Account of Susan Bledsoe - Giles County, Tennessee
Susan was born on a Tennessee plantation in 1845 into a family with 6 brothers and 6 sisters, segregated according to owner who, in Susan's case, was Silas Jenkins.
She begins her account explaining how she "worked in the field with the men" unless "called to the house to do work there.", showing how the work for slaves did not revolve around gender and duties were shared accordingly. Susan then introduces the surprisingly central theme to her narrative: the kindness of her masters and the happiness and perceived liberty that accompanied her time as a slave. She explains how "we were not allowed to work on Sunday, but we could go to church if we wanted" with her word choice suggesting that they would rather be working and that this day of rest was somehow an infringement on her liberty, although countered with the offer of church, suggesting that this is a kindness on the part of her owners. She continues to state how "There wasn't any colored church but we would go to the white folks church if we went with our overseer [...] he was good to all of us.". This provides us with an early insight into the kind of segregation and Jim crow law whose notoriety peaked in the 20th century, showing the racism that was inherent to American society, yet could be overcome through the power of a white man, the companionship of which was sufficient to overcome segregation (although this is not a solution). The observation that the overseer was "good" to the slaves is clearly subjective and as modern readers, we are unable to understand to what extent this observation is relative. For example, was he genuinely kind to the slaves (his existence as an overseer of slaves in itself suggests otherwise) or was he kind in comparison with the experiences of other slaves with different overseers, leading Susan to state he is "good". Evidently, the answers will remain unknown but it is interesting nonetheless to note how this positive perception of her captors remains a staple feature of her narrative.
This extends to her recall of her diet as a slave where she states how "we had good food and plenty of it", even going on to say how "I got better food when I was a slave than I have ever had since". Shocking here is Susan's tone of lament as she reflects on her time as a slave, making her good treatment and high quality of life explicitly clear for the reader. However she does note that "they had to feed us well so we would be strong.", showing that she was not naive and there was perhaps an economical motive for the good care provided by her white owners.
Reflecting on slave punishment, Susan gives a brief overview explaining how "yes they had to whip a slave sometimes, but only the bad ones, and they deserved it.". This too is interesting as it shows Susan trying to condone the behaviour of the plantation owners, showing that she has aligned her own morality with that of her captors. This perhaps shows that, as someone born into slavery, Susan is so habituated to this behaviour and ignorant of what constitutes normal civil codes of behaviour outside of a master-slave relationship on an American plantation that she sees slave punishment as an act of moral necessity. In creating this distinction between herself and the 'bad' slaves deserving of punishment, Susan reinforces the idea that she is happy with her own status and sees any act of rebellion as immoral.
When reflecting at the end of her account, Susan discusses her life in the 20th century and her belief that the children of this era are not "as good as they used to be, they are just not raised like we were and do too much as they please.". In this belief, Susan seems to advocate the merits of an upbringing in slavery, clearly referencing her own childhood as a suitable example. This is particularly interesting as by this stage, she had experienced life both in slavery, and as a free woman. Consequently, her beliefs around children of the 20th century are not limited to her experience as a slave (in contrast with her descriptions of her captors) so even with the gift of hindsight, Susan continues to support her lifestyle as a slave, demonstrating that her positive views of her time as a slave were not a mere product of having only known that lifestyle, but still stand in her opinions as a free woman.
In conclusion, Susan's account challenges our (as modern readers) preconceived ideas of slavery to some extent and forces us to reconsider the way in which we might analyse the experience of slaves in America. Although Susan's account may be influenced by untold factors (the editing process, her particular plantation, lack of memory etc.), her positive tone remains unmistakable and makes it incredibly difficult to form a modern conclusion of her contemporary account.
Sources
Pg 1. - https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.120/?sp=11
Pg 2. - https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.120/?sp=12
Pg 3. - https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.120/?sp=13
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