Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 01/George Carter

George Carter
Born	Circa 1845-1849 Norfolk, Virginia
Died	Unknown
Occupation	Waterfront cotton loading

Overview

George Carter was an African American male born between 1845 and 1849 in Norfolk, Virginia. Carter has a broad knowledge in relation to lumber. Carter grew up enslaved in the American South while facing issues in America such as slavery treatment in the South, American Civil War , and the Spanish-American War. He was interviewed for the Federal Writer’s Project in which he depicted his life growing up a slave.

Biography

Early Life

George Carter was an African American boy born around the time period of 1845 and 1849 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was born into slavery due to his mother being an enslaved woman. Eventually, once George Carter became old enough to work, he began to serve the Carter family. Mr. Carter had him work inside the house doing chores such as cleaning dishes or serving guests at the table. Once he became of age, Carter was taken to an event called “sale day” in which he would be bought by a new master. Carter was considered too young and inexperienced to be sold to a railroad company or tobacco company. Instead, he was sold as a houseboy.

Carter began working for fifty cents a day but eventually got enough experience and moved up to earn two dollars as a “boss logger.” Although his official workday was eight hours, Carter states “I could count on my ten fingers how many times I got out of the woods before good dark.” From being able to tell what kind of lumber it will make to how many feet of flooring it can produce, Carter gained profound experience through work. Once the Civil War began, Carter was sold to bodyguard Captain Potter. When he was 15, he attempted to run away but failed and instead was beaten profusely. Despite being caught, Carter ran away again and claimed to belong to a man named Doctor Arnold. He was able to stay and belonged to Doctor Arnold for a large amount of his young life.

Later Life

Following the war, George Carter worked in loading cotton. In 1898, he joined the force to fight in the Spanish-American War. He married at the age of thirty and had two children. His family died prior to the interview. Carter also served in WWI and lived in Savannah, Georgia following his service.

Death

His death date is unknown.

Social Issues

Slave Trade and Treatment

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, African American men and women were kidnapped and forced into slavery in American colonies, specifically in the South. These enslaved people were forced to be slaves and work with crops such as cotton, rice, tobacco, and other plantations. Additionally, they worked in homes as servants or in labor such as lumber. Enslaved people took up about one-third of the southern population.

slavery

Enslavers often denied slaves of educational opportunities including learning how to read or write. This was done to ensure slaves depended on their masters and lacked basic human skills. Their movement and liberty was restricted through prohibiting them to leave anywhere, even to religious gatherings. Enslaved women were often used to provide sexual satisfaction to masters and were subject to rape and sexual harassment. According to a Virginia law in 1662, children birthed from sexual relations between a master and slave were automatically considered slaves. Slave codes were laws established to establish the status of slaves and the rights of their owners, giving them absolute power. The U.S Constitution counted each enslaved individual as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of taxation. Punishment of slaves were often done through whipping, execution, beating, loss of body parts, among other acts.

Industrialization

Although the American South focused on succeeding through plantation and thrived as a result of slavery, industrialization became more involved. An article on industrialization depicts The Legal Tender Act authorized the federal government to print and use paper money, called "greenbacks," to pay its bills and finance the war. Even though greenbacks were not backed by similar amounts of gold and silver, creditors were required to accept them at face value. One of the major impacts on industrialization was the building of railroads. This provided benefits in travel and imported goods. This increase required more demand for jobs while the price of slaves rose. This advancement in industrialization allowed the South to become more independent form the North.

Spanish-American War and Civil War

By the 1890’s Cuba faced a battle against Spain in hope for dependence but was unsuccessful. The U.S. government had economic interests in Cuba and had interest in stabilizing the situation. The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and America that ended Spanish Colonial rule in America. The Philippines received the islands of Guam and Puerto Rico. Victory in the Spanish-American War transformed the United States, a former colony, to an imperial power. Many Americans saw this development as a natural part of the nation’s “Manifest Destiny” the belief that expansion of the United States was both right and inevitable.

The Civil War was fought between the U.S. and the Confederate States. The conflict began through the disagreement of slavery. The Civil War was fought between 1861-1865. Through the victory of the North, the institution of slavery was ended. There were approximately 625,000 lives lost during this war and it is known as one of the largest and most destructive battles in the western world. By the spring of 1865 all the principal Confederate armies surrendered, and when Union cavalry captured the fleeing Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Georgia on May 10, 1865, resistance collapsed, and the war ended. The long, painful process of rebuilding a united nation free of slavery began.

Following this, there were a large number of individuals and groups that were involved in the campaign to abolish the slave trade. The campaigners were men and women from all walks of life, from MPs to artists and writers. Freed slaves, able to offer eye witness accounts of the suffering experienced during the ' middle passage' and in the British colonies, also took part in the campaign.

References

"Abolitionist Campaigners." The British Library - The British Library. January 08, 2007. Accessed July 13, 2020. https://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/campaignforabolition/abolitionbackground/biogs/greatcampaigners.html.

A Brief Overview of the American Civil War." American Battlefield Trust. February 14, 2020. Accessed July 14, 2020. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/brief-overview-american-civil-war.

Arrington, Benjamin T. n.d. National Park Service. Accessed July 2020. https://www.nps.gov/articles/industry-and-economy-during-the-civil-war.htm.

Avidit Acharya, Matthew Blackwell, and Maya Sen. 2016. " The Political Legacy of American Slavery." Harvard University, July.

Carter, George. Interview by Adam Morris. Savannah, GA. January 17, 1939. Federal Writers’ Project.

Editors, History.com. 2020. Slavery in America. July. Accessed July 2020. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery.

Teachers, Loc.Gov. n.d. Library of Congress. Accessed July 2020. https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/spanish-american-war/pdf/teacher_guide.pdf.