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Letter to Editor
May 6, 1785
Fowle's New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
A satirical letter in dialect from 'Sambo' condemns the slave trade, contrasting hypothetical white enslavement with the brutal reality of capturing and shipping Africans to Guinea, questioning the morality and divine justice of the 'liberty trade.'
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
From the Centinel:
Messrs. Printers,
One brack negar from Ginne wid one big ship--pole he send littel boat ashore, pose he nappe littel wite negar, he farer, he murrer, and little pickaninny, pose he carrer um to Ginne and sell um brack marchant for slave--wat you say den? Oh! why wite negar call um dibbel, fabbidge, cruil borbus retch. Now for apreciation--one ship he sail for Ginne, ebery body no wat he go for--get poor brack negar drunk wid decurse wite rum, tie he hands, neck and heels, put curse ion on him. drive him, whip him, dam him, put him in littel hell;--he cry, he beg, he pray, no matter for dat, wite negar he got no sole; poor cretur he mus go, no see he cuntre ane more, he farer. he murrer, he little baby, he wife--No! wat all dis? Libty trade, honisty, son libty do so: he tink God no see, stop a little--Massa Trater ay no hell, den no God. Mass. Printer, I rite grate big letter, you pint um.
SAMBO.
Messrs. Printers,
One brack negar from Ginne wid one big ship--pole he send littel boat ashore, pose he nappe littel wite negar, he farer, he murrer, and little pickaninny, pose he carrer um to Ginne and sell um brack marchant for slave--wat you say den? Oh! why wite negar call um dibbel, fabbidge, cruil borbus retch. Now for apreciation--one ship he sail for Ginne, ebery body no wat he go for--get poor brack negar drunk wid decurse wite rum, tie he hands, neck and heels, put curse ion on him. drive him, whip him, dam him, put him in littel hell;--he cry, he beg, he pray, no matter for dat, wite negar he got no sole; poor cretur he mus go, no see he cuntre ane more, he farer. he murrer, he little baby, he wife--No! wat all dis? Libty trade, honisty, son libty do so: he tink God no see, stop a little--Massa Trater ay no hell, den no God. Mass. Printer, I rite grate big letter, you pint um.
SAMBO.
What sub-type of article is it?
Satirical
Persuasive
Provocative
What themes does it cover?
Slavery Abolition
Morality
What keywords are associated?
Slave Trade
Abolition
Cruelty
Guinea
Liberty Trade
Sambo
What entities or persons were involved?
Sambo
Messrs. Printers
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Sambo
Recipient
Messrs. Printers
Main Argument
the slave trade is cruel and hypocritical, as whites would decry similar treatment if reversed, yet they brutally capture and ship africans, denying their souls and humanity while claiming liberty.
Notable Details
Dialect Mimicking Enslaved African Speech
Hypothetical Reversal Of Enslaving Whites
References To Guinea And Shipboard Brutality