Tuesday, 10 April 2018

The History Behind Reverend Charles Thompson Slavery Biography

By Roger Wagner


With the onset of yet another era in what appears a major issue with racial equality, it is more important than ever to understand the past when it comes to this issue. While personal experience remains limited, there are some publications which were written by actual slaves. One of these publications reflects the slavery biography of a Slave which describes the experience of the Reverend Charles Thompson as a child during slavery in the American south.

One biography, that of the Reverend Charles Thompson which was published in 1875 was written from the perspective of being a child during the slave trade. In this publication, the author refers to the time being one of great difficulty and despair. In fact, the book details all aspects of being a child slave during that time. As such, this biography is often considered as close as one can get to having been a witness to the atrocities of the time.

Born in Atala County, Mississippi, Charles relates a number of experiences which occurred after his owner Mr. Kirkwood passed away when the boy was only 9 years old. As an owner of multiple plantations, it was feared by other plantation owners that the slaves would escape or rebel. As such, the boy reports that the slaves were separated from families and sold on the open market.

Left alone on the Kirkwood plantation, Charles began to work on the plantation as a young boy. Then, when Mr. Kirkwood died when boy was only 9, the slaves were separated in fear of an attempted escape and rebellion due to the number of slaves Kirkwood owned on multiple plantations. As such, once an adult Charles was hired out to a number of different plantations by different owners who would pay the highest price.

In order to gain insight into the life of Ben and Charles, there are two films which have purported to show slavery in a true light. These are the mini-series known as Roots by Alex Hailey, and the film Django Unchained. In both cases, there is a great deal of graphic violence as was the case during the time. As such, the films can often be difficult, especially for viewers under the age of 12, though do show some of the most important history related to slavery.

When it comes to the history of the time, it is a sad and true tale of abuse, ownership, rape, violence and torture. In most cases, slaves were considered personal property who could be bought and sold as desired. While there were entire families sold into slavery, individual members were often sold off to other plantations. As a result, many families were broken up and were never able to reunite.

Most slaves had to perform chores, duties and other tasks as requested or face severe punishment. During the slave trade, this work was performed free of charge. While room and board were often included on the plantation, most quarters were in poor condition with the slaves being offered very little in the way of food, drink or nourishment.

One of the saddest aspects of slavery is that of rape. For, there were numerous owners who would take female and male slaves at will for sexual gratification. In fact, there are a number of descendants of slaves now living whom are children, grandchildren and great grandchildren which have no idea of how the line started.




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