Nate, Southern Black Slave
January 28th 2008 01:29
Black Christian Slave
Nate’s English was not so good. He lived with an old grandmother in his early years, and she spoke mostly some African language. She had been kidnapped as a child and carried by boat to the USA to become a slave. Most of her relatives who had been kidnapped with her died on the long and hot journey across the ocean.
Nate learned English the hard way, by being beaten whenever a white man told him something and he did not understand the message. He quickly tried to learn as much English as he could to avoid the beatings.
When Nate was in his early teenage years, he attended some church services for the slaves. It was held by so-called Christians each Sunday night. Slaves had the option of attending or not, one of the few choices they were allowed to make for themselves. Nate was largely attending in order to pick up a few more English words. He had no particular interest in the white man’s religions. His grandmother had tried to help him understand more of the religion of his tribe back in Africa. He was aware, however, that he had practically no chance of returning to Africa. He had learned to accept his lot, being a black slave in Mississippi.
While at the services, Nate began to understand the story of Jesus and many of the other Bible stories. They were interesting to a young boy such as Nate. He was particularly interested, though, in the stories of Jesus. He liked to try to picture the miracles that Jesus was supposed to have done. He listened and tried very hard to understand messages concerning the Beatitudes of Jesus. It seemed that Jesus was not the same type of person as the white men who dealt with the slaves on this plantation. He did realize that Jesus, as the white slave owners, believed in physical punishment. He studied about the time that Jesus whipped some merchants who were selling things near the temple, how He overturned their display tables and scolded them.
After attending many weeks of such Christian services, Nate began to see a great difference between Jesus and the white men who owned him. Jesus seemed to have a tender side to his personality. Few white slave owners ever showed any tenderness toward Nate. Their words were harsh, usually. They did not seem to care if the slaves were tired or sick or thirsty. All that seemed to mattered to them was the harvesting of their crops.
Nate was attracted to the words of Jesus Who said, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Nate was well aware that few of the slaves had an easy life, only a few pretty girls who were used inside the big house for the pleasure of their white owners. Few of the slave owners could be described as meek or lowly in heart. Although he had doubts about the words of Jesus, he still was quite interested in His message.
As all other people, Nate could not control his size or his strength, or how much work he was able to do. As he became a young man, he became taller and huskier and therefore, stronger than many of the black slaves on this plantation. Of course, his owner noticed this and considered Nate’s value not only as a worker but as a producer of children who would be big and strong when they matured. Therefore, Nate was forced to begin sleeping with big boned slave women, hoping that some strong baby boys would result from this union, future slaves of great value. Since Nate was not the only big slave used for this purpose, nobody really knows how many of the offspring were his and how many were from other slave men.
Nate did, however, show a strong interest in one of the strong slave women. His owner noticed this and decided to reward them with the privilege of marrying. Nate and his new wife, Prissy, produced a baby girl after several months. This girl, named Ellie, was clearly the child of Nate; she looked so much like him that everybody noticed the resemblance.
After a few more months, Prissy was expecting another baby. Prissy’s health, however, began to suffer. She became unable to work in the fields any longer. Her master was displeased about this situation. However, hoping that the baby would be a big boy, he allowed Prissy to have much more rest than previously. When the time came for the birth, Prissy seemed to have too little strength. She died trying to give birth to the baby. The baby, another girl, also died.
Nate needed someone to help him through this tremendous loss. The woman he loved most was now no longer with him. “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me. You will find rest unto your soul.” The words of Jesus kept coming back to him. Late one night, after working hard all day, Nate secretly knelt beside the cot and prayed, “Jesus, I’m so tired, inside and outside. My body is suffering from the hard work, I’m so lonely in my insides, and I worry about my baby Ellie. She gets to spend the day with a slave lady, but I worry about her so much. Can you help me? I need that rest that You promised. If You’re real, give me the rest.” Very quickly, Nate could feel something growing inside his chest. He felt sure that Jesus was touching him. In spite of pain and weariness, he fell asleep on his knees.
The next day, Nate was awakened by a slave, telling him that the master wanted him to come to the house. Nate grabbed sleepy Ellie and walked to the master’s house. As he approached, the master told some men to tie him and put him into the wagon.
“Where are we going, Master Tom?” asked Nate.
“To the slave auction, Nate. I’ve decided to sell you and Ellie together. Since Prissy died, you’ve been of little value to me,” answered Master Tom.
“Can’t I stay, Master?” pleaded Nate. “My grandma is here. I don’t know people anywhere else, only the slaves who are here?”
“It’s settled, Nate. Someone will carry Ellie for you until you’re sold.”
They went several miles away, somewhere that Nate had never seen before. The sights were confusing to him, causing great torrents of fear inside his chest. It was then that he remembered his prayer last night, the invitation for Jesus to take over his life. Not actually understanding what was happening, Nate assumed that Jesus was working in his life. Maybe his life would be better on a new plantation.
After a few hours of watching other slaves being sold, Nate and Ellie were pushed up onto the platform. They were next to be sold.
Someone yelled, “We don’t want the kid, Tom. Sell the man alone.”
Tom replied that Nate and Ellie were to be sold together. The auction resumed.
Nate was practically undressed. They removed his shirt and trousers, leaving him in tattered underwear. People awed at his muscular arms, chest and legs. Of course, this was what Tom wanted, people being impressed with Nate’s obvious strength.
“Why you selling him, Tom?” someone asked. “Is he sick or something?”
“Naw,” Tom answered. “His missus died, and he needs a change of atmosphere. He’s strong as he looks. The kid will be strong, too. Just look at those hands and feet.”
After a few minutes, the auctioneer announced, “Sold!” Nate was given his shirt and trousers and was hauled off to another wagon for a trip to his new home. He was allowed to carry Ellie himself on this trip.
The workers at this new plantation did not readily accept Nate. He spent nights with Ellie, teaching her to talk and to sing “corn ditties”, the songs that he had learned at black church meetings. Regardless of his acceptance among the new group of slaves, Nate’s relationship with Jesus began to grow. He could find Jesus whenever he wanted. He told Jesus about the things which bothered him and of the good things in his life, especially about his growing Ellie. To Nate, Jesus and Ellie were the most important people in life. His appreciation of each of them was growing daily.
The new master realized that Nate had the strength to do more than the average slave in a day. He was good to Nate at the beginning. Later, however, he began to expect more work than Nate was doing. He began to beat him at times. As Ellie was growing up, there were many times that she saw the deep marks on her daddy’s back and legs from the whips and the clubs used to beat him. Nate tried to not complain around his Ellie, though. He did what he could to accept what came to him.
Once, Ellie saw that Nate could hardly move his leg. She pulled back the trouser covering the leg and saw infection and maggots on his open wound. “Oh Daddy, how can you work this way?” she asked.
Nate had no ready answer. “How can I not work, Ellie? The master expects me to be in the field so I gotta go. Anyhow, I got Jesus with me. He and I are best friends.” He placed a hand on Ellie’s head and urged her to go to the slave lady who watched her each day.
There was talk among the workers, of course. They had coded phrases that they used to talk about things that the master’s overseers could not understand. They talked about an “underground railroad” and the war that seemed to be brewing off the coast of South Carolina. They talked of escape plans although they all doubted that escape was possible. All of the neighbors were slave owners, too, and they felt that it was what they called a “necessary evil”. On occasion, a few slaves tried to run away, but most of them were caught and given severe beatings when they were returned to the plantation.
It was when Ellie was only eleven years old that Nate decided that something must be done. Ellie was working in a kitchen on the plantation. One of the master’s teenage sons came in and told her to go to a shed outside, far from the major buildings of the plantation. Being a slave, she obeyed. That night, she was quite upset when Nate saw her after his work was finished for the day. She was crying secretly and clearly trying to hide from her father.
“What’s going on, Ellie?” Nate questioned. He got no response from her. He came closer to her and pulled her hand from the front of her dress, revealing blood. She could hold back the heavy tears no longer.
“Who did this to you?” Nate asked. She only pointed toward the master’s house. “Did the master do it?”
She shook her head negatively. “Willem”, she finally replied.
“Master’s son?” She nodded affirmatively.
What can a father do in such a situation? His daughter raped by the son of the man who owns him and his daughter.
Nate hugged Ellie and got some warm water for her. He told her to go wash up and talk whenever she wanted to talk. While she washed, Nate prayed. “Jesus, You have been my best friend for many years now. Help me to know what to do.”
Nate confided in Ellie that they would begin to formulate a plan to escape. He would begin listening more carefully to the coded talk among the slaves and do some planning.
By listening and learning, Nate began his plans. He would escape with Ellie, and they would go to Port Royal, South Carolina, and join the Northern Army’s efforts to combat slavery.
This planning took several months. Ellie became more interested in her father’s Jesus and learned much of His teachings by going to the church services and by listening to her father’s prayers at night. Soon, Jesus became her confidante, the person who cared about her situation.
One night, Ellie and Nate, along with a few other slaves began their attempt to escape. It went well until one of the plantation dogs saw them and began barking. Some of the master’s men followed the dog’s barks and saw a few figures sneaking away. One of them fired a gun at the figures, and one of them fell.
“Oh Daddy,” Ellie cried. “Oh no, not my daddy.”
When the master’s men arrived, Nate was clearly mortally wounded. He asked Ellie to sing one of the corn ditties that the slaves often sang. Through her tears, Ellie began,
“I'm a going to cross de river on de gospel raft,
like Noah in de good ole ark,
Keep your candles all a burning, keep 'em burning all de time,
or you'll lose yourself and stumble in the dark,
Get your baggage on de craft, don't forget to get the check,
for you've got to pay your passage right to day.
Be sure de money's good, for de captains eyes is sharp,
you can't sneak aboard and hide away.”
Ellie tried to ease Nate’s pain and stop the bleeding, but clearly, Nate was leaving the plantation.
Struggling against the pain, Nate urged Ellie, “Live for Jesus, Ellie. Then, we will meet up above when your time comes. I’ll be waiting near the gate so you won’t have to look for me.”
”I will, Daddy,” she replied. “I wish you would not have to go now.”
“Me, too, Ellie, but it’s better to be with my Jesus than go through more of the things on the plantation.”
Weakly, Nate lifted a hand upward and said, “Here’s my Jesus, comin’ for to carry me home.”
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