Southern Church in St Helena Island held by Martin Delany.

This text is an extract from a speech addressed in a Southern Church in St Helena Island held by Martin Delany, who was the son of free Blacks from the North , a leading African-American officer in the Union Army and also an abolitionist, a black nationalist part of the Freedmen's Bureau since 1865.

The speech was given on the 23rd July 1865, three months after the end of the Civil War, in a context of abolition of slavery, it means that it was the first time that southern blacks were free and they were protected by the Freedmen's Bureau, a federal agency of the army. This period its the early times of the  Reconstruction. The speech is addressed to former slave from the South, to convince them to resist the exploitative practices of southern whites.

Indeed, Martin Delany notified the former slave to citizenship and wanted them to take their right by giving them advices and explain to them their situation so as to banish slavery.

Therefore, in a first part we will see how Delany declared that the black southerners are absolutely free, with the end of the civil war , which include the abolition of slavery and the end of the economic dependency thanks to Reconstruction , then, in a second part, we will analyze how the speaker is providing the end of slavery through banishing the last form of slavery and the measure taken by the Government in order to fight for freedom.

I/ The declaration of the absolute end of slavery

Firstly, Martin Delany blares out to the  black southerners their freedom. Above all Delany unveils the end of the Civil War , which symbolize the end of slavery, in a polemic speech , including the fact that the war was a two goals war : for the re-united of the State and for the abolition of slavery. Afterward, the author gives advices to the  former slave in order to end their economic dependency and lead them to a new life.

A/ The end of Civil War included the abolition of slavery

The end of the Civil War implies the abolition of slavery introduces in a polemic speech by Delany along with the support of the Government at slaves in this war.

1) a polemic speech to reveal the truth

The speech of Martin Delany alludes to the struggle for freedom, which conducted to the victory of the Civil War by the North including the Union Army and the slaves of the Emancipation Proclamation. The end of the Civil War suggests that all slaves are three. The author, to quote in his own word, says “ we would not have become free, had we not armed ourselves and fought out our independence” ( l.3-4). This sentence remains us about the Emancipation Proclamation as we quickly alluded to. The Emancipation Proclamation has been signed by Lincoln on the first January of 1863 and deals with the permission at many slaves to leave their plantation to join the Union army and they were valuable for the Union army and became free men so they joined the Union army as soldiers. It was a life changing experience to become soldiers. The Emancipation represented a turning point in the Civil War  because it  became a war to end slavery.

The using of negation lays stress on the hard struggle for freedom of the slave in the sentence  l.4  denounces the abusive owners and Delany try to turn his speech in an ironic tone to criticize the southern whites.

“ the Southern people cannot teach you anything” ( l.6)

“ they could not make their own business” ( l.7 )

“ they have not the brain to do it “ (l.7)

These ironic tone is suggestive of the former slaves  know-how  and that they even know how to succeed in life as slaves. However, they are now free and they can cope on their own.

2) the war of slaves and of the government

Moreover Delany places emphasis on the fact that the Government is supporting the former slaves.

 The author claims that it was a “ war policy of the Government, to declare the Slaves of a South free” ( l.1 ). Here Delany sketches the Government and the slave as one, they fit together owing to the Government, which had decided to give the permission at slaves to fight for the abolition of slavery and at the end they won it.  We can see this fusion by the use of the article in the 1st person of the plural, which implies former slaves and the Government, here the Government is represented by Delany . (l.3-4 ) “we”, “ourselves” , “our ”.

In an other hand, Delany  makes former slaves aware of their ability to succeed in life and divulge the truth about themselves. On the contrary it was not what other people thought , especially about what white people told them about themselves because at the time of the speech, it was  the end of the Civil War and minds of southern people should change. Delany point out the former slaves dignity and brain power. This is well illustrated by the rhetorical questions in order to conduct his auditor to agree with him.

(l.6 to 9)

“ Now tell me from all you have heard from me, are you not worth anything ? Are you those men whom they think , God only created as a curs and for a slave ? Whom they do not consider as their equals?”

When we refer to Delany, it suggests that we are speaking about the Government because it send him to the South to patrol it. We should remember that Delany was part of the Freedmeen's Bureau so aid freedmen was his goal.

B/ The end of economic dependency

Delany takes up the distinction between the free present and the past linked to slavery , furthermore, he insists on the new start for the former slaves so as to the freedmen can stamp out their economic dependency.

1) The distinction between the present and the past

If we pay close attention to the text we see that uses 8 times the word “now”, which implies

 that the past is behind former slaves , it is the beginning of a new page of the history and it is time to start to write it.

As we have just suggested Delany is playing with his auditor on sentences and insisted on the words to make his idea clear and so as to make them understand the difference between the present and the past by employing anaphora (l.11) and (l.12).

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