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.It is not even known from whom Thomas Jefferson hiredRichard s time.Yet Richard s brief service in Philadelphia reveals the cruelirony of the decades that followed 1763.While Equiano s career charted amap of the British maritime Atlantic world, Richard personifi ed the hopesand dreams of black Americans during the early years of the Revolution.Although we can never know for sure, as Richard listened to men of influencedub themselves the slaves of King George, and as he watched his tempo-rary master craft the Declaration of Independence, he must have believed thata new day of liberty was about to dawn in Britain s American colonies.1In the early spring of 1775, a small group of Virginians began to preparefor their journey north to Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress.Among them was Thomas Jefferson, chosen to stand in for his distant kins-man, the ailing Peyton Randolph.The tall, reedy, red-haired planter desper-ately wished to make an impression on the Congress, but unlike the volublePatrick Henry, Jefferson lacked a voice that could shake the rafters.A grandentrance would have to do.To pull his phaeton, he purchased a fourth horse,an animal named General, a postillion whip, and green decorations for theharnesses.To complete this impressive picture, he hired two slaves: Jesse, toride postillion, and Richard, as his manservant.2 Over the next few weeks, as Jefferson s entourage bumped across the roadstoward Philadelphia, the young politician splurged a bit to spruce up his newservants.On June 14 he tossed Richard three English shillings to pay forwashing, and three days later he bought him a comb.On several occasions,Jefferson simply handed Richard a few coins.To the extent that Richard wasa slave, and so probably unaccustomed to being paid anything, Jefferson pos-sibly fl attered himself a benevolent master.Perhaps also his determinationto arrive in style on the national stage led him to open his purse in a previ-ously unaccustomed fashion.In early July, Richard was given cash enoughto purchase a linen shirt; one week later Richard again received funds for washing, and when his clothes required mend[in]g, Jefferson paid forthat too.3Just prior to his departure, Jefferson had recorded a precise list of the Number of souls in my family, by which he meant the people who residedunder his patriarchal control.His Monticello family numbered 117.Justbelow himself on the social pyramid sat his wife, Martha, and his daughter,Patsy.Then came sixteen free white overseers and craftsmen, their wives andchildren, and eighty-three slaves.Since many of his slaves had been trainedas house servants, one wonders why Jefferson felt the need to hire a valet forPhiladelphia.Quite possibly, he wished to leave his domestic slaves withMartha, who was rarely well.More likely, he realized that time spent in anorthern city with a large number of slaves might ruin a bondman by expos-ing him to dangerous dreams of autonomy, and so renting a servant wouldcorrupt only the property of another man.4Jefferson had resumed his seat in Congress in May 1776 when wordarrived of the resolutions passed by the Virginia convention, which instructedits delegates in Philadelphia to propose independence.To nobody s surprise,Jefferson, the celebrated author of A Summary View of the Rights of BritishAmerica, was appointed to the committee charged with drafting a manifestojustifying revolution.Charged with handing Jefferson cups of tea whilehis master scribbled was Richard.Few slaves knew how to read, but thosewho did tended to be domestic servants, and perhaps Richard peered overJefferson s shoulder as he picked up his quill pen to write the words thatshook an empire. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men arecreated equal, Jefferson wrote in his slow, deliberate fashion, that they areendowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among theseare life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 5Whether Richard could read those words or heard them read aloud inthe streets of the city, the fact remains that he was one of roughly 600,000Africans and black Americans living in those colonies that would ultimately42 | death or liberty endorse the Declaration of Independence and thus ratify the notion thatJefferson s country was to be a new kind of society, a world based upon libertyand natural rights rather than monarchical power.As the historian HerbertAptheker once observed, it is indeed one of the most painful and yet mostrevealing facts in American history that the author of this founding docu-ment was himself a slave-owner. That Jefferson savored the rich irony thatthe man handing him cups of tea while he wrote these glorious sentimentswas held to labor under the lash is far less certain.6William Lee survived long enough to benefi t from the promise of theRevolution, even if he also lived to see that most black Americans did not.Richard, by comparison, vanishes from public view after 1776, making himthe perfect symbol of the hopes and aspirations of Africans and their childrenas the growing rift between Britain and its American colonies fostered a newspirit of liberty and equality [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.It is not even known from whom Thomas Jefferson hiredRichard s time.Yet Richard s brief service in Philadelphia reveals the cruelirony of the decades that followed 1763.While Equiano s career charted amap of the British maritime Atlantic world, Richard personifi ed the hopesand dreams of black Americans during the early years of the Revolution.Although we can never know for sure, as Richard listened to men of influencedub themselves the slaves of King George, and as he watched his tempo-rary master craft the Declaration of Independence, he must have believed thata new day of liberty was about to dawn in Britain s American colonies.1In the early spring of 1775, a small group of Virginians began to preparefor their journey north to Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress.Among them was Thomas Jefferson, chosen to stand in for his distant kins-man, the ailing Peyton Randolph.The tall, reedy, red-haired planter desper-ately wished to make an impression on the Congress, but unlike the volublePatrick Henry, Jefferson lacked a voice that could shake the rafters.A grandentrance would have to do.To pull his phaeton, he purchased a fourth horse,an animal named General, a postillion whip, and green decorations for theharnesses.To complete this impressive picture, he hired two slaves: Jesse, toride postillion, and Richard, as his manservant.2 Over the next few weeks, as Jefferson s entourage bumped across the roadstoward Philadelphia, the young politician splurged a bit to spruce up his newservants.On June 14 he tossed Richard three English shillings to pay forwashing, and three days later he bought him a comb.On several occasions,Jefferson simply handed Richard a few coins.To the extent that Richard wasa slave, and so probably unaccustomed to being paid anything, Jefferson pos-sibly fl attered himself a benevolent master.Perhaps also his determinationto arrive in style on the national stage led him to open his purse in a previ-ously unaccustomed fashion.In early July, Richard was given cash enoughto purchase a linen shirt; one week later Richard again received funds for washing, and when his clothes required mend[in]g, Jefferson paid forthat too.3Just prior to his departure, Jefferson had recorded a precise list of the Number of souls in my family, by which he meant the people who residedunder his patriarchal control.His Monticello family numbered 117.Justbelow himself on the social pyramid sat his wife, Martha, and his daughter,Patsy.Then came sixteen free white overseers and craftsmen, their wives andchildren, and eighty-three slaves.Since many of his slaves had been trainedas house servants, one wonders why Jefferson felt the need to hire a valet forPhiladelphia.Quite possibly, he wished to leave his domestic slaves withMartha, who was rarely well.More likely, he realized that time spent in anorthern city with a large number of slaves might ruin a bondman by expos-ing him to dangerous dreams of autonomy, and so renting a servant wouldcorrupt only the property of another man.4Jefferson had resumed his seat in Congress in May 1776 when wordarrived of the resolutions passed by the Virginia convention, which instructedits delegates in Philadelphia to propose independence.To nobody s surprise,Jefferson, the celebrated author of A Summary View of the Rights of BritishAmerica, was appointed to the committee charged with drafting a manifestojustifying revolution.Charged with handing Jefferson cups of tea whilehis master scribbled was Richard.Few slaves knew how to read, but thosewho did tended to be domestic servants, and perhaps Richard peered overJefferson s shoulder as he picked up his quill pen to write the words thatshook an empire. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men arecreated equal, Jefferson wrote in his slow, deliberate fashion, that they areendowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among theseare life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 5Whether Richard could read those words or heard them read aloud inthe streets of the city, the fact remains that he was one of roughly 600,000Africans and black Americans living in those colonies that would ultimately42 | death or liberty endorse the Declaration of Independence and thus ratify the notion thatJefferson s country was to be a new kind of society, a world based upon libertyand natural rights rather than monarchical power.As the historian HerbertAptheker once observed, it is indeed one of the most painful and yet mostrevealing facts in American history that the author of this founding docu-ment was himself a slave-owner. That Jefferson savored the rich irony thatthe man handing him cups of tea while he wrote these glorious sentimentswas held to labor under the lash is far less certain.6William Lee survived long enough to benefi t from the promise of theRevolution, even if he also lived to see that most black Americans did not.Richard, by comparison, vanishes from public view after 1776, making himthe perfect symbol of the hopes and aspirations of Africans and their childrenas the growing rift between Britain and its American colonies fostered a newspirit of liberty and equality [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]