Jonathan Jones' Questions for Discussion
While, of course, you will need to have completed all of this week's assigned reading, please focus for discussion purposes on pages 442 - 443 in the textbook - "Blacks and Whites Describe the End of Slavery" - and the excerpt from Patriarcha by Robert Filmer from the online reader, unit 1.
Here are this weeks questions. Answer as completey as you can.
1. Using evidence from the article "Blacks and Whites Describe the End of Slavery," describe some ways in which a slave community (plantation or otherwise) is like a family.
2. Using evidence from Patriarcha, describe some ways in which a nation is like a family.
3. Do you see any connections?
See you all in class!
Here are this weeks questions. Answer as completey as you can.
1. Using evidence from the article "Blacks and Whites Describe the End of Slavery," describe some ways in which a slave community (plantation or otherwise) is like a family.
2. Using evidence from Patriarcha, describe some ways in which a nation is like a family.
3. Do you see any connections?
See you all in class!
posted by Jonathan Jones at 10:27 AM
35 Comments:
1. The slave community in a lot of aspects was very much like a family. Some of the slave owners treated the slaves well. In the case of Sarah Debro, she received a clean apron every day, which back then a lot of non-slaves didn't even receive. When the slaves were freed, Sarah's mother came back to get her, but Sarah was treatd so well by her owners that she didn't want to go.
Allen Williams was also treated well. When he was freed, his master liked him enough to offer him a nicer pair of clothes. Even though he was free, Williams still decided to stay with his master, which shows the family-like connection they had.
2. The excerpt from Patriarcha compares the king of a nation to a father of a family. The king/father is in control, but in most instances without absolute power. It also says that kings and fathers have the same duties, such as feed, clothe, instruct, and protect the "family."
In comparison, the nation is like the family and the king is like the father.
3. The connection I see is that the slave owner is a lot like the father/king who is in control. In some instances slaves even viewed their owners as a father-like figure and decided to stay with them even after they were freed.
A nation revolting against a bad king can be compared to a slave revolting against a bad owner.
Austin Mouse
1. In some ways slaves seem to be a part of the slave owners family. Through the letters, I see that many of the slaves were close to there slave owners and didn’t want to leave. For example, Sarah Debro said she didn’t want to leave, that her mother simply made her leave. In most cases the slaves spent most of their lives working for their slave owners and were comfortable with their lifestlye. It seems though as if their slave owner served as their gaurdian, due to the fact they provided clothing, food, and shelter. When the slaves were told that they were free their were mixed reactions. Many wanted to continue working for their owner, their family.
2. Robert Filmer compares the role of a king to the role of the father of a household. Filmer states that like a father it is the kings duty to “feed, clothe, instruct, and defend the whole commonwealth.” He goes on to say, “so that all the duties of a king are summed up in an universal fatherly care of his people.” Another point Filmer makes, is that kings and fathers have the same powers of authority, subject only to the law of God. Furthermore, Filmer goes on to say “every father is bound by the law of nature to do his best for the preservation of his family” and for the king, “the saftey of his kingdom be his chief law.” In conclusion, nations are like families in that their leaders are intrusted to their properity.
3. The biggest connection I see in the two works is the concept of power and authority. In “Blacks and Whites Describe the End of Slavery” it tells of the slave owner (authoritive figure) setting their slaves free. In Filmers article it is all about kings/fathers authority. Filmer decribes, that the power of king/father is subject only to God and nature, which differs to “Black White…” in that the slave owner (authoritive figure) is made to free their slaves. However we can say that owning slaves is against the law of God which would therefore constitute for freeing the slaves.
Patrick Fitzgerald
1. The slave community is much like a family by whites would use slaves to help there family. Cook, Clean , help raise there children. Some slave owners treated there slaves very good. In the case of Allen Williams when he was free his ex master wanted to give him new clothes and Allen left he couldn't find work so he went back the his ex master and worked for him.
2. A nation is like a family by the king of the nation is the father. The duties of the father are to take care of the family. Supporting them finacially, give them clothing, shelter, food, and love. The nation is a family and the father is king.
3. I see a connection by Slave owners were there slaves king. They gave them food, shelter, and clothing. Some were good to there slaves and some wernt good to there slaves.
1. The slave community is like a family in my opinion not only to the slaves but to the slave owners as well. Most slaves seem to be treated very well. When slavery did end, they went from getting paid, a house to stay at, and fresh clothes, to trying to find a new job with as many benefits. I doubt any of them had much schooling, and they were taken from their families such a long time ago, most of them had nowhere to go,"wandered from place to place". To us slavery was African Americans getting brutally treated and harassed, but what people like Allen Williams said, his owner offered him a new pair of clothes for when he left. So a plantation resembled a family because when the slaves would work for them they would repay them with food to eat and a place to stay
2. In Patriarcha it shows how the nations leader is the King. In a family the king would represent the father being the authority in the family. In Patriarcha it makes direct connections with a nation and a family saying things that the father and the king would have the same responsibilities to "feed, clothe, instruct, and protect the family". Filmer also makes a comparison by saying "whether the prince be the the supreme father of the people" basically meaning that whether someone be the king, prince, or a father they all have the same duties to their "families".
3. The connection that is most obvious to me is that a father, a prince, a king or a slave owner all hold similar responsibilities for their own people. The king may be for an entire nation, to keep peace. A father to protect his family, and a slave owner to supply his slaves with necessities to survive, and not flee to a different plantation. So no matter what the "family" may be they all do have something in common.
1. I think the statement "a slave community is like a family" can vary quite a bit from case to case. In the cases of Sarah Debro and Allen Williams it seems to me that they were raised as one of the family. I mean Sarah had to be dragged away from Miss Polly by her mother when she was freed, and Master George told Allen that he would always have a place on the farm.
2. Filmer portrayed a king who was supposed to provide for his kingdom food, shelter, and protection, much as a father would do for his family.
3. I think the obvious connection would be that the slave owner is the king. He is supposed to take care of his "family" or his "kingdom." There were bad kingsand fathers just like there were bad slave owners.
1. The Slave community was some what close to a family. Althogh some were treated with more respect than others.
2. A Nation is very close to a family, becasue it has a king to protect it, provide for and educate it. Just like a father does to the family.
3. The only connection I see, is power. The King has the power to own and disown slaves anytime.
1. To me, the slave community seemed like a family in that the slaves were the “children”. I mean this only in the sense that once they were freed, many of them did not know where to go and did not want to leave, like Sarah Debro. Now, if young children were told they could leave their parents and do whatever they wanted, most of them would not know what to do, and they could not get work at any places that required an education. After Delicia Patterson left her former masters, she “wandered from place to place, working for food and a place to stay”. With their old masters, the former slaves were guaranteed a roof over their heads and food to eat, like children are with their parents. The slaveholder, therefore, would then be the “parent”. The masters could tell their slaves what to do, and when they were freed, they gave them “advice” to stay, very much like what parents of today would do for their children.
2. In Patriarcha, the author is comparing kings to fathers. He talks about how the responsibilities of the two are exactly the same, but the only difference is that kinds operate on a higher level. Like fathers protect their households, and hold the family’s best interest at heart, a king protects his kingdom, and does things to better the entire population. Another thing that is talked about is how the father has power over his children, and that the children don’t have a say in the rules. This excerpt stresses how that is how it should be for kings. The common people, or “children” should not have a say in what goes on with the government.
3. We see similarities arise between the two articles when it comes to the authority figure. In both instances, the authority figure or the “father” has the say in what goes on. Before the slaves were freed, the masters had reign over what they did, and kings could govern the people without regards to what the people wanted. It reveals the family connections that are intact today: generally, it is the parents’ job to lead the children.
1. “You is free… I lived with them till after I was grown.” This quote is from Allen Williams, a slave that lived on a small farm in Texas. You can tell that he felt like part of a family there as he stayed and worked for pay long after he was freed. His master had taken care of him and made sure that he had everything he needed, and even better after he was freed. In a sense, you could say that Allen looked up to Master George as his father.
“I would give her $12 a month and free her four children.” This quote tells how desperate Elizabeth Ingraham, a slave owner, was to keep a woman at her home. She in a way had a respect for Martha, the ex-slave, and wanted her to stay and work, even after she was freed.
2.“As the father over one family, so the king, as father over many families, extends his care to preserve, feed, clothe, instruct and defend the whole commonwealth.” This quote give a pretty good example of how a nation is like a family. You have one ruler who looks out for the common people to help them. Although the President does not supply the food on my table at night, he does make sure that there are ways for me to eat. He watches out for me, an average person, just as any father would watch out for his very own family.
3. A family can be made out of almost any situation. In both questions 1 and 2, families can be formed in one way or another, whether it is through respect or need. Family 1 was formed in a father respect as family 2 was formed through a ruler/king respect, but each had the same principles and ideas. Although each family is made under different circumstances, each is still a family none the less.
1. A slave community is exactly like a family. In a family you depend on one another just like in the very first paragraph the white woman talks of the slaves depending on one another. If one left it hurt them as a whole just like a family. If someone leaves a family it hurts the whole family.
Also some slaves were treated so well the masters made them feel like they were part of a family. In many cases in this reading they did not even want to leave their owners because it was so good there. Other cases were there to where they defiantly wanted to leave but then still they usually went to work for whites doing what they did just for pay.
2. He compares fathers to kings. The king is incharge of the whole country. A household is like a smaller country. All the people are his wife and children in the country he must take of them no matter what it takes. He may not be bound to them by blood but he is bound to them by love. Most kings loved their country and the people in it. Kings felt the same and had the same responsiblities as a father and he explains that throught the whole paper.
3. Connecting the two is rather simple a slave head or the owner of all the slaves is like the father or king. He is incharge of all his people a major diffrence is he may not feel that love but he still has to feed and clothe his slaves or else they will become weaker and not do as well in work. He still takes care of them in some ways a father would just for diffrent reasons.
1. You could say that a plantation or slave community is a lot like a family. Many of the slave owners actually liked their slaves and treated them well. Sarah Debro talked about the time that her mother came to take her away because she was free. Sarah didn't want to leave Miss Polly because she was treated well and loved living in her house. Allen Williams talked about how his Master gave him new clothes to wear when he was free and he often went back to live with his old master when he couldn't get work.
2. A nation is like a family in a few ways. The king is like the father. The king protects, feeds, clothes the people, just like a father would do for his family.
3. There is a small connection. Slave owners care for their slaves by feeding and clothing them. They also control the slaves. Fathers and kings are also like this because they too feed, clothe, and take care of their families or people.
1. A slave community oddly enough does resemble a family. Even though a majority of the slaves were treated horribly, slave owners did provide them with shelter, food, and in some cases clothing. For instance, Sarah Debro grew up on a plantation in North Carolina. Her master, Miss Polly, gave her a fresh apron every day and treated her with respect. On the day Sarah's mother tried explaining to Sarah that she was free, Sarah refused to leave. In addition, families were often split between plantations. Essentially, slaves did own any property, so all they had were each other. Over time, they grew to love and care for each other like a family.
2. In the excerpt Patriacha by Robert Filmer, the king of his nation is compared to the father of his family. Both feed, clothe, instruct, and defend their "children." Also, both the king of his people and the father of his children do everything possible to benefit and nourish their people or children.
3. I can see a connection between the slaveowner and the king. A slaveowner feeds, clothes, and shelters his slaves, while a king instructs and defends his country. In addition, both the king and the slaveowner fear one thing which is the possibilty of being overthrown by their people.
Arriell Calvin said... the slave community is just like a family. Like a family the slaves had their ups and down and sometimes get discouraged with each other. There was a slave by the name of Sarah who was taken away from her mother, who didn't want to go with her mother when the slaves were announced free. This is kind of related to family because sometimes we don't always want to do what our parents or elders want us to. We take upon on ourselves and decide that we are old enough to make the right decision or the decision we think is best.
2.In the text the king is compared the king who would be in control of the nation, to a father in control of the family. It was said that the king and a father have the same duties they both have to feed, direct, clothe, and protect the family (nation). So in conclusion the father of the nation/family is the king.
3. I see a connection between the owner of the slave and the king. I say that because in the text it said that the king was the only law they had, his word was the law. Thats kind of the deal with the slaves because what their master said was basically the law they had to do whatever they were told that was their law.
1. Even though many whites treated blacks poorly, there were some that gave their slaves respect. Pages 442-443 in the America's history book describes families like Sarah Debro whose master gave her a clean apron every day and also allowed her to stay in the "big" house. Another example is Allen William's master put clothes on his back. These two slaves didn’t want to be free because they were treated like family.
2. The article from Patriarcha describes a king being like a father figure. Someone who has the power over his children. Whose duties include caring for his children, preserve, feed, clothe and protect.
3. I would have to say I see a connection between the king of the nation as described in Patriarcha and the slave owner. Both king and slave owner has control and power over the nation/slaves.
1. We often read only the stories in which slaves are abused and treated badly. There are many cases, however, where slaves are treated like a member of the family. In the case of slave, Sarah Debro, she was treated so well that even after receiving her freedom she didn't want to leave when her mother came to get her. Non-slave children in families today often have to do chores, but are still treated as one of the family. Often times this was the case with slaves and their owners. They had to work, but in return they were treated well, like a family member.
2. Patriarcha compares the duties and role of a king to those of a father. The king has a responsibility to feed, clothe, and protect those under him as a father has those same responsibilities in caring for his family.
3.There is a connection here in that slave owners had the responsibility to care for their slaves as they are their property. Today in age if you are the owner of something valuable, you care for it and handle it responsibly. The same can be said for a slave owner with their "property" (the slave). The father of a family must also handle matters responsibly to ensure safety for and the well being of his family. The king also shares in this responsibility with making sure his "kingdom" is running properly.
1. The slaves were quite like a family in which. The blacks were the children and the whites parents. Because when the slaves disobeyed they were repremanded.
2. A nation is like a family because in a family when something goes wrong you are going to be backed up. Therefore in a nation when one state is in distress the others help out.
3. The only connection that I saw was that slaves and natoins are a lot like family.
PATRICK MALLORY
1. The slave community is like a family in that everyone depends on everyone else. The slaves depend on their white owners for food, shelter and clothing, and the white owners depend upon their black slaves for their cooking, cleaning, and farm work. In some cases, such as those of Sarah Debro and Allen Williams, the white owners are kind to their slaves and grow attached to them. Sarah Debro, after working for Miss Polly for so long, saw her as more of a mother figure than her real mother.
2.In Patriarcha, it states that a nation is like a family in that the nation's king is like the family's father. The king of a nation has the same duties as the father of a family, including feeding, caring for, protecting and clothing those under his power.
3. The connection that I see between the two is the issues of power and responsibility. The slave owner to his plantation is like the king to his nation or kingdom. The slave owner has power over his people, but also has the responsibility to protect, feed, clothe and care for those people.
Jessica Walter
1.A slave community is like a family because they all do work to keep it going, just as a family would do to keep their household going. It was like they depended on each other. The whites depended on the slaves to wait on them and do chores. The slaves depended on the whites for a place to stay and for work to do. In some cases slaves were treated very nicely so they felt more like in a family. There were some slaves that didn't want to leave their former owners.
2. In Patriarcha a king is compared to a father of a family because the king takes care of many families where a father only takes care of their own family. The king has to help out the families that he rules over and make sure that they are okay.
3. The connection between the two works is that it compares two families. Both of these families have a ruler over them. A king rules over the families in his region to take care of them and in the slave community the slave owners look over the slaves. It seems in the slave community that there is more of a control over the slaves then in the kings ruling. But never the less there is still the connection of families that have someone ruling over them making rules and telling them what to do.
1. The plantation was very much so like a family. Family and the slave community were alike in so many ways. One way is that family sometimes get discouraged with each other. Another way is like the girl in the text named Sarah, she the decision of staying with her former owner after they were announced free. Her mother wanted her to come with her and be free but she wanted to stay, and sometimes we as people do that because we feel we need to make decisions on our own or a desicion that best fits our life/benifit our lives.
2. The nation is like a family because they are both controlled by some strutural role model. The king is like the father of the house. The king has to take care of home (nation) he has the clothe, feed, and protect the nation (family) so they basically have the same duties but different amounts of power.
3. I do see a connection between the two stories. The king and master of the slaves kind of play the same role. The king was the law anything he said had to be done, he word was all that needs to be said and the majic would happen. The master of the slaves was the only law they knew. Whatever the master said was the only thing that mattered, he had the power.
1. The slave community was like a family in that the Slaves were often treated like children in that their basic needs: food, water, and clothing were provided for them. They were expected to do chores on the farm or around the house and like children had no say in what took place in the family. If they didn't do their chores or misbehaved they were punished.
2. A nation is like a family in that the king is the father. His job is to provide for and protects the nation.
3. The connection is that the slave owner is the king of his plantation. He has absolute power and has similar responsibilities that the king of a nation has.
1. The slave network throughout the south was much like a family. Many of the slave owners had a close connection to their slaves. It was almost as if they knew them as their friends and not as someone forced to work. Many of the slaves never knew any different than working on plantations. Also, one might consider that if a slave left its owner, they wouldn't know where to go or where to get food. This is the case for Delicia Patterson. She talked about how many of them wondered from place to place looking for food and work.
While there are many examples of slaves being treated poorly, many were fed well and given nice clothes. For example Sarah Debro was given a clean apron and dress everyday for her work. When you work with someone long enough, many times you develop a relationship that is more than the ownership of a person.
2. The Patriacha compares talking about how the kings have power but not complete power over the people. This also holds true with the family. While the father is viewed as the ruler in the family, every other member in the family can have a say so in the affairs that occur. With our nation, the president is the ruler, but through checks and balances, they don’t have full power over the decisions that take place. Another similarity that can be seen is how the government is expected to protect the people. The children in the family expect the father to support them with food, clothes, and protection.
3. I think that the connection that can be seen between slaves and our nation is that the plantation owners could be seen as the government. They control the slaves that rely on the owners for food and protection. This also holds true for the government of the people. We expect our government to protect us and provide us with a safe, orderly way of life.
1. It can easily be said that a slave community is very much like a family; they protect each other, live in close quarters, and are all each other have. One lady in the reading talked about how one of her slave friends was trying to convince her to leave because they are free now, if they were not like a family, then the slave would not have cared if she stayed or left.
2.In Patriarcha the author claims that a King is similar to a father, and his people are his children in that he must protect them and must set rules to govern them much like parents of today.
3. There are connections between the Patriarcha and slave communities. Such connections would be that someone is governing them without having much if any input. Also the slave owner could be seen as a father much like the kings were. In that sense the slave owner would rule over their slaves. In both cases suppression often causes people to bond and thus creates a family like atmosphere.
1. “Family” is roughly defined by a group of people living together and functioning as a single household. Only one part of that definition would cover all of the slave communities: functioning as a single household. The slave community functions under and for the master and mistress of the house. Yet, just functioning as a single household doesn’t mean that the “family” feeling truly exists. Feeling like part of a family satisfies the basic human desire of belonging. In the article “Blacks and Whites Describe the End of Slavery,” Sarah Debro and Allen Williams felt like they belonged with their masters and in their masters’ houses. Sarah only left her mistress because her mother forced her to leave. And Allen used his former home as a crutch whenever he couldn’t find work. The treatment of these two slaves by their masters made the slaves feel like they belonged in the environment. They were property, but they were treated better than that.
2. In a family, the figurehead is traditionally the father. In the Patriarcha, Filmer compares the duties of a father to those of a king, the figurehead of a nation. He states that father and king are heads, or authorities, over a family. It is also noted that both extend their care to “preserve, feed, clothe, instruct, and defend the whole commonwealth.” Filmer says that fathers are obliged by the law of nature to do his best to protect his family. The king has the same responsibility to protect his subjects and nation. Therefore, Filmer reasons that the king is like a father, and his subjects are the family.
3. Filmer’s rationale for explaining how a king is like a father of a “family” can be applied to slave communities too. The “father” in a slave community would be the owner of the slaves. Both the king and slave owner are responsible for their “families” wellbeing. It is evident in the article “Blacks and Whites Describe the End of Slavery” that the slave owners did not always fulfill their duty of protection and care. It is possible for a king, or other type of political authority, to also fail in performing their duties as a figurehead. In conclusion, the connection is that a king and a slave owner are both like fathers who are responsible for the security of their respective families.
When the slaves were freed, it was like a win-lose situation. They all had their freedom. A huge burden had been lifted from their shoulders and they were finally "equals" in the legal point of view. The downside was that they didn’t know what to do or where to go. In Allen Williams’s story he talked about how he lived with the family for 5 or 6 years later, in and out though. It was if they were a family. Not all slave owners were bad people. It depended on their point of view on racism and how they had grown up. In some instances, it was as if they were a family.
In Patriarcha, they talk about how Adam ruled over his family and how God rules over everybody as examples of how a true monarchy should rule. It says that a father rules over a family but a king rules over a multitude of families, making a king like a father of the nation.
I see a few connections between these as in the family point of view. I see how the slaves where part of the family in a sense and if the family were to follow the traditional way of the father ruling the household ten they had no choice but to follow what he said. The slave owners believed in this way but only less than a hundred years ago they fought against being under this way of ruling, making them hypocrites.
1. In Sarah Debro’s case, she was treated so well that when her mother came to lead her to her freedom, she did not want to leave her owner because of the family-like bond she had made. Another example of how a plantation worked as a family is Allen Williams. His master not only offered him a nicer pair of clothes when he was freed, but a place to live with his wife. This shows that some plantation owners really did care about their slaves.
2. I the excerpt Patriarch a nation is compared to a family in such a way that the King or leader is like a father. “so his children under him had a command over their own children, but still with subordination to the first parent” (Filmer) This quote from Patriarch shows that we are all looked at as children of our ruler with privileges, rules (laws), rights, and regulations.
3. The connection is that the slave owners were looked upon as a ruler, or leader of their plantation. The slaves looked to the owner as the society looks to the ruler. These leader act as fathers to their community by setting rules, regulations, and sometimes privileges.
1. Obviously in a family, certain members have different roles and authority. The father is the head honcho and has the final say in everything going on. So the male slave owner would act as the father because he is the overseer and the person who does the disciplining. The wife of the slave owner is the mother who makes sure the meals are prepared and the house is tidy. Lastly, the slaves are classified as the children because of their lack of freedom. The children listen to the father and mother and must do as they say or they will be punished.
2. A nation is compared to a family for the fact that a king is like a father and the people of the nation are the children. The King makes the rules and laws as does the father and the people obey the laws as the children obey their father.
3. Yes I see a connection. It seems that any time there is a person of higher power over other people their situation can be compared to a family because of the certain roles played by each member.
- Seth Norment -
1. A slave community was like a family because everyone had to work together and live together. The slave owners were like the parents of the family, telling everyone what to do. The slaves were treated like children, expected to do everything they were told or be punished. Some slave owners, like Elizabeth Mary Meade Ingraham, wanted their slaves to stay with them after being freed to be workers. This shows that not all of the slave owners abused their slaves, but some appreciated them.
2. According to Patriarcha, every leader of a kingdom or commonwealth is appointed or elected by by the will of “a supreme father.” This shows that the leader of the kingdom or coomonwealth is the fatherly figure of his domain. If the leader is the father, then the people of the kingdom or coomonwealth are the children. The “father” runs the country and the “children” help by either following his orders or by taking on smaller tasks, such as running a smaller community. The king (father) rules over his subjects (children) according to Patriarcha.
3. The main connections between the government in Patriarcha and the set up of the slave community is the presence of an absolute ruler. The slave owner is like the king which is like the father of the family, while the slaves are like the subjects which are like children. Slave owners could govern their slaves and their households in any way they wanted to, just like a king could rule his kingdom any way he chose.
1. The slaves can be seen as a family in many ways. Some of the slaves liked to be around there owners because they were nice to them. With Sarah Debro, she was given a clean apron everyday. Sarah liked her owner so much, she wanted to stay with her when she was freed. In Allen Williams case, he was given new clothes by his owner when he was freed.
2. A nation is like a family because the person in charge of a nation, is the king, and the king share similarites with the father of a family. The reading says a king has the job to give his people food, protect them when they are in danger, and to put clothes on his peoples back just like a father would.
3.To connect these too concepts together, a slave owner is alot like a king. The slave owner tells the slaves what to do like king would his people. A slave owner has to look out for his slaves like a king would his people, and a slave owner has to feed his slaves like a king would his people.
1. A slave community on a plantation is very much a family. They had to work together, and watch out for each other every day. At the end of the civil war most slaves had nowhere to go and owned nothing, everything down to the clothes on their backs belonged to their masters. For Sarah Debro she may have experienced something similar to Stockholm Syndrome where she became attached to her mistress in a maternal sense. She was taken from her mother at a young age and lived with this woman until the end of the Civil War, naturally she was hesitant to leave the woman who had raised her. Delicia Patterson was also separated from her family at a young age and said that she lived not with but IN the family that bought her until the end of the war.
On the other side of the fence we've got Elizabeth Ingram, the mistress of a plantation, who felt as though everyone was leaving her. The people who had cared for her and lived with her and maybe even been her friends were leaving her. Her diction, however brief, suggests that she felt as though her family were abandoning her.
2. Patriarcha follows the idea presented in class by Professor Pasley: God= father of all; King= father of his country; and Fathers= Gods of their households. A nation is like a family in the way suggested to best run them. Both kings and fathers must do the best that they can for their people and households,respectively. They must always put the public before the private, meaning that the people's needs come first and that any decisions that are made about the nation/ household must be in the best interest of it's inhabitants.
3. The correlation I see is similar to Reginald's answer. The slaveholder is like a king or father, and must take care of his people and make sure that their needs are met. That connects to the article from the text looking at it from the slave's point of view. The slaves while being under their masters had respect for the ones that cared for them properly and honestly. This shows that if a king/ father treats his subjects/ family members with respect and courtesy then they will respect and honor him as he should be honored and respected.
1. The slave community is a lot like a family in that a lot of slave owners took care of their slaves. When southerners could have been angered at their slaves some of them seemed to actually be happy for their slaves, like Allen Williams.
2. The excerpt from Patriarcha portrays the country like a family with the king being the father figure who is supposed to take care of the family. The father should provide for the family giving them shelter and security.
3. The two works seem to compare the slave owner to the father figure who is then compared to the king. They are all in a position of power. The works seem to project a sense of responsibility on to those figures.
1. Two out of the four interviews from ex-slaves indicate that they were part of the family and that they liked it. A third also indicated that they were part of the family. Only one of the interviews did not have any indication of their feelings that they had been part of a family.
The interview of Sarah Debro strongly indicates that she felt like a part of the family that she was working for. She might not have felt like she was a member of the family, but she did feel that she was treated correctly. She felt that way so much that she even cried when her own mother came to take her back. Sarah also grabbed onto Miss Polly and held on so tight that she tore Miss Polly’s skirt. Allen Williams also indicates in his interview that he was treated at part of the family his owner clothed him and even when he was set free he was given better cloths. Delicia Patterson’s interview seems to indicate that she was possibly treated like family, but less than Sarah or Allen were in their experiences. She indicates that when the war was over she left because the mistress of the house was arrogant even though the husband wanted her to stay. Annie Ro was the only one that seemed to have had a horrible experience with everything that happened, considering that the master was getting ready to kill some of the blacks before he would let them go free. Although on the other hand Elizabeth Mary Meade Ingraham lived in a pro-slavery household and was sad to see her slaves leave. It seems she was fine when some of them left because they would not work as hard if they didn't want to be there, but she mentions it will be her death if she has to do cooking and common household tasks. So she might not really want the slaves to remain because they are family, but more because they allow her to not have to do any work.
2. A nation is a lot like a family with the King as the head and as a father figure. This is because the King is the person who makes all of the rules in the “house”. The prince is then the heir to the throne and is also like the oldest male child as he will take over that role of the father once the king is gone. The countries population is then like the children as they are bound to their parents through the laws that the father puts in place.
3. The way a country can be viewed as a family is similar to the family of a slave. The master in a pro-slavery household is like the king as he makes all of the laws that the people in the house have to abide by. The slaves are then like the children as they have to obey these laws or possibly be subject beatings or some form of punishment.
~ Jennifer Claybrooks
1. It seems to me that in many best case scenarios, slaves were looked upon on plantations like members of the family (who happened to do all of the household chores). Two of these instances were explained by Sarah Debro and Allen Williams. Both of these former slaves recounted how they didn't even want to leave their households. Sarah Debro was literally forced by her mother to leave, and Allen Williams eventually left, but would return again when it was hard to find work.
2. The excerpt from Patriarcha compares a father of one family to a king who is the father "over many families..." Much like a father, a king's duties are to "preserve, feed, clothe, instruct and defend" their country so that his "family" is cared for. And although the king may not be the natural father of all of the inhabitants of his country, he still must make his country safe and prosperous for the next generation of leaders within the country.
3. I see a connection between the slave owner and the king. The better the conditions within the plantation/country the more likely the slave/citizen will be loyal to its master or "father". If the "family situation" within both circumstance is ideal, then there will be few instances of rebellion, and the circumstance for either a plantation or a country could be "family-like".
1. Some of the slave owners made their slaves a part of their family. The slave owners, who actually had a relationship with their slaves and provided them with the things they deserved, were like families. The owners even made their slaves feel so welcome, that the slaves wanted to stay with them even after they were free. When the slaves did leave though, the owners were upset, because they would have to do their own work.
2. The nation is like a family because like all families, there is one person who is the “leader.” It may not be the father of the family, but there is someone that everyone listens to. With the nation we have either a king or a president, whom is our “leader.” We are like the children in the family because we have to listen and abide by the rules/laws. Everyone has their own role in the family, just like everyone has a certain job within the nation.
3. The connection of these two readings, are that there is always a person that you have to listen to. Whether it is your father, your king, or your slave owner, there is always someone who can have a say over what you do.
1. I think saying a slave community is like a family can be touchy. Technically, yes, they are like a family; as in they provide you with the necessities of life. But that doesn't necessarily make it a "family", just a means of getting by. I think its a case by case situation. Some of the slaves did get lucky enough to have owners who saw them as a human and treated them correctly, while others were treated like animals. In the story, the letters show the close side of this aspect, with the slaves not wanting to leave or being forced, which shows us that some slaves had their lives set for them, which was more comfortable then having to worry day by day about money and being unstable. Thats also why some slaves had to be forced to leave and didn't just leave on their own.
2. In Patriarcha we see the comparison of kings and fathers to nations and families. Pointing out that a king is like a father to a nation, trying to nurture it and protect it to help it grow, the nation itself must be willing to work with the King, and respect all that is trying to be done. Just as a father tries to provide everything for a child, the child must be willing to work back in some ways to promote positive growth.
3. The connection in Patriarcha and slave families, is that the slaves who were treated nice were "parented" by their owners.. almost as how in Patriarcha the King parents the nation. Provided with what they needed they must do the work they were brought here to do, just as the nation is provided for so as to help it grow within itself, by using what it's provided with.
1. There are a lot of ways in which the slaves were part of the family. In the case of Sarah Debro, she was born on the farm where she was a slave. That life is all she knew, therefore she didn't realize what being free meant. She worked in the house and was treated well by her master. Her master took care of her more than her mother could so she had built up some emotions and loyalty to Ms. Polly.
2. A nation is like a family because there are different roles in a nation as there are in a family. The King's role is that of a father, that natural law implies that the father "do his best for the preservation of the family." That the King is the father of all his subjects, and he must "preserve, feed, clothe, instruct and defend the whole commonwealth."
3. The slave owner is like a king in that he must look over and protect them, he must feed and clothe them, put a roof over their heads. A slave owner got their slave through similar means as a king gets their subjects. Slaves were bought or taken by force, and subjects were many times taken by force after a war. Natural law implies an obligation treat them well. People are inherently good, therefore they treat people around them good, for the most part.
1. It is interesting to think of the tyrannical setup of slavery in the South as a family, however, many aspects of what a family is can be very present. Although not related by blood, Masters and slaves developed interpersonal relationships with each other. These bonds are present in most of the stories in “Blacks and Whites Describe the End of Slavery”. For former slave-owners, many still cared for their slaves by keeping them around on their plantation even after they were free. It must have been the sense of knowing what to do because of being born into slavery, that caused many slaves to go back to their masters in order to find work.
2. In many ways a nation is like a family. In the Monarchies of Europe which Robert Filmer describes, the Kings are the fathers and the subjects are their children. If the father is unable to provide the necessary provisions for his family, then the family will leave. This is true for a nation, if the king is unable to provide the tools to succeed he will also be overthrown.
3. The main connection between these two different readings is the sense of authority over liberty. In many cases, people would rather have order and sense of duty of what to do than have the freedom of choice. It is interesting to look on other cultures and practices in the past and present to see which is more needed, Order or Liberty. For some blacks they would rather have the patriarchal control over them than freedom. It is the same sense of family that allows Kings to rule and Slave owners to control.
Post a Comment
<< Home