Quote:
“The great responsibility of being free, of having charge of themselves, of having to think and plan for themselves and their children, seemed to take position of them. It was more like suddenly turning a youth of ten or twelve years out into the world to provide for himself” (Washington, 673)
Summary:
This quote from Up from Slavery, is Washington’s description of what the freed slaves felt once they realized the big responsibility freedom was. He compares the Negroes to little kids that are suddenly introduced to manhood and have to manage to provide for themselves.
Response:
I think this quote is very self explanatory, because when Washington compares Negroes to small kids who had to provide for themselves, he is clearly saying that Negroes had no clue whatsoever of the great responsibility it was to be free. I think it is really interesting to see how this idea of freedom frustrates people the moment they got it. Because, Negroes expected and prayed for freedom more than anything; however, when this longing was over and they were finally free, they suddenly had to confront this question about “what do we do now?” and during that time it was a very important question that needed to be addressed immediately, since after the civil war, Negroes were set free and they were supposed to abandon the plantation or houses where they hade lived their wholes lives.
Also, I think Washington’s example of what being free means is very accurate, especially for his time. I think Negroes were like little kids because they had always depended on their patrons or masters to live, and even though they confronted lots of injustices while working in the fields and living under bad conditions, up to one point they got used to it, and I guess freedom had become like a dream for them. Therefore, once freedom came to them, they did not know what to do with it, which is why some of the old slaves talked to their masters in order to keep their jobs, because that is the only thing they knew how to do, in other words, they did not want to adjust to change after all.
“The great responsibility of being free, of having charge of themselves, of having to think and plan for themselves and their children, seemed to take position of them. It was more like suddenly turning a youth of ten or twelve years out into the world to provide for himself” (Washington, 673)
Summary:
This quote from Up from Slavery, is Washington’s description of what the freed slaves felt once they realized the big responsibility freedom was. He compares the Negroes to little kids that are suddenly introduced to manhood and have to manage to provide for themselves.
Response:
I think this quote is very self explanatory, because when Washington compares Negroes to small kids who had to provide for themselves, he is clearly saying that Negroes had no clue whatsoever of the great responsibility it was to be free. I think it is really interesting to see how this idea of freedom frustrates people the moment they got it. Because, Negroes expected and prayed for freedom more than anything; however, when this longing was over and they were finally free, they suddenly had to confront this question about “what do we do now?” and during that time it was a very important question that needed to be addressed immediately, since after the civil war, Negroes were set free and they were supposed to abandon the plantation or houses where they hade lived their wholes lives.
Also, I think Washington’s example of what being free means is very accurate, especially for his time. I think Negroes were like little kids because they had always depended on their patrons or masters to live, and even though they confronted lots of injustices while working in the fields and living under bad conditions, up to one point they got used to it, and I guess freedom had become like a dream for them. Therefore, once freedom came to them, they did not know what to do with it, which is why some of the old slaves talked to their masters in order to keep their jobs, because that is the only thing they knew how to do, in other words, they did not want to adjust to change after all.
1 comment:
20/20 Well I'd say it's partly true but partly false. Who ran all those plantations, really? Who did all the work?
Post a Comment