Clara+Oliver

Clara Oliver

About Me Hello. My name is Clara Oliver, and I am a house slave in Nashville. I don't really know how old I am; they don't keep good track of that here, but my master guesses I am between 28-34 years old. My "job" is to do whatever the master and his family want. I can never get away from them, so not only do I have no privacy, I never get to see any of the other slaves. Since I live so close to my master, they can see if I ever do anything wrong. This means I get beat more often than the field slaves, and I'm leaving the first chance I get. Field slaves think this job is easier, but they can get away from their master and overseer in the fields. They don't get caught near as much as me. They also say I get better treatment, like in food. All I get to eat is whatever my master and his family leave on the table after their meals. The men on the plantation, master included, like to use me for "things". Nobody does anything to stop them because nobody cares. The women hate me because of it, but it isn't right for them to say anything about it so they beat me, give me more work, and torment me any way they can. || || I  am not allowed to be educated. All of the slave laws here stop me from doing that, so all I can learn is what I learn while working and overhearing my master. || || We aren't allowed to have fun at the fancy parties my master has with all of his white friends. We can clean up and serve them what they want, but that is it. So instead, we like to sing. We sing about politics, our emotions, and religion. All of this is done pretty secretly, because we can use our own language to talk in; pidgin. Also, we don't outright say we hate something in our songs; it is allways in "code". ||  || This is what my house would have looked like. I worked in the nice big mansion in the background, but the little attached "shed" was my home. Although it is better than what the field slaves got, it was not by much. || || The only job I have is doing whatever my master wants me to do. I cook, clean, and do all the little and big things around the house. ||  || Slaves aren't allowed to vote or have any say in politics. That doesn't mean we don't have an opinion thought. We sing about our political views, but this is always done in some sort of "code." Our songs usually have underlying meanings. ||  || This one is easy for anybody to imagine. My hopes and dreams all come down to getting out of this place. I don't want to be a slave, and come the first sign that those northern abolitionists have made it legal for me to leave, I'm gone. || ||  I don't have many kids, only about 6 of them live with me on the plantation. I don't see them much since they are field slaves. I am what you would call "single", but this is only because they took my husband away from me some years ago. Oh, remember those kids of mine? They are my master's, but he doesn't want to admit it. I have family all over the country because they can't import slaves anymore, so they send slaves to other parts of the country. I couldn't tell you who I'm related to, but chances are I have a relative in almost every state in the south. || ||
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 * Home
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 * Hopes and Dreams
 * Family