When I began this research project poring through old newspapers dating from the 1700's and digging through the digital collections from the Library of Congress, I thought I knew how atrocious slavery was in the United States. But the level of horror took me to new depths of understanding. I'll give you an example. Consider the laws making it illegal for a slave to learn reading and writing. A slave caught violating what were called anti-literacy laws could legally be beaten; even a child could be whipped mercilessly.
In Louisiana, a slave could have been put to death for this crime if it were his/her second offense. Visualize it. A white person had the authority to walk through your home without permission and take away a family member if he or she were found with a writing instrument in hand to practice to drawing a letter of the alphabet. Or if one was caught simply holding a book, the person could be taken away never to be seen again. Of course, children of slaves could be taken by their masters and sold at any given time, as well as any family member. Slaves couldn't marry because they weren't recognized as humans. But to stay on point, the act of learning was against the law and punishable by beating or death. This was happening in the 1800's in America. A slave had no rights as a "thinking and religious being" and was considered no more than a thing. Slaves were not considered sentient beings. The reason that concept is so hideous is that it meant we had a society where one human being was concluding that another human being was incapable of feeling. They could physically call out in pain, but were not deemed as having the capacity to mentally process that pain. It's the present day argument humans use when wanting to defend hurting an animal. Most animals are not considered sentient, therefore many humans claim they are incapable of understanding suffering. Americans are not taught historical truth in school. For centuries there has been despicable white washing revisionist history in the public schools, and it has largely left out women and almost entirely left out people of all color. I believe learning America's factual history is more important now than any other time in our lives because we're seeing old mistakes repeated and ignorance is breeding more and more hatred. We all must work to change that. But until such time as schools teach the truth, and the whole truth, this information has to come from self initiative. I hope you join in. I intend to do my part learning and sharing what I find, and keeping Black History going all year long, in addition to history about Native Americans and Indigenous people around the world. For instance, did you know that in 1900 there were estimated to be 10,000,000 Chinese slaves? But those are for future blogs.
What needs to be underscored here is this is not ancient history. These horrors were a blink of the eye ago in time. My grandmother, with whom I shared a bedroom growing up, was born in the 1800's. My dad was a year old when the Tulsa Oklahoma Riots destroyed entire neighborhoods and the large death toll is still uncertain. Blacks were fighting for access to a good education the year I was born. And today, in 2021, we are seeing black males murdered for looking like a suspect or looking like they had a gun and sometimes just because they aren't white.
There were times when I was reading through blurry eyes choking back tears as I envisioned the unimaginable. This stuff hits me in the gut. It's unconscionable that people today still wave the Confederate flag with a sense of pride and defend keeping statues of Confederate monuments knowing that they stand as none other than symbols that endorse kidnapping, rape, torture, humiliation, murder, and all that is immoral and unethical. These egregious acts perpetrated in the name of American slavery, nothing short of crimes against humanity, are inextricably connected to the present day racial divide and linked to the racial injustice that is alive and well in 2021. According to Aristotle, “there are certain people who are free and certain who are slaves by nature, and it is both to their advantage, and just, for them to be slaves.” He believed there were inferior people suited only for “the menial duties of life,” so they should be treated as “animate article[s] of property,” no different than we would treat domesticated animals.
Aristotle, born 384 BC, was a Greek philosopher and scientist considered the "Father of Western Philosophy." Aristotle’s defense of slavery was based on the theory that some peoples were “congenitally incapable of reasoning” and so were intended by nature to be slaves. He provided the conceptual basis for much of the nineteenth-century Southern pro-slavery ideology with these theories of racial inferiority.
tHE aMERICAN sLAVE cODE - 1853
by William Goodell , Abolitionist and Reformer
born in Coventry, New York on October 3, 1792.
The American Slave Code is a book detailing the legal relationship of master and slave. It's like a slave owner's bible. You can download the entire book from this blog or read through the book (below) in a Kindle-type format without needing to download.
Below is Chapter 22 of the Slave Code.
The book in its entirety is below
I urge you to flip through this book. It's broken down into clearly labeled chapters on every single aspect of slavery and explains the slave-owner relationship with details that are utterly appalling. Christian churches and clergy strongly supported slavery and defended it.
Consider the effects pro-slavery people had on their families and on the entire society. Pro-slavery people taught generations of others to look at people of color as nothing more than things. How utterly ludicrous that one group of humans choose to use the amount of melanin another group of humans have as a measure of their worth. To put it another way, pigment determines a human's place in the world. Only the smallest of minds could possibly miss the sheer absurdity of that.
Scroll down to find a link to download your own copy.
Advertisements in the For Sale section of the paper for real estate with slaves.
Betts & Gregory Auctioneers actual receipt for the purchase of men and children.
Examples in the Table of Contents of the topics covered:
I had finished this blog and posted it when I came across this article from 1918, titled a Study of American Negro Slavery. (It's in its entirety below.) I decided to update and add it here. There will always be those who argue that in slavery there is a good side. It's a similar argument to the present day justification when companies defend paying slave labor wages around the world to import goods into America. "I'll pay them a dime where they might otherwise only get a nickel." In other words, in taking a little less advantage of them, makes it right.
Here's are three excerpts from the article:
There is much in the history to refute the idea that slaves were often kept in good health. There was a theory of good business practice to "use up" a gang of slaves . See below:
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Portrait of General Lee was hung in the mess hall at West Point in 1931 as a gift from the United Daughters of the Confederacy. As I began to research when Confederate monuments were first erected in the United States, I discovered that it had a lot to do with the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The organization was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 10, 1894, by Mrs. Caroline Meriwether Goodlett and Mrs. Lucian H. (Anna Davenport) Raines. From their website there's a section about why someone becomes a member: "I am a member of The United Daughters of the Confederacy because I feel it would greatly please my ancestor to know that I am a member. It would please him to know that I appreciate what he did and delight his soldier love to know that I do not consider the cause which he held so dear to be lost or forgotten. Rather, I am extremely proud of the fact that he was a part of it and was numbered among some of the greatest and bravest men which any such cause ever produced." --- Mary Nowlin Moon Here is what I would like to know. Of what cause do you refer when you write that your ancestor soldier "held so dear" that you do not want "lost or forgotten?" It's my understanding of the confederate soldier that he fought to NOT remain part of the United States of America. Is that the part you honor? You write that your heritage had the "greatest and bravest men which any such cause ever produced." Again, specifically to what cause are your referring? My understanding is that the south fought to retain the institution of slavery -- a crime against humanity -- and because the north did not support humans being owned by other humans in the United States of America, a war ensued. Is it the institution of slavery, for which your ancestor fought to keep, that you honor and want to maintain fresh memories in the minds and hearts of future generations? My heritage includes a congressional medal of honor recipient from the Civil War. He was Charles A. Reeder, my great-great grandfather on my mother's side. I am proud that he fought against the institution of slavery. His father owned slaves, yet he chose to go against his family to fight in favor of freedom for all people regardless of skin color. I do not understand how generations of southerners want to continue honoring the ideology of their pro-slavery family members. I see little difference between their southern slavery pride and that of Germans feeling pride in an ancestor who rounded up Jewish people for death marches or worked them to death in prison camps. On the UDC website, it is clearly stated as an organization it does not support racism. I would like to understand how honoring slavery ideology and wanting to keep alive the memories of ancestors who fought for the right to own people of color as chattel-- is worthy and noble. You denounce racism and yet you do not see the racist heritage? How do members reconcile that? And how do you talk of patriotism when your southern ancestors wanted to recede from the United States of America to be their own slave owning country? What is patriotic about that? These questions might sound cynical, but I sincerely ask them. I truly do not understand your organization. And when you continue to honor symbols like the confederate flag that the right-wing, racist, white supremacists proudly wave with one hand while carrying bibles in the other, you seem shocked. Do you honestly not see that the flag under which slavery was fought, and under which states vowed to die for the right to retain slavery to the point that tearing apart the nation was what your ancestors did, would continue to be a symbol of white supremacy? The answers to a lot of my questions can be found in understanding what's called The Lost Cause. The more articles I read from the post Civil War era, the more I began to understand what I was suspecting. Confederate statues were propaganda put up years, and often decades, after the Union was preserved. There were decades of "white-washing" the facts where history was essentially rewritten to portray a fiction. It included even changing the word slavery to servant. There was an intentional campaign to rewrite the reality of the south and to fictionalize the lives of slaves so that they appeared well taken care of. The emphasis shifted to creating a (non-existent) good relationship between slave and slave holder, that would only have been the very rare exception, and certainly not an accurate depiction of American slavery. MAJOR JOHN F. LACY STRONGLY OPPOSEs STATUE OF GEN. LEE AT STATUARY HALL
The 1903 Headline read: Congressman Deplores Proposed Action of Virginians of Mounting Confederate General's Statue (The rest is directly quoted from the newspaper.) WRITES TO OTTUMWA VETERANS "The letter was in response to resolutions recently adopted by Cloutman Post, No. 69, G. A. R., of Ottumwa, which were sent to Congressman Lacey and Senator J. P. Dolliver, with the request that as far as possible they use their influence to thwart the alleged purpose of the authorities of Virginia. " Excited Storm of Protests "The proposed action of the Virginians has excited a storm of protests from Grand Army men all over the country and the news was no sooner received than the local veterans of the civil war hastened to take steps to protest against the action. The members of Cloutman Post, G. A. R., immediately adopted resolutions and mailed them to the Iowa legislators that they might know the sentiments of their veteran constituents. The last paragraph of the resolutions sent to Congressman Lacey and Senator Dolliver expresses the sentiment of the Iowa veterans: "Resolved, That with charity for all and malice toward none, we, the members of Cloutman post, No. C9, G. A.R., department of Iowa, emphatically protest against the placing of General Lee's statue in Statuary hall and respectfully demand that if there be need therefore, the law be so amended as to prevent it." Congressman Lacey's Letter as follows: Washington, D. C„ Feb. 21, 1903 Dear Sir: Your letter with resolutions in regard to the Lea statue has been received. The claim is made by the Virginians that no acceptance by congress is necessary, and that all they need to do, is to put up the statue under the general law and need not ask anybody for authority. Congress has accepted by resolutions nearly all the statues that are in the Statuary hall. There are some there which have not yet been accepted, and may never be. Though I have not been taking any public action in this matter, I have personally talked with the Virginia delegation to dissuade them from this action. I felt free to do this as I was born in that state myself. It seems to me that with James Monroe still unprovided for, his name being in the mouth of every loyal American, north and south, and a household word in every part of the globe connected with a living doctrine on which we all unite, that Virginia cannot afford to side track him and put up Lee instead, whose presence along side of Lincoln and Grant in the National Hall of Fame, might be considered as a statement to posterity that there was no distinction of merit between those who fought on the side of the union and those who fought against it. The bill has gone through the Virginia senate and is likely to become a law. I do not believe that congress will ever accept this statue for it ought not to go into the capitol. If Virginia suffered from any poverty of great names and found difficulty in filling the place it might be different. But she has filled one of her two places with Washington and has one space remaining. People are asking why Monroe's statue is not there. They will always be asking why Lee's is there, should it be erected. "There are already statues of Jefferson in the capitol, though not placed there by Virginia. There is none of Madison or Monroe. I said to one of my Virginia friends in the house, if this statue is erected, there ought to be inscribed on the pedestal, as showing the net result of General Lee's life,the following debt items: "First—'Our lost cause.' "Second—'One great paternal Lee estate at Arlington turned into a cemetery with 15,000 Union dead.' "Third—'One peculiar institution, human slavery, gone into oblivion. The grand old state of Virginia divided, with her coal and timber land transferred to a new state, and the debts of the Old Dominion still remaining. As a recognition of these results, this monument is erected to the pure minded soldier and general, Robert E. Lee.' "The old soldiers of the United States, Union and Confederate, are fraternizing and heartily accepting the union of the states. Everybody, north and south, rejoices that General Lee failed in his efforts, however pure and heroic he may have been in his purpose, but there should be, and must be, a distinction in our national capitol, between those who have fought for the union, and those who have fought to destroy it. To teach coming generations "there is no difference between fighting under the flag and fighting against it, would be a very great mistake. The Statuary hall is one for the. teaching of the nation. It should not be used to commemorate the actions of those who only fought to overthrow 'the national government." ![]() "The Legislature voted in 2016 to replace General Edmond Kirby Smith’s statue. In 2017 it was relocated to the Lake County Historical Museum from its location at Statutory Hall. (Pictured left is a copy of it from a 1914 newspaper.) It was replaced by civil-rights leader and educator, Mary McLeod Bethune, the founder of what became Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach. “The decision to remove the statue of General Kirby is not an impulsive response to Charlottesville, but rather because it is the right thing to do,” State Rep. Patrick Henry, a Bethune-Cookman University graduate said. “Long before the heinous display of bigotry and violence in Virginia, the Legislature initiated a process to remove General Kirby’s statue and as a Legislature it is incumbent upon us to complete this unfinished business.” (paragraph source) |
Some of the type print is missing toward the bottom of these clips, but most of it is readable. The article is from 1934. The author, James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871 – June 26, 1938), was an American author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. |
Massive insect decline

A study that was published in 2018, but recently revised is making news in February 2019 and warns that insect populations are drastically declining around the earth due to pesticide use and other factors.
I'm trying to access the actual study, but the cost was over $50, so I've written to see if I can access it for education purposes to post here. Meanwhile, other news outlets all over are discussing the study.

Abstract
NORMAN ROCKWELL IN THE AGE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Rockwell is famous for his sentimental portraits of American life. Words like wholesome and traditional readily come to mind. What many would not associate with Rockwell are poignant paintings of America's struggle with racism and civil rights. Due to the rules of the Saturday Evening Post, where black people could only be included in his paintings if they were depicted in service industry jobs, we think of "Rockwell’s America" as almost exclusively white.
The Servant depiction
of color to be included in a Rockwell painting.
"On July 14, 1964, "The New York Times" ran a story titled, “A 2nd Body is Found in the Mississippi.” Norman Rockwell tore this page from his newspaper and saved it. The story of a racial killing in southwest Mississippi and the arson of two Negro churches mentioned another unsolved case, that of three civil rights workers missing since June 21st. The brief reference caught Rockwell’s attention and laid the foundation for one of his most stirring works. A few months earlier, "Look" ran Rockwell’s powerful message on school desegregation, "The Problem We All Live With." Rockwell received many letters criticizing his choice of subject, but irate opinions didn’t silence him. President Obama requested it for the White House in 2011.
In March 1965, Rockwell began "Murder in Mississippi," illustrating the June 21st slaying of civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney, in Philadelphia, Mississippi. " Here for all of Rockwell's images and this story in full.
MONTH SHOULD BE
EVERY
M O N T H
B.L.S.
I would like to think that, "One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings," as Franklin Thomas said.
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Anti-Literacy Laws
A POEM ABOUT SLAVERY
Black Children Sold At Auction
Caliph Washington
COMMENTARY ON READING WHITE FRAGILITY BY ROBIN DEANGELO
Dark History Of American Penitentiaries
HE CALLS ME BY LIGHTNING
MAJOR JOHN F. LACY STRONGLY OPPOSE STATUE OF GEN. LEE AT STATUARY HALL
Mary McLeod Bethune
Massive Insect Decline
Norman Rockwell In The Age Of The Civil Rights Movement
Old Chip Schools
Re-Launching The North Star
Shaun King On NPR
THE AMERICAN SLAVE CODE
The Kind And Scope Of Education Needed For The Colored Race
The Sewing Machine Monopoly
THE SLAVE IS A THING
United Daughters Of The Confederacy
WHITE FRAGILITY = The Book
White Privilege