her underbreath song to please: iii” and “At Madame Jane’s.” Newspaper advertisements were another common method of alerting potential buyers to impending sales. The italicized text in “Code” is from a sale advert reproduced in The Emancipator and Journal of Public Morals, October 21, 1834. Slaves of high value to a household might yield a greater profit in a sale—imagine a slave who was particularly intelligent or specifically skilled, or consider women who bore a number of healthy slave children and also served as milk nurses for legitimate sons. With or without their families, these slaves were often the first assets liquidated. Less costly replacements could usually be found. “and thou shalt be called a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name”: We’ve done what we can to create sense out of chaos (see chaos), but the order’s all mixed up. We understand. Very little 82 in history is alphabetized, truly chronological, or logical. Consider the Bible: The italicized text here is from Isaiah 62: 1-4 from which verses come the definition of the name Hephzibah: “the Lord delighteth in thee.” Consider the hunt: Just as bird dogs are taught to ignore other animal’s scents, welltrained slave hounds were taught to track human scents and ignore other trails. Consider the hunt in the Bible: In Genesis 27, Rebecca uses animal skins to lure the master of the house, who loved wild game to distraction, into fulfilling her will. “At Madame Jane’s”: What became of Rebecca? This is all we know: “The ‘Buzzard Roost’ neighborhood in Lynchburg was well known for its gambling houses, bars, houses of prostitution and other ‘dens of iniquity.’” It was a neighborhood, common to many larger towns and cities, where populations of runaways “thrived.” SoclaimedFreeBlacksofLynchburg,Virginia,1805-1865researchedandwrittenbyTed Delaney and Phillip Wayne Rhodes. They knew that history is at once an open book and a blind alley. Books: “The House Book, or a Manual of Domestic Economy: Fuel, Fires, & etc.” was published in 1840 by Miss Eliza Leslie of Philadelphia. A handy little text (both the book and the resultant fourchapter poem), the former proved a resonant source of inspiration and information, including all titles, subtitles, and epigraphs recorded in the latter. Chapters: Dungy’s “The House Book, or a Manual of Domestic Economy: Fuel, Fires, & etc.” is divided into several chapters including “Chapter II. Grates and Stoves,” which references Anti-slavery committees such as Boston’s New England Anti-Slavery Committee, founded in 1832, and the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee (1838-1844) which flourished in Northern cities in the 1830s and 1840s. Local vigilance committees provided necessities such as clothing, food, board, medicine, money, transportation , start-up support, and legal assistance to fugitive slaves. Organizations and their members operated despite great legal, personal, and material risk. On May 14, 1838 the ornate Pennsylvania Hall opened in Philadelphia to house the American Anti-Slavery Society. This building was irreparably burned as a resultofriotsonMay17 ,1838.Appreciatingthedesiretoachievetheirintegratedgoal,butequallyawareof manysuchdangersinherentinignoringthestrengthofindividualunits,chaptersweremeanttofunction both independently of and in concert with the main. In “Chapter...