Slavery Archives - chimesfreedom

Mary Queen of Scots and Mary Queen of Arkansas

On July 24 in 1567, the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots was forced to abdicate her crown. Eventually, she would be beheaded.

]The abdication came after Mary’s second husband died under mysterious circumstances. Mary subsequently married the main suspect, leading the nobility to have her imprisoned. She was forced her to abdicate her throne in favor of her son.

After Mary escaped and went to England, she became connected to plots to overthrow Queen Elizabeth. So, Mary was beheaded. But when Elizabeth died, Mary’s son King James VI became King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

A Mary Who Was Queen of Arkansas

More than four hundred years later, Bruce Springsteen wrote a song about another Queen Mary, “Mary Queen of Arkansas,” which appeared on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973). Springsteen earlier included the song among the first demos he recorded for John Hammond at Columbia.

When I first got the album, “Mary Queen of Arkansas” was one of my least favorite songs on the record. Hammond did not especially like it at first either, and Springsteen rarely plays the former concert opener live these days. But gradually, the song grew on me.

“Mary Queen of Arkansas” is a love song, with some circus references: “Well, I’m just a lonely acrobat, the live wire is my trade.” Beyond that, I never thought too much about the meaning.

But checking some sources for this post, I found various interesting theories. Some say Mary has religious significance or that she was a prostitute. Similarly, Springsteen has commented on how he often uses the name “Mary,” saying “I’m sure it’s the Catholic coming out in me, y’know? That was always the most beautiful name.”

Here, though, the title’s similarity to Mary Queen of Scots seems less than a coincidence. Reportedly, Springsteen got the idea for the title from the 1972 film Mary, Queen Of Scots, which starred Venessa Redgrave.

The song, though, is not about the Queen of Scots. Wikipedia concludes, “The song appears to be sung in the first person, by a slave in the antebellum American south, to his white mistress, with whom he is having a clandestine affair.”

I never saw that the slave connection in the song, although some of the lyrics support that theory. For example, consider the lines: “your white skin is deceivin’ . . . But on your bed, Mary, I can see the shadow of a noose.” Hmmm. . .

Either way, it is a beautiful song. It also makes one think fondly of Mary Queen of Arkansas.

The song also captures the escape theme that arises in other Springsteen songs like “Born to Run.” While Mary Queen of Scots was unable to escape a tragic end, we can hope that Mary Queen of Arkansas and her lover were able to get away clean to Mexico without either one of them losing their head.

The above version of “Mary Queen of Arkansas” is from a 1974 Houston radio show.

Do you think Mary Queen of Arkansas is in the voice of a slave having an affair or is it just an Arkansas love song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Watch Night, Emancipation, and “Mary Don’t You Weep”

10 Thoughts on Bruce Springsteen’s “Only the Strong Survive”

Local News Coverage of Bruce Springsteen in 1978

Belgians Reach Out to Bruce Springsteen With “Waiting on a Sunny Day”

“Satan’s Jeweled Crown” & Bruce Springsteen (Cover of the Day)

I’ll See You In My Dreams: Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Patty Griffin Sings About the Underground Railroad on “Ohio”

Patty Griffin will release her seventh album American Kid (2013), her first with record company New West, on May 7. Below is “Ohio,” the first single from the upcoming album. The song, like the folk song “Banks of the Ohio,” is about the river more than the state. But unlike the old murder ballad, Griffin’s dreamlike song is about the Underground Railroad and people escaping slavery to go north.

The Ohio River borders the southern border of what was then the free state of Ohio, and it is estimated that 40,000 escaped slaves went through the Underground Railroad in Ohio to escape to freedom in Canada. Griffin has explained that her song “Ohio” was inspired by something she read “in a Toni Morrison novel” a few years ago. Based on the lyrics, my guess is that she is referring to Morrison’s Beloved. Check it out.

That voice you hear accompanying Griffin (and the man you see in the video) is legendary Led Zeppelin front-man Robert Plant. Griffin helped on Plant’s Band of Joy album, and Plant here also helped arrange “Ohio.” Luther Dickinson (guitar) and Cody Dickinson (drums) from North Mississippi Allstars also perform on the album.

American Kid features songs inspired by Griffin’s father, who passed away in 2011. As someone who has every one of Griffin’s CD’s, I look forward to this new one.

What do you think of “Ohio”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Patty Griffin Releasing “Servant of Love”

Patty Griffin Sings “Don’t Let Me Die In Florida” Live

Song of the Day: Shooter Jennings and Patty Griffin “Wild and Lonesome”

Arlo McKinley’s “Die Midwestern” (Song of the Day)

Patty Griffin: “River”

Alison Krauss Previews New Album “Windy City”

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

“The Abolitionists”: A PBS Series That Makes Things Personal (Short Review)

If you have missed the first two episodes of the three-part PBS documentary The Abolitionists, you should check them out as well as the third and final part that airs this Tuesday on PBS (and is also available on DVD). The American Experience series — written, directed and produced by Rob Rapley — is an entertaining and informative look at some important people that you may not know much about.

The series focuses on some of the men and women who, leading up to the Civil War, fought for the cause of abolishing slavery. Through re-enactments by excellent actors and well-written narration, viewers learn about the hurdles, struggles, heartbreak, and victories of William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimké, Frederick Douglass, John Brown, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Of course, many other abolitionists worked for the cause and a three-part series has to simplify the complicated story. But the focus on the individuals was a wise choice, making the anti-slavery movement more personal to the viewer.

In the first two parts, you learn about how the death of a child helped lead Harriet Beecher Stowe to write one of the most important novels in American history. You watch how the leading abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison became friends with former slave Frederick Douglass and how the two had a falling out, resulting in personal attacks and the two men not speaking to each other.

Despite the focus on individuals, the series also provides a good understanding of the years leading up to the Civil War and the steps that further divided the United States. The episodes accomplish that task while paying deserved attention to some important women and men in U.S. history. As the New York Times notes, when William Lloyd Garrison published the first issue of The Liberator in 1831, Abraham Lincoln was working as a store clerk. And while it is easy for us to watch today and believe that we would have been on the side of the abolitionists, the series helps show how difficult it is to be a hero too.

What did you think of the first episodes of The Abolitionists? Leave your two cents in the comments.

13th Amendment Ratified: Redemption Song

Anniv. of Civil War’s Start: Elvis’s American Trilogy

Today in History: John Brown’s Body

Lee’s Surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House in April 1895

General John Sedgwick and His Last Words

Harriet Tubman and the $20 Bill

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Cartoonish Gunfire But Brutal Slavery in “Django Unchained” (Review)

To give you an idea of my perspective of Quentin Tarantino’s directing work so you know how to judge my take on Django Unchained (2012): I think Pulp Fiction (1994) is a masterpiece, thoroughly enjoyed Reservoir dogs (1992), and liked Jackie Brown (1997). I was not a big fan of Kill Bill 1 (2003), but liked Kill Bill 2 (2004) a little better. While Inglourious Basterds (2009) had some great moments, I could not get into rooting for the sadistic hero, as I discussed in a previous post. Because of the way Tarantino used the simplified moral landscape of good guys versus Nazis in Basterds, I was expecting more of the same using a slavery landscape in Django Unchained. Considering I also am not a big fan of movies that condone violent vengeance for solving problems, I expected not to like Django Unchained. But I liked it a lot.

Maybe I liked the new film because of my lowered expectations for a director who has yet to repeat the wonders of his early work. Maybe I liked the film’s nod to Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns. Maybe the music — featuring Jim Croce, Johnny Cash and Ennio Morricone — won me over. Maybe I was just in the mood for what the film had to offer. Or maybe I found the hero’s violence less offensive because he was acting out of love and not revenge. But Django Unchained features a compelling story, great acting, and sympathetic characters with real feelings.

The movie tells the story of Django, played by Jamie Foxx, who is a slave rescued by a bounty hunter and then the two go on a quest to free Django’s wife from slavery. Christopher Waltz gives one of his best performances as the eloquent bounty hunter, and the reliable Leonardo DiCaprio stretches his acting chops to convincingly play one of the nastiest characters in recent movie history. Samuel L. Jackson also appears in an important role. While the last part of the film, where Django seeks out his wife, does not live up to the high quality of the first part of the film featuring Django’s education as a bounty hunter, the entire film is worthwhile.

The movie, which was recently nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, has generated some controversy. It is a violent film, but much of the gunfire violence from the heroes is so cartoon-ish with blood splattering everywhere and bodies flying through the air when hit by gunfire that it reminded me more of The Three Stooges type of violence (but with lots and lots more blood). On the other hand, the violence surrounding slavery is portrayed more realistically and almost unbearable to watch. While the movie does not really present a moral lesson beyond that slavery is bad, there are some moral complexities to the film, such as where Django questions his role as a bounty hunger and killing as a way of achieving his goal.

The other way the film has generated controversy is its language, and in particular its use of the n-word. I will leave it others to debate the role of such language in film, but the use of race and violence in Django Unchained has led to more debate on those issues than any other recent movie. The film even depicts the horrors of slavery more than a recent movie about the sixteenth president working to free the slaves. And it’s not a bad thing when entertainment provokes discussion of these important issues.

Conclusion? If you are planning to see a Quentin Tarantino movie, you have some idea of what to expect. And if you appreciate the actors in this film and like spaghetti westerns, you might find Django Unchained is some of Tarantino’s best work yet.

Other Reviews Because Why Should You Trust Me?: Rotten Tomatoes gives Django Unchained high scores, with an 89% critics rating and a 94% audience rating. Bob Cesca on the Huffington Post writes that Django Unchained is one of the most important films of the year because of its depiction of slavery. By contrast, Anthony Lane at The New Yorker praises the first half of the film depicting the liberation and education of Django, but he argues that the movie goes south in more than one way when it relocates to Mississippi. Flickering Myth makes a similar argument, noting that the back stories of some of the characters could have been developed more. E Online discusses some of the controversy generated by the film. Not surprisingly, Tarantino is enjoying the attention from the arguments about the film.

How does Django Unchained hold up next to Tarantino’s other films? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Controversial Video of the Week: “DJesus Uncrossed”

What If “Pulp Fiction” Were a 1980s Video Game?

2013 Pawscars Award Winners Announced

Army of Shadows vs. Inglourious Basterds

Clarence Ashley: “The Cuckoo” & “Little Sadie”

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Watch Night, Emancipation, and “Mary Don’t You Weep”

On New Year’s Eve in 1862, people held in slavery in the American South waited to see if President Lincoln would fulfill a promise to issue an order of emancipation the next day.

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln

On December 31, 1862, people held in slavery in the American South and black churches around the country awaited news whether President Abraham Lincoln would issue the final Emancipation Proclamation. He had issued a “Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation” on September 22 warning of the coming emancipation to the states in rebellion.

Thus, on December 31 as a nation waited for Lincoln to fulfill his promise, was born Watch Night.

The Emancipation Proclamation

The next day, on January 1, 1863, despite speculation to the contrary, Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation. The document technically only freed the slaves in the Confederate states fighting against the Union. But it sent a symbolic message to all of the nearly four million slaves. The message was that the war that began out of a battle to preserve the country would eventually bring an end to slavery.

The proclamation also told the public that the Union military could enlist blacks into the Union’s armed forces. In reality, many already had been serving in some capacities. (James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, p. 563.)

The language of the proclamation is less poetic than many of our nation’s great documents like the Declaration of Independence, probably because the lawyer president knew it was a legal document written to have legal effect. Nevertheless, the meaning of words such as “forever free” in the following opening paragraph are beautiful:

“That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”

In the tradition of Watch Night, often there are scheduled events in the nation’s capital and around the country. The National Archives in Washington, D.C. has hosted a midnight display of the Emancipation Proclamation along with other national documents and readings, songs and bell ringing. President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, where Lincoln started writing the proclamation, also has held special midnight events. The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in D.C. holds midnight services. In 2013, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled an Emancipation Proclamation stamp.

“Mary Don’t You Weep”

I have been reading John W. Blassingame’s excellent book about American slavery, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (1972). In the book, Blassingame tells how slaves created songs with coded messages. Several of their songs were about Egypt because the American slaves could sing about slavery from another time under the noses of the slaveholders.

The passage made me think of one of my favorite songs on Bruce Springsteen’s CD tribute to Pete Seeger, “Mary Don’t You Weep.” Hearing the reference to Exodus and the parting of the Red Sea — “Pharaoh’s army got drown-ded!” — has a different meaning when you think of slaves in the fields of the South singing the song. It is a song of uprising, hope, and freedom. And they got away with singing it.

The song is not about Jesus’ mother, but about Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead. “Mary Don’t You Weep” can be joyful, defiant, spiritual, comforting or all of those things combined. One of the most popular versions of the song was the version recorded by the Caravans in 1958.

Other Versions of “Mary Don’t You Weep”

The following version features Georgia field workers singing “Mary Don’t You Weep.” It was recorded around the late 1920s or early 1930s.

Thus, this version by the field workers is separated by decades from slavery. But you can still hear the connection of an earlier time. It’s beautiful.

In the video below, a young Aretha Franklin performs a short version of the song on Soul Train. In her more sorrowful version of “Mary Don’t You Weep,” which she had recorded on her 1972 live gospel album Amazing Grace, she plays down the defiance of the song and focuses on the comforting aspect.

“Mary Don’t You Weep” has been recorded through the years. It was popular during the 1950s and 1960s during the Civil Rights movement, when it also provided the music for another Civil Rights anthem, “If You Miss Me From the Back of the Bus.”

Covers of “Mary Don’t You Weep” include a contemplative version by Mississippi John Hurt, a lively folk version by Leadbelly, another soulful version by Aretha Franklin, and the New Orleans influenced rousing Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band version. The song has even been adapted in the Greek language.

One of the most popular versions was by the Swan Silvertones. Lead singer Claude Jeter’s additional line in the song, “I’ll be a bridge over deep water if you trust in my name” inspired Paul Simon in writing his classic “Bridge over Troubled Water.”

So every New Year’s Eve, as you celebrate the incoming year and say goodbye to the last, take a moment to remember Watch Night and a time in midst of misery and war, when a nation found a great reason to celebrate a president’s promise fulfilled. And have a safe and happy new year.

Well, one of these nights around twelve o’clock,
This old town’s gonna really rock.
Didn’t Pharaoh’s army get drowned?
Oh, Mary, don’t you weep.

What’s your favorite version of “Mary Don’t You Weep”? Leave your two cents in the comments. Heading Photo via: First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter (public domain).