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African American Suffering and Suicide Under Slavery

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African American Suffering and Suicide Under Slavery AFRICAN AMERICAN SUFFERING AND SUICIDE UNDER SLAVERY by Linda Kay Kneeland A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY Bozeman, Montana March, 2006 © COPYRIGHT by Linda Kay Kneeland 2006 All Rights Reserved ii APPROVAL of a thesis submitted by Linda Kay Kneeland This thesis has been read by each member of the thesis committee and has been found to be satisfactory regarding content, English usage, format citations, bibliographic style, and consistency, and is ready for submission to the College of Graduate Studies. Dr. Robert Rydell, Chair of Committee Approved for the Department of History Dr. Robert Rydell, Head of Department Approved for the Department of Graduate Studies Dr. Joseph Fedock, Graduate Dean iii STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master's degree at Montana State University, I agree that the Library shall make it available to borrowers under rules of the Library. If I have indicated my intention to copyright this thesis by including a copyright notice page, coying is allowable only for scholarly purposes, consistent with “fair use” as prescribed in the U.S. Copyright law. Requests for permission for extended quotations from or reproduction of this thesis in whole and or in parts may be granted only by the copyright holder. Linda Kay Kneeland March, 2006 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................1 2. SLAVE SUFFERING AND COMMON RESPONSES...............................................12 Common Responses to Suffering.................................................................................. 16 3. SUICIDE........................................................................................................................33 4. ACTUAL SUICIDES ....................................................................................................51 Highest Suicide Rates: First Generation and Rebellion.................................................52 The Use of Suicides in Slave Narratives........................................................................56 Completed Suicides .......................................................................................................57 Description of Suicides by Cause ..................................................................................59 Suicide by Slaveholder ..................................................................................................65 Frequency of Suicides....................................................................................................72 Reasons for the low numbers.........................................................................................75 Suicide since Slavery .....................................................................................................82 5. ATTEMPTED SUICIDES............................................................................................87 Attempted and Contemplated Suicides in Detail ..........................................................87 James Williams .........................................................................................................89 James Lindesy Smith .................................................................................................94 Henry Bibb.................................................................................................................97 Charles Ball................................................................................................................99 John Joseph ..............................................................................................................101 Overview of Suicide Attempts.....................................................................................102 Other Attempted Suicides Mentioned by Ex-slaves ................................................104 The Threat of Suicide...............................................................................................106 6. TRUST IN GOD .........................................................................................................108 Secondary Work...........................................................................................................110 Intellectual Response to Suffering...............................................................................114 Trust in God to End Slavery ...................................................................................121 v TABLE OF CONTENTS- CONTINUED Trust When Prayers Were Not Answered.............................................................126 “And yet, not my will, but your will be done” .....................................................129 Suffering of -and for- Jesus...................................................................................133 Trials for Spiritual Growth....................................................................................135 Sin: The Real Culprit ............................................................................................139 Thankfulness.........................................................................................................142 Forgiveness ...........................................................................................................143 7. CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................153 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................156 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Reasons for suicides from slave narratives and interviews ..........................................58 2. Methods used for suicides in slave narratives and interviews ......................................58 3. Attempted and completed suicides of slaves and ex-slaves in UNC narratives ....................................................................................................75 4. Reasons given for Suicides in UNC Narratives.............................................................75 vii ABSTRACT While the suffering of slaves in the antebellum American South is common knowledge, what is not so commonly known is the suicide rate among those slaves. How did slaves respond to the suffering they were forced to undergo? While some slaves did choose suicide, the rates appear to be surprisingly low. This is consistent with suicide rates for Africa and for people of African descent living in other areas of the world, and further supports the theory that a low suicide rate is an element of African culture. The overwhelming majority of African-American slaves chose to deal with their suffering through a variety of means, including resistance, external compliance and spirituality. When slaves did resort to suicide, it was apparently often in response to a deterioration in their circumstances or unfulfilled expectations. When the slaves developed dialog to address their suffering on an ideological level, they frequently did so through religious channels. 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION To experience humanity is to experience suffering, and to experience suffering engenders the pursuit to alleviate suffering. The pharmaceutical industry, insurance industry, mental health profession, legal field and social services agencies, among other various establishments, all work to decrease human suffering in a world where relationships are broken, dreams are shattered, wars are fought, crimes are committed, children are neglected and people die slow and painful deaths from diseases such as cancer. While humanity is striving to perfect the art of fleeing from suffering, it has become obvious that it is not possible to eradicate it entirely. There is a point in every society, and in every life, where it cannot be escaped and must be faced. How do humans respond when they are forced into suffering from which there is no apparent escape? African American slaves lived through acute and prolonged suffering during the 250 year era they were legally held as human chattel. Slaves used many tactics to decrease or eliminate their suffering, such as escape, cooperation and distraction. When these were not successful and slaves faced suffering that they could not avoid, their responses varied from committing suicide to seeking revenge to accepting their pain. On an ideological level, when slaves pondered their suffering, they sometimes became consumed with hatred and anger and other times understood their suffering in spiritual terms and practiced thankfulness and forgiveness. Their choices were both individualized and cultural. Slaves, as all human beings, 2 ªdiffer[ed] remarkably in their individual reactions to pain and suffering.º1 Their varied responses were not due to self-control or cultural mores but rather to perceptual modulation.2 The crucial issue was the way slaves understood their situations, particulary the changes which occurred in their lives. This was demonstrated among slaves, since those within similar situations and cultural backgrounds handled suffering so differently. However, within their unique responses a culture was created, affected and passed on. What exactly is suffering? Pain is not the same thing as suffering, although pain can, and for the slaves did, become a form of suffering. Webster©s Dictionary defines pain as ªhurt or strong discomfort in some part
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