Lewis and Milton Clarke Discussion

I was very satisfied that I chose to attend Benjamin Fitzpatrick’s discussion about Lewis and Milton Clarke. The two Clarke brothers were slaves here in the Madison County area. Foreign to me were their fascinating stories. It really brought the idea of slavery as closer to home for me in particular.

                I grew up just forty minutes from Madison County. To know that the narrative of these two brothers originated from so close to where I grew up, and where my great-great grandparents were living at the time (non-slave owning) really helps to put the history of slavery more into perspective. My knowledge of Kentucky during the civil war prior to my college experience was that Kentucky did not allow slavery. Of course that isn’t true; and as discussed in class, The Emancipation Proclamation did not even threaten  slavery in Kentucky.Through these stories I now understand in a better way the manner in which slavery was conducted within the state. The land was primarily tobacco and hemp based; which should come as no surprise to anyone who was raised here, or keeps up with the call for legalizing hemp in Kentucky. The slaves themselves were used (and that sounds harsh just saying it about another human being) as road slaves of sorts. Lewis and Milton Clarke did not spend their lives on one plantation as they did in many of the states further to the South.Their master would essentially put them on the road and they would go earn money by finding odd jobs on their travels; sometimes via other slave owners. As Mr Fitzpatrick  explained, many slaves would use this as a way to save money, and then buy their freedom. If you are like me, I find this form of slavery as a bit different, and one that is not taught thoroughly in school. I had never heard of the public schools I attended. 

       
        To elaborate on this type of slavery, I would like to turn to a question posed by some of the audience members following the lecture. A good question was; if you are free to roam, why not just escape to freedom? The answer was quite simple, and understandable. One, the goal in which some slaves hoped to achieve by doing this was so that they could buy their freedom, and thus get a certificate of their freedom. Secondly, the chances of being caught were a great fear for escaping slaves; and rightfully so. Who could you trust? Could you even trust other African Americans? In some cases, no, you couldn’t. So the plan of buying slavery was a much more realistic, safe, and possible option.

Different from many slave narratives in this case was that Lewis and Milton Clarke had white heritage in them. This is unsurprising to me because if white men thought they could own another person, then they would not mind exploiting them sexually. Lewis was even forced to strip naked for a lady who was fooled by his skin color. She then made him go work in the garden so that the sun would “make him look black”. That is what makes this story that much more compelling. It kind of puts a hole in the argument that blacks were inferior; because Lewis and his brother had white heritage in them, and yet they were still bonded by slavery. 

        Nonetheless, Lewis and Milton Clarke's stories are something that I feel all Kentucky natives should know. Benjamin Fitzpatrick described their story through the use of his own research and through the use of the narratives Lewis and Milton Clarke had written for them by an abolitionist friend in Ohio. Among other things from this lecture; I now understand a  local story of slavery other than the stories of prominent slaves such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Benjamin furthered my reasoning that in thousands of counties across the south and even up into Kentucky, Missouri, etc, there were numerous of stories like theirs taking place. Each slave had a story, but not all will be remembered for it. It’s quite a shame. But, we should be grateful that we are able to learn this story that originated so close to where we are now, and also grateful stories such as these are able to be told at all.