The African American National Anthem
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, High as the listening skies,
Let is resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun, Of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won.
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our people sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered
We have come, treading our path thro' the blood of the slaughtered;
Out from the gloomy past, Till now we stand at last,
Where the bright gleam of our bright star is cast.
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by thy might, Led us in to the light
Keep us for ever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee;
Shadowed beneath thy hand, May we for ever stand,
True to our God, True to our native land.
Text: James W. Johnson. 1871-1938
Letter from Dangerfield Newby's Wife, Harriet, found in his pocket after he was slain at Harpers Ferry.
Dear Husband: I want you to buy me as soon as
possible, for if you do not get me somebody else will. The servants are very
disagreeable; they do all they can to set my mistress against me. Dear
Husband,. . . the last two years have been like a troubled dream to me. It
is said Master is in want of money. If so, I know not what time he may sell
me, and then all my bright hopes of the future are blasted, for there has
been one bright hope to cheer me in all my troubles, that is to be with you,
for if I thought I should never see you, this earth would have no charms fo
me. Do all you can for me, which I have no doubt you will. I want to see you
so much.
[Harriet Newby]
Dangerfield Newby's
wife, Harriet, was sold after the raid (Harpers
Ferry) and sent to Louisiana.
Slave with an Iron Muzzle
If a slave was recalcitrant or was suspected of eating more than their portion of food or drinking more than their portion of water, they would be fitted with an Iron Muzzle to prevent their eating and drinking unless authorized by the Slave Master as described by an autobiographer in 1839.