Summary: The Experience Of A Slave In South Carolina
There is no other way in describing stories about slavery, other than coming from a former slave himself. “The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina” is a book on the life of John Andrew Jackson, a former slave who escaped his plantation with plans that he made up as he went on. Jackson talks about the trials and difficulties he, his family, and other slaves went through while being on plantations in South Carolina. Jackson and others have been through it all, they have been whipped, almost whipped to death, they have had family members die, and they’ve also seen others get whipped and beaten to death. Jackson stated, “My earliest memory was of my mistress (woman of authority or control), whom I was very scared of, out of all people, because
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His first job “was that of a scarecrow in the cornfields, I was driven into the field at the earliest dawn of day, and I did not leave the field till sunset. My food was a cake made by mixing Indian meal with water and a little salt, and which was then baked in the ashes” (Jackson, 20-21). One of his first ever jobs was a human scarecrow, so he could keep birds and other animals from eating the corn in the cornfields. When he got older, he had to manage the plough, which was a whipping waiting to happen. Jackson stated, “I had not sufficient strength to hold the plough steadily; in consequence of which, my master used to follow me from end to end of the field, beating me over the head with a cowhide” (Jackson, 21). Jackson was often whipped and punished because he did not have much strength to consistently manage the plough, and master did not like that. Jackson was also an ox-driver. During his traveling days to get planks, Jackson stated, “I fell in love with a slave girl named Louisa, who belonged to a Mrs. Wells, whose plantation was about a mile off” (Jackson,21), and he soon married her. Jackson’s master was furious because Jackson’s kids would not belong to his master. Jackson often snuck off to visit his wife and when his master found out, he would give him fifty lashes. He did not care about the whips because he wanted to see his wife. Jackson and his wife “had never seen each other again after her owner removed to Georgia” (Jackson, 22). Jackson had never seen his wife or his child ever again because they moved all the way to
His first job “was that of a scarecrow in the cornfields, I was driven into the field at the earliest dawn of day, and I did not leave the field till sunset. My food was a cake made by mixing Indian meal with water and a little salt, and which was then baked in the ashes” (Jackson, 20-21). One of his first ever jobs was a human scarecrow, so he could keep birds and other animals from eating the corn in the cornfields. When he got older, he had to manage the plough, which was a whipping waiting to happen. Jackson stated, “I had not sufficient strength to hold the plough steadily; in consequence of which, my master used to follow me from end to end of the field, beating me over the head with a cowhide” (Jackson, 21). Jackson was often whipped and punished because he did not have much strength to consistently manage the plough, and master did not like that. Jackson was also an ox-driver. During his traveling days to get planks, Jackson stated, “I fell in love with a slave girl named Louisa, who belonged to a Mrs. Wells, whose plantation was about a mile off” (Jackson,21), and he soon married her. Jackson’s master was furious because Jackson’s kids would not belong to his master. Jackson often snuck off to visit his wife and when his master found out, he would give him fifty lashes. He did not care about the whips because he wanted to see his wife. Jackson and his wife “had never seen each other again after her owner removed to Georgia” (Jackson, 22). Jackson had never seen his wife or his child ever again because they moved all the way to