The Quest to Unite Us by William de Rham

Author:William de Rham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: slavery, benjamin franklin, constitution, constitutional convention, independence hall, 18th century philadelphia
Publisher: William de Rham

Chapter 22

“I was born on a sugar plantation on Saint-Domingue. I grew up in the big house where Maman was cook. I was not chained or beaten, like those who worked in the fields. I learned my mother’s recipes and to sew and keep the house. I grew to fifteen and knew everything so well the master, Claude, made me keeper of the house.

“He had a wife, but she did not like the plantation, although it belonged to her family. They owned a bank in Port-au-Prince and she spent most of her time there.

“Soon, Claude came to my bed. He said he loved me and gave me a baby.

“When mon fils…my son, little Adam, was born, Claude promised the child would stay with us and not go to the fields and one day have a tutor and go to France for school and be free.

“But then storms came to ruin the sugar. Claude could not pay money he owed. He tried the gambling, but he lost and his debt grew. He sold all he owned: horses for racing, jewelry, furniture, books. Then he had nothing except for the house servants he owned when he married, including Maman.”

“Sounds like a real prince,” I say bitterly.

But my sarcasm is lost on her.

“Prince?” she asks dreamily. “Yes, I thought so. Such a strong, handsome man. So sure of himself and his future.”

I’ve never seen a face go from dreamy to bitter so fast.

“I was such a foolish, foolish little girl! A man came, from Charleston I think. Claude was so happy. He said the man would take his problems away. He gave me money to go to the general store some miles away to pay the debt. It was an hour, maybe two, to ride there. But on the way, the horse went lame and I came back. When I arrived, I saw Maman and little Adam, chained, in the man’s wagon.

“I ran to Claude. ‘What is this?’ I said.

“‘They are sold,’ Claude told me.

“I said, ‘No! You cannot!’

“Claude said he must or be jailed for debt.

“I said, ‘Sell me too! I cannot be away from my mother and son. Sell me with them!’

“He said no, I must stay to make more babies to replace what was sold. No one has ever made me so angry! I ran at him to beat him or kick him or—I don’t know what—I hated him so! But his foreman took hold of me and with one hit to my head I was … I lost … how do you say? Conscience?”

“Consciousness?”

“Yes. When I woke I was in the foreman’s hut in the cane field, tied with ropes. It was night. He was asleep. Drunk, I think, from rum. I got free and ran to the forest.

“I thought the buyer would take Maman and Adam to Port-au-Prince, so I went, hoping he would take me too. I walked three days to get there. I hid in woods and swamp if anyone came. My only food was wild mangoes.

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