Two Slave Narrations Essay

Henry Faulk’s Interview with Aunt Harriet Smith

Henry Faulk conducted an interview with Aunt Harriet Smith of Hempstead, Texas, as part of one of the narratives to find out if she recalled what had happened both while they were slaves and after they were freed. Smith describes their existence as slaves, describing how they did not have their own homes, learned to ride horses when they were very young, and observed the soldiers while admiring their horses. They could not afford to miss watching the troops ride the horses, which were also trained to dart in time to some lovely music. The horses were a magnificent sight for them. After the big break up, they were able to buy their own houses, a one white man she refers to as R houses to all the colored people. Harriet Smith then got married to J.S when she was seventeen or eighteen as she guessed (Furney, 2013).

Charlie Smith’s Narrative of Being Sold as a Slave

The second narrative is the interview with Charlie Smith who was born in Liberia, Africa and went to US as a slave, when the black people were being sold to America. He narrates how he was hated by the white people to an extent of wanting to throw him to the ocean while being shipped to America. He continues to say how they were sold to the highest bidder once in America. They were taken to plantations where they were mistreated in brutal treatments. Both the North Americans and the South Americans bought them but the Northerners did not take them to the north since they believe the black people will not withstand the cold. Instead, they paid the southerners to take care of them. Later own, the North Americans fought with the South Americans and the war brought an end to the slavery of the black people (Yetman, 2012).

Similarities between Harriet and Charlie Narratives

Both Harriet and Charlie narratives indicate that they were taken to slavery at tender ages. Besides, they came from Africa and therefore they were of blacks who were taken into slavery in America. Both went through hard times as slaves because they had to work for the whites in their homes or in plantations. Even though we cannot say they enjoyed being slaves, both got to have some good moments, For instance Harriet enjoyed watching the horses with her colleagues. Charlie, on the other hand, enjoyed staying with his master since he treated him as his kid (Yetman, 2012). Both slaveries ended up well, Harriet getting married and Charlie getting to be a good States man.

Differences between Harriet and Charlie Narratives

The main difference as per the two narratives is that Harriet Smith was treated as a slave and stayed together with the black people. She used to stay with her people only and never got to intermingle with the whites. For the case of Charlie Smith, he was raised by a white man, the man who gave him the new name and treated him as one of his children. He ate and slept together with his master’s children. Another difference is that as per Harriet’s Narration, after the big break up, the white sold houses to the black people and they started living there as colonies. In the case of Charlie’s narration, after being freed, the black people were given a territory to stay in and were allowed to make their own laws and rules. However, as Yetman (2012) reports, they could not make rules and laws and hence they ended up selling the territory.

Another noteworthy difference worth mentioning is that Charlie explains the way he went on with life after the end of slavery where he ended up being a statesman in the US. For the case of Harriet, after her marriage, she does not tell us what she did in life (Furney, 2013). It is also seen that Charlie did so many jobs; he was a cowboy, became a statesman, a mason, and picked fruits even when he was one hundred and three years old. Harriet, on the other hand, does not explain any job that she got to do while in slavery and after the break up.

Harriet’s Narrative of Slavery and Charlie’s Narrative of Being Raised by a White Man

Certainly, Harriet’s narrative describes the way of life that the slaves in their institution led. She describes the challenges faced, for example, the girl whose hand was chopped off while feeding the molasses cutter. She also tells us how they spent their days as kids watching horses and the hard times they lived that involved working for the whites, although the whites were not mean to them. Charlie’s narrative, on the other hand, describes the ordeal from their shipment from Africa to America. He explains that they were sold out as slaves where Charlie was taken and raised by Charlie Smith, a white man who gave him the name. The made him his cowboy, among other white boys. After the end of slavery, Charlie became a statesman, a mason, and a fruit picker. Charlie generally loved America, and he says that he got to learn many things in life (Bickford III & Rich, 2014).

References

Bickford III, J. H., & Rich, C. W. (2014). Historical thinking and Common Core: Facilitating adolescents’ scrutiny of the credibility of slave narratives. The Councilor: A Journal of the Social Studies.

Furney, L. (2013). 22 April 2013 Life as a Slave: Frederick Douglass and Harriet Smith. Life.

Yetman, N. R. (Ed.). (2012). Voices from slavery: 100 authentic slave narratives. Courier Corporation.