by Sara Logue, Research and Public Services Archivist, MARBL
For those of us who have not studied the Civil War in great detail, it may be surprising to learn that not all slaves were in favor of abolishing slavery. A deeper understanding of the ways of life in the mid-nineteenth century, and what freedom would actually mean for slaves, is needed to see the larger picture of the many viewpoints which existed at that time. Our collections represent a wide range of perspectives in order to fully document history, even ones which aren't in line with today's viewpoints. One interesting pamphlet I came across in MARBL's collections is Harrison Berry's Slavery and Abolitionism, as Viewed by a Georgia Slave. In it, a literate and well-spoken man, who had been a slave his whole life, explains why he feels the abolitionist is the worst enemy of the slave.
