All of our master’s family were either standing
or seated on the veranda of the house, where they
could see what was to take place and hear what was
said. There was a feeling of deep interest, or
perhaps sadness, on their faces, but not bitterness.
As I now recall the impression they made upon me,
they did not at the moment seem to be sad because
of the loss of property, but rather because of parting
with those whom they had reared and who were in many
ways very close to them. The most distinct thing
that I now recall in connection with the scene was
that some man who seemed to be a stranger (a United
States officer, I presume) made a little speech and
then read a rather long paper—the Emancipation
Proclamation, I think. After the reading we were
told that we were all free, and could go when and
where we pleased. My mother, who was standing
by my side, leaned over and kissed her children, while
tears of joy ran down her cheeks. She explained
to us what it all meant, that this was the day for
which she had been so long praying, but fearing that
she would never live to see.
For some minutes there was great rejoicing, and thanksgiving,
and wild scenes of ecstasy. But there was no
feeling of bitterness. In fact, there was pity
among the slaves for our former owners. The wild
rejoicing on the part of the emancipated coloured people
lasted but for a brief period, for I noticed that by
the time they returned to their cabins there was a
change in their feelings. The great responsibility
of being free, of having charge of themselves, of
having to think and plan for themselves and their
children, seemed to take possession of them. It
was very much like suddenly turning a youth of ten
or twelve years out into the world to provide for
himself. In a few hours the great questions with
which the Anglo-Saxon race had been grappling for
centuries had been thrown upon these people to be
solved. These were the questions of a home, a
living, the rearing of children, education, citizenship,
and the establishment and support of churches.
Was it any wonder that within a few hours the wild
rejoicing ceased and a feeling of deep gloom seemed
to pervade the slave quarters? To some it seemed
that, now that they were in actual possession of it,
freedom was a more serious thing than they had expected
to find it. Some of the slaves were seventy or
eighty years old; their best days were gone. They
had no strength with which to earn a living in a strange
place and among strange people, even if they had been
sure where to find a new place of abode. To this
class the problem seemed especially hard. Besides,
deep down in their hearts there was a strange and
peculiar attachment to “old Marster” and
“old Missus,” and to their children, which
they found it hard to think of breaking off.
With these they had spent in some cases nearly a half-century,
and it was no light thing to think of parting.
Gradually, one by one, stealthily at first, the older
slaves began to wander from the slave quarters back
to the “big house” to have a whispered
conversation with their former owners as to the future.
Print
Word
PDF
