In my search to authenticate Black history, one thing I learned early on from museum curators, historians and educators was to seek out "primary source" materials and artifacts. These could include: pictures, utensils of everyday life, antiques, letters, ect, that have been preserved by our ancestors and their descendants. In other words, items that can be verified as original.
My intention with this post is to introduce the reader to writings by three different Black men, from three different walks of life in the mid 1800's. Each writer demonstrates independence, devotion to family, and love of freedom.
As you read these letters, keep in mind that in many slave states it was illegal for enslaved persons to learn to read or write, punishable by death.
The first letter is by Samuel Cabble, Civil War soldier, the second by free, Black entreprenuer Thomas Day, and the third by former slave, Jourdon Anderson.
The following is a summary of each letter.
Samuel Cabble, Soldier
The first letter is from Civil War soldier, Samuel Cabble, US Colored Troops 55th Massachusetts Infantry, who volunteered to fight for freedom in 1863 when President Lincoln called on Black freedmen
My intention with this post is to introduce the reader to writings by three different Black men, from three different walks of life in the mid 1800's. Each writer demonstrates independence, devotion to family, and love of freedom.
As you read these letters, keep in mind that in many slave states it was illegal for enslaved persons to learn to read or write, punishable by death.
The first letter is by Samuel Cabble, Civil War soldier, the second by free, Black entreprenuer Thomas Day, and the third by former slave, Jourdon Anderson.
The following is a summary of each letter.
Samuel Cabble, Soldier
The first letter is from Civil War soldier, Samuel Cabble, US Colored Troops 55th Massachusetts Infantry, who volunteered to fight for freedom in 1863 when President Lincoln called on Black freedmen
