Imperium in Imperio

The second foreword is a fictionalized letter, and dying declaration, by Berl Trout. Berl says that he has betrayed his own race and should receive the punishment and burial of a traitor. However, he also asserts that what he did, he did for the entire human race. He believes he has betrayed other Black people, but that, eventually, people will learn they are all part of the human race, and his actions will be viewed as for “the whole human family” (v).

The chapter opens with a message from Mrs. Hannah Piedmont to her son, Belton, who is eight years old. Mrs. Piedmont, who was not educated, stresses the importance of Belton’s education, no matter the cost. Mrs. Piedmont was left to raise her five children alone. The narrator says these words came from a “poor, ignorant negro woman” (1), whose determination toward her son’s education would impact the future of Imperio in Imperium.

The story begins in October 1867, in the Belton home in Winchester, Virginia. It is a rundown one-room home with holes in its walls; the children sleep three to a bed—one in the loft, and one with her mother. Belton’s pants are remade from two different pairs, and his shoes do not match.

It is Belton’s first day at a recently opened school for Black children. A white man, Tiberius Gracchus Leonard, is Belton’s teacher. The narrator hints to the importance of Belton’s education, as it later allows him to persuade crowds and hold influence in Imperio in Imperium.

The school, a former Baptist church, is rundown and patched up. Leonard addresses Belton as a “brat” and uses a racial slur for Mrs. Piedmont. When he leaves, the children take over the classroom, with Mrs. Piedmont and Belton watching.

The children mimic Leonard, using phrases like “wench” and “rascal,” and dolling out physical punishments to each other.

When Leonard returns, he again addresses Belton rudely, but is interrupted by a “mulatto” woman and her son. He is respectful and taken aback by her beauty. She enrolls her son, Bernard Belgrave.

After leaving her son at school, Mrs. Piedmont considers the treatment she knows her son will receive. She struggles with her “love” for Belton and her “ambition” for him to learn and be successful. She plans to discuss this with her parson.

The parson, who is the pastor at four Black churches in the area, performs a service at the Piedmont family’s church, frightening Belton with his forcefulness. However, as the parson receives money from the churchgoers’ donations, as well as an invitation to the Piedmont house for chicken and biscuits, Belton decides that he wants to be a pastor.

At the Piedmont house, Belton and his brother, James Henry, watch as the parson consumes the entire chicken and all but one biscuit. They can only eat what is left over. As the parson is about to eat the last biscuit, Belton cries out in fear of getting none himself, which stops the parson. He gives each of the children a five-cent piece in apology.

Mrs. Piedmont asks the parson what to do about Belton and his school. The parson stresses that an education is the most important thing that a Black child can receive. He says that if Belton is beaten, it will be done in the service of education, and he shows her a scar that he got during his schooling. Mrs. Piedmont decides to leave Belton in school.

While giving the history of Tiberius Leonard, the narrator notes that Reverend Samuel Christian was the previous teacher at the school for Black children. Reverend Christian believed slavery to be an evil and was honored to educate formerly enslaved people and their ancestors. However, Reverend Christian passed away after only a year of teaching, and the white trustees couldn’t find a replacement. They felt that no Black man was intelligent enough, white men looked upon the work with “contempt,” and the work was not suitable for a white woman. When Mr. Leonard answers an advertisement for the position, they recognize the look of an “infamous scoundrel” and view his face as “sour” (9), but they select him because of his intelligence.

Over the next 12 years, Mr. Leonard teaches Belton and Bernard. He takes his hate and anger out on Belton, whom he often abuses. However, Bernard becomes his “pet,” and he often sends home flowers for his mother or invites Bernard to dinner. Mr. Leonard realizes that both boys are extremely intelligent; he praises Bernard while deliberately finding fault in Belton. Instead of discouraging Belton, however, this unfair treatment leads him to work harder to stay equal to Bernard in school.

History and rhetoric fascinate both Bernard and Belton, particularly relating to the American Revolution. In trying to find something that Bernard is better at than Belton, Leonard teaches them more than expected. Bernard and Belton study immense amounts of literature and language. Ultimately, their educations lead the boys to seek heroic careers that will impact history.

Mr. Leonard plans a graduation ceremony in which Belton and Bernard will have an oration contest: They will each read a speech, and the prominent white members of the community will choose the winner, awarding him a medal. Leonard helps Bernard prepare; Belton receives help from a white congressman who is impressed by his speech.

At the ceremony, Belton’s speech, which focuses on the white man aiding in the Black man’s liberty, is privately deemed better than Bernard’s by the white judges. They say Belton “beat the yellow one all to pieces,” referring to Bernard (13). However, they award the medal to Bernard on the grounds of “good behavior,” angering the audience.

Meanwhile, Belton dug a tunnel under the school to exact revenge on Mr. Leonard, building a cavern under the schoolroom, filling it with water, and installing a trap door to open when Mr. Leonard awards the medal to Bernard. Belton’s plan is successful, and Mr. Leonard falls into waist-deep water and is humiliated in front of the community. He leaves the school and is never heard from again, with the narrator noting that “even a worm will turn when trodden upon” (14).