The House of BondageNone but those who resided in the South during the time of slavery can realize the terrible punishments that were visited upon the slaves. Virtue and self-respect were denied them.-Octavia Albert in The House of BondageWith a fiery, righteous rage, former slave Octavia Albert set about, after Emancipation, collecting the true stories of those that "terrible institution" affected most. That raw material gave rise to The House of Bondage, a refutation to Uncle Tom's Cabin, and an answer to other works of literature of the period that purported to show the horror of slavery even though their authors had never set foot in the South. First published in 1890, this is an important example of a sadly small genre: 19th-century literature by African-American women.With its straightforward and heartbreaking litany of cruelty at the hands of slaveowners, families forever divided, and the harsh effects of particularly hard labor, this is an unforgettable work that should be read by every American who thinks he knows his nation's history.Teacher and social activist OCTAVIA V. ROGERS ALBERT (1853-c.1890) was born into slavery in Georgia; after Emancipation, she studied at Atlanta University. |
Contents
1 | |
CHAPTER II | 7 |
CHAPTER III | 14 |
CHAPTER IV | 21 |
CHAPTER V | 27 |
CHAPTER VII | 42 |
CHAPTER VIII | 49 |
CHAPTER IX | 57 |
CHAPTER XIII | 94 |
CHAPTER XIV | 101 |
CHAPTER XV | 109 |
CHAPTER XVI | 119 |
CHAPTER XVII | 129 |
KukluxReign of terrorBlack lawsReconstruction | 138 |
CHAPTER XIX | 148 |
CHAPTER XX | 156 |
Other editions - View all
The House of Bondage: Or, Charlotte Brooks and Other Slaves, Original and ... Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert No preview available - 2022 |
The House of Bondage: Or, Charlotte Brooks and Other Slaves, Original and ... Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert No preview available - 2018 |
The House of Bondage: Or, Charlotte Brooks and Other Slaves, Original and ... Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert No preview available - 2015 |
Common terms and phrases
Andersonville Aunt Charlotte Aunt Jane Lee Aunt Lorendo Aunt Sallie beat believe Bible bless blood-hounds body bondage brother cabin cane-field Catholic Cato caught CHAPTER Charlotte Brooks Charlotte's child Christian colored cried Daniel's dead dear died dogs free papers freedom Georgia glad go to church half to death Hattie hear heard husband hymn jail Jesus kill Lena ligion lived Lord Louisiana ma'am madam Methodist mighty morning mother negro trader Nellie never niggers night old marster old mistress old Virginia home Orleans overseer plantation planters poor darkies Port Hudson prayer-meeting preaching race remember Richard Silas slave-time slavery slaves sleep sold Sometimes soul South South Carolina stay stockade story Sunday talk tell Tennessee thee thing thought told took Uncle Cephas Uncle John Uncle Stephen Warren whisky white folks wife woman woods Yankees
Popular passages
Page xi - Unless the Divine Power has raised you up to be as Athanasius contra mundum, I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise, in opposing that execrable villainy which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils; but if God be for you, who can be against you?
Page xi - England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils; but if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary in well doing. Go on, in the name of God and in the power of His might, till even American slavery, the vilest that ever saw the sun, shall vanish away before it.
References to this book
A Search of African American Life, Achievement and Culture: First Search John C. Cothran Limited preview - 2006 |