Race and the American Novel Part 1 Blog 1

Another Kidnapping 1844, by William Wells Brown, describes Brown’s encounter with an African American couple, Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson, as he travels through Georgetown on his way to Mount Pleasant Ohio. The Wilkinson’s tell Brown about the men who came into their home, beat them, and kidnapped their fifteen year old son. The kidnappers quickly traveled over the river to Virginia and Mr. Wilkinson knows his son is gone forever. Brown says, “One of the villains was recognized, but it was by a colored man, and the colored people have not thee right of their oath in this state. This villain will go unwhipped of Justice” (442 Brown).

Reading this added to my understanding the true conflict between the North and the South. The setting took place in the North where this African American family was free to live in a non-slave state. Yet, people from the South were able to kidnap those from the North and turn them into slaves. It seemed through Brown’s use of characterization and tone the family in the story had really given up hope only after a day and had come to realize that they would never see their son again, even though someone had identified one of the kidnappers. Miss. Ophelia’s character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin seemed to portray how against slavery Northerners were. Talking about slavery Miss. Ophelia says, “I wouldn’t have it, for a thousand worlds. You ought to educate your slaves, and treat them like reasonable creatures,- like immortal creatures that you’ve got to stand before the bar of God with”(161 Stowe). If this was true why wouldn’t they have laws in place that would help stop Southerners from kidnapping Northern African American’s and turning them into slaves, especially since there were laws like the Great Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Act which both supported slavery and were there for the South to benefit from.  

Yet, on the other hand whites from the North still disliked African American’s even if they did not support slavery. Miss. Ophelia portrayed this when she interacted with Topsy. Topsy describes how Miss. Ophelia feels about her saying, “No; she can’t bar me, ‘cause I’m a nigger!- she’d ‘s soon have a toad touch her” (258 Stowe). Miss. Ophelia seems hypocritical since she does not support slavery yet treats slaves worse than her cousin, who is a slave owner. 

Works Cited
Brown, William W. "Another Kidnapping 1844." (1969): 442. Print.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Ed. Elizabeth Ammons. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. Print.