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Thirty Years a Slave

Picture
Louis Hughes
​Thirty Years of Slave
From Bondage to Freedom.
THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY AS SEEN ON THE PLANTATION AND IN THE HOME OF THE PLANTER.
BY
Louis Hughes

Preface

The institution of human slavery, as it existed in this country, has long been dead; and, happily for all the sacred interests which it assailed, there is for it no resurrection. It may, therefore, be asked to what purpose is the story which follows, of the experiences of one person under that dead and accursed institution? To such question, if it be asked, it may be answered that the narrator presents his story in compliance with the suggestion of friends, and in the hope that it may add something of accurate information regarding the character and influence of an institution which for two hundred years dominated the country—exercising a potent but baneful influence in the formation of its social, civil and industrial structures, and which finally plunged it into the most stupendous civil war which the world has ever known. As the enlightenment of each generation depends upon the thoughtful study of the history of those that have gone before, everything which tends to fullness and accuracy in that history is of value, even though it be not presented with the adjuncts of literary adornment, or thrilling scenic effects.

Content

Chapter 1: Life on a Cotton Plantation
​
Birth - Sold in a Richmond Slave Pen
A Slave Market
Slave Whipping as a Business
Sold in the Market
On the Auction Block
Price of Slaves
Started for a Cotton Plantation
My Mississippi Home
Plantation Life
The Great House
House Servant and Errand Boy
Cruel Treatment
Instructions in Medicine
The Overseer - Whippings and other Cruelties
The Slave Cabin
Cotton Raising
The Cotton Worm
The Cotton Harvest
Preparing Cotton for Market
Other Farm Products
Farm implements
The Clearing of New Land
Cooking for the Slaves
Carding and Spinning
Weaving - Clothes of the Slaves
Slave Mothers - Care of the Children
Methods of Punishment
Fourth of July Barbecue
Attendance at Church
Religious Meetings of the Slaves
A neighborhood Quarrel
Chapter 2: Social and Other Aspects of Slavery

Removal to Memphis, Tennessee
A New and Splendid House
A New Style of Living
The Adornment of the Grounds
The Garden
Profusion of Flowers
The Fruit Orchard
I Practice Medicine Among the Slaves
A Swell Reception
Relatives Visit at the Mansion
One of the Visitors Distrusts Me
The Madam in a Rage
The Madam's Severity
A Shocking Accident
Master's New Cotton Plantation
Incidents
Longing for Freedom
My First Break for Freedom
My Second Runaway Trip
Preaching to the Slaves
A Family of Free Persons Sold into Slavery
My Marriage - Birth of Twins
Madam's Cruelty to My Wife and Children
Efforts to Learn to Read and Write
Tom Strikes for Liberty and Gains It
News of Tom's Reaching Canada
M'Gee Expects to Capture Tom
Making Clothes
A Superstition
Memphis and Its Commercial Importance
Chapter 3: Slavery and the War of the Rebellion

Beginning of the War
Petty Disrespect to the Emblem of the Union
The Battle of Shiloh, April 9, 1862
Mourning in Master's Family
Alarm of the Memphis Rebels
The Family Flee from Memphis
I am Taken to Bolivar Farm
Capture of a Union Trading Boat
Boss Taken Prisoner
My Third Effort for Freedom
Rebels Burn Their Cotton
My Fourth Runaway Trip
Incidents
Union Raid at Master's Farm
Union Soldiers Pass the Panola Home
Hiding Valuables from the Yankees
Death to Runaway Slaves
Slaves Hung and Left to Rot as a Warning
Runaway Slave Caught and Whipped
A Home Guard Accidentally Shoots Himself
​Substitutes for Coffee
Chapter 4: Rebellion Weakening - Slaves' Hopes Strengthening

M'Gees Slaves Taken to Alabama
M'Gee's Great Scheme
M'Gee's Death
I Make Some Money
Going Back to Panola
Incidents
My Fifth Strike for Freedom is a Success
Going Back for Our Wives
A Hazardous Trip
Two Brave Men
Out of Bondage at Last
A Word for My Old Master
Chapter 5: Freedom After Slavery

Coming North
In Canada
A Clew to my Brother William
Work in Chicago
Attending Night School
I Settle in Milwaukee
Begin Business for Myself in a Small Way
Meeting Relatives of My Old Master
Finding my Brother William
Growth of the Laundry Business
Employed as a Nurse
A Trip South
I Make Nursing My Regular Business

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