The scourged back
1985; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 9; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/03087298.1985.10442251
ISSN2150-7295
Autores Tópico(s)American History and Culture
ResumoAbstract Abstract The negro 'Gordon' escaped his master in Mississippi by rubbing himself with onions to throw the bloodhounds off his scent. After an arduous journey he sought refuge with the Union Army at Baton Rouge. On 4th July 1863, Harper's Weekly published three portraits of Gordon, based on photographs by McPherson and Oliver of New Orleans, who were taking pictures of the Union encampments at Baton Rouge in the early months of 1863.1 In a before-and-after layout, one engraving showed 'Gordon as he entered our lines … with clothes torn and covered with mud and dirt from his long race through the swamp and bayous'. Another presented a tidy and dapper 'Gordon in his uniform as a U.S. Soldier … bearing the musket- and prepared for duty' (Figure 1). The third portrait, of 'Gordon under Medical Inspection' (Figure 2) showed the man 'as he underwent the surgical examination previous to being mustered into the service-his back furrowed and scarred with the traces of a whipping administered on Christmas Day last'.2 The editors remarked that 'this Negro displayed unusual intelligence and energy' in his successful escape. An account of several gruesome torture methods used by slaveowners against their recalcitrant chattel completed this illustrated editorial against slavery.
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