The Invention of Wings

Book: The Invention of Wings
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Edition: eBook
Read:  August 6, 2014
259 pages
Rated: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:
Sue Monk Kidd creates a fictional account of Sarah Grimke (white) and her slave Handful (black). This takes place over a thirty year period, ending in the 1830's.  Through a back and forth perspective, Kidd shows an uneasy, but friendly relationship between the two. Sarah Grimke wanting to free  Handful and Handful wanting to be free, but through the culture and laws of South Carolina, this cannot happen. The book traces Sarah and Angelica Grimke's flight to escape the South's slavery, and then becoming influential abolitionists and very early feminists.

Thoughts:
I will say right off that I am not a fan of historical fiction. First, because a straight up account is usually just as good as the dramatized account. But even more so, the dramatized account leaves an impression in ones mind that reality has been described. This may be an accurate impression, or it may be one which the author would like to slant-all recorded history has bias, but dramatized history would seem to have additional distortions. One thing which I am impressed with that Kidd acknowledges this and gives her references. She acknowledges blending her sources and creating more of a composite of life around the Grimke sisters-so this is not to be taken as a biography of Sarah Grimke. The slave girl, Handful, is one of these composites. Kidd draws heavily, and accurately from a book published by Angelica Grimke's husband, Theodore Weld called American Slavery: As It Is. This was published in 1839 and describes slavery from an insiders point f view.

[Slavery is] our way of life. (36) This has an effect on a person. In our time we have stories where robots make things easier for us. But we lose our ability to work, to think, to function. It is the same with slavery. When your life style is to dominate, you become hard, pitiless. It grows on you. Sort of like power does to a politician.

Why hadn't I told her Hetty's freedom was impossible? That the most which I could offer her was kindness? (59). Kindness is good. But what obstacles are there in doing what is right for Sarah? For me? Where do I feel this kind of guilt? How do I get around these obstacles?

Cause I could [make trouble]. You do your rebellions any way you could. (69). When a person lacks freedom, they will find some way to show they are not subservient. This goes on to another point: there is a tendency in slavery to dehumanize the slave. They are there for my pleasure. The slavery expressed in the Bible's Old Testament was for a limited length of time and maintained the person as a human. The slavery of the South caused the whites to look at blacks as inferior and objects. This caused the slaves themselves to be immoral-breeding where they could, stealing to retaliate or survive.

But something which The Invention of Wings hints at is how slavery dehumanizes the slave owners as well. They invent ways to torture/punish slaves. Things which are totally barbaric, yet was practiced by cultured and refined ladies of the South. The book shows how evil some of the people got.


The style of alternating voices between Sarah Grimke and Handful at times was useful when it talked about the same incident. But at other times the rigidness of this structure got in the way as it seemed like one or the other had little to say. I think rather than just alternating the voice which could be an effective technique, maybe a better use would be of use when one of them had something to say, to use that person and continue using that voice until the other had meaningful contribution.

Presbyterianism
Kidd makes mention the disdain Southerners had about Presbyterianism. It should be noted that even back in the late 1700's through the mid-1800's, there were several groups of Presbyterians, so one statement does not cover them all. I attend a Presbyterian church which sometimes does a self-mocking by referring to themselves as the frozen chosen. There is a tendency for us to be pretty set in our ways and how we worship. I was surprised when looking over some sites while researching this statement that Presbyterianism was associated with a more rougher type of religion-revivalism. Consequently they brought in undesirables if you were part of the upper class in society-not that all Presbyterians were that way. Many of the Founding Fathers of the United States were Presbyterians.

I was wondering if Presbyterians of the time were more abolitionist in nature because of the comments Kidd makes.  The answer is somewhat yes, but the view of slavery seemed to be more consistent concerning location rather than theology. Before the war, some Presbyterian churches even owned slaves and would rent them out to help pay expenses. According to Wikipedia, in 1861, the United Presbyterian Church of America split along North-South lines with the South becoming Presbyterian Church of the United States after the Civil War. Some more information can be found at the following sites:

• Bloomall Reformed Presbyterian Church
• American Presbyterian Denomination
• Christian Chronicler

 

Torture

What led to the torture of slavery. Something Kidd obtained from American Slavery was accurate descriptions of the ways slaves were coerced, tortured, and brought into submission. She talks about Charlotte, having stolen a bolt of silk forced to stand on one leg for an hour with a belt around her leg and neck. If she lets down her leg, she chokes. She is helpless to balance herself because her hands are tied behind her back. This was a real torment devised by a Southern woman to discipline her slave-there is no record that Mrs. Grimke used this method.

Or the treadmill as a means of punishing slaves. This is not our modern exercise or Medicean treadmill. It is a cylinder, maybe 10-12' high with steps. The slaves hands were tied above their head to a bar and then they needed to continue to walk up the steps. If they slowed Down, then they got whipped. Many slaves were either killed or crippled on this device. There was the added functionality that it ground grain and corn for the city.

Then there was the normal means of punishment where the slaves was whipped or beaten.  I cannot think of how  the South thought there was any morality connected with these punishments. But then how do you keep slaves in line if they turn rebellious? That, I think, is the crux of the problem with slavery-you need people willingly wanting to be slaves. Once you have people needing to be forced into slavery, then your forms of punishment grows deeper, as in the South.

Slavery

What is slavery? Can you have a moral slavery? For the Christan, is slavery allowable? On the first question, the dictionary says: Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property-from Wikipedia.. I think slavery is when a person, through no fault of their own, lacks the freedom of self-determination.  There is one place in the book which Handful says that she is constrained in her body, but her mind is free, while Sarah has freedom of doing what she wants, but her mind is bound by the customs, laws and ways of her people. Pete Seeger sang a German song, Die Gedanken sind frei which one of the lines in it says :

Die Gedanken Sind Frei, my thoughts freely flower
Die Gedanken Sind Frei, my thoughts give me power
No scholar can map them, no hunter can trap them

Evaluation: 
I was surprised by this book. Normally I do not read historical fiction-if you are interested in why, you can read more in my blog. Having previously I had read American Slavery by Theodore Weld, I was interested in seeing how Kidd's book would compare. Kidd skillfully brings the contents of American Slavery into The Invention of Wings without making it seem like these were actual occurrences to their main characters.

Kidd  writes her book based upon a curiosity of two of the Grimke sisters. They would grow into being abolitionists and probably the first US feminists. But do not mistake this for being a biography of them. This is a fictional account to bring the Grimke sisters forward to their proper place in our thinking. The Invention of Wings takes the basis of facts somewhat from what is known about the sisters, somewhat from how slavery functioned, somewhat a composite of whites, and some from the imagination of Kidd.

 This combination makes the book a good diving board to understand more of the South during slave times, along with some of the effects we still see in our society now.


New Words:

• Supercilious (229): behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others
• Desiccated (284): Desiccation is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying.
• Thalassotherapy (284): the medical use of seawater as a form of therapy
• Laudanum (284): a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine).
• Paregoric (284): camphorated tincture of opium, also known as tinctura opii camphorata, is a medication known for its antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic properties.
• Manumission (40): the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves
• Quevery (50): ????
• Crenulated (103): a fabric formed in metamorphic rocks such as phyllite, schist and some gneiss by two or more stress directions resulting in superimposed foliations.
• Cosseted (116):  to pamper; coddle; pet
• Anomalous (164): deviating from or inconsistent with the common order, form, or rule; irregular; abnormal:
• au courant (211):Informed on current affairs; up-to-date.
• Cabriolet (220): A light two-wheeled carriage with a folding top pulled by a single horse.
• Cowrie (224): the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.
• Circumambulation (229): to walk or go about or around, especially ceremoniously.
• Supercilious (229): haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression.
• Jonkonnu (318): a street parade with music, dance and costumes in many towns across The Bahamas

Book References:

• Journal of John Woolman
• American Slavery: As it Is by Theodore Weld, Angelica Grimke, and Sarah Grimke 
• Christian Women of the South By A.E. Grimke
• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
•  Letters on the Equality of the Sexes by Sarah Grimke
• Several other references are cited in the book's Author's Notes
• The Adventures of Telemachus
• The Sacres Biography of Jeanne d' Arc of France
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Good Quotes:

• First Line: There was a time in Africa the people could fly.
• Last Line: We rode onto the shining water, onto the far distance.
•  Everything she knew came from living on the scarce side of mercy. (14)
• There is no pain on earth which does not desire a benevolent witness (165).
• I have one mind for the master to see. I have another mind which I know is me. (275)
• To remain silent in the face of evil is itself a form of evil. (310)
• she was trapped same as me, but she was trapped by her mind, by the peoples minds around her, not by the law. ... Be careful you can get enslaved twice, once by your body and once in your mind.  Was some of this a quote from Denmark Versay?
• 
  

Table of Contents:

• Part One: November 1803-February 1805
• Part Two: February 11-December 1812
• Part Three: October 1818-November 1820
• Part Four: September 1821-July 1822
• Part Five: November 1826-November 1829
• Part Six: July 1835-June 1838

 Kidd also has sub-parts to each section. The sub-parts alternate between Handful and Sarah Grimke's voices. There are several of these sub-parts in each part.

Book Group:
Why did you want the group to read this book? Why did you read it in the first place?



Did you all read the book? Any of you attempt American Slavery As It Is?



Did you think Kidd presented a realistic view of slavery? How so?



Does the title of the book, The Invention of Wings, provide a good cover for this story? What images does it evoke for you?

Why hadn't I told her Hetty's freedom was impossible? That the most which I could offer her was kindness? (59). Sarah tried to educate Hettie-this is one of the few things we know about Sarah's slave. What obstacles prevent Sarah from doing what she thinks is right with Handful? How can we learn from how Sarah confronted these obstacles?

I used to make a glob with cornstarch and water. When left out, it was solid, but if squeezed, it would act like slime-think of a little food coloring to scare kids. Cause I could [make trouble]. You do your rebellions any way you could. (69) What is the effect of depriving a person of their freedom? Docile? Rebellion? What tools does one have to use to squelch rebellion? Does it matter on how rebellion or resistance is treated? Is torture the end result of slavery? Of a sense of superiority?

How is religion portrayed in this book? What affect did it have on Sarah? On Handful? In particular, why did Sarah chose a Presbyterian church? How was Presbyterian viewed? Why was the reaction for her that way? Handful and Denmark's church or the spirit tree?

Is there a Christian basis for slavery? If so, how would it look?



[Slavery is] our way of life.  One of things we have learned is that any thing will have an effect on us, on our culture. From this book, what effects did slavery have on the South? On white? On blacks? What did the whites see when they looked at a black? there is a tendency in slavery to dehumanize the slave. But something which The Invention of Wings hints at is how slavery dehumanizes the slave owners as well. They invent ways to torture/punish slaves. Things which are totally barbaric, yet was practiced by cultured and refined ladies of the South. The book shows how evil some of the people got. The opposite? Do we see any of those effects today? There is one place in the book which Handful says that she is constrained in her body, but her mind is free, while Sarah has freedom of doing what she wants, but her mind is bound by the customs, laws and ways of her people.

Pete Seeger sang a German song, Die Gedanken sind frei which one of the lines in it says :

Die Gedanken Sind Frei, my thoughts freely flower
Die Gedanken Sind Frei, my thoughts give me power
No scholar can map them, no hunter can trap them

Historical Fiction. This is one of the places which Sherri and I disagree. I am leery of reading historical fiction, mostly because it leaves too many unsubstantiated images behind. What kinds of images does this book leave in your mind? Do you think they are fair images what happened, or slanted through this book? As an example, the tea Party of Tennessee is trying to get a different take of slavery in their school's circculium.

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1. The title The Invention of Wings was one of the first inspirations that came to Sue Monk Kidd as she began the novel. Why is the title an apt one for Kidd's novel? What are some of the ways that the author uses the imagery and symbolism of birds, wings, and flight?

2. What were the qualities in Handful that you most admired? As you read the novel, could you imagine yourself in her situation? How did Handful continue her relentless pursuit of self and freedom in the face of such a brutal system?

3. After laying aside her aspirations to become a lawyer, Sarah remarks that the Graveyard of Failed Hopes is "an all-female establishment." What makes her say so? What was your experience of reading Kidd's portrayal of women's lives in the nineteenth century?

4. In what ways does Sarah struggle against the dictates of her family, society, and religion? Can you relate to her need to break away from the life she had in order to create a new and unknown life? What sort of risk and courage does this call for?

5. The story of The Invention of Wings includes a number of physical objects that have a special significance for the characters: Sarah's fleur-de-lis button, Charlotte's story quilt, the rabbit-head cane that Handful receives from Goodis, and the spirit tree. Choose one or more of these objects and discuss their significance in the novel.

6. Were you aware of the role that Sarah and Angelina Grimke played in abolition and women's rights? Have women's achievements in history been lost or overlooked? What do you think it takes to be a reformer today?

7. How would you describe Sarah and Angelina's unusual bond? Do you think either one of them could have accomplished what they did on their own? Have you known women who experienced this sort of relationship as sisters?

8. Some of the staunchest enemies of slavery believed the time had not yet come for women's rights and pressured Sarah and Angelina to desist from the cause, fearing it would split the cause of abolition. How do you think the sisters should have responded to their demand? At the end of the novel, Sarah asks, "Was it ever right to sacrifice one's truth for expedience?"

9. What are some of the examples of Handful's wit and sense of irony, and how do they help her cope with the burdens of slavery?

10. Contrast Handful's relationship with her mother with the relationship between Sarah and the elder Mary Grimke. How are the two younger women formed-and malformed-by their mothers?

11. Kidd portrays an array of male characters in the novel: Sarah's father; Sarah's brother, Thomas; Theodore Weld; Denmark Vesey; Goodis Grimke, Israel Morris, Burke Williams. Some of them are men of their time, some are ahead of their time. Which of these male characters did you find most compelling? What positive and negative roles did they play in Sarah and Handful's evolvement?

12. How has your understanding of slavery been changed by reading The Invention of Wings? What did you learn about it that you didn't know before?

13. Sarah believed she could not have a vocation and marriage, both. Do you think she made the right decision in turning down Israel's proposal? How does her situation compare with Angelina's marriage to Theodore? In what ways are women today still asking the question of whether they can have it all?

14. How does the spirit tree function in Handful's life? What do you think of the rituals and meanings surrounding it?

15. Had you heard of the Denmark Vesey slave plot before reading this novel? Were you aware of the extent that slaves resisted? Why do you think the myth of the happy, compliant slave endured? What were some of the more inventive or cunning ways that Charlotte, Handful, and other characters rebelled and subverted the system?

16. The Invention of Wings takes the reader back to the roots of racism in America. How has slavery left its mark on American life? To what extent has the wound been healed? Do you think slavery has been a taboo topic in American life?

17. Are there ways in which Kidd's novel can help us see our own lives differently? How is this story relevant for us today?
These 17 questions are from the publishers questions

 
References:

• Publisher's Web Site for Book
• Author's Web Site
  Author's Reading Group help
• Wikipedia-Author
• Amazon-Book
  Amazon-Author
• Barnes and Noble
• GoodReads-Book
• GoodReads-Author
• NPR Review 
• Oprah
• Lit Lovers, including Discussion Questions
• New York Times review
• The Guardian review
• Wikipedia-Grimke sisters
• Wikipedia-Sarah Grimke
• Wikipedia-Angelina Grimke
• Wikipedia-Theodore Weld
• Wikipedia-Denmark Vesery
• Wikipedia-Lucretia Mott
• 
  

American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses

Book: American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses
Author:  Weld, Theodore Dwight; Angelina Grimke and Sarah Grimke
Edition: eBook from the web site Documenting the American South
Read: July 2014
261 pages
Rated: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:
Written in 1839, it predates the Civil War by 20+ years. It lays out how slavery works, with its brutality. It was a tool to remove many of the Northern myths about the gentleness of Southern slavery. This was done through eye witness accounts, excerpting legal documents, newspaper articles, and advertisements.

Thoughts:
The first thing which struck me about this book was how pedantic it is. There is nothing fancy with it. Weld and the Grimke sisters collected accounts from eye-witnesses, newspapers and legal proceedings. Then categorized them. So the results does not lend me to a natural interest.

But the result is a real eye opener.  As individual testimonies you can argue that this was an isolated incident. But when you look at the large number of accounts, spread over 20 years throughout the South-even the more northern South, the picture painted is one of depravity. Not only to the pain and suffering inflicted on the slaves but to the resulting loss of humanity to the citizens of the South.

Weld starts the book with a series of testimonials about the fierce and brutal treatment of the slaves. He starts with the whippings endured for the smallest infractions, being tied to a post or hung over a beam to be stretched while whipped. These were the mild treatments. He describes how one lady invented a torment where a person would be forced to stand on one leg-the other tied to her and a noose around her head for over an hour. There is more, lots more, but you get the idea.

Then there were the work houses which today would be more described as torture chambers. These would be places where a slave-owner could take a slave to and have them disciplined. In most cases the disciplining would include the torments above, but more severe.

The work hours would be from before sunrise to well after sunset. A slave would need to eat before going to the fields. They may be able to have a break or two in the fields before coming back to their hut. Any clothes or repairs or firewood which was needed got to be done during their "off" hours. This included sleeping. A slave owner would do a calculation on how much work vs feed vs time in the field could they get out of the slave before they would die. As long as he got his money's worth out of the slave, he was OK with slaves dying, even as much turn over as having to get a new slave every three or four years.

Slave families were not a consideration, only what money could a slave holder get for the slave. Consequently, children were orphaned regularly when a mother or father was sold. Pregnant women would be worked until almost they gave birth. A new mother would be given two weeks off before returning to the fields, with their new babies being layened by the side of the field. No special account was given to their needs.

Weld addressed the concerns that these were isolated cases or actions only committed by lower class people. But he showed how judges, mayors, governors and congressmen all took part. Religion or gender did not lessen the ferocity of the brutality. Nor did location-brutality was the norm even in the northern part of the South.

The legal system did not protect the slaves as the slaves had no rights.  Our dog has more protection against abuse and death than the slaves had. 

Blacks in the North were not safe either. Repeated stories of being snatched from a Northern town only to be a slave in the South were relayed. Even those who had papers and were free-born were not safe.  Justice in the South for a black was non-existent, so a black had no right to appeal to the law. Even when prominent Northerners vouched for the black, the black was not let go.

One of the more damning sections happens at the last. Weld talks about the effect of slavery on the slave holders. He shows that the amount of lawlessness in the South is highly out of proportion to what it is in comparative Northern states. But it is not only the amount, but the corruptness of the law in the South has suffered. While he does not say outright, but the inference is there, slavery degrades the owners as well as the slaves. It brings down the culture to own another person.

So is this book only an interesting piece of history? To me there was several take aways from it:

• The book brought into sharp focus that slavery in America was not just a matter of not paying someone and denying their freedom. But it was cruel and barbaric, probably something along the scope of the Nazi's in Germany. The only thing was the Nazi's were organized while the South did not have that theme of common focus.
• The question would be is slavery ever humane? I cannot answer that. In the Bible, the Jews had a system where slavery was not perpetual, and had limits, sort of like an indentured serverant. But I do not think the Jews ever put it into practice.
• Is there systems in place today which are similar? I do not know of anything in America, except for an occasional sweat house. But there is slavery still practiced around the world.
• Last, and maybe more personal, anytime which we wrong another, we also degrade ourselves. This is a biblical theme. It just is not really talked about. This may be the main effect of liberalism today. Not that I think that capitalism with its disregard for morals in its rush for money does better. We are consumed with wrong-doing. We will be reaping the effect of that soon.

Evaluation: 
A word of explanation on why I gave this a four stars. It is not a well written book. It is hard reading and very dated. But it is a book which causes one to sharpen their image of the American past, particularly pre-Civil War. It also makes one understand a bit more of some parts of the South today. This book was written in 1839 as an anti-slavery tact, 13 years before Uncle Tom's Cabin was published. It is said it was the most influential abolitionist book behind Uncle Tom's Cabin.

I found this book through a note from Susan Monk Kidd in her book The Invention of Wings. In Kidd's book she noted that the Angelina and Sarah Grimke were from her home town and she did not know about it. From there, she found an American Anti-Slavery Society tract called American Slavery: As It Is.  Having previously read Fredrick Douglas' autobiography earlier, I was wondering how this book matched up and how Kidd's book matched with American Slavery. If anything, Douglas' book is rather tame compared to Weld's account.

This is not light reading. As one person said, she could not rate the book because it is not entertainment reading. She is right, it was an indictment in 1839 about the whole slavery system. As such, it is 250+ pages of painful reading of one atrocity after another done to Negros both slaves and free.

I will say I had a tendency to skip some paragraphs as there is a lot of repetition of similar acts of torture. But this book was written to document how slavery had inflicted evil on the South. Not only on negros, but on white. The writings show that the people of the South considered the negros as sub-human. They would inflict punishments on them that not even their animals would have been subject to. Not only are the negros degraded, but so is the whole culture. This book indirectly shows how the whites resorted to a leve of brutality which we more associate with barbarians than the refined culture of the South.

As a book, it is repetitive. It relies on people's accounts rather than the authors narrative to get their points across. As a propaganda tool, an instructional instrument, it opened my eyes to how truly barbaric the treatment of slaves in the South was. This is a must read for anybody who wants to understand the nature of slavery. Warning, this is a very graphic book, even for our times.

Book References:

• Picture of slavery in the United States, George Bourne
  
  

Good Quotes:

• First Line: READER, you are empannelled as a juror to try a plain case and bring in an honest verdict.  
• Last Line:  If, when in passion, they seize those who are on their own level, and dash them under their feet, with what a crushing vengeance will they leap upon those who are always under their feet? 

Table of Contents:

INTRODUCTION.--7-10.
Twenty-seven hundred thousand free born citizens of the U. S. in slavery, 7: Tender mercies of slaveholders, 8: Abominations of slavery, 9: Character of the testimony, 9-10.
PERSONAL NARRATIVES--PART I. pp. 10-27.
NARRATIVE OF NEHEMIAH CAULKINS, 102; North Carolina slavery, 11; Methodist preaching slavedriver, Galloway, 12: Women at child-birth, 12: Slaves at labor, 12: Clothing of slaves, 13; Allowance of provisions, 13; Slave-fetters, 13; Cruelties to slaves, 13, 14, 15, Burying a slave alive, 15; Licentiousness of Slaveholders, 15, 16; Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, with his "hands tied," 16; Preachers cringe to slavery, 15; Nakedness of slaves, 16; Slave-huts, 16; Means of subsistence for slaves, 16, 17; Slaves' prayer, 17.
NARRATIVE OF REV. HORACE MOULTON, 17; Labor of the slaves, 18; Tasks, 18; Whipping posts, 18; Food, 18 Houses, 19; Clothing, 19; Punishments, 19, 20; Scenes of horror, 20; Constables, savage and brutal, 20; Patrols, 20; Cruelties at night, 20, 21; Paddle-torturing, 20; Cat-hauling, 21; Branding with hot iron, 21; Murder with impunity, 21; Iron collars, yokes, clogs, and bells, 21.

NARRATIVE OF SARAH M. GRIMKE, 22; Barbarous Treatment of slaves, 22; Converted slave, 22; Professor of religion, near death, tortured his slave for visiting his companion, 33; Counterpart of James Williams' description of Larrimore's wife, 23; Head of runaway slave on a pole, 23; Governor of North Carolina left his sick slave to perish, 23; Cruelty to Women slaves, 34; Christian slave a martyr for Jesus, 24.
TESTIMONY OF REV. JOHN GRAHAM, 25; Twenty-seven slaves whipped, 26.
TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM POE, 26; Harris whipped a girl to death, 26; Captain of the U. S. Navy murdered his boy, was tried and acquitted, 26; Overseer burnt a slave, 26; Cruelties to slaves, 26.
PRIVATIONS OF THE SLAVES, pp. 27--44.
FOOD, 28-31; Suffering from hunger, 28; Rations in the U. S. Army, &c, 32; Prison rations, 33-34; Testimony, 34, 35. LABOR, 35; Slaves are overworked, 35; Witnesses, 35, 36; Henry Clay, 37; Child-bearing prevented, 37; Dr. Channing, 38; Sacrifice of a set of hands every seven years, 38; Testimony, 39: Laws of Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia, 39. CLOTHING, 40; Witnesses, 40, 41; Advertisements, 41; Testimony, 41; Field-hands, 41; Nudity of slaves, 42; John Randolph's legacy to Essex and Hetty, 42. DWELLINGS, 42; Witnesses, 43; Slaves are wretchedly sheltered and lodged, 43. TREATMENT OF THE SICK, 44.
PERSONAL NARRATIVES, PART II. pp 45-57.
TESTIMONY OF THE REV. WILLIAM T. ALLAN. 45; Woman delivered of a dead chiid, being whipped, 46; Slaves shot by Hilton, 46; Cruelties to slaves, 46; Whipping post, 46; Assaults, and maimings, 46, 47; Murders, 47; Puryear, "the Devil," 47; Overseers always armed, 44; Licentiousness of Overseers, 47; "Bend your backs," 47; Mrs. H., a Presbyterian, desirous to cut Arthur Tappan's throat, 47; Clothing, Huts, and Herding of slaves, 47; Iron yokes with prongs, 47; Marriage unknown among slaves, 46; Presbyterian minister at Huntsville, 47; Concubinage in Preacher's house, 47; Slavery, the great wrong, 47.
NARRATIVE OF WILLIAM LEFTWICH, 48, 49; Slave's life, 48, 49.
TESTIMONY OF LEMUEL SAPINGTON, 49; Nakedness of slaves, 49; Traffic in slaves, 49.
TESTIMONY OF MRS. LOWRY, 50; Long, a professor of religion killed three men, 50; Salt water applied to wounds to keep them from putrefaction, 50.
TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM C. GILDERSLEEVE, 50; Acts of cruelty, 50.
TESTIMONY OF HIRAM WHITE, 51; Woman with a child chained to her neck, 51; Amalgamation, and mulatto children, 51.
TESTIMONY OF JOHN M. NELSON, 51; Rev. Conrad Speece influenced Alexander Nelson when dying not to emancipate his slaves, 52; George Bourne opposed slavery in 1810, 52.
TESTIMONY OF ANGELINA GRIMKE WELD, 52; House-servants, 52; Slave-driving female professors of religion at Charleston, S. C., 53; Whipping women and prayer in the same room, 53; Tread-mills, 53; Slaveholding religion, 54; Slave-driving mistress prayed for the divine blessing upon her whipping of an aged woman, 54; Girl killed with impunity, 54; Jewish law, 54; Barbarities, 54; Medical attendance upon slaves, 55; Young man beaten to epilepsy and insanity, 55; Mistresses flog their slaves, 55; Blood-bought luxuries, 55; Borrowing of slaves, 55; Meals of slaves, 55; All comfort of slaves disregarded, 56; Severance of companion lovers, 56; Separation of parents and children, 56; Slave espionage, 57; Sufferings of slaves, 57; Horrors of slavery indescribable, 56.
TESTIMONY OF CRUELTY INFLICTED UPON SLAVES, 57; Colonization Society, 60; Emancipation Society of North Carolina, 60; Kentucky, 61.
PUNISHMENTS, 62-72; Floggings, 62; Witnesses and Testimony, 62, 63.
SLAVE DRIVING, 69; Droves of slaves, 70.
CRUELTY TO SLAVES, 70; Slaves like Stock without a shelter, 71; "Six pound paddle," 71.
TORTURES OF SLAVES. Iron collars, chains, fetters, and hand-cuffs, 72-76: Advertisements for fugitive slaves, 73: Testimony, 74, 75: Iron head-frame, 76: Chain coffles, 76; Droves of 'human cattle,' 76: Washington, the National slave market, 76: Testimony of James K. Paulding, Secretary of the Navy; Literary fraud and pretended prophecy by Mr. Paulding, 77. Brandings, Maimings, and Gun-shot wounds, 77: Witnesses and Testimony, 77-82: Mr. Sevier, senator of the U. S. 79: Judge Hitchcock, of Mobile, 79: Commendable fidelity to truth in the advertisements of slaveholders, 82: Thomas Aylethorpe cut off a slave's ear, and sent it to Lewis Tappan, 93: Advertisemants for runaway slaves with their teeth mutilated, 83, 84; Excessive cruelty to slaves, 85: Slaves burned alive, 86: Mr. Turner, a slave-butcher, 87: Slaves roasted and flogged, 87: Cruelties common, 88: Fugitive slaves, 88: Slaves forced to eat tobacco worms, 88: Baptist Christians escaping from slavery, 88; Christian whipped for praying, 88: James K. Paulding's testimony, 89: Slave driven to death, 89: Coroner's inquest on Harney's murdered female slave, 89: Man-stealing encouraged by law, 90: Trial for a murdered slave, 90: Female slave whipped to death, and during the torture delivered of a dead infant, 90: Slaves murdered, 90, 91, 92: Slave driven to death, 92: Slaves killed with impunity, 93: George, a slave, chopped piece-meal, and burnt by Lilburn Lewis, 92; Retributive justice in the awful death of Lilburn Lewis, 94: Trial of Isham Lewis, a slave murderer, 94.
PERSONAL NARRATIVES.--PART III. PAGE 94-109.
NARRATIVE OF REV. FRANCIS HAWLEY, 94; Plantations, 94; Overscers, 95; No appeal from Overseers to Masters, 95.
CLOTHING, 95; Nudity of slaves  WORK, 95; Cotton-picking, 96; Mothers of slaves, 96; Presbyterian minister killed his slave, 96; Methodist colored preacher hung, 96; Licentiousness, 97; Slave-traffic, 97; Night in a Slaveholder's house, 97; Twelve slaves murdered, 97; Slave driving Baptist preachers, 97; Hunting of runaways slaves, 97; Amalgamation, 97. TESTIMONY OF REUBEN C. MACY, AND RICHARD MACY, 98. Whipping of slaves, 98, 99. Testimony of Eleazer Powel, 99; Overseer of Hinds Stuart, shot a slave for opposing the torture of his female companion, 100. TESTIMONY OF REV. WILLIAM SCALES, 100. Three slaves murdered with impunity, 100; Separation of lovers, parents, and children, 101.

TESTIMONY OF JOS. IDE, 101. Mrs. T. a Presbyterian kind woman-killer, 101; Female slave whipped to death, 101; Food, 101; Nakedness of slaves, 101; Old man flogged after praying for his tyrant, 101; Slave-huts not as comfortable as pig-sties, 101.
TESTIMONY OF REV. PHINEAS SMITH, 101. Texas, 102; Suit for the value of slave 'property,' 102; Anson Jones, Ambassador from Texas, 102; No trial or punishment for the murder of slaves, 102; Slave-hunting in Texas, 102; Suffering drives the slaves to despair and suicide, 102.
TESTIMONY OF PHIL'N BLISS, 102. Ignorance of northern citizens respecting slavery, 102, Betting upon crops, 103; Extent and cruelty of the punishment of slaves, 103; Slaveholders excuse their cruelties by the example of Preachers, and professors of religion, and Northern citizens, 104; Novel torture, eulogized by a professor of religion, 104; Whips as common as the plough, 104; Ladies use cowhides, with shovel and tongs, 104. TESTIMONY OF REV. WM. A. CHAPIN, 105. Slave-labor, 105; Starvation of slaves, 105; Slaves lacerated, without clothing, and without food, 105.
TESTIMONY OF T. M. MACY, 105. Cotton plantations on St. Simon's Island, 105; Cultivntion of rice, 106; No time for relaxation, 106; Sabbath a nominal rest, 106; Clothing, 106; Flogging, 106.
TESTIMONY OF F. C. MACY, 106. Slave cabins, 106; Food, 106; Whipping every day, 106; Treatment of slaves as brutes, 106; Slave-boys fight for slaveholder's amusement 107; Amalgamation common, 107.
TESTIMONY OF A CLERGYMAN, 107. Natchez, 107; 'Lie down," for whipping, 107; Slave-hunting, 108, 'Ball and chain' men, 108; Whipping at the same time, on three plantations, 108; Hours of Labor, 108; Christians slave- hunting, 108; Many runaway slaves annually shot, 108; Slaves in the stocks, 108; Slave-branding, 108. CONDITION OF SLAVES, 108. Slavery is unmixed cruelty, 108; Fear the only motive of slaves, 109; Pain is the means, not the end of slave-driving, 109; Characters of Slave drivers and Overseers, brutal, sensual, and violent, 109; Ownership of human beings utterly destroys their comfort, 109.
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED:--PAGE 120--210.
I. Such cruelties are incredible, 110. Slaves deemed to be working animals, or merchandize; and called 'Stock,' 'Increase,' 'Breeders,' 'Drivers,' 'Property,' 'Human cattle,' 110; Testimony of Thomas Jefferson, 110; Slaves worse treated than quadrupeds, 111, 112; Contrast between the usage of slaves and animals, 112; Testimony, 112; Northern incredulity discreditable to consistency, 112; Religious persecutions, 113; Recent 'Lynchings,' and Riots, in the United States, 113; Many outrageous Felonies perpetrated with impunity, 113; Large faith of the objectors who 'can't believe,' 114; 'Doe faces,' and 'Dough faces,' 114; Slave-drivers acknowledge their own enormities, 114; Slave plantations in Alabama. Louisiana, and Mississippi, second only to hell,' 114; Legislature of North Carolina, 115; Incredulity discreditable to intelligence, 115; Abuse of power in the state, and churches, 115; Legal restraints, 116; American slaveholders possess absolute power, 116; Slaves deprived of the safeguards of law, 116; Mutual aversion between the oppressor and the slave, 116; Cruelty the product of arbitrary power, 117; Testimony of Thomas Jefferson, 117; Judge Tucker, 117; Presbyterian Synod of South Carolina, and Georgia, 117; General William H. Harrison, 117; President Edwards, 118; Montesquieu, 118; Wilber force, 118; Whitbread, 118; Characters, 118, 121.
OBJECTION II.--"Slaveholders protest that they treat their slaves well." 121 Not testimony but opinion, 122; 'Good treatment' of slaves,' 123; Novel form of cruelty, 125.
OBJECTION III.--"Slaveholders are proverbial for their kindness, and generosity, 125; Hospitality and benevolence contrasted, 125, 126; Slaveholders in Congress, respecting Texas and Hayti, 126; 'Fictitious kindness and hospitality,' 128.
OBJECTION IV.--"Northern visitors at the south testify that the slaves are not cruelly treated," 128. Testimony, 128, 129; 'Gubner poisened,' 129; Field-hands, 130; Parlor slaves, 130; Chief Justice Durell, 131.
OBJECTION V.--"It is for the interest of the masters to treat their slaves well," 132; Testimony, 133. Rev. J. N Maffitt, 134; Masters interest to treat cruelly the great body of the slaves, 134, 138; Various classes of slaves, 135, 136; Hired slaves, 136; Advertisements, 136, 137.
OBJECTION VI:--"Slaves multiply; a proof that they are not inhumanly treated, and are in a comfortable condition, 139. Testimony, 139; Martin VanBuren, 139; Foreign slave trade, 139; 'Beware of Kidnappers,' 140; 'Citizens sold as slaves,' 141; Kidnapping at New Orleans, 141; Slave breeders, 142.
OBJECTION VII.--"Public opinion is a protection to the slave, 143” Decision of the Supreme Court of North and South Carolina, 143; 'Protection of slaves,' 143; Mischievous effects of 'public opinion' concerning slavery, 144; Laws of different states, 144; Heart of slaveholders, 145; Reasons for enacting the laws concerning cruelties to slaves, 147; 'Moderate correction,' 148; Hypocrisy and malignity of slave laws, 148; Testimony of slaves excluded, 149; Capital crimes for slaves, 149; 'Slaveholding brutality,' worse than that of Caligula, 149; Public opinion destroys fundamental rights, 150; Character of slaveholders' advertisements, 152; Public opinion is diabolical, 152, 154; Brutal indecency, 154; Murder of slaves by law, 155, 156; Judge Lawless, 157; Slave-hunting, 159, 160; Health of slaves, 161; Acclimation of slaves, 162; Liberty of Slaves 162; Kidnapping of free citizens, 162; Law of Louisiana, 163; FRIENDS', memorial, 164; Domestic slavery, 164; Advertisements, 164, 167; Childhood, old age, 167; Inhumanity, 169; Butchering dead slaves, 169; South Carolina Medical college, 169; Charleston Medical Infirmary, 172; Advertisements, 172, 173; Slave murders, 173; John Randolph, 173; Charleston slave auctions, 174; 'Never lose a day's work,' 174; Stocks, 175; Slave-breeding, 175; Lynch law, 175; Slaves murdered, 176; Slavery among Christians, 176, 180; Licentiousness encouraged by preachers, 180; 'Fine old preacher who dealt in slaves,' 180; Cruelty to slaves by professors of religion, 181; Slave-breeding, 182; Daniel O'Connel, and Andrew Stevenson, 182; Virginia a negro raising menagerie, 182 Legislature of Virginia, 182; Colonization Society, 183; Inter-state slave traffic, 184; Battles in Congress, 184; Duelling, 185; Cock-fighting, 186; Horse-racing, 186; Ignorance of slaveholders, 187; 'Slave-holding civiltzation, and morality,' 188; Arkansas, 188; Slave driving ruffians, 189, 190; Missouri, 191; Alabama, 192; Butcheries in Mississippi, 194; Louisiana, 198; Tennessee, 200; Fatal Affray in Columbia, 201; Presentment of the Grand Jury of Shelby County, 202; Testimony of Bishop Smith of Kentucky, 204, 206.

ATLANTIC SLAVEHOLDING REGION, 206. Georgia, 206; North Carolina, 209; Trading with Negroes, 209; Conclusion, 210.

References:

• Wikipedia-Author
• Wikipedia-Book
• Amazon
• GoodReads-Book
• Documenting the American South
•  PBS America Experience video
•  Steve Wilkins and Douglas Wilson's monograph entitled Southern Slavery As It Was 
• The monograph argues that slavery was not done right in the South and tries to defend the institution of slavery from a Biblical point of view.
• Lew Wallace in Ben Hur depicts a type of Jewish slavery which was different than Weld's. It shows Ben Hur as a benevolent master whose servants love him and his family. Could this ever be a reality?
  
•  Reprint of slaves dancing
•