Elizabeth Keckley’s “Behind the Scenes, chapters 1-2”

This week's assigned reading is Elizabeth Keckley's "Behind the Scenes, Chapters 1-2." The first chapter, "Where I Was Born," is about the author's memories of her parents and the place she was born. It also addresses her responsibility for caring for a baby whose mother is known as Mrs. Burwell. She accepts the position at a young age, which she regards as a source of concern in terms of slavery. The second chapter describes the author's migration to the home of her master's eldest son. His master's eldest son is described as having gone through many trials and tribulations in order to attain a bride. On another hand, the writer confronted very harsh treatments from master’s son who more often than not used to frog her. All this happened even without committing any crime.

The main theme evident in this piece across the two chapters is that of servitude by the African Americans starting from their very tender age. As a slave, she was punished even without a mistake representing the entire African American race. Even after being punished, no one was supposed to question his/her master regarding the reason behind it. The story is important because it increases the understanding of the challenges the African Americans faced as slaves in the national levels. While there are multiple stories based on the slavery of the African Americans, this one considers maidens as part of the people who confronted many challenges. Religion is also evident in the story in that the son of the master is identified as a Presbyterian minister.

This story has many contributions to the understanding of the African American race during the ear of slavery. It points out that women were mostly working as maidens while men were in the field of cash crops. Additionally, it reminds me of the movie I watched that is known as “12 Years a Slave” where African Americans were serving as slaves. It reveals that the freedom this group of people enjoys today was earned with blood and a lot of struggle and not bread and butter. This is proof that they fought unrelentingly until they got it. In the US today, the nation is characterized by diversity which is contributed by races such as the African Americans.





Work Cited

Keckley, Elizabeth. Behind the Scenes, Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. Oxford University Press on Demand, 1988.