Perhaps my readers would like to know if most of the negroes were
inclined to violate the Sabbath. They were; as the masters would make
them do unnecessary work, they got into the habit of disregarding the
day as one for rest, and did many things Sunday that would not be
allowed in the North. At that time, if you should go through the South
on those large cotton and rice plantations, while you would find some
dancing on Sunday, others would be in the woods and fields hunting
rabbits and other game, and some would be killing pigs belonging to
their masters or neighbors. I remember when a small boy I went into the
woods one Sunday morning with one of my fellow negroes whose name was
Munson, but we called him Pash, and we killed one of master's pigs, hid
it under the leaves until night, then took it home and dressed it. That
was the only time I killed a pig, but I knew of thousands of cases like
this in the time of slavery. But thank God, the year of Jubilee has
come, and the negroes can return from dancing, from hunting, and from
the master's pig pens on Sundays and become observers of the Sabbath, of
good moral habits and men of equal rights before the law.
PUNISHMENTS INFLICTED ON DIFFERENT ONES.
One of my fellow negroes, who belonged to Col. M.R. Singleton, visited
the plantation of the Col.'s sister; the overseer of that plantation had
forbidden strangers to go there, but this man, whose name was Harry,
would go. The overseer heard of him but could not catch him, but the
overseer of master's place sent him to Mr. Jackson (the overseer of
master's sister's place). Mr. Jackson tied him and hit him three hundred
lashes and then said to him, "Harry, if you were not such a good nigger
I should have given you a first class whipping, but as you are a good
fellow, and I like you so well, I thought I would give you a light
flogging now; you must be a good nigger and behave yourself, for if I
ever have to take hold of you again, I shall give you a good whipping."
When Mr. Jackson had loosed him from where he had tied him, Harry was so
exhausted that he fell down, so Mr. Jackson sent him home in a cart, and
he had to stay at home from work a month or two, and was never the same
man again.
THE PUNISHMENT AND SALE OF MONDAY.
There was a man who belonged to master by the name of Monday, who was a
good field hand; in summer the tasks generally performed by the slaves
were more than they could do, and in consequence they were severely
whipped, but Monday would not wait to be whipped, but would run away
before the overseer or driver could get to him. Sometimes master would
hire a white man who did nothing else but hunt runaway slaves for a
living; this man would take from fifteen to twenty hounds with him to
hunt Monday, but often he would be out three or four months; when he was
caught and brought home, he was put in prison and was whipped every day
for a week or two, but just as soon as he could he would run away again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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