Narrative of Jd Green

Journal of JD Green

JD Green had to work for many years. As early as eight years old, he had to carry big buckets of water and work as an errand boy. He felt so much sorrow for himself. He hated being black and would rather be dead than be black. He was struck by many even as a child. He was whipped, beaten and he couldn't fight back if it was a white man who hit him, but if it was a black man then he was allowed to fight as hard as possible. His one true pleasure in life was his faith in God and religion. It was a very big part of his life and it helped him through all of the hardships he was forced to endure.

He is thinking about running away and tries to steal potatoes but gets caught. He s told to give a note to Dick who is another slave and he is very scared to get whipped. He tried to give the note to Dick who got whipped instead of him. He got whipped another time when he was fourteen. He was innocent but the overseer didn't care and whipped him anyway. He then decided to run away to a big party.

There is a negro meeting house that holds many runaways that JD went to. He danced and danced and was even humiliated because his shirt tail fell down exposing his naked body. He continued to dance until morning when he had to go home. The horses were let loose and everyone was given 39 lashes, JD felt bad but didn't say anything. Dick got more lashes and ended up confessing to it so he didn't get hit anymore.

JD dreamed of having a wife and a family in the north. He wanted to leave Kentucky and never come back to Marysville. He was very sad though, he was depressed. He even tried to hang himself but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Mary found him with the rope and made him get back up there. She tightened the rope and kicked out the stool as he started to choke. He screamed and told her he didn't mean to do it. He begged her to cut the rope but she said no and kept him up there. Finally she cut him down and let him go with a stern warning.

JD was forced to marry Jane and she had a baby after five months of being married. It was not JD’s child but it was the masters. After a while Jane was sent away with the child and this angered JD. He decided then to run away and he collected 124 dollars. He did this by stealing any poultry he could find and selling them off for about ten months. He went on