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| Alfred Blackburn |
A while back on QI, there was a question about when the last American Civil War pension ceased. At that point it there was one person still receiving a pension, Irene Triplett. She died yesterday. Her father had fought in the American Civil War. He had been married a few times, and Irene's mother was 27 when Irene was born, and her father was he was 83 years old. As Irene had congenital deformities she was classed as a dependent, and received a Civil War pension.
This set my mind thinking about The American Civil War, and I gleamed it started because of slavery. The southern states where slavery was legal we concerned when Abraham Lincoln became President. They tried to cede as the Confederated States of America. Confederate Vice President, Alexander H. Stephens, described the confederacy's ideology as being centrally based "upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition".
My mind pondered, if the daughter of a Civil War soldier has just died, when did the last former slave die. I couldn't find a definitive answer, but came across Alfred "Teen" Blackburn. He is believed to be one of the last living survivors of slavery in the United States who had a clear recollection of it as an adult. He was a 'body servant' to his owner (and biological father) during the Civil War. He died in 1951. Its less than 70 years since the death of last person who was an adult during slavery.
This then led onto the question of whether children of former slaves were still alive today. On Quora, one person identified his grandfather as being a former slave. His grandfather was 77 when his uncle was born, and then 81 when his father was born. Both his father (90) and uncle (94) were alive at the time of writing (March, 2019).
For some slavery is only one generation in their past, either as slaves or slave owners. For more, its two or three generations. The whole concept of "the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition" sadly did not die with the emancipation of American slaves. It is flourishing in lots of area. It is America's national shame that its President holds black lives so cheap.
This set my mind thinking about The American Civil War, and I gleamed it started because of slavery. The southern states where slavery was legal we concerned when Abraham Lincoln became President. They tried to cede as the Confederated States of America. Confederate Vice President, Alexander H. Stephens, described the confederacy's ideology as being centrally based "upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition".
My mind pondered, if the daughter of a Civil War soldier has just died, when did the last former slave die. I couldn't find a definitive answer, but came across Alfred "Teen" Blackburn. He is believed to be one of the last living survivors of slavery in the United States who had a clear recollection of it as an adult. He was a 'body servant' to his owner (and biological father) during the Civil War. He died in 1951. Its less than 70 years since the death of last person who was an adult during slavery.
This then led onto the question of whether children of former slaves were still alive today. On Quora, one person identified his grandfather as being a former slave. His grandfather was 77 when his uncle was born, and then 81 when his father was born. Both his father (90) and uncle (94) were alive at the time of writing (March, 2019).
For some slavery is only one generation in their past, either as slaves or slave owners. For more, its two or three generations. The whole concept of "the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition" sadly did not die with the emancipation of American slaves. It is flourishing in lots of area. It is America's national shame that its President holds black lives so cheap.
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