Lyddie: Chapter 06 - Ezekial

Underground Railroad map: Freedom seekers from the South found many paths to the North.

“Copy of Siebert Map.” Image. David Ruggles Center.

The Black man in Lyddie’s cabin introduces himself as Ezekial. He had been enslaved in the South and is making his way to Canada. He tells Lyddie that he was hiding at the Stevens’ farm until they feared it was being watched. Luke Stevens then moved him to Lyddie’s empty house. Because he had been ill, he was not ready to continue the journey to Canada, despite the presence of slave catchers in town.

Though Lyddie was initially wary of the strange man, a bond quickly forms between the two. Lyddie admires his polished language and manners. Ezekiel explains that he taught himself to read and became a preacher. Inspired by the stories and teachings of the Bible, he decided he must seize his freedom by escaping north. As Ezekial and Lyddie share a meal, Lyddie admits that she was thinking of turning him in to the slave catchers to get the reward. Ezekial (preposterously!) tells her he understands, and that he would do it himself if he were in her shoes. After Lyddie promises she won’t betray him, she goes to sleep in the loft.

Before Lyddie leaves for the tavern in the morning, she decides to give Ezekial the money she earned from selling the calf. He promises to pay her back once he is settled in Canada. The mistress, back from her trip, is furious that Lyddie had been absent. She dismisses her upon arrival. Lyddie makes up her mind to go to Lowell and become a mill girl.

Fact Check: Were many enslaved people able to read?

Ezekial tells Lyddie he wanted to learn to read so he could read the Bible. Were many enslaved people able to read?

What do we know?

Most enslaved people could not read or write because slave holders actively tried to prevent them from learning. Slave holders feared that literacy—including being able to interpret the Bible for themselves—would fuel a desire for freedom and give enslaved people the tools to escape, such as being able to forge passes, After Nat Turner, an enslaved, literate preacher, led a major slave revolt in Virginia in 1830, many slave states passed anti-literacy laws, prohibiting anyone from teaching Black people (including free Black people) to read and write. But some learned anyway, either from fellow slaves, white people who ignored the law because they believed it was always right to teach people how to read the Bible, or from “accidental” white teachers (like schoolchildren) who did not even realize that they were teaching.

What is the evidence?

Primary Source:

“Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read…and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn.”

Douglas, Frederick, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; An American Slave, Written by Himself. Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1843.

Secondary Source:

“They truly had to ‘steal’ an education. Some slaves hid spelling books under their hats to be ready whenever they could entreat [convince] or bribe a literate person to teach them. Some turned to white children, too young to understand that they violated the slave code, or to poor white men who did not care. Former slaves recounted stories of trading food and money for letters and words.

In exchange for writing lessons, G. W. Offley fed a white boy whose father had gambled away the family's money. Offley later traded boxing and wrestling lessons with white men for writing instruction.

…

As a young enslaved boy, Richard Parker picked up old nails and traded them for marbles that he then used to pay white boys for reading lessons. He carried a primer [introductory reading book] under his hat to be ready for class at any time. In addition, he received instruction from his owner's daughter until they were caught….

Alice Green recalled that her mother had learned to read by keeping a schoolbook in her bosom [chest] all the time and asking the white children to tell her everything they had learned in school each day. In this way, she learned enough to teach school once slavery ended.”

Williams, Heather Andrea. Self-Taught : African American Education in Slavery and Freedom. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005.

Fact Check: How could people express freedom?

Ezekial tells Lyddie how learning to read fueled his desire for freedom. Faced with the reality of bondage, how could people express freedom?

What do we know?

Seeking freedom was very dangerous, and actually “stealing oneself’ by escaping one’s master was impossible for most: one had to be strong physically and held in bondage close to the border of a free state; even then, slave catchers were a constant threat. Those re-enslaved faced brutal consequences. An alternative way to express freedom was to tap those areas of oneself that were less easily controlled, such as faith, thoughts, and imagination. Enslaved people also engaged in small acts of rebellion such as maintaining cultural practices from their homelands, fostering kinship, destroying their owner’s property, and working less hard for their enslaver than they could. Slaveholders used the Bible and Christianity as a tool to preach submission to their slaves, but enslaved peoples found in the Bible alternate messages of equality and liberation that encouraged them to seek freedom.

What is the evidence?

Primary Source:

Pamphlet -  Narrative of Henry Watson, a fugitive slave

Watson, Henry and African American Pamphlet Collection. Narrative of Henry Watson, a fugitive slave. Boston: Published by Bela Marsh, 1849.
https://www.loc.gov/item/92838849/.

“I had cherished the idea of being my own master; but, returning to the State of Mississippi, my hopes left me for awhile, for it is almost a matter of impossibility for a slave to escape, on account of its situation; and added to that, there are men who do nothing else but hunt fugitive slaves with hounds that are so well trained, that they do, as they advertise, take slaves without scarring them enough to injure their value. I have said, my hope for freedom had left me. I am wrong; it was suppressed only, and it grew stronger from being suppressed, for I had determined to be free whenever an opportunity should present itself. I had to be extremely careful in my deportment, more attentive if possible to my duty, so that there should be no suspicion that I had made up my mind to run away; for the slaveholder watches every movement of the slave, and if he is downcast or sad,--in fact, if they are in any mood but laughing and singing, and manifesting symptoms of perfect content at heart,--they are said to have the devil in them, which is the common term; and they are often whipped or sold for their supposed wicked intentions.”

Watson, Henry and African American Pamphlet Collection. Narrative of Henry Watson, a fugitive slave. Boston: Published by Bela Marsh, 1849. Pdf.
https://www.loc.gov/item/92838849/.

“After my recovery (from a severe beating), I was hired…as a waiter on board (a) steamboat…the situation was a pleasant one to me;-- but in passing from place to place, and seeing new faces every day, and knowing that they could go where they pleased, I soon became unhappy, and several times thought of leaving the boat at some landing place, and trying to make my escape to Canada, which I had heard much about as a place where the slave might live, be free, and be protected…”

Note: William Brown eventually escaped his enslavement at the age of 19. He settled in Boston where he became a prominent abolitionist and writer.

Brown, William Wells Narrative of William W. Brown, a fugitive slave. Boston, The Anti-slavery office, 1847. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/14004708/.

Fact Check: Quakers and Abolition

Did Quakers aid enslaved people in their search for freedom?

What do we know?

The Society of Friends (Quakers) taught that slavery was morally wrong, a violation of human rights. Quakerism emphasizes the equality of all people. The Society rejects all hierarchy; for example, they have no clergy. While many Quakers engaged in quiet aid to fugitive slaves, others were prominent, outspoken leaders of the abolitionist movement. Lucretia Mott and Isaac T. Hopper are among the most famous. Of course, religious teachings are never practiced perfectly, and there were differences among Quakers in how deep their commitment to anti slavery work was.

What is the evidence?

Primary Source:

Keith, George. An Exhortation & Caution to Friends Concerning the buying or keeping of Negroes. New York: Printed by William Bradford, 1693. .

Secondary Source:

“In 1833 [Lucretia] Mott attended the founding convention of the American Anti-Slavery Society held in Philadelphia. The Society, an interracial group, all male in membership, advocated for ‘racial equality’ and an immediate end to slavery. Shortly thereafter, Mott helped to found the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. This interracial organization committed to ‘distributing accurate information about slavery, 'dispelling prejudice against color,' and to improving the condition of African Americans.’"

Ross, Ellen M. “‘Everything Depends Upon Going to the Root of the Matter and Speaking of Radical Principles’: Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) on Peace and the Transforming Power of Love.” Quaker History 106, no. 2 (2017): 1–29.

SecondarySource :

“In North Carolina, a Quaker, Levi Coffin, opened a Sunday school for slaves in 1821 and persuaded a few ‘lenient’ slaveholders to send slave children to learn to read the Bible. But other slaveholders in the neighborhood said the existence of the school ‘made their slaves discontented and uneasy, and created a desire for the privileges that others had.’ The school was discontinued…Slaveholders perceived a connection between slave literacy and strivings toward freedom. The connection was not fanciful…”

Kaestle, Carl F., Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860. New York: Hill and Wang, 1983.

SecondarySource :

“Within the … understanding of the role of Quakers, we seem to have a conflict between the image of the good Quaker, as … exemplified in the lives of Lucretia Mott, Levi Coffin, or Isaac T. Hopper, and the useful correctives , often from the pens of Quaker historians, reminding us that not all Quakers were Lucretia Mott… that many Quakers played no active role in anti slavery, ... and that Quaker institutions and meetings have not been free of racism. More importantly, the mythology [historical idea] of the good Quaker in the antislavery movement and in the Underground Railroad often underplays African American agency”

Densmore, Christopher. “Aim for a Free State and Settle among Quakers: African-American and Quaker Parallel Communities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.” In Quakers and Abolition, edited by Brycchan Carey and Geoffrey Plank, 120–34. University of Illinois Press, 2014.

Voices from the Field

"The Underground Railroad and New England Quakers" by Dr. Emma Lapsansky-Werner, Professor Emeritus of History and Visiting Professor in the Writing Program and Quaker Studies at Haverford College

Voices from the Field

"Agency" by Kristin Gallas, principal, MUSE Consulting.

Photos & Multimedia

Enslaved man from reward posters: Images like this were posted in newspaper when an enslaver was looking for a freedom seeker. This image would be accompanied by a description and reward information. $150 Reward. $150 reward cut of runaway slave Ranaway from the subscriber, on the night of the 2d instant, a negro man, who calls himself Henry May, ... William Burke, Bardstown, Ky., September 3d. Bardstown, 1838. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/rbpe.0220120b/.

Posters like this were found in towns throughout New England, encouraging young women to leave their farms for mill life. Baker Library, Harvard University

A United States map showing the differing routes that freedom seekers would take to reach freedom. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/what-is-the-underground-railroad.htm

See it yourself

Learn more about the Underground Railroad in Vermont at the Rokeby Museum
https://rokeby.org/

Writing Prompts

Opinion

What do you think Ezekial meant when he told Lyddie “I hope you find your freedom as well”? Use precise language that is supported by facts and details.

Informative/explanatory

How did Luke’s family help freedom seekers? What were they risking by doing so? Include specific details.

Narrative

Lyddie was trying to pay off the debt on the family farm. What do you think compelled her to give all of her money to a stranger? Use concrete words and sensory details to convey your thoughts precisely.