Tempie Cummins

  Tempie Cummins, Age unknown

 

I've chosen to write about Tempie Cummins and what he had to say. 
"The white chillun tries teach me to read and write but I didn' larn much, 'cause I allus workin'." 
Here Tempie talks about that the children, more likely the children of his owners, would teach him how to read and write. This maybe shows that the children of slave owners didn't agree with or even really know why the blacks were being treated the way that they were. He also talks about how was always working. Another sign that maybe the children didn't understand that they were there to work.

Mother was workin' in the house, and she cooked too. She say she used to hide in the chimney corner and listen to what the white folks say. When freedom was 'clared, marster wouldn' tell 'em, but mother she hear him tellin' mistus that the slaves was free but they didn' know it and he's not gwineter tell 'em till he makes another crop or two. When mother hear that she say she slip out the chimney corner and crack her heels together four times and shouts, 'I's free, I's free.' Then she runs to the field, 'gainst marster's will and tol' all the other slaves and they quit work. 
This shows that even though slavery had been abolished many slave owners carried on to keep their slaves as they weren't educated enough to read the news. This information would have also been kept from them by slave owners. It shows the lack of power shown by the federal government to in force the new law. 

Then she run away and in the night she slip into a big ravine near the house and have them bring me to her. Marster, he come out with his gun and shot at mother but she run down the ravine and gits away with me."