SLAVES NARRATIVES - Mary Prince (1788-?1833)
**There were no surviving
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Mary Prince, the daughter of slaves, was born at Brackish Pond, Bermuda, in about 1788. Her father was a sawyer and her mother a house-servant. Mary and her parents were the property of Charles Myners. When Myners died Mary and her mother were sold to Captain Williams. Mary now became the personal slave of his daughter, Betsey Williams. When she was twelve years old Mary was hired out to another plantation five miles away. Soon afterwards Williams sold her to another family
Mary Prince worked as a domestic slave and in the fields and during this period she was constantly flogged by her mistress. She later wrote: "To strip me naked - to hang me up by the wrists and lay my flesh open with the cow-skin, was an ordinary punishment for even a slight offence."
Her master later sold her to another man and in 1806 Mary Prince was sent to work on the salt pans of Turk Island. "I was immediately sent to work in the salt water with the rest of the slaves. This work was perfectly new to me. I was given a half barrel and a shovel, and had to stand up to my knees in the water, from four o'clock in the morning till nine, when we were given some Indian corn boiled in water, which we were obliged to swallow as fast as we could for fear the rain should come on and melt the salt."
Mary Prince was the first black British woman to escape from slavery and publish a record of her experiences. In this unique document, Mary Prince vividly recalls her life as a slave in Bermuda, Turks Island, and Antigua, her rebellion against physical and psychological degradation, and her eventual escape to London in 1828.
"I wished, that good people in England might hear from a slave what a slave had felt and suffered, so I thought that by getting my story published it would help me get my freedom so I could go back to my husband Daniel and not be a slave any more in Antigua." Mary Prince |
'I have been a slave - I have felt what a slave feels, and I know what a slave knows ...'
"My name is Mary Prince. I was born a slave on the island of Bermuda in 1788. My first years were reasonably happy. My mother was a household slave for Mrs. Williams. Mrs. Williams was a kind-hearted woman, and she treated all her slaves well. My sisters and I had chores to do, but we also had a little time to play.
When I was 12, the master told my mother that he was going to sell me and my two younger sisters. He needed the money, and we would be sold at the market, like sheep or cattle. My mother cried bitterly, but there was nothing she could do. Can you imagine what it was like to stand in a slave market and have men poke you to figure out how much to pay for you?
The man who bought me was extremely mean. For no reason at all, he would hang me up by the wrists and whip me until I was bleeding. For five years, I had to work as his slave, and he beat me almost every day. Many times I wanted to die.
Then, when I was about 18, he sold me to someone in the Turks islands. I thought that nothing could be worse than what I had suffered for the last five years, but I was wrong.
My new "job" was to work in the salt flats. All of the slaves worked from 4 AM until it was dark at night. We had to stand in the salty water in the hot sun all day. The salt caused sores on our legs and feet, which became infected and painful. We slept on boards in a barn, with no blankets or mats. If one of us stumbled or got sick, he or she was beaten and whipped. Many slaves died. Turk's Island was a cruel, horrible place! I was forced to work there for ten years.
My next master, Mr. Wood, was not much better. Mr. and Mrs. Woods lived on the island of Antigua. I didn't have to stand in the salt, but I was whipped and beaten all the time. At one point, I married a black man who had bought his freedom. Alas, I was flogged for that also. I worked as a slave for the Woods family for thirteen years. When I was about 40 years old, they moved to London and took me with them as a servant. The beatings continued, even though I worked all day doing the washing, cleaning, cooking, and tending the children.
Finally, I decided to run away. I knew that slavery was not legal in England, so I walked out. It was difficult because I did not know anyone or have any money. However, I found some people at a church. They took care of me and helped me write my story. My story, "The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave," was published in 1831. It was the first time a story about a black slave was published in England.
After that, I stayed in England. I could not go back to my husband because I would be a slave again if I returned to Antigua. I worked with others who were trying to end slavery in Bermuda and elsewhere. If my story helped to save even one child, it was worth it!" Mary Prince
In 1818 Mary Prince was then sold to John Wood, a plantation owner who lived in Antigua, for $300. She later wrote: My work there was to attend the chambers and nurse the child, and to go down to the pond and wash clothes. But I soon fell ill of the rheumatism, and grew so very lame that I was forced to walk with a stick."
Mary Prince began attending meetings held at the Moravian Church. She later wrote: "The Moravian ladies (Mrs. Richter, Mrs. Olufsen, and Mrs. Sauter) taught me to read in the class; and I got on very fast. In this class there were all sorts of people, old and young, grey headed folks and children; but most of them were free people. After we had done spelling, we tried to read in the Bible. After the reading was over, the missionary gave out a hymn for us to sing."
While in Antigua she met the widower, Daniel Jones, a former black slave who had managed to purchase his freedom. Jones now worked as a carpenter and cooper and asked Mary to marry him. This she agreed to do and got married in the Moravian Chapel in December 1826. John Wood was furious when he found out and once again she had to endure a severe beating with a horsewhip. John Wood and his wife took her as their servant to London. Soon after arriving in England in 1828 she ran away and went to live at the Moravian Mission House in Hatton Gardens. A few weeks later she went to work for Thomas Pringle, a member of the Anti-Slavery Society. In 1831 Pringle arranged for her to publish her book, The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave.
After the publication of the book John Wood sued the publishers of The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave claiming that Mary Prince work had "endeavoured to injure the character of my family by the most vile and infamous falsehoods". Wood lost his case. Two prominent supporters of slavery in Britain, James MacQueen and James Curtin, took up Wood's case and in an article in Blackwood's Magazine, claimed that Prince's book contained a large number of lies. Prince and her publisher sued MacQueen and Curtin for libel and won their case.
Slaves Narratives - Harriet Jacobs
return to American Slavery Exhibit - Part 3
References:
Mary Prince:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SprinceM.htm
The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave, Related by Herself
http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do;jsessionid=8BBC38E47D437B8C2169571289F92D06?id=8607
The True Story of Mary Prince: http://www.coedu.usf.edu/culture/Story/Story_Bermuda_Mary_Prince.htm
