Tennessee Slave Narratives

by Work Projects Administration

The view that slavery could best be described by those who had themselves experienced it personally has found expression in several thousand commentaries, autobiographies, narratives, and interviews with those who "endured." Although most of these accounts appeared before the Civil War, more than one-third are the result of the ambitious efforts of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to interview surviving ex-slaves during the 1930s. The result of these efforts was the Slave Narrative Collection, a group of autobiographical accounts of former slaves that today stands as one of the most enduring and noteworthy achievements of the WPA. Compiled in seventeen states during the years 1936-38, the collection consists of more than two thousand interviews with former slaves, most of them first-person accounts of slave life and the respondents' own reactions to bondage. The interviews afforded aged ex-slaves an unparalleled opportunity to give their personal accounts of life under the "peculiar institution," to describe in their own words what it felt like to be a slave in the United States. -Norman R. Yetman, American Memory, Library of Congress This paperback edition of all of the Tennessee narratives is reprinted in facsimile from the typewritten pages of the interviewers, just as they were originally typed.

Genres: History, American History

90 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

Reviews

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is the highest rated on Goodreads, and I'm not sure why? It's just like all the other collections. I personally liked the Texas collection best. Many of the interviewees say how good things were during slave times; how they always had clothes and food and good medical care. Then they say how hard it is now to have to provide all these things for themselves, and especially now they are very old, they wish for the old days, at least for all the food they had back then. Then they will say that yes, they were beaten by their masters. Some of them think they deserved to be beaten. That is really sad to read.

[Reco Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is almost like they held a gun to their heads and made them advertise the benefits of slavery. Good food, good clothes, only whipped when you deserved it, interracial marriage is bad. When you think about it deeper it really shows the psychology that goes into controlling an entire group of people. A lot of the miss the old days “slavery” , their masters and despise the generation after them. Some of these stories sound like they have a severe case of Stockholm syndrome. For an adult to think they deserved a beating from another adult is mind boggling to me.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was intense and personal. Some of those words will forever be etched on my brain. I can't say I enjoyed it, but it certainly gave me some of the insight I was looking for (and then some). The plight of the American slave was terrible, and unbelievable that one person could endure so much cruelty. If you feel you need a better understanding of American History, this book will teach you some things. The stories are haunting.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I thoroughly enjoyed reading the narratives, the use of writing it in their vernacular was difficult at times. Yes, I understand that we want to read it in their vernacular, however, I feel that by writing the narratives in this way distracted from their stories. I would much rather get a full sense of their stories. That being said, I found great history in the narratives and have come to appreciate these hard working, God loving people who went through so much for their freedom.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is part of a series of interviews the United States government (under the WPA) conducted with former slaves in Tennessee during The Great Depression. It is interesting to read the former slaves' recollections and events they experienced or overheard.