Determined Souls of the 19th century

If you were an African American slave, during the 19th century, and you were giving the chance of freedom would you take knowing that you would leave your family behind? What would you do? See it’s a hard question to answer. I don’t know what I would do. DeRamus states; “ many black husbands risked their lives for enslaved wives. They considered freedom a dubious gift, a counterfeit coin, if they couldn’t spend it on the people they loved”(DeRamus 10). That takes true love to really give your freedom up; it takes a lot of strength and courage to do something like that. In the first chapter DeRamus gives the reader a background story about a man named Joseph Antoine who basically gave up his freedom for his wife. His owner in Cuba first freed Antoine of slavery, he then moved to Virginia where he wanted to start a new life as a freed man. His wife name was not known, however she was born in Hampshire, Virginia (now known as West Virginia). DeRamus writes, “ or maybe she was a pale woman with a slant to her eyes and a whisper of silk and cinnamon in her hair”(DeRamus 7). Her owner Jonathan Purcell threatened to sell her in Spanish territory unless Antoine signed papers making him and his wife indentured servants for seven and a half years. They signed however; Purcell lied at the two would actually be indentured servants for fifteen years. So they fled to Kentucky because of exhaustion she died and Antoine was captured and sent to jail. DeRamus writes, Joseph Antoine would have found the twenty-first century as baffling as ballet is to a bulldog. He wouldn’t have understood married couples who split up before their wedding flowers wilt or their new woks and washing machines lose their showroom shine… Most of all he wouldn’t have understood why, for some men, falling in love became a fatal flaw, the crack in a man’s smooth chocolate-ice-cream cool”(DeRamus 3). I love how DeRamus gives Antoine an opinion about the 21st century; through her writing the reader can sense the confusion Antoine must have about our time. I enjoy the examples of simile that she uses in this quote for example, “as baffling as ballet is to a bulldog”, when a person thinks of this image they cant help but be confused. DeRamus through Antoine reminders the reader how times have change and how people don’t have to make the decisions to choose between a loved one and their freedom. What did you think of this story, how did it affect you?