Twelve months in AndersonvilleOn the march--in the battle--in the Rebel prison pens, and at last in God's country . important positions in life, know very little of tl^e state ofsociety before the war, especially in the South. The presentdiffers from the jjast in a great many respects, and manythings which were tolerated twenty-five years ago, and sanc-tioned, M^ould now be condemned and suppressed. In theSouthern States, then, every black man and woman was aslave, or in a condition little better than slavery. They weresubject to all the abuse that any white man desired to heapupon them. They
Twelve months in AndersonvilleOn the march--in the battle--in the Rebel prison pens, and at last in God's country . important positions in life, know very little of tl^e state ofsociety before the war, especially in the South. The presentdiffers from the jjast in a great many respects, and manythings which were tolerated twenty-five years ago, and sanc-tioned, M^ould now be condemned and suppressed. In theSouthern States, then, every black man and woman was aslave, or in a condition little better than slavery. They weresubject to all the abuse that any white man desired to heapupon them. They had no rights the white race were bound torespect. There was no redress for wrongs inflicted upon themin the courts. Even their testimonj^ could not be receivedwhen whites were engaged in controversy, or in their ownbehalf All slaves were held as chattels. The slaves werebought and sold just as we buy and sell horses in these good, sound and healthy young man would command a goodprice—from $800, to $1500. In order to keep them subject totheir masters, they were kejjt in ignorance as much as Twelve Months in Andersonville. 175 It was a crime for any one to teach them to read and write,punishable by a heavy fine and imprisonment. These slaveswere always quartered near their masters residence, in smallhouses built for that purpose. All slaves must be in theirquarters at certain hours in the evening. Should any beabsent at roll call, they were punished the next day by x-eceiv-ing a certain number of lashes on their bare backs. But therewas always a certain instinct that seemed to say, I have justas good a right to my freedom as any one else. Hence, sometook their chances to make their escape. To prevent this, andhelp to secure the re-capture of the fugitives, each planterkept a pack of blood-hounds which were trained to track thenegroes in case of attempted flight. Many slaves, from mis-treatment or some cause, would hide in the swamps, comingout of their places
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectandersonvilleprison
