A Rough Start
I, Martin Clinton or Marty, was born in the month of April on the 15th in 1627 on warm spring day in a hut. I was raised by my guardians Katherine Joseph who was my mother and my father James Clinton who worked as slaves in a very strict plantation. My father was the one who worked the most since my mother took care of me. Throughout my life my family and I were mistreated very badly, we were cursed at, spat at, and treated as if we were there servants. However at the age of five, I really did not know that these type of people, especially colored people, were called slaves. My mother had first homeschooled me with what she knew, for a slave I was very intelligent out of the other children. I worked with my father and mother a little bit but when I was on that cotton field, my mother was preventive that I would not get whipped or injured at that certain age. Both my parents agreed on not letting me get hurt and if I was about my mother had told my father to jump in to take the hit for me. Throughout the years of my life they were pretty much the same, had a deficient of food, worked all day, stayed hydrated, and went to sleep. The first plantation I worked on was not so big, it was filled with slaves, had a large silver gate surrounding it, and had a house where my master lived.
My master’s name was Jonathan Krill, he was a very rich white Irishman who hated slaves, but they did get his work done so he was happy. At the age of 13, I started to carry heavy objects and really helped out in the cotton fields. I was one of the strongest boys on the plantation but one day in August I took a break. Jonathan saw me slouching on the gate, resting which made him very furious so he grabbed his whip, which was very long and black. He crept up on me with the whip, and as he got ready to hit my medium length curly hair on top of my hair, my father ran to me. “MOVE!” he exclaimed and he pushed me to the other side, and following my mother’s instruction, to protect me he was whipped on the chest. From that day forward, a goal slipped right into my head, it was to put an end to this law called slavery. My mother and I rushed him to the hut and cared for him. Luckily, my dad was okay but I still remember that scar on his back, then I worked even harder. Every single day, I thought of my family and worked only for them and the thousands of other slaves that were working; this drove me to use all the power I ever had. After a year, my father died because he was too weak to continue to work so it was just my mother and I. My mother worked a little bit but most of the time I usually worked most of the time.
Our master was not happy about losing a slave but he saw I was doing a lot of work in carrying cotton or other objects. I was devastated that my father was dead, and so was my mother which distracted us a lot from our work but I tried to stay strong. After two years, at the age of 16, I became bigger and more intelligent but another tragedy occurred. As I was working on the field, one old man started to argue with our master Jonathan which was not a very bright idea to do. The old man called out names and tried to hit Johnathan but before he tried to swing a long gun was pointed at his head. The old man was terrified and tried to run away but my mother walked out of the hut to tell me about something. As soon as I heard the gunshot, I turned around and saw my mother on the floor with blood on the ground. My eyes were filled with tears and I dropped everything in my hand and ran to my mother.
The last thing my mother said was,” I am going to miss you and take care of yourself, you will be a successful man, I know it,”. Right then and there my duty was to distinguish slavery and do my best to keep slaves as equal as any white person in Virginia. For the next three years, I was devastated about parent’s death but I tried my best to get over it. Then I heard my master Jonathan talking to a man named Luke Hemington about myself. I thought I was going to be taken to another plantation which for some reason felt right; turns out I was right, I was going to Luke.
Memoir 1A New Friend
When I was 19 living on the plantation filled with slaves, I met a young man only two years older than me, his name Walker Green or as I called him Green. Both Green and I were almost the same person since we wanted to pursue the same goals, our friendship grew bigger through the years. We became best friends after a couple of weeks; Green was a tall, dark skinned, black-eyed buddy of mine during these difficult times. Green was a muscular slave who could carry cotton and sugar at the same time. He was a very strong slave combined with a persuasive/intelligent personality. Green and I first met when I was taken from my master Jonathan and was sold to Luke Hemington since Jonathan did not want me anymore. Once I was brought to the plantation, Luke dropped me off and a tall man walked up to me. We started to talk and that tall man was Green, we shared our thoughts about how slavery was unfair. We both thought that this law should be banished forever so everybody would be free. We shared our life stories about our origins, which was where we came from.
After one whole year, there were rumors about another plantation near ours which had slaves there who believed what Green and I did, that slavery was unfair to us colored people. Those slaves rebelled against this undeniable law and attacked their master; he died by the slaves stabbing him. This caused the slaves in our plantation to riot and boycott against our master, Luke. As the riot continued to Luke’s house, he had a couple of men over negotiating about a slave trade. He was furious with the protesting, so he grabbed his gun and walked outside with his friend who was holding a long black whip. He saw that Yousef and I were leading the angry mob so he shot me right in my left shoulder. Blood squirted all over the place and the other man whipped Green right on his back. The protest lowered down as Luke started to scream. Later that night, my shoulder was banded up and so was Green’s back, but I heard a whisper, a whisper that the wind had spoken into my ear. It was this white English man; he told me his name was Abec Thompson. He had came from Jamestown and wanted to help slaves escape this cruel life of being enforced to do all this labor.
I woke up Green since he was asleep and Abec only helped us since the master was out next to all the other slaves. Luke did not care about Green and I because he knew we were worthless now so he didn’t want to look over us. As Abec helped us climb over the tall gray sturdy fence, we went one by one. First Green went then I went, but Abec was on the other side of the fence so we climbed the fence to get to him. After we climbed the fence, we headed towards Jamestown since Abec claimed there were no slaves used there and that definitely put a smile on my face. As we walked towards the far end of the plantation I heard some footsteps, it was Luke! He grabbed Green and I while dragging us back to the plantation. Before we entered the plantation with Luke’s two men, I saw Abec get shot right in the leg by the master. That day was the day that made me change my goal into my life goal which was to end this tragedy called slavery. After that day I was never to see Abec Thompson ever again, never to see his kind heart to save us slaves, the colored people.
The next night Green and I stayed awake thinking about how to stop such a heartless law, and I heard a couple of more whispers, so did Green. It was these two women named Samantha Johnson and Rosalinda Baker. Samantha was a store owner and Rosalinda was an indentured servant who worked for her. They both hated slavery and felt bad for what happened to both of us. From now on, both women dug a hole under the gate and gave us food when we needed it. I had a big grin on my face and had said thank you to both ladies for doing such a great deed. Since we were mistreated and had a low amount of food, they gave us food to survive the hard life we had. They told us Abec came in with a bloody leg and asked for help. He told them about our lives and inspired Samantha and Rosalinda to help us slaves. Abec could not come since he could barely move and the master would expect him. In time, both women, Green, and I became great friends since Samantha and Rosalinda were helping us out, Green was also my buddy as well. The brave man Abec was not a friend to me, but like a brother to me, a lost brother, however living like that was great for me at that time. I was happier then I was before in my entire life.
Memoir 2
The Last Stand
“Grab the peaches quickly before you get caught!” exclaimed Samantha and Rosalinda. They were helping us by giving us food because we were underfed by our master Luke during our life on the plantation. Green and I were being fed peaches from Samantha’s husband shop that was being held by Samantha and the indentured servant Rosalinda, they helped me a lot through my life, especially at the age of 36. Although Green and I were punished for our acts of rebellion and strong beliefs, we still never backed down from stopping slavery. In the year 1663, there was a conspiracy about slaves being released from their slave holders and being sent free, Green had told me about it and I told him how we should help the slaves escape.
It was late, around eleven at night; both of us had a conversation about how we had decided to dedicate our lives to help slaves escape this plantation to start a new fresh chapter in their life. The next day, we woke up early around sunrise to explain to the rest of the mistreated slaves about our idea to set them free from this cruel prison where we were treated like animals. Everyone on the plantation agreed with this idea and wanted to participate and assist in any way they could. After a few hours of planning and discussion, we decided to first dig a bigger hole from the original hole Samantha and Rosalina dug in the ground, that would be big enough to fit the slaves through.
We first let the woman with their children go first since they were they were the most important people that needed to stay alive. After all the woman had escaped and waited on the other side of the fence for their loved ones our master Luke came running out yelling, “Stop right there!” “STOMP, STOMP, STOMP!” went Luke’s legs trying to stop any slaves from leaving his plantation. Quickly, a dozen of enraged slaves and I rushed to keep Luke and his men away from the hole in order for every slave to escape. As we ran I shouted to Green, “Go with the women, children, and men to start a new life as a new family. I’ll be fine here, GO!” After a couple of minutes, Luke’s men had brought whips and started to hit all of us to get out of the way. However as fast as a nanosecond, all the slaves including Green had ran away to another area filled with barren land. Luke had hit me so hard I had felt an acute pain in my right arm but it was not that serious that I had fractured a bone. Luke had talked about how we slaves would pay for our mistakes and face the deadly consequences that we would suffer. Through the years I received letters from Green in the hole we dug talking about how he was doing fine, the other slaves were fine, I replied saying how we were doing as well. I left him the letter in the hole where he left his and I knew he would come to pick up the letter, the next morning he did take it. I was now at that time 46 years old and I heard Luke coming towards the job I was working on. He suddenly pushed me to the ground and started to laugh at me with a gun in his hand.
At first I was too weak to understand what he said but then I remembered how he said he would make me pay for how I let those slaves escape. I heard the news from the evil’s man’s mouth and already imagined the gun shots hitting the slaves, and green. I was not sure what happened to my dearest friend but I had a feeling that day it was not going to be good. Luke told me before he shot green for the second time he wanted to tell me that I, Martin Clinton, was his greatest friend and he was going to miss me. I was so angry that my face was a ripe tomato after hearing him mock my friend’s last words. I had got up and ran to the hut I lived in to think about this tragedy as Luke laughed about this harmful act he did. The year Green died was 1673 which was at the age of 48 and now I am still alive at the age of 50. I still remember the words Green had to say and I cherish them, but now I continue my life as a slave still believing in stopping this cruel law called slavery.
Memoir 3
I, Martin Clinton or Marty, was born in the month of April on the 15th in 1627 on warm spring day in a hut. I was raised by my guardians Katherine Joseph who was my mother and my father James Clinton who worked as slaves in a very strict plantation. My father was the one who worked the most since my mother took care of me. Throughout my life my family and I were mistreated very badly, we were cursed at, spat at, and treated as if we were there servants. However at the age of five, I really did not know that these type of people, especially colored people, were called slaves. My mother had first homeschooled me with what she knew, for a slave I was very intelligent out of the other children. I worked with my father and mother a little bit but when I was on that cotton field, my mother was preventive that I would not get whipped or injured at that certain age. Both my parents agreed on not letting me get hurt and if I was about my mother had told my father to jump in to take the hit for me. Throughout the years of my life they were pretty much the same, had a deficient of food, worked all day, stayed hydrated, and went to sleep. The first plantation I worked on was not so big, it was filled with slaves, had a large silver gate surrounding it, and had a house where my master lived.
My master’s name was Jonathan Krill, he was a very rich white Irishman who hated slaves, but they did get his work done so he was happy. At the age of 13, I started to carry heavy objects and really helped out in the cotton fields. I was one of the strongest boys on the plantation but one day in August I took a break. Jonathan saw me slouching on the gate, resting which made him very furious so he grabbed his whip, which was very long and black. He crept up on me with the whip, and as he got ready to hit my medium length curly hair on top of my hair, my father ran to me. “MOVE!” he exclaimed and he pushed me to the other side, and following my mother’s instruction, to protect me he was whipped on the chest. From that day forward, a goal slipped right into my head, it was to put an end to this law called slavery. My mother and I rushed him to the hut and cared for him. Luckily, my dad was okay but I still remember that scar on his back, then I worked even harder. Every single day, I thought of my family and worked only for them and the thousands of other slaves that were working; this drove me to use all the power I ever had. After a year, my father died because he was too weak to continue to work so it was just my mother and I. My mother worked a little bit but most of the time I usually worked most of the time.
Our master was not happy about losing a slave but he saw I was doing a lot of work in carrying cotton or other objects. I was devastated that my father was dead, and so was my mother which distracted us a lot from our work but I tried to stay strong. After two years, at the age of 16, I became bigger and more intelligent but another tragedy occurred. As I was working on the field, one old man started to argue with our master Jonathan which was not a very bright idea to do. The old man called out names and tried to hit Johnathan but before he tried to swing a long gun was pointed at his head. The old man was terrified and tried to run away but my mother walked out of the hut to tell me about something. As soon as I heard the gunshot, I turned around and saw my mother on the floor with blood on the ground. My eyes were filled with tears and I dropped everything in my hand and ran to my mother.
The last thing my mother said was,” I am going to miss you and take care of yourself, you will be a successful man, I know it,”. Right then and there my duty was to distinguish slavery and do my best to keep slaves as equal as any white person in Virginia. For the next three years, I was devastated about parent’s death but I tried my best to get over it. Then I heard my master Jonathan talking to a man named Luke Hemington about myself. I thought I was going to be taken to another plantation which for some reason felt right; turns out I was right, I was going to Luke.
Memoir 1A New Friend
When I was 19 living on the plantation filled with slaves, I met a young man only two years older than me, his name Walker Green or as I called him Green. Both Green and I were almost the same person since we wanted to pursue the same goals, our friendship grew bigger through the years. We became best friends after a couple of weeks; Green was a tall, dark skinned, black-eyed buddy of mine during these difficult times. Green was a muscular slave who could carry cotton and sugar at the same time. He was a very strong slave combined with a persuasive/intelligent personality. Green and I first met when I was taken from my master Jonathan and was sold to Luke Hemington since Jonathan did not want me anymore. Once I was brought to the plantation, Luke dropped me off and a tall man walked up to me. We started to talk and that tall man was Green, we shared our thoughts about how slavery was unfair. We both thought that this law should be banished forever so everybody would be free. We shared our life stories about our origins, which was where we came from.
After one whole year, there were rumors about another plantation near ours which had slaves there who believed what Green and I did, that slavery was unfair to us colored people. Those slaves rebelled against this undeniable law and attacked their master; he died by the slaves stabbing him. This caused the slaves in our plantation to riot and boycott against our master, Luke. As the riot continued to Luke’s house, he had a couple of men over negotiating about a slave trade. He was furious with the protesting, so he grabbed his gun and walked outside with his friend who was holding a long black whip. He saw that Yousef and I were leading the angry mob so he shot me right in my left shoulder. Blood squirted all over the place and the other man whipped Green right on his back. The protest lowered down as Luke started to scream. Later that night, my shoulder was banded up and so was Green’s back, but I heard a whisper, a whisper that the wind had spoken into my ear. It was this white English man; he told me his name was Abec Thompson. He had came from Jamestown and wanted to help slaves escape this cruel life of being enforced to do all this labor.
I woke up Green since he was asleep and Abec only helped us since the master was out next to all the other slaves. Luke did not care about Green and I because he knew we were worthless now so he didn’t want to look over us. As Abec helped us climb over the tall gray sturdy fence, we went one by one. First Green went then I went, but Abec was on the other side of the fence so we climbed the fence to get to him. After we climbed the fence, we headed towards Jamestown since Abec claimed there were no slaves used there and that definitely put a smile on my face. As we walked towards the far end of the plantation I heard some footsteps, it was Luke! He grabbed Green and I while dragging us back to the plantation. Before we entered the plantation with Luke’s two men, I saw Abec get shot right in the leg by the master. That day was the day that made me change my goal into my life goal which was to end this tragedy called slavery. After that day I was never to see Abec Thompson ever again, never to see his kind heart to save us slaves, the colored people.
The next night Green and I stayed awake thinking about how to stop such a heartless law, and I heard a couple of more whispers, so did Green. It was these two women named Samantha Johnson and Rosalinda Baker. Samantha was a store owner and Rosalinda was an indentured servant who worked for her. They both hated slavery and felt bad for what happened to both of us. From now on, both women dug a hole under the gate and gave us food when we needed it. I had a big grin on my face and had said thank you to both ladies for doing such a great deed. Since we were mistreated and had a low amount of food, they gave us food to survive the hard life we had. They told us Abec came in with a bloody leg and asked for help. He told them about our lives and inspired Samantha and Rosalinda to help us slaves. Abec could not come since he could barely move and the master would expect him. In time, both women, Green, and I became great friends since Samantha and Rosalinda were helping us out, Green was also my buddy as well. The brave man Abec was not a friend to me, but like a brother to me, a lost brother, however living like that was great for me at that time. I was happier then I was before in my entire life.
Memoir 2
The Last Stand
“Grab the peaches quickly before you get caught!” exclaimed Samantha and Rosalinda. They were helping us by giving us food because we were underfed by our master Luke during our life on the plantation. Green and I were being fed peaches from Samantha’s husband shop that was being held by Samantha and the indentured servant Rosalinda, they helped me a lot through my life, especially at the age of 36. Although Green and I were punished for our acts of rebellion and strong beliefs, we still never backed down from stopping slavery. In the year 1663, there was a conspiracy about slaves being released from their slave holders and being sent free, Green had told me about it and I told him how we should help the slaves escape.
It was late, around eleven at night; both of us had a conversation about how we had decided to dedicate our lives to help slaves escape this plantation to start a new fresh chapter in their life. The next day, we woke up early around sunrise to explain to the rest of the mistreated slaves about our idea to set them free from this cruel prison where we were treated like animals. Everyone on the plantation agreed with this idea and wanted to participate and assist in any way they could. After a few hours of planning and discussion, we decided to first dig a bigger hole from the original hole Samantha and Rosalina dug in the ground, that would be big enough to fit the slaves through.
We first let the woman with their children go first since they were they were the most important people that needed to stay alive. After all the woman had escaped and waited on the other side of the fence for their loved ones our master Luke came running out yelling, “Stop right there!” “STOMP, STOMP, STOMP!” went Luke’s legs trying to stop any slaves from leaving his plantation. Quickly, a dozen of enraged slaves and I rushed to keep Luke and his men away from the hole in order for every slave to escape. As we ran I shouted to Green, “Go with the women, children, and men to start a new life as a new family. I’ll be fine here, GO!” After a couple of minutes, Luke’s men had brought whips and started to hit all of us to get out of the way. However as fast as a nanosecond, all the slaves including Green had ran away to another area filled with barren land. Luke had hit me so hard I had felt an acute pain in my right arm but it was not that serious that I had fractured a bone. Luke had talked about how we slaves would pay for our mistakes and face the deadly consequences that we would suffer. Through the years I received letters from Green in the hole we dug talking about how he was doing fine, the other slaves were fine, I replied saying how we were doing as well. I left him the letter in the hole where he left his and I knew he would come to pick up the letter, the next morning he did take it. I was now at that time 46 years old and I heard Luke coming towards the job I was working on. He suddenly pushed me to the ground and started to laugh at me with a gun in his hand.
At first I was too weak to understand what he said but then I remembered how he said he would make me pay for how I let those slaves escape. I heard the news from the evil’s man’s mouth and already imagined the gun shots hitting the slaves, and green. I was not sure what happened to my dearest friend but I had a feeling that day it was not going to be good. Luke told me before he shot green for the second time he wanted to tell me that I, Martin Clinton, was his greatest friend and he was going to miss me. I was so angry that my face was a ripe tomato after hearing him mock my friend’s last words. I had got up and ran to the hut I lived in to think about this tragedy as Luke laughed about this harmful act he did. The year Green died was 1673 which was at the age of 48 and now I am still alive at the age of 50. I still remember the words Green had to say and I cherish them, but now I continue my life as a slave still believing in stopping this cruel law called slavery.
Memoir 3