[lit-ideas] Re: The Yorkshire Terrier (Was: Wilberforce)
- From: "Judith Evans" <judithevans1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:55:19 +0100
>So, if Kemble was London-born, and there was no _slavery_ in
>London then, I would think her anti-abolitionist attitudes could
>have originated from the British (or English) background
If she was British (England, Wales, Scotland) born. She was born (in London) in
1809, 37 years after slavery was declared contrary to English law and the
remaining 14,000 slaves, domestic servants, emancipated. (Still, though,
some people from other countries brought their slaves to England and Kemble
would have known about the Mary Prince case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Prince )
And she was born two years after the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, and
moved to
the US just before the passing of the Abolition of Slavery Act (of 1833) that
outlawed
slavery throughout the British Empire.
But she might not have known about conditions on slave plantations elsewhere
(even though some
were run by and from people in the UK) and it seems to have been those that
made her
an abolitionist.
> "Amazing Grace" depicts the Brits of the 19th century as pretty confident
>that slavery was (_contra_ Aristotle, or _pace_ Aristotle) a big abomination
that part of "Amazing Grace" is accurate; indeed I believe much of it is
accurate, it simply
gives a somewhat top-down account of abolitionism in Britain (even though it
included
Thomas Clarkson and Olaudah Equiano -- whose role, apparently, it diminishes).
Judy Evans, Cardiff, UK
----- Original Message -----
From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 2:30 AM
Subject: [lit-ideas] The Yorkshire Terrier (Was: Wilberforce)
Judy:
>or you could see the movie...
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/187136/Enslavement-The-True-Story-of-Fanny-Kemble/overview
Mmm. Interesting. I should revise dates. One 'movie' I did see recently is
the rather boring "Amazing Grace" about this Wilberforce ("A Yorkshire terrier"
as he is described in the film). Very little about what I was expecting to see
but as my friend told me, "What you expected to see has been seen zillions of
times in things like "Roots").
So, if Kemble was London-born, and there was no _slavery_ in London then, I
would think her anti-abolitionist attitudes could have originated from the
British (or English) background. "Amazing Grace" depicts the Brits of the 19th
century as pretty confident that slavery was (_contra_ Aristotle, or _pace_
Aristotle) a big abomination. Weren't they always airing _that_ as their main
criticisms to what they thought was "American" backward views on slavery?
For what it was worth (a lot) In Argentina, slavery, was officially abolished
in 1913. I know because that is one of the key questions in any history quizz
of Argentina worth its name.
Borges has some recollections of 'slave-families' in Buenos Aires. He would
remember that former slave families had (as in the USA) adopted the 'family
name' of their holders. This, to patrician Borges, was a bit of a puzzle,
because it would mean that a 'family surname' would _not_ necessarily indicate
'the breed' or 'nobility'.
Since there are no lead mines in Buenos Aires (or cotton fields) I believe
the slaves's main job was to bathe themselves (and the laundry) in the (rather
dirty then, I believe) waters of the warm River Plate.
Only one historian I know, of Yale, has attempted the connection between the
TANGO and Buenos Aires slavery.
The book is called:
"Tango: The Art History of Love"
by R. Thompson, New York: Pantheon
which relies, inter alia, on:
"The Afro-Argentines of Buenos Aires, 1800-1900", by G. Andrews.
Along with Spanish-speaking titles:
"Cultura negra en el cono sur", by Alejandro Frigerio.
and
"Cosas de negros" by Vicente Rosas.
Cheers,
JL
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