Photo Tour of the Home of Jupiter Hammon-the First Published Black Writer in U.S.

According to Mark, during the early days of the Revolution Hammon agitated among the black population in NY in favor of the Patriot cause. When the British occupied Long island in 1776, Lloyd and Hammon sought refuge in Conn.
 
In Manisha Sinha's book The Slave's Cause the historian writes that Hammon's deeply Christian writings have been mistaken in the past as fatalistic "resigned slave" expressions. She writes:

Hammon’s poetry was not a simple capitulation to Christian servitude. In his dialogue between a “kind master” and “dutiful servant,” the latter asserts, “The only safety that I see, Is Jesus’ holy word.” His master’s suicide, which resulted from his mistaken belief that the Americans had lost the war, only underscored his slave’s claim to spiritual superiority.

Sinha, Manisha. The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (Kindle Locations 708-711). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
 
From The Slave's Cause:

In his political essays, Jupiter Hammon published two pamphlets in Hartford during the war that dealt with the problem of slavery and freedom from an Afro-Christian perspective, or what one scholar has called “biblical hermeneutics.” In the first, “A Winter Piece,” published in 1782, Hammon addressed those “who have had the advantage of studying” and objected to his writings. Here he made clear that only education, not inherent racial difference, separates him from his white critics. He refers to Africans as a “poor despised nation” brought by God to a “Christian land.” But rather than warrant that Christianization was a justification of their enslavement, Hammon wrote that thousands of slaves “have been born in what are called Christian families,” questioning the Christianity of their enslavers. He criticizes his “objectors” for failing to baptize and educate their slaves. Hammon subtly casts aspersions on the Christian nature of masters and encourages slaves to become exemplary Christians. While concerned with the spiritual well-being of slaves, Hammon approved of their longing for freedom from slavery: “Many of us are seeking a temporal freedom and I wish you may obtain it.” Denying the rumor that he had petitioned a court “against freedom,” he explicitly denied that blacks should restrict their quest to spiritual freedom.

Sinha, Manisha. The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (Kindle Location 1067). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.

Sinha, Manisha. The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (Kindle Locations 1062-1067). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.

Sinha, Manisha. The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (Kindle Locations 1057-1062). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
 
From The Slave's Cause:

In his second pamphlet, “An Evening’s Improvement,” Hammon reiterated that “we are many of us seeking for a temporal freedom, and I pray that God would grant your desire.” At the “advanced age of seventy-nine years,” he did not “desire temporal freedom” for himself. Hammon rejected racial hierarchy by insisting that Christ died for the sin of all humankind. God was “no respecter of persons” and embraced black slaves even as he did enslaved Jews.

Sinha, Manisha. The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (Kindle Locations 1067-1070). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
 
From The Slave's Cause:

In 1787 Hammon published his third pamphlet, “An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York,” which was reprinted in Philadelphia at that time and again in 1806 at the behest of Quaker abolitionists. In his last pamphlet Hammon once again addressed his “dear brethren” who were in “the poor, despised, and miserable state” of slavery. Evoking authority on the basis of his color, age, and previous publications, he advised the slaves of New York to behave in a manner that would not jeopardize the course of emancipation and provide fodder to proslavery opponents. Hammon returned to one of his favorite themes, that African Americans should exhibit by their exemplary behavior that they are better Christians than “a great many white people . . . some who are rich and great gentlemen.” In one of his most forthright criticisms of American hypocrisy he wrote, “Liberty is a great thing we know from our own feelings, and we may likewise judge so from the conduct of white people in the late war. How much money has been spent and how many lives have been lost to defend their liberty! I must say that I have hoped that God would open their eyes, when they were so much engaged for liberty, to think of the state of the poor blacks and pity us. He has done it in some measure and has raised us up many friends, for which we have reason to be thankful and to hope in his mercy.” Hammon acknowledged the rise of the abolition movement and asked slaves by their “good conduct [to] prevail on our masters to set us free.”

Sinha, Manisha. The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (Kindle Locations 1760-1762). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.

Sinha, Manisha. The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (Kindle Locations 1755-1760). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.

Sinha, Manisha. The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition (Kindle Locations 1751-1755). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
 

Attachments

  • upload_2017-8-7_16-18-34.png
    upload_2017-8-7_16-18-34.png
    97.8 KB · Views: 86
Thank you William.


No Pat, the thanks goes to you. You helped me learn something here today, and that's not happened in a long time on CWT, because of all the snipping, arguing, finger pointing, blaming, one-up's-manship...............and I'm just as guilty as all the rest............

It's a breath of fresh air to come to a thread where a war isn't raging !!!!

Respectfully,
Willaim
Books.jpg
 
No Pat, the thanks goes to you. You helped me learn something here today, and that's not happened in a long time on CWT, because of all the snipping, arguing, finger pointing, blaming, one-up's-manship...............and I'm just as guilty as all the rest............

It's a breath of fresh air to come to a thread where a war isn't raging !!!!

Respectfully,
Willaim
View attachment 152531
Made my day.
 
The house was supposed to be closed because an episode of a TV show was being filmed there. Michele and I crossed over a barrier telling us to keep out and took a short hike down to the ancient building. I found the door ajar and let myself in to take in the view from one of the old windows:
Awwww, you snuck in! Good for you. :smile: Great photos and excellent thread!
 
I especially like the pictures of the kitchen! The baskets, pottery, etc. Do you know, are they all original items from the home?
 
I especially like the pictures of the kitchen! The baskets, pottery, etc. Do you know, are they all original items from the home?
Some are. For example, Mark told us that the papers that are in the office were all from the Lloyd family, for example. Unfortunately I can't tell you which are original and which are not.
 
Some are. For example, Mark told us that the papers that are in the office were all from the Lloyd family, for example. Unfortunately I can't tell you which are original and which are not.

How wonderful! I saw some quilts as well!
What a exceptional day! Thank you for sharing!
 
Back
Top