Clotel

“But how infinitely better is it for a sister to ‘go into the silent land’ with her honour untarnished, but with bright hopes, than for her to be sold to sensual slaveholders.”

Brown frequently writes of the sexual exploitation of female slaves by their masters. Clotel repels the sexual advances of her master Mr. Cooper, knowing he can overpower her at any time. Althesa’s daughters Ellen and Jane are sold to different men who intend to use them as sexual objects. In this quotation, Brown expresses the belief that death is almost preferable to rape by a slave owner. Later in his narrative, he states that it would be easier for him to accept his sister’s death than her being subjected to “his cruelty, or, what was unutterably worse, his lust” (18).

“The religious characteristic of the American slaveholder soon manifested itself, as before the family retired to rest they were all called together to attend prayers; and the very man who, but a few hours before, had arrested poor panting, fugitive slaves, now read a chapter from the Bible and offered a prayer to God; as if that benignant and omnipotent One consecrated the infernal act he had just committed.”

.The hypocrisy of slaveholding Christians is a major theme in Clotel. In this quotation, Brown describes the scene the night he and his mother are apprehended after trying to escape to the Free States. He draws attention to the incongruence of men who support the institution of slavery and then go home and worship God. Throughout Clotel, Brown depicts how Scripture is manipulated to justify the enslavement of others and how slavery is at odds with the principles of true Christianity. He believes that the inhumane treatment of slaves “is enough to cause one to blush at the idea that such men are members of a civilised and Christian nation” (11).

“How ardently must the love of freedom burn in the poor slave’s bosom, when he will pass through so many difficulties, and even look death in the face in winning his birth-right, freedom.

In his narrative, Brown describes how he and his mother attempt to flee slavery but are apprehended and returned south, where they are separated permanently. Despite this devastating event, Brown continues to yearn for freedom. Brown writes of how slaves who escape and are caught can expect harsh punishment, in the form of torture, harder work, or separation from family. The threat of these punishments, however, fails to quench the desire for freedom. This quotation alludes to Brown’s second, and successful, escape, when he endures harsh cold and hunger as he travels north. The sentiment is echoed later by Georgiana, who says of the slave that “you may put him under any process which […] will debase and crush him as a rational being; you may do this, and the idea that he was born to be free will survive it all” (127). Georgiana’s statement humanizes the slave by reminding readers that God has endowed them with personal dignity.

“If this be a true picture of the vast influence for good of the institution of marriage, what must be the moral degradation of the people to whom marriage is denied?”

Brown argues that an institution built on the debasement of people cannot support morality or values. In this passage, he writes of how slave marriages are not recognized or respected: husbands and wives are often sold and separated, and religious leaders have determined that they can marry again despite their first spouses still being alive. Marriage, he states, is “the foundation of all civilisation and culture” (45), and the degradation of marriage leads to a “darkening [of] their souls” (46). In Chapter 15, Brown describes how Mrs. French treats Clotel cruelly, for “[e]very married woman in the far south looks upon her husband as unfaithful, and regards every quadroon servant as a rival” (121). He asks “[w]hat social virtues are possible in a society of which injustice is the primary characteristic” (121). In the suffering of his heroine Clotel, Brown offers an example of how the cheapening of marriage leads to moral decline.

“This was a Southern auction, at which the bones, muscles, sinews, blood, and nerves of a young lady of sixteen were sold for five hundred dollars; her moral character for two hundred; her improved intellect for one hundred; her Christianity for three hundred; and her chastity and virtue for four hundred dollars more.”

The auctioneer fetches more money for Clotel by drawing attention to her many admirable qualities. In this quotation, Brown points out the irony in a young girl’s virtues being monetized and sold to the highest bidder. Making her objectification more ironic is the fact that she is the daughter of Thomas Jefferson, “the writer of the Declaration of American Independence, and one of the presidents of the great republic” (51). Slaves’ virtues are valuable only insofar as they make them more desirable property.

“True Christian love is of an enlarged, disinterested nature. It loves all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, without regard to colour or condition.”

These words are spoken by Georgiana Peck, daughter of slave owner and parson Mr. Peck. Georgiana, who was educated in the North and is a staunch abolitionist, embodies what Brown argues is true Christianity. Georgiana believes that slavery is incompatible with Christianity, for Christ’s “whole life was a living testimony against slavery and all that it inculcates” (99). Georgiana frequently argues why Christians are obligated to abolish slavery. In Clotel, Brown presents opposing views of the Southern Christian—he who uses religion to oppress, and he who, like Georgiana, adheres to its tenets and advocates for freedom.

“Take care that you do not fret or murmur, grumble or repine at your condition; for this will not only make your life uneasy, but will greatly offend Almighty God.”

Snyder is a missionary who speaks to Mr. Peck’s slaves about Scripture. He represents the Christian who manipulates the Bible in order to justify slaves’ subservience. In this passage, he warns slaves not to complain about being compelled to serve their masters or about punishment, even if undeserved. He tells them God has made them slaves and that rebelling against their masters is equal to rebelling against God. Snyder and other Christians argue that white people have the right to enslave black people and even do so for their own good.

“’Oh,’ replied Uncle Simon, ‘thars more in de Bible den dat, only Snyder never reads any other part to us; I use to hear it read in Maryland, and thar was more den what Snyder lets us hear.’”

After Snyder leaves them, the slaves discuss what he had said and reveal that they do not, in fact, believe the lessons he attempted to teach them about the Bible. One slave says that white people “all de time tellin’ dat de Lord made us for to work for dem, and I don’t believe a word of it” (82). Uncle Simon, another slave, tells them that the Bible offers many lessons but that Snyder only shares with them those about how “servants [must] obey yer masters” (82). The slaves’ perception and their ability to see through Snyder’s attempts to subvert them shows their humanity and reminds readers that, despite Snyder’s insistence that God made them slaves because he “knew that condition would be best” (77) for them, the slaves are not inferior to their masters.

“Whatever institution reflects discredit on industry, whatever institution forbids the general culture of the understanding, is palpably hostile to individual rights, and to social well-being. Slavery is the incubus that hangs over the Southern States.”

When Carlton asks Snyder why so many white people in the South are poor and uneducated, Snyder identifies slavery as the cause. He believes that slavery harms the white community because by nature, it demeans honest work. Because “honest labour is not honoured” (87) in slaves states, “no white man is respectable […] who works for a living” (87). Notably, these men do not object to slavery on the grounds that it is cruel and unjust to the slaves themselves; their disapproval is based on their observations of slavery’s effects on the white community.

“At that moment he would have given worlds to have disengaged himself from Gertrude, but he had gone so far, that blame, disgrace, and duels with angry relatives would not attend any effort to obtain his freedom.”

Horatio, “unfettered by laws of the land” (66), which do not recognize his marriage to Clotel, becomes engaged to Gertrude, the daughter of a political connection. Though he has experienced happy times with Clotel and is devastated to leave her, he believes marrying Gertrude is a “necessity of circumstances” (89). Horatio is politically ambitious, and he is susceptible to the condemnation of others. A man “weakened in moral principle” (66), he fears the reaction of his friends and family were he to buck social convention and stay with her instead. He is not strong enough to stand firm, neither for Clotel’s sake nor for his own. Just as Althesa’s first purchaser Mr. Crawford is against slavery but concedes to his wife’s desire for a housekeeper, Horatio demonstrates weakness that prevents him from standing up for his principles.

“Dr. Morton soon obtained a large practice in his profession, and with it increased in wealth—but with all his wealth he never would own a slave.”

Henry Morton is contrasted with Horatio Green in that he purchases no slaves other than Althesa, whom he promptly marries. Whereas Horatio eventually concedes to convention by marrying a white woman, Henry stands staunchly against slavery despite social repercussions. Brown writes that Henry “often made himself obnoxious to private circles” (151) by launching into angry tirades against slavery. Throughout Clotel, Horatio and Henry serve as counterparts: the former represents moral weakness that enables slavery to continue, whereas the latter represents integrity and courage that help abolish it.

“Let us not deceive ourselves into the idea that slavery is right, because it is profitable to us.”

Georgiana, after converting Carlton to Christianity, tells him that “[t]o claim, hold, and treat a human being as property is felony against God and man” (95). Therefore, “[t]he Christian religion is opposed to slaveholding in its spirit and its principles” (95). In this quotation, she acknowledges that biblical justification of slavery is in the slave owners’ best interests and argues that they should not prioritize profit over the spirit of Christianity. Though slave owners profess to be adhering to the tenets of Christianity and to concerning themselves with the souls of the slaves, Georgiana, not fooled, warns Carlton that their motives are self-serving.

“Religious instruction is unknown in the far South, except among such men as the Rev. C. C. Jones, John Peck, and some others who regard religious instruction, such as they impart to their slaves, as calculated to make them more trustworthy and valuable as property.

When Scripture is taught to the slaves, it is not, as slave owners’ may claim, intended to benefit the slaves but rather to ensure the slaves remain subservient and obedient. It is for this reason that, upon her father’s death, Georgiana has no more use for Snyder and Huckelby, whom she regards “as something intended to make them better satisfied with their condition and more valuable as pieces of property” (133). Georgiana often identifies the true motives of those who appear to be do-gooders: she also declines to send the freed slaves to Liberia, believing that the Colonization Society’s work to deport them is grounded not in concern for the slaves but “in hatred of the free coloured people” (158).

“This, reader, is no fiction; if you think so, look over the files of the New Orleans newspapers of the years 1845-6, and you will there see reports of the trial.”

Brown informs his reader that the story of Salome, who was born in Germany and kidnapped into slavery in the American South, actually happened. That this injustice can be easily verified increases Brown’s credibility as a storyteller. In Chapter 11, Carlton tells Georgiana, “I have often heard what I considered hard stories in abolition meetings in New York about slavery; but now I shall begin to think that many of them are true” (103). Brown suggests he suspects people will not believe the stories he is telling. By grounding his story in verifiable truth, he more effectively makes his case against slavery. Revealing that the story is true after the story is told is also a dramatic technique that increases readers’ sense of horror.

“To-day the woman is mistress of her own cottage; to-morrow she is sold to one who aims to make her life as intolerable as possible.”

This quotation alludes to Clotel’s being sold to the cruel Mrs. French as a result of Gertrude Green’s jealousy. Brown relates how slaves’ circumstances can change in an instant; one never knows where one will be tomorrow. In Chapter 2, he describes a card game in which a slave is lost and won; the slave ends the evening in tears, for like many slaves, “[h]e goes to bed at night the property of the man with whom he has lived for years, and gets up in the morning the slave of someone whom he has never seen before” (56). Clotel, even when living happily with Horatio, is “filled with anguish” (65) because she realizes “the unavoidable and dangerous position which the tyranny of society had awarded her” and her daughter Mary (65). Slaves are moved from place to place in an arbitrary fashion—they are won by luck in card games and cast off by jealous wives. The insecurity of their positions makes the injustice of their enslavement that much more poignant.

“[T]he kindness meted out to blacks would be unkindness if given to whites.”

When Mr. Peck dies, his slaves do not show evidence of grief. Carlton believes them to be “ungrateful” (124), but Georgiana corrects him, explaining that even though her father might be considered kind, “we would not consider the best treatment which a slave receives good enough for us” (124). Georgiana objects to the belief that slaves are not entitled to the same treatment as white people. She subtly asks Carlton, and the reader, to consider whether he himself would feel “grateful” if he had been treated as one of Mr. Peck’s slaves.

“Our system of slavery is one of deception; and Sam, you see, has only been a good scholar.”

After witnessing Sam leading the slaves in a song celebrating the death of Mr. Peck, Georgiana and Carlton find him in the drawing room “looking as solemn and as dignified as if he had never sung a song or laughed in his life” (127). Carlton is surprised he is “capable of so much deception” (127). In this quotation, Georgiana replies that surviving slavery necessitates deception. Clotel offers many examples of slaves wearing different personas depending on the person to whom he or she is speaking. This passage brings to light how slaves learn to maneuver between identities. It also illustrates that slaves are more understanding than their masters seem to believe.

“And both law and public opinion in the state were against any measure of emancipation that she might think of adopting.”

After her father’s death, Georgiana desires to free his slaves. However, as she is not married, she is required to defer to the wishes of a male relative, in this case an uncle who is disinclined to free them. As she is in love with Carlton, whom she believes to be of her mind regarding the slaves, she confronts him with her desire to marry him; once married, they begin to free the slaves. This passage demonstrates the powerlessness of women in 19th-century America. Even Georgiana, who is well educated and unafraid to speak her mind, must submit to the wishes of a man. Her understanding of her own subservience perhaps gives her a greater sympathy for the slaves, who are even more disenfranchised than she is.

“Is not this their native land?”

When Georgiana and Carlton discuss where to send the freed slaves, Carlton suggests they send them to Liberia. Georgiana believes America is “as much their home as ours” (134) and in fact is even “more theirs” (134) considering they have “cleared up the lands, built towns, and enriched the soil with […] blood and tears” (134). She believes it unjust that they should be sent to a country they have never seen. She also finds the Colonization Society, which advocates sending freed slaves to Africa, to harbor “hatred of the free coloured people” and to operate with false pretenses (158). Georgiana is against seeing the freed slaves as “other.” They are, she argues, every bit as American as white people. She condemns those who would cast them out, preferring to celebrate their contributions to society.

“’I suppose,’ observed Carlton, ‘that they are like other people, flesh and blood.’”

Carlton and Georgiana, after the death of Mr. Peck, begin to pay the slaves for their work. Being paid makes the slaves “temperate, moral, [and] religious” (136), and they bring to their work new “care,” “economy,” and “industry” (136). When a man marvels at how they work so hard with no supervision and asks Carlton “[w]hat kind of people” (137) they are, Carlton replies that they are just like everyone else—when they are respected and treated with dignity, they feel motivated. His statement is a subtle condemnation of those who dehumanize the slaves.

“True to a woman’s nature, she had risked her own liberty for another.”

Brown presents Clotel as an ideal 19th-century woman in that she is sensitive, caring, godly, and warm of heart. In this passage, Clotel risks her own freedom when she returns to Virginia to seek out her daughter Mary. Brown’s stating that Clotel’s self-sacrifice is something all women would embody reminds readers that this womanly virtue knows no color. Clotel’s love for her daughter is no less than the love of a white woman for her own daughter.

“[God] had determined that an appalling tragedy should be enacted that night, within plain sight of the President’s house and the capitol of the Union, which should be an evidence wherever it should be known, of the unconquerable love of liberty the heart may inherit; as well as a fresh admonition to the slave dealer, of the cruelty and enormity of his crimes.”

That Clotel is Thomas Jefferson’s daughter suggests the hypocrisy of the Founding Fathers, who claimed to fight for independence. This passage delves more deeply by suggesting that oppression is built into the foundations of the nation. Clotel’s dying within view of the White House and the Capitol is symbolic of America’s turning a blind eye to the suffering of its people. Slavery, and therefore suffering, is condoned by American law. This quotation also reasserts that all people, regardless of color, yearn for the freedom and independence America purports to value.

“You say your fathers fought for freedom—so did we.”

At his trial, William gives an impassioned speech in which he justifies his participation in Nat Turner’s revolt. He reminds his audience that the Declaration of Independence says “that all men are created free and equal” (190). He also asserts that “all wars and fightings for freedom were right and just” (190); therefore, the rebellion, like the Revolutionary War, was necessary. By comparing the slaves to the patriots of the American Revolution, William seeks to elicit sympathy from his audience. He humanizes himself and the other slaves by reminding his audience that all Americans, no matter their color or station, value freedom.