It’s often difficult to believe that some of the Tamarack publications are from the 19th century. The writing, refined and thoughtful, could have been written today. That period of time usually brings images of horse drawn carriages, oil lamps, and mustachioed male students in Bowler hats. And the women? Oh, they were at home, cinched into their corsets, raising children or reading or dusting or staying off bicycles....
In 1863, the debate about establishing a national day of Thanksgiving was well underway. On September 28th of that year, Sarah Hale, American writer and editor, wrote an impassioned letter to Abraham Lincoln encouraging him to set aside an official day to recognize the spirit of thankfulness that defined the country overall. This, she argued, would be of benefit to the entire population especially during this time of civil war....
The U.S. Civil War officially began in the early months of 1861. Rumblings of war and early warning signs were very apparent in the months and years preceding this official date, however. Members of the free black population were already taking steps during this time to sabotage what they called the “slavocracy” as an economic institution. And they were doing a great job of it. Slowly but surely each patient step toward disruption through “agitation” (as they called it), legal wranglings, and speaking engagements was making an impact....
In an editorial published in the the Weekly Anglo-African newspaper on March 9, 1861, there’s a review of a recent book (titled, American slavery distinguished from the slavery of English theorists, and justified by the law of nature) on the defining of slavery and of slaves as human beings. The writer of this article compares this recent publication with another book published by John H. Van Evrie (another pro-slavery writer) about the same time. The focus is on the question of whether a slave owner has the right to take the life of a slave when he chooses. And this question comes down to the definition of slavery itself....
William Wells Brown was unique among Black Abolitionists. That he was of mixed blood, tracing his maternal grandfather to a famous name (Daniel Boone), was not too unusual for his time. He was also an escaped slave, which was also not that unusual for many Black Abolitionists. But unlike many who devoted their lives to fighting this unjust institution, he was a self-educated writer, lecturer, and historian who became the first African American to publish a novel....
In 1850, the Free Soil Party was formed to organize the more radical members of the Whigs and Democrats. Wikipedia.com tells readers that the party leadership consisted mostly of anti-slavery members who opposed expansion of slavery within the U. S. Good intentions, no doubt about it, but this noble third party practically fell apart about a year after it was formed....
One of the best topics for conversation when nothing else is on table for discussion is the weather. Weather discussion offers you an endless supply of metaphor, an easy connection between strangers (who doesn’t enjoy talking about the weather?), and a huge area for opinion of one sort or another. It also offers a great way to ease into heavier subjects, such as poverty and the misery of the poor....
So, even though educating the black population was not illegal in the northern states during this period, it wasn’t encouraged or supported. Many schools dedicated to educating black children folded under the pressures of lack of funding and lack of support from the white population. Education in this section of the population at one point became a communal endeavor: literate parents taught their children, friends taught friends, groups formed to help each other learn. In the South where educating slaves was not allowed, this type of communal education (mostly centering on learning to read the Bible) was unstoppable....
History has a way of collapsing time. It moves along a social timeline from major event to major event and the small steps that occurred to the human beings involved in the day to day struggle between those events is often overlooked. We see for example the settling of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 (and the African slaves who were included in this), the Civil War in 1861, and the emancipation of slaves in 1863. We’re told that slavery had a long history of cruelty and abuse, and we are hesitant to spend too much time exploring the detailed lives of those who survived this....
You may have surmised by now that my current favorite archive is the Tamarack. What a wonderful find this collection is! Opening these dusty pages is like finding hidden treasure. These young student writers, likely only published in this one tome, were the reporting witnesses to an age that valued insight and “letters” (or writing well) over technological witticism....
