E. Final Reflections

Completing our research has left us with a more complex picture of the power of women’s voices and of feminism as a whole. In regards to the complexities of women’s voices, we noticed that it wasn’t exactly right to think of women, as a collective, fighting for a common goal, because humans are very complex so their thinking is also inherently complex.

During the year 1801 an article was published in an American magazine telling the story of a woman in Maryland.  This article, published in the American Magazine of Wonders & Marvelous Chronicles gives account of a “Negro Woman Who Became White.”  Despite the title, the article discusses this woman, who’s identity remains unknown (apart from the identification of her employer to whom she was a kitchen-maid, Colonel Barnes of Maryland), as a black woman who appea

Sarah/Sally Forbes Bonetta Davies witnessed the brutal murder of her family during a slave hunt when she was very young, and later given to Queen Victoria as a gift. She was liberated by the queen and was called her goddaughter She was initially given out of a tradition of giving enslaved children to serve the recipient (similar to Mary Prince with her first mistress), but her relationship with the Queen and respect given to Sally by her set an example for the country as they ratified the abolition of slavery in 1865.

Charlotte “Lottie” Forten Grimpke was born in Pennsylvania to a wealthy black family. Born into “old money” and a legacy of abolitionist leadership, she was raised to value education and literature. Grimpke was a scholar and poet, but was denied entry to multiple colleges, but eventually was accepted to Salem State University, where she was to sole student of color. She grew up to become a member of the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society where she was able to share in the stories of other women, both white and black, in community.

Mary Prince was born in 1788 to a family enslaved by a predominantly female household, who by the measurements of the time and society, were considered “loving” mistresses. Mary was given at a very young age to the daughter of the household as her “gift”. Hard times for the owner’s family forced them to bring Mary and her siblings to market while her mother watched.

In July of 1855 Abby Guy sued William Daniel for wrongfully holding her and her children in slavery based on the claim that she was actually white. Guy and her children had lived freely since 1844 and although the 1850 federal census identified the family as free people of color, Guy socialized with the white community as an independent white woman would have. Then in 1855 Guy decided to move her family to Louisiana prompting Daniel to seize her and her children and started to hold them as slaves (Encyclopedia of Arkansas).

A law in South Carolina stated “If any slave shall be out of the house or plantation where they live, ...