As Henson aged, his portrayal of a slave's anguish intensified.
In an 1879 autobiography, Henson told how a master kicked at his mother as she fell on her knees begging him not to separate her from her children.
Recalled Henson: "I heard her sob out, Oh, Lord Jesus, how long, how long shall I suffer this way!' I must have been then between five and six years old. I seem to see and hear my poor weeping mother now. This was one of my earliest observations of men; an experience which I only shared with thousands of my race, the bitterness of which to any individual who suffers it cannot be diminished by the frequency of its recurrence, while it is dark enough to overshadow the whole after- life with something blacker than a funeral pall."
And his portrayal of his father's punishment by plantation overseer exposed slavery for all its violence. Henson wrote: "His cries grew fainter and fainter, till a feeble groan was the only response to his final blows. His head was then thrust against the post, and his right ear fastened to it with a tack; a swift pass of a knife, and the bleeding member was left sticking to the place. Then came a hurrah from the degraded crowd, and the exclamation, That's what he's got for striking a white man.' A few said, it's a damned shame;' but the majority regarded it as but a proper tribute to their offended majesty....," Henson wrote.
Yet, Henson's spirit of freedom wasn't limited only to humankind's ugly side; it carried through to later generations.
It would be interesting to know what he would think of the cultural explosion of music and literature that African-Americans, many of them, the children of slaves, would inspire as shown in the online feature, "Lookin' Good in Harlem (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0104/feature6/), including his own extended family.
Josiah Henson's quest to own himself and take charge of his destiny spilled over to great grandnephew, Matthew Henson. In 1909, it was that Henson who accompanied explorer Robert Peary, and four Inuit, to the North Pole. Henson, whose job was to break trail for Peary, may have actually reached the site first.
Even so, his actions embody Josiah Henson's message that with freedom, determination, and an indomitable spirit, it is possible to stand on top of the world.
Go back to "Uncle Tom" Today: From Slavery to Obscurity?
