The Book of Negroes, The Sons of Liberty

[AthenaAwakened]

It has been an interesting week of TV watching. I watched The Sons of Liberty on the HIST channel and am watching ‪The Book of Negroes on the CBC. Both shows are about the time of the American Revolution, but they tell two VERY different stories. ‪The Sons Of Liberty gives us a fairly straight forward telling of a traditional rendering of the story of this nation's birth. It is a very white, very male rendering of that story. It has its moments, but at no time does it question the protagonists' ultimate righteousness as patriots. The Book Of Negroes tells a different story from the point of view of the British, particularly the black residents of the colonies who fought for the British in return for a promise of freedom. The right and righteousness of the Americans and their patriotism is far from a foregone conclusion, and the treachery of slavery is not glossed over in favor of portraits of personal angst. I recommend viewing the two shows together. Quite the eye opening experience.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Abolition had small chance at the Founding, the Colonies needed to be united to survive and the southern colonies would not allow slavery to be ended. The Colonies sold its soul for freedom, but the price would be notable in 90 years.

 

[Kharakov]

If you are a slave who fights to keep your overseers enslaved to their British overseers- are you fighting to end slavery or to preserve it?

 

[OLDMAN]

Started watching Book of Negros, in the first scene a baby is born not breathing, they started doing CPR on it.....stopped watching.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

If you are a slave who fights to keep your overseers enslaved to their British overseers- are you fighting to end slavery or to preserve it?

If I am a slave, and I have a chance not to be, do I trust the white man who never beat me, never sold my husband from me, never raped me, or do I trust the man who did those things to me with a smile on his face and a lie on his lips? Is the demand to pay taxes equal to having your children sold from you? Is that your contention?

 

[AthenaAwakened]

Started watching Book of Negros, in the first scene a baby is born not breathing, they started doing CPR on it.....stopped watching.

You do know that midwives for centuries and across all cultures used some form of what we call CPR on babies that did not breath immediately after birth, right?

 

[OLDMAN]

Started watching Book of Negros, in the first scene a baby is born not breathing, they started doing CPR on it.....stopped watching.

You do know that midwives for centuries and across all cultures used some form of what we call CPR on babies that did not breath immediately after birth, right?

We know people don't know enough to boil water...

 

[AthenaAwakened]

You do know that midwives for centuries and across all cultures used some form of what we call CPR on babies that did not breath immediately after birth, right?

We know people don't know enough to boil water...

Actually, midwives knew quite a few things, even if they didn't know the science behind them only the "holy ritual". Regular Doctors. OTOH, did not know sanitation and it wasn't until after the American Civil War that doctors began washing their hands BEFORE delivering the baby. Midwives washed their hands as a cleansing ritual to ward off evil for centuries before that.

 

[Keith&Co.]

If I am a slave, and I have a chance not to be, do I trust the white man who never beat me, never sold my husband from me, never raped me,

I'd say no.
After the British surrendered, the blacks that had fled slavery to 'abolitionist,' British-held New York were returned to their owners before the Brits left. The terms of the surrender were to return property to original owners and the (not former enough) former slaves qualified.
never mind if he smiled or not, don't trust politicians.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

If I am a slave, and I have a chance not to be, do I trust the white man who never beat me, never sold my husband from me, never raped me,

I'd say no.
After the British surrendered, the blacks that had fled slavery to 'abolitionist,' British-held New York were returned to their owners before the Brits left. The terms of the surrender were to return property to original owners and the (not former enough) former slaves qualified.
never mind if he smiled or not, don't trust politicians.

That is what The Book Of Negroes is about and not every black person wasn't taken into slavery. Was Nova Scotia a racial paradise? Hell no. But when the offer is made, without knowing how things will end, would you answer the question the same way?

 

[Trodon]

Slavery and the American Revolution

During the American Revolution slavery was legal in each of the thirteen states. It was illegal in England.

In the Declaration of Independence, when Thomas Jefferson complained that King George III "has excited domestic insurrections amongst us," he was complaining that the British Army was helping slaves fight for their freedom.

That passage was borrowed from the 1776 Constitution of South Carolina which said more explicitly that King George III "excited domestic insurrections; proclaimed freedom to servants and slaves, enticed or stolen them from, and armed them against their masters."

In his essay, "TAXATION NO TYRANNY AN ANSWER TO THE RESOLUTIONS AND ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN CONGRESS," which condemned the American Revolution Samuel Johnson wrote, "We are told, that the subjection of Americans may tend to the diminution of our own liberties; an event, which none but very perspicacious politicians are able to foresee. If slavery be thus fatally contagious, how is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?"
http://www.samueljohnson.com/tnt.html