[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.17,0:00:05.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hi, I’m Clint Smith, this is Crash Course\NBlack American History, and today we’re
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.62,0:00:10.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,talking about Black Women’s experiences\Nunder the early days of American slavery.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.56,0:00:16.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Enslavement, as has been made obvious by now,\Nwas inherently cruel to anyone subjected to
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.09,0:00:21.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it. But it is important for us to note, the\Nunique ways that men and women experienced
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.55,0:00:25.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the institution differently because of their\Nsex.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.10,0:00:30.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Women’s experiences under slavery gave them\Nspecific vantage points from which to observe
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.19,0:00:34.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what was happening around them and also left\Nthem particularly vulnerable to some of the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.83,0:00:39.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,most horrific parts of the intitution. So\Nwe want to spend a little bit of time talking
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.75,0:00:45.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about experiences unique to enslaved women\Ndirectly.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.41,0:00:54.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,INTRO\NI want to note that there will be mentions
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.35,0:00:59.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of sexual violence in this episode.\NUpon arrival at American ports, African captives
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.48,0:01:05.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were taken to various trading hubs to be auctioned\Noff to the highest bidder for plantation labor.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.57,0:01:10.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Historian Daina Ramey Berry writes in her\Nbook, The Price for Their Pound of Flesh,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.35,0:01:19.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that an enslaved person could be worth anywhere\Nfrom $4 - $94,000 (when adjusted to 2014 numbers).
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.16,0:01:23.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plantation owners searched for enslaved laborers\Nto cultivate cash crops, the most lucrative
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.61,0:01:28.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of them being cotton, sugar, indigo, tobacco,\Nand rice.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.79,0:01:33.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, when these enslavers came to markets searching\Nfor new laborers, they considered several
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.85,0:01:38.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,factors before making a bid.\NEnslavers considered the health and strength
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.53,0:01:45.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of potential laborers. They considered age,\Nheight, skin color, and the specific skills
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.02,0:01:49.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an enslaved worker might have had.\NBut there was another element that shaped
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.04,0:01:54.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the hierarchy of value to prospective enslavers:\NAnd that’s gender. Gender placed a figurative
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.95,0:02:00.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,price-ceiling on enslaved women’s value,\Neven though as we’ll see, they were often
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.09,0:02:05.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,expected to do the exact same labor as enslaved\Nmen. The deeply entrenched patriarchy in European
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.100,0:02:12.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cultures extended across racial lines, and\Nplayed a significant role in shaping African
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.14,0:02:16.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,captives' monetary worth.\NEven though enslaved women were not sold at
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.11,0:02:21.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the same high price range as enslaved men,\Ntheir value to those who purchased them, was
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.53,0:02:25.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,absolutely clear.\NIn many regions of the colonies, enslaved
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.33,0:02:30.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,women’s ability to reproduce was hugely\Nimportant. Buying a laborer who could bear
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.11,0:02:35.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,children meant that once those children got\Nolder, the enslavers could either exploit
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.13,0:02:41.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that child’s labor or sell them at a profit.\NAnd as we’ve discussed one of the most consequential
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.79,0:02:46.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,laws that developed around slavery in the\Ncolonial era was Virginia's use of partus
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.43,0:02:52.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sequitur ventrem, codified by the Virginia\NAssembly in 1662, which established the legal
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.45,0:02:58.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,precedent that defined slavery by the mother's\Nstatus.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.01,0:03:04.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Therefore, regardless of the father's race,\Nan enslaved black woman's child would automatically
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.61,0:03:10.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,be classified as the property of her enslaver.\NMeaning the children had from an enslaved
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.91,0:03:17.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,woman and the white man who may have enslaved\Nher, would be born into slavery, and owned
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.26,0:03:21.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by their father.\NIn their jobs on plantations, enslaved women
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.15,0:03:26.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sometimes did domestic labor, which consisted\Nprimarily of cooking, cleaning, waiting on
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.88,0:03:30.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the lady of the house, and caring for the\Nchildren of the estate.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.30,0:03:34.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,New and nursing black mothers would often\Nbe forced to prioritize the care of the white
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.76,0:03:40.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,children of the estate, even at the expense\Nof their own children. It was not uncommon
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.73,0:03:47.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for enslaved women to breastfeed white infants\Nas it was a task white women on the plantations
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.06,0:03:50.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sometimes preferred not to do.\NBut while there were many Black women who
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.39,0:03:56.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,engaged in domestic labor, in most cases,\Nenslavers directed women to work outside the
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.45,0:04:01.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,home, working the land alongside the men and\Neven their children.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.09,0:04:05.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While women’s field labor was comparable\Nto men’s, they weren’t allowed to take
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.29,0:04:10.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on some artisanal positions, like carpentry.\NChattel slavery fundamentally disrupted traditional
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.36,0:04:16.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gender norms within the colonies and in the\Nemerging United States. Black women were seen
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.70,0:04:21.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in fundamentally different ways than white\Nwomen, and many of the typical notions around
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.25,0:04:26.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gender roles simply did not apply to them.\NSojourner Truth became one of the earliest
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.97,0:04:33.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and foremost speakers to address black women's\Nunique experiences in a racist and sexist
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.01,0:04:39.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,society. Spending a bit of time with her can\Nbe illuminating because she directly experienced,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.08,0:04:42.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and spoke about, life as a Black woman in\Nbondage.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.17,0:04:49.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let’s go to the thought bubble.\NTruth was born Isabella Baumfree aka “Bell”
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.18,0:04:52.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in 1797 in upstate New York.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.62,0:04:57.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She was purchased and sold four times and\Nwas made to do brutal physical labor.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.34,0:05:02.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Truth, as we’ve mentioned of other enslaved\Nwomen before, also attested to having to nurse
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.21,0:05:06.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,white babies in place of her own, as a part\Nof her expected chores.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.09,0:05:10.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She also had to tend to poultry, prepare the\Nground for the cultivation of corn, pumpkins,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.68,0:05:12.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or buckwheat, and even cut the grass
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.99,0:05:19.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- which, at that time, was not as simple\Nas just sitting on a tractor or pushing a
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.36,0:05:24.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lawnmower. It involved a scythe and a lot\Nof upper body strength.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.34,0:05:31.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, when enslaver John Dumont offered\Nto free her, she attempted to increase her
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.13,0:05:34.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,work product as a show of good will.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.25,0:05:40.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the process, she lost her index finger\Nduring a work accident. Which, in a situation
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.46,0:05:46.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,filled with cruel irony, led Dumont not to\Nkeep his promise, claiming that she had become
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.40,0:05:50.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,less productive because of the accident.\NAfter realizing that Dumont would not free
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.62,0:05:57.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,her, Truth decided she was going to free herself.\NSo, she was just going to walk away. Literally.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.28,0:06:02.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She gathered her still nursing child, said\Nher goodbyes to the rest of her family and
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.02,0:06:06.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,left before dawn eventually fleeing to a local\Nabolitionist family,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.42,0:06:11.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Van Wagenens, who paid Dumont twenty dollars\Nto buy Truth’s labor for the remainder of
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.92,0:06:14.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the year.\NShe remained with the family until she was
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.57,0:06:18.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,freed when the New York State Emancipation\Nact went into effect.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.43,0:06:23.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She’d later successfully sue for the return\Nof her six-year-old-son Peter, who was illegally
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.37,0:06:26.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sold into slavery in Alabama.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.21,0:06:27.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thanks thought bubble.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.50,0:06:31.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You may have heard of Sojourner Truth because\Nof her famous “Ain’t I A Woman” speech.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.84,0:06:37.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,...the one where she said “I have borne\Nthirteen children, and seen most all sold
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.38,0:06:43.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,off to slavery, and when I cried out with\Nmy mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me!
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.90,0:06:49.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And ain't I a woman?”\NWell, it turns out, she might not have ever
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.02,0:06:56.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,said exactly that! She gave a speech in 1851.\NThat’s definite. But as historian Nell Painter
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.04,0:07:02.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,explains in her book, Sojourner: A Life, A\NSymbol, while this is the version that is
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.09,0:07:07.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,most widely circulated, it is not one grounded\Nin…well, Truth.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.63,0:07:15.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The famous--but inaccurate--version was written\Nand published 12 years later in 1863, by a
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.01,0:07:20.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,white abolitionist named Frances Dana Barker\NGage. Not only did Gage change or simply make
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.67,0:07:25.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up some of Sojourner’s words, but she also\Nput it in a stereotypical 'southern black
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.92,0:07:32.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,slave accent', rather than in Truth’s actual\Nupper New York State, low-Dutch accent which
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.51,0:07:36.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sounded very different.\NAnd what’s more, the line Gage originally
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.64,0:07:42.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,published was “ar’n’t I a woman” but\Nbecame widely recast as the “ain’t I a
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.84,0:07:48.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,woman” speech in the early 20th century.\NIt’s a reminder of how, throughout slavery,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.92,0:07:54.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the testimonies of Black people were often\Nfiltered through others, who may or may not
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.19,0:07:58.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have made their own changes along the way.\NOne of the most horrifying parts of Black
Dialogue: 0,0:07:58.95,0:08:04.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,women’s experience in slavery, was the pervasive\Nsexual violence and harassment they were subjected
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.68,0:08:07.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to.\NHarriet Jacobs provided a detailed account
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.94,0:08:14.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the sexual violence that shaped the everyday\Nlives of black women in her 1861 autobiography
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.39,0:08:20.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Incidents of the Life of a Slave Girl, which\Nshe published under the pseudonym Linda Brent
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.13,0:08:26.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to protect herself.\NShe writes, “My master met me at every turn,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.14,0:08:31.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reminding me that I belonged to him, and swearing\Nby heaven and earth that he would compel me
Dialogue: 0,0:08:31.35,0:08:37.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to submit to him. If I went out for a breath\Nof fresh air, after a day of unwearied toil,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.83,0:08:42.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his footsteps dogged me. If I knelt by my\Nmother’s grave, his dark shadow fell on
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.95,0:08:50.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,me even there. The light heart which nature\Nhad given me became heavy with sad forebodings.”
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.32,0:08:55.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The sexual violence that Black women experienced\Ntook on many different forms. There was even
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.54,0:09:03.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a practice called the Fancy Trade designed\Nspecifically for the sale of mixed race women
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.12,0:09:12.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for sexual concubinage and prostitution.[1]\NIn 1937, a formerly enslaved man W. L. Bost
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.07,0:09:16.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,explained some of these dynamics to an interviewer\Nfor the Federal Writers’ Project, a New
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.56,0:09:22.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Deal era initiative which recorded the oral\Ntestimonies of over 2300 formerly enslaved
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.04,0:09:34.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people in the late 1930s.\NWhen published, these conversations were often
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.78,0:09:41.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,written with a heavy dialect attributed to\Nthe Black interviewees. Bost said: “Plenty
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.74,0:09:46.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the colored women have children by the\Nwhite men. She know better than to not do
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.62,0:09:54.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what he say...they take them very same children\Nwhat have they own blood and make slaves out
Dialogue: 0,0:09:54.61,0:09:58.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of them.”\NWhile the use of sexual agency is discussed
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.37,0:10:03.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by many historians and writers as a viable\Nform of resistance, it is important that we
Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.51,0:10:10.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not misconstrue it for consent. Writer and\Nscholar Saidiya Hartman urges us to redefine
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.39,0:10:16.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rape and sexual assault within the context\Nof slavery. Women who were legally defined
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.10,0:10:22.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as property were never in a position to provide\Nconsent when, in so many ways, their bodies
Dialogue: 0,0:10:22.92,0:10:28.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and their choices did not belong to them in\Nthe first place.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.69,0:10:33.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Relationships with an enslaver--to the extent\Nthat any such association can be called a
Dialogue: 0,0:10:33.16,0:10:38.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,relationship given the power dynamics in place--\Ncould provide some women certain types of
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.87,0:10:44.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,protection and some small privileges that\Nother enslaved people did not receive.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:44.18,0:10:49.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That could take many forms. It could mean\Nnot having to work in the field. It could
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.23,0:10:54.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mean having slightly better food for one’s\Nfamily. It could also mean keeping one's children
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.91,0:11:01.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,safe from harm or from being sold away. Black\Nwomen were presented with a series of impossible
Dialogue: 0,0:11:01.94,0:11:08.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,choices, and each decided for themselves how\Nto navigate it.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.26,0:11:16.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Slavery was an oppressive institution and\Nenslaved life and labor were difficult regardless
Dialogue: 0,0:11:16.41,0:11:23.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of someone’s sex. But it did not affect\Nblack men and women in the same ways, and
Dialogue: 0,0:11:23.38,0:11:26.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it’s important that we be precise about\Nthat.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:26.12,0:11:30.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their experiences reveal that as critical\Nas Black women’s labor, and their reproduction,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.67,0:11:35.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were to the early American economies, they\Nwere not valued as such--not on the auction
Dialogue: 0,0:11:35.73,0:11:39.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,block and certainly not in respect to their\Nwomanhood.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:39.22,0:11:44.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Black women’s particular experiences during\Nthe era of slavery give us insight into the
Dialogue: 0,0:11:44.56,0:11:49.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,early iterations of racialized and gendered\Noppression that would continue and evolve
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.86,0:11:56.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in new and insidious ways for centuries to\Ncome. Thanks for watching, I’ll see you
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.57,0:11:59.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,next time.\NCrash Course is made with the help of all
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.42,0:12:03.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these nice people and our animation team is\NThought Cafe.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:03.25,0:12:07.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Crash Course is a Complexly production.\NIf you’d like to keep Crash Course free
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.38,0:12:13.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for everybody, forever, you can support the\Nseries at Patreon; a crowdfunding platform
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.24,0:12:17.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that allows you to support the content you\Nlove. Thank you to all of our patrons for
Dialogue: 0,0:12:17.79,0:12:20.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,making Crash Course possible with their continued\Nsupport.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:20.18,0:12:21.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,________________\N[1] Findley, Morgan, An Intimate Economy Enslaved
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.18,0:12:22.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Women, Work, and America's Domestic Slave\NTrade. (North Carolina: University of North
Dialogue: 0,0:12:22.18,0:12:22.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Carolina Press, 2020)