Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Russ Hickman's avatar

The statement on some slaves learning valuable skills is correct and some, as in the example below, were even able to make use of those skills for their own benefit while still enslaved. One of the best known of these is Festus Flipper of Thomasville and Atlanta, GA. You can read a brief history of Flipper's son, Henry Ossian Flipper, at the link below, which also includes info on the family's history and that of their owner, Ephraim Graham Ponder. Henry was the first black graduate of West Point. The family's story is well-known among those familiar Sherman's Atlanta campaign and the famous photos of the Ponder estate taken by photographer Georg M. Barnard after the city's capture.

From the article: "The Ponders' slaves were, with the exception of the ordinary household servants, trained mechanics who were permitted to handle their own business dealings. They could hire out their services and get paid for it. They could thus accumulate wealth."

https://www.army.mil/article/216506/fort_sill_sesquicentennial_memoir_recounts_lt_henry_o_flippers_formative_years

Expand full comment
Doug Israel's avatar

The left wing monsters will stop at nothing to destroy those who won't fall in line. We mustn't let them.

Expand full comment

No posts