31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Mind-opening work, June 23, 2002
This review is from: Black Masters: A Free Family of Color in the Old South (Paperback)
This was the first book (aside from narratives by Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass & etc) I read concerning antebellum black and bi-racial history. It was so interesting I have since read a dozen others. As the authors state in the Introduction, this book really focuses on biracial persons of white/black ancestry. However, because, presently, persons who tend to be dark complected often consider themselves (and are considered by others) to be black and because the laws of antebellum South Carolina clearly differentiated between whites and free persons who did not fall into the white category (including pure blacks and biracial persons), the authors used the term BLACK MASTERS in the title.
The book is generally about William "April" Ellison, born a slave but well treated, trained in mechanical skills and then freed as a young man. Because of this, the authors believe him to be the biracial son of the white planter Robert or William Ellison. Once freed, April officially had his name changed to William Ellison and moved to Statsburg, a wealthy suburb away from his previous owner. He slowly amassed a fair amount of wealth; although, unlike many of the more aristocratic planters of South Carolina, William "April" Ellison worked his own fields and, in his role as a mechanic, had to walk a fine line between independence and not overstepping the bounds permitted to a free person of color. His was the only family not considered white by his fellow South Carolinans who was able to sit in the church on the ground floor in the pews reserved for well-off whites and wealthy planters.
William Ellison's family interacted with and married into some of the better off free families of color in Charleston. He became a member of the BROWN FELLOWSHIP and FRIENDLY MORALIST SOCIETIES which was generally limited to biracial persons (in fact, one biracial person was expelled from one of the societies because he maintained close ties to free persons who appear to have been of pure African-American heritage, leading the society to decide he was socially a black rather than a biracial person). FPCs who were apparently of pure African ancestry also had their own societies (and owned slaves) as, of course, did persons considered to be of pure European ancestry.
Much of the book focuses on the curious position of biracial persons in South Carolina: many wealthy whites wanted to re-enslave free blacks (which, in their minds, included anyone of African extraction) while many poor whites wanted to prevent anyone of African ancestry (free or enslaved) from being able to hold any skilled positions (thus effectively opening many areas employment to themselves). In the wake of the slave rebellion led by the well-off free black named Denmark Vessy, these views gained much support and many laws on education and etc were temporarily enforced with enthusiasm, only to be narrowly defeated.
The Ellisons supported the Democratic Party and the Confederacy, even though William's sons were not allowed to enlist in the military. William's grandson, who (according to the authors)had noticable "black" features also attempted to enlist and was accepted even though the officers knew his family and ancestry - apparently the question as to whether or not he was black never came up! During the Civil War, Wisdom Hall and the other dwellings on the Ellison estate barely avoided being destroyed, but the Ellisons began to lose their wealth and as their old white friends died or moved away, the family began to be considered, even by their neighbors, as simply another black family.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Black Masters, May 24, 2009
This review is from: Black Masters: A Free Family of Color in the Old South (Paperback)
Regardless of its historiographical interpretation, articles and monographs typically study race-based slavery and the Old South with the victims being African-Americans and the perpetrators being white southerners. This, however, was not always the case, as the story of William "April" Ellison, a black (mulatto) slave and then later slave owner, indicates. Michael P. Johnson's and James L. Roark's Black Masters: A Free Family of Color in the Old South (1984) explores Ellison's transition from slave to elite. Ellison and his family, as individuals of mixed ancestry but African-Americans according to society, had to live with special caution, carefully weighing all behaviors, as they were not allowed to fully exercise their rights. The authors do not have a series of traditional arguments; rather, they tell his and his family's story. Political and social issues in South Carolina provide a backdrop.
Thirty-four letters discovered in 1935 provide the foundation for Black Masters. Other evidence, such as court records, census lists, newspapers, diaries, and oral histories, provide additional information about Ellison and his family that creates a fuller picture, with analysis and a backdrop. Although this monograph also has its share of "many," "about," and similar words, Johnson and Roark use evidence to provide real data. Some pages are literally goldmines of statistics. Also in contrast to some scholarly works, these authors explore the boundaries and differences between law and reality. To provide one of many examples, in 1834, it became illegal for African-American schools to operate, but they continued operating without difficulty.
Despite the numerous strengths and creativity of Black Masters, it does have some weaknesses. These weaknesses are minor and are not global issues. In three places the authors' terminology is out of place and inappropriate or confusing. Johnson and Roark say, "The shop served as April's schoolhouse for social as well as mechanical skills." Especially considering the interpretation and resulting controversy of U.B. Phillip's American Negro Slavery--which justifies slavery because the plantation served as a "school" to "civilize" African-Americans--the authors should avoid the school reference. In another place they say, "Eason and his supporters were not the only ones who wanted a final solution to the free Negro problem." In the post-Holocaust world, "final solution" invokes images of ten million people who were murdered in one decade. Also, while readers will appreciate Johnson's and Roark's careful definitions and precision with racial terms (e.g., Afro-American, black, brown, colored, mulatto, Negro), at times it is a bit confusing and hard to follow all of the subtleties of meaning.
Johnson's and Roark's conclusion about the difference between black and white masters is not satisfying. They argue that white masters based slavery on power, and the black masters had slaves for security. While slaves may well have provided Ellison and other free African-Americans a layer of security, this interpretation overlooks that slavery is inevitably a relationship based on power and free labor to increase profits. This interpretation makes Ellison owning slaves less a crime against humanity than whites owning slaves. These authors spend most of the book explaining how rich Ellison's family became as a result of their slave-dealings. Furthermore, earlier they had argued evidence indicates Ellison treated his slaves worse than white masters treated their slaves; Ellison's slaves received the worst food and clothing in the district.
On another minor note, Johnson and Roark leave some obvious questions unanswered. Perhaps other scholars can help answer these. What is the conflict between Ellison having been a slave and a master of slaves? Why does the public memory not allow for the reality of black masters, even though it is a small number? Why is it important to study black masters? What does this change about the legacies of slavery for virtually all African-Americans?
Altogether Black Masters is not only a fine work of scholarship, it is also written with clear, flowing prose. Black Masters challenges readers to rethink stereotypical notions of the Old South, whites, and blacks. It is a fine example of how United States raced-based skilled and unskilled slavery truly was different and changing by time and place. "Mastering Freedom" is the one of the most effective chapters because it demonstrates the unique and long-term successes of the Ellison family: free, rich, learned, successful African-Americans in South Carolina during the 1800s.
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