Last night, the second episode of The
African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross aired on PBS. This episode, entitled “The Age of Slavery,”
chronicled major events and activities that occurred after the American
Revolution which greatly affected the lives of free and enslaved African
Americans. One of those major activities was the invention of the cotton gin. By
April 1793, an inventor named Eli Whitney developed the cotton gin; it was a
machine that automated the separation of cottonseed from the short-staple
cotton fiber.
Hence, in 1793, the “Curse of the Cotton Gin” began. Although it spurned a great economic boom in the South, I call it a “curse” because its invention resulted in the displacement of around 1 million enslaved African Americans in the Upper South to points southward. Enslaved labor was needed for this booming industry. Thus, the Second Middle Passage began. More family separations occurred. More tears were shed. More blood flowed from feet and toes as a million enslaved people were sold away, transferred, or taken down south to work laboriously in those hot, infamous cotton fields. In many cases, these dreadful journeys were “walking journeys”. Imagine being forced to walk for weeks from Nash County, North Carolina to Leake County, Mississippi. That was the “walking journey” my great-great-grandfather Robert “Big Bob” Ealy had to take.
Hence, in 1793, the “Curse of the Cotton Gin” began. Although it spurned a great economic boom in the South, I call it a “curse” because its invention resulted in the displacement of around 1 million enslaved African Americans in the Upper South to points southward. Enslaved labor was needed for this booming industry. Thus, the Second Middle Passage began. More family separations occurred. More tears were shed. More blood flowed from feet and toes as a million enslaved people were sold away, transferred, or taken down south to work laboriously in those hot, infamous cotton fields. In many cases, these dreadful journeys were “walking journeys”. Imagine being forced to walk for weeks from Nash County, North Carolina to Leake County, Mississippi. That was the “walking journey” my great-great-grandfather Robert “Big Bob” Ealy had to take.
Once the million tired souls arrived at their Deep South
destinations, the following is what many of them had to endure in those hot,
infamous cotton fields, especially if they labored on large plantations. Observing enslaved people in the cotton field
on a large plantation near Natchez, Mississippi, Frederick Olmstead provided
the following description of this extensive, back-weakening labor:
“We found in the field thirty ploughs, moving together,
turning the earth from the cotton plants, and from thirty to forty hoers, the
latter mainly women, with a black driver walking about among them with a whip,
which he often cracked at them, sometimes allowing the lash to fall lightly
upon their shoulders. He was constantly urging them also with his voice. All
worked very steadily, and though the presence of a stranger on the plantation
must have been a most unusual occurrence, I saw none raise or turn their heads
to look at me. Each gang was attended by a "water-toter," that of the
hoe-gang being a straight, sprightly, plump little black girl, whose picture,
as she stood balancing the bucket upon her head, shading her bright eyes with
one hand, and holding out a calabash with the other to maintain her poise,
would have been a worthy study for Murillo.” [Frederick Law Olmsted, The Cotton Kingdom (New York: De Capo
Press, Inc., 1953), 432.]
Anyone researching Mississippi ancestors will
immediately notice much evidence of the Second Middle Passage in their family trees. In 1870, most of the older former slaves in
Mississippi, as well as other Deep South states, were not born in
Mississippi. This is quite evident from
the 1870 census. Let me show you want I
mean.
I took a snapshot of the Lena community of
Leake County, Mississippi, where Grandpa “Big Bob” Ealy remained after gaining
his freedom. I wanted to see the birthplaces that were reported for many of his
neighbors, who were enslaved just five years prior. Only a few were born in Mississippi. The following transcription just shows the
oldest people in the household. I recorded these African-American households from pages 313-319.
House #
|
Names
|
Ages
|
Birthplace
|
802
|
Henson, Jeff
|
65
|
Kentucky
|
807
|
Henson, David
|
50
|
Tennessee
|
“
|
-------, Mina
|
45
|
Virginia
|
808
|
Hanson, Stephan
|
40
|
Alabama
|
“
|
------, Easter
|
33
|
Tennessee
|
809
|
Henson, Hannah
|
33
|
Mississippi
|
811
|
Anderson, Charlotte
|
40
|
Alabama
|
815
|
Ratliff, Samuel
|
35
|
Mississippi
|
“
|
------, Kitty
|
35
|
Mississippi
|
------, Lydia
|
60
|
Georgia
|
|
816
|
Cherry, R.S.
|
75
|
South Carolina
|
“
|
------, Jane
|
70
|
Virginia
|
“
|
Harris, Emaline
|
50
|
Virginia
|
817
|
Dew, Benjamin
|
50
|
South Carolina
|
“
|
------, Eliza
|
48
|
Georgia
|
823
|
Simms, Scott
|
30
|
Mississippi
|
“
|
------, Lucilia
|
26
|
Virginia
|
832
|
Fickland, William
|
20
|
Mississippi
|
“
|
------, Jane
|
17
|
Alabama
|
“
|
------, Ann
|
60
|
Virginia
|
833
|
Turner, G.W.
|
50
|
Alabama
|
838
|
Mann, Tony
|
21
|
Mississippi
|
“
|
------, Hannah
|
23
|
Tennessee
|
839
|
Harris, Eliza
|
30
|
Virginia
|
“
|
Delvin, John W.
|
25
|
South Carolina
|
843
|
Parrott, John Armstead
|
32
|
Virginia
|
“
|
------, Jane
|
26
|
Mississippi
|
844
|
Reid, Rachel
|
36
|
North Carolina
|
845
|
Pettigrew, Mariah
|
45
|
Virginia
|
857
|
Wright, Hiram
|
57
|
Tennessee
|
“
|
------, Judy
|
55
|
Tennessee
|
------, Mary
|
33
|
Tennessee
|
|
859
|
Ely, Robert (“Big Bob” Ealy)
|
51
|
North Carolina
|
“
|
------, Jane
|
48
|
Virginia
|
863
|
Lindsey, Allen
|
25
|
Mississippi
|
“
|
------, Jane
|
27
|
Virginia
|
883
|
Hill, James
|
65
|
South Carolina
|
“
|
-----, Amanda
|
40
|
Virginia
|
“
|
Jones, Cutz
|
65
|
Virginia
|
885
|
Rice, Andrew
|
23
|
Mississippi
|
“
|
-----, Frances
|
25
|
Alabama
|
886
|
Kennedy, Nancy
|
45
|
Alabama
|
“
|
------, Malissa
|
25
|
Alabama
|
887
|
Washington, George
|
50
|
Georgia
|
“
|
------, Harriett
|
40
|
Georgia
|
------, Charles
|
21
|
Alabama
|
|
------, Jacob
|
19
|
Alabama
|
|
------, Daniel
|
17
|
Alabama
|
|
------, Edmond
|
12
|
Mississippi
|
|
888
|
Beaman, Jacob
|
60
|
North Carolina
|
“
|
------, Violet
|
50
|
North Carolina
|
889
|
Luckett, Calvin
|
65
|
Georgia
|
“
|
------, Nelly
|
75
|
Virginia
|
Source: 1870 Leake County, Mississippi Census, Pages:
313B – 319A; Image: 118 -129
Just within that small area containing the African-American
households that were closest to Grandpa Big Bob’s house, the 1870 census-taker
recorded Virginia as the birthplace for most of the older adults. Alabama was second. Even Grandpa Big Bob’s wife, Grandma Jane,
had come from Virginia. Her enslaver,
William Parrott, had moved to Leake County, Mississippi shortly before 1840, transporting
her and the rest of his slaves with him from Lunenburg County, Virginia.
I cannot even begin to fathom how tiresome all of their journeys
were. And for most of them, that journey
was undoubtedly a sad one, as many of them left behind parents, sisters,
brothers, sons, daughters, grandparents, etc. whom they never laid eyes on ever again. Oh, how far we have come!
The African American Blogging Circle is
a group of genealogy bloggers who are sharing their family stories, seen through
their own personal lens, from the PBS series, The African Americans: Many
Rivers to Cross. Click here
for a list of the participating bloggers and check out their stories.
Watch
Episode 2
Excellent observation Mello; I'll have to employ this methodology when I reconstruct the communities of freedmen in Indian Territory...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Terry. Am enjoying your posts as well.
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