A SEARCH FOR SLAVERY

THROUGH ONE COLLECTION OF PRIMARY SOURCE PHOTOGRAPHY


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Text and digital images copyright (c) (1997). All rights reserved. Copying or redistribution in any manner is prohibited. Any public or commercial use of these materials without prior written permission is a violation of copyright law.


INTRODUCTION

Interest in American History and appreciation of daguerreian photography are two themes important in my life. This work attempts to explore the use of primary source photography in a personal study of history. The result might afford some insight, yet certainly represents a less than comprehensive glance at the institution of slavery.

Initially I sought just one representative daguerreotype of slavery for a broader collection of images illuminating American history. A single telling photograph however, when joined with others of equal power, increases understanding. Avoiding duplication, I selected the images herein from among others encountered over twenty years. Each opens a window into a different microcosm within American slavery. Each exhibits historical and artistic power.

The essay is a distillation of ideas and images mixed in the volatile laboratory of the secondary school classroom. My deepest appreciation goes out to the many young people in whose classes I have been privileged to teach.

Howard R. McManus
Salem, Virginia
July, 1995



PROLOGUE

Repetition will trivialize even the most pervasive horror. Twentieth century media anesthetizes Americans from screens of starving and war torn humanity. Momentarily shocked sensibilities fade into life's trifles without undue discomfort.

As a horror of history, the American institution of racial slavery blankets a deep swamp of human pain, grief, and pathos. It may be fortunate that the photograph was just barely invented in the days when human slavery tore America. Most of the singular horrors within the institution can never graphically be known, but neither can they be trivialized.



Even limited to superficial investigation, the study of slavery is worthwhile. It teaches the inexhaustible capacity of human spirit to build a livable existence regardless of circumstance. Many histories recount rebellion and runaways, certainly a vital aspect of slavery. When driven to such radical action however, slaves also experienced severe disruption of their lives, brutal punishment, or violent death. The majority were unwilling to gamble so recklessly with life. They chose to accept the only fate obtainable, and drew upon deep human strength of will to face trials of circumstance. Frederick Douglass explained, "the slave . . . has no choice, no goal, no destination; but is pegged down to a single spot, and must take root here or nowhere."

[Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, (New York, 1855). Ebony Classics Edition (Chicago: Johnson Publishing Co., 1970), 138.]

Without a time machine, students of history edging gingerly through the murky swamp of slavery, can never recapture or re-create the past. The task rather becomes to attempt understanding--gain perspective on and empathy with, fragments of human lives encapsulated in primary and secondary historical sources. The ideal source for understanding slavery might be a sort of "frozen moment of time" that allowed an unbiased, contemporary glimpse of a typical Southern slave.



Any primary source (testimony of an eyewitness) illuminating slavery is shaded by the degree of bias in its creation. To detect bias, one must distinguish unintended from intentional information. Information intentionally recorded in a source is inherently biased (the past can be viewed only through another's eyes). Information unintentionally recorded in a source is inherently unbiased and most valuable for gaining perspective and empathy in historical study.

Experience of whites and blacks entrapped within circumstances of slavery varied tremendously. Most documentation survives only in unreliable Northern propaganda, sterile Southern legal documents, or seventy year old memories of former slaves orally expressed in Federal Writer's Project and Works Progress Administration interviews. Enforced illiteracy rendered contemporary slave testimony virtually nonexistent in written form. For the few literate slaves who achieved freedom during the pre-war years, memories biased rapidly with passage of time and distance. The dearth of quality source material presents a significant obstacle to historical study.



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Text and digital images copyright (1997). All rights reserved. Copying or redistribution in any manner is prohibited. Any public or commercial use of these materials without prior written permission is a violation of copyright law.



PRIMARY HISTORICAL SOURCE

A primary source is testimony of an eyewitness--of one who was present at the events described. Information is underived or first-hand. Reliability of such an eyewitness should be evaluated using the following criteria:

1--Time-lapse. The less elapsed time between the event and the production of a source, the better the source should be for historical research.

2--Purpose. A source intended merely to record events will usually be most reliable. Other purposes for creating historical sources include: a record to aid memory, reports to other persons, apology, propaganda, etc.

3--Audience. In general, documents intended for the fewest number of eyes are most reliable as historical sources.

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SECONDARY HISTORICAL SOURCE

A secondary source is the testimony of anyone not an eyewitness--of one not present at the events described. Information is second-hand.

Even the finest secondary sources should be used sparingly in the study of history. They are best utilized to formulate the setting of contemporary evidence. One should always test and attempt to improve upon hypotheses derived from secondary sources.

Unlike primary sources, the most reliable secondary sources are usually those furthest away in time from the events described. Time both increases perspective and uncovers additional information.

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