Jubilee, written by Margret Walker, is a semi-fictional novel, based on real historical events and stories of her grandmother, which were passed down through oral tradition. The novel tell the story of Vyry Brown, a mallato slave, from the time she is introduced to slavery, as a toddler, until near the end of her life, after the reconstruction. The book, staged on the precipice of the civil war, and reporting a time of significant change in America, portrays the significant connection between Slavery, Race, and Citizenship in early America.
It could certainly be argued that Jubilee is first and foremost about race. It tells the story of the slavery, civil war, and reconstruction from a distinctly black point of view. Walker emphasizes race, and the difference between the appearances of different members of negro race. Walker refers to some as “brown-skinned” while others are simple referred to as “black,” (1). However the main character, Vyry’s racial identity is more complex. As a mallato, and daughter of the house’s master, she is described as a blond child, with blue eyes, who is often confused for her legitimate half-sister Lillian. Despite the fact that she is, by all appearances white, she is considered a member of the black race, and so is also a slave (Walker 15).
Within the text of the novel, Judge Ezra Wilson provides, perhaps, the most ample understanding of the division between the white and Negro races, at this time. He states “Such as our sacred way of life, our agricultural system, classic culture, with the natural divisions of mankind into servile and genteel races” (Walker 79). At this time in history, the Negro race was considered, in all ways, inferior to the white race. They were considered well suited to subservience because they were biologically unfit to self-govern or to participate in genteel society. As such, those they kept them as slaves did believe that because of their race, they were natural predisposed to servitude, and that there was a natural order to the way of life that was perpetuated on racial inequality. More specifically, it was believed that blacks were “not equal to the white man; subordination to the superior race is his natural moral condition” (Walker 187).
This highlights the clear connection between race, and slavery. In the south, slavery was predicated on the concept that the negro race was not fit for self-government, and continued based on the fact that it was necessary to the southern way of life, which allowed the “genteel class” to support their lavish agricultural lifestyle, without expending the cost of hundreds of manual laborers. As such, slavery became an economic and social necessity as well as, for some a “Christian duty” (Walker 122). In the novel, slavery is preached from the pulpit in this light, as a means of “Christianizing black heathens” because without slavery they could never become “docile, faithful, humble and obedient.” (Walker 122). As such, according to the southern way of thinking, the slave owner was viewed as fulfilling his purpose by owning and “morally educating” his slaves.
In contrast, however, in the North, slavery was viewed purely as a moral issue. The economic necessity of slavery was a non-issue in the industrialized north, and so was trivialized by abolitionists. The north “as a whole was repugnant to the idea” of slavery, and so considered it a non-issue, however it quickly became the dividing issue of the war (Walker 246).
However, even after the abolishment of slavery, the institution of slavery had lasting impacts on black Americans. They lacked the education to live independently, to sing their name to contracts, and to otherwise function outside of the structure of slavery (Walker 417). They were left without a home, without gainful employment, and without any “master” who guaranteed their daily needs were met. In essence, the slavery system had been structured to make them fully dependent upon their masters, and as such there was no real system in place to protect them in the absence of the care of the their masters, many went without work and so without food. Innis Brown, for example, found that the poor whites hated him for seeking work and land, and the rich whites were disempowered by the emancipation, making life for the newly freed black extremely challenging (Walker 413).
This, however, closely ties to the issue of citizenship. When the blacks were in slavery, they had no rights, they were not technically American citizens, because they were owned property (Walker 246). As such, they had no rights. They were like objects to be bought and sold, and from a citizenry, or rights, perspective, they were represented by their masters. However, after the emancipation, and during the reconstruction they were actively counted as American citizens. As citizens they were allowed to own property, own guns, attend schools, and perhaps most importantly, come and go as they please.
However, southern beliefs in the inferiority of the black man were given precedence over the federal passage of citizenship, and the intuitive for blacks to exercise those rights. As such, Georgia passed laws to superseded the federal laws, known today as Jim Crow laws, designed to limit the power of the black man in the state of Georgia, and similarly, in other states across the south (Walker 324). These restricted the ownership of firearms, required blacks to work for whites, and limited their movements, by enforcing strict curfews. It would be generations before they achieved true freedom to act as citizens with civil duties, military obligations, and rights equal to that of the white citizens living in the south (Walker 319).
Jubilee, was crafted as a deeply personal story, based on the life of Margret Walker’s grandmother, and the trials that she endured as a light skinned, light eyed mallato in a newly free south. The novel follows the character based on Walker’s grandmother, Vyry Brown, from the time she is introduced to slavery, as a toddler, through the reconstruction of the south, in an effort to explore the unique experiences of black Americans in a changing America. As such the book, portrays the significant connection between Slavery, Race, and Citizenship in early America. More specifically, a harsh line is drawn between the white class, as a perceived superior and genteel class, contrasted with the black class, which were at that time believed to be naturally inferior and subservient. As such, those leading the south pronounce it their moral obligation o morally educate, and to protect the Negros from themselves, through greater control because the blacks, as a race, are unable to manage the responsibilities and duties of full citizenship. Even after emancipation, the Jim Crow laws are put in place to ensure that the black population has limited power. As such, the black race is forever tied to the limitations of slavery, and denied access to the full rights of citizenship, and those who reach for their freedom, including full embrace of their civic rights, suffer greatly for it.
Works Cited:
Walker, Margaret. Jubilee. New York: Mariner Books. 1999. Print.
