Blog 10: Slave Life After the War

 

EW Harper's poem, "Learning to Read" is a story illustrating the life and search for knowledge of slaves after the civil war. Slaves wanted to read, learn, and grow, but were hindered by the oppression of the slave owners. After the North had won the war, they sent teachers down to help the slaves and other southerners learn and be taught the "northern" way. Harper writes, "Very soon the Yankee teachers Came down and set up school; But, oh! how the Rebs did hate it -  It was agin’ their rule". The slave owners, or "masters" hated this because they believed knowledge was freedom for their slaves. Despite this, slaves were desperate to learn and would do just about anything to attain knowledge. Harper writes about Mr. Turner and Uncle Caldwell who would go as far as to "[grease] the pages of his book, And hid it in his hat. And had his master ever seen The leaves upon his head, He’d have thought them greasy papers, But nothing to be read". The book being spoken about is the Bible. I saw a similarity to the slave owners and the early Catholic Church. The early Catholic Church, in old Europe, banned its patrons from reading the bible because they would become too knowledgeable. They feared that the people would misunderstand the writings and rise up against the Church. In reality they just wanted to be able to control their church body much the same way that slave masters wanted to stay in control of their slaves.
Charles W. Chesnut's short story, "The Wife of his Youth" gives readers an insight into some of the unfortunate situations that arose from the civil war. Molly Dixon was separated from her husband during the war. The separation of slave families was very common, almost expected, during the war. Mr. Ryder had grown to be somewhat of a successful man after the war. As it turns out, Molly Dixon was Mr. Ryder's wife of his youth. He was hoping to move on to bigger and better things but was ultimately persuaded to take her back. In the end, Mt. Ryder says, "this is the woman, and I am the man, whose story I have told you. Permit me to introduce to you the wife of my youth."