Slavery in The Fires of Jubilee by Stephen Oates

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The author of The Fires of Jubilee is Stephen B. Oates. He worked as a professor teaching at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Apart from being a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst teaching history, Oates qualifies to write this book because he is one of his time’s top authors (Scythes, 2019). It is reported that he was an authority in nineteenth-century American history. The book concerns an enslaved person named Nat Turner, who organizes an uprising or revolt against their White owners (Oates, 1975). The event aided in ending the discrimination of African Americans by their White counterparts (Oates, 1975). The author argues that setting enslaved people free was always available to the White owners, who chose not to do so for economic reasons. Apart from the story being arranged in chapters, the layout and approach suggest that the author has described the area of events narrated and then given the narration.

Oates consults key sources in his work, ranging from The Richmond Enquirer to the Confessions of Nat Turner, to ensure the reader can relate. The references are helpful and act as primary sources (Oates, 1975). He follows basic citation rules and creates a complete narrative of Nat’s life and struggle. He desired to transport his audience back to the events, intending that they may understand his suffering (Oates, 1975). He even crafts Southampton in the reader’s mind through engaging and descriptive writing. In the book, he directs the audience to consult The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South, a secondary source (Stampp, 1956). There exists a difference between primary sources and those considered to be secondary (Scythes, 2019). The former gives direct access to the main subject of research, while the latter offers second-hand data and commentary from other scholars.

The book can be described as weak or ineffective as a historical account. Despite being a commendable historian, the text has highlighted his weaknesses. It was challenging to know and left speculation about Nat’s childhood life (Scythes, 2019). Perhaps, the motive behind the uprising will be questioned as well. The book helps to explain the significance of religion in Africa by detailing how Nat was allowed to read the Bible as part of studying his past and origin (Scythes, 2019). When he was born, it is noted that his body had birthmarks that people considered leadership marks in African society (Scythes, 2019). The privilege granted to him by his masters was something only for him and not his peers.

Since not everyone could have the privilege of reading the Bible, this shows that Christianity was essential to Africans and that the leaders or those expected to needed to understand it to guide others. With only reviews made available, out of 51 people, only 23% claim that the book deserves five stars, while 40% think four stars is a more accurate assessment of the work (Scythes, 2019). The book is in the history genre and is less trusted when compared to others in the same class (Scythes, 2019). It provides a historical account of events that happened in the past, specifically during slavery, but the information has limitations (Chhaya, 2022). Due to this, it fails to develop the readers’ understanding of history (Wiebe, 2019). It is essential when teaching such topics to leave the audience with no doubts.

The most striking statement in the book is where the author alludes that the media tried to act falsely about the matter. Oates (1975, 134) states, “Though the Northern press was more concerned with national politics than with the Turner insurrection, many papers did report the news either in brief editorials or in excerpts from Southern journals.” This is striking since it shows that a fraction of the media has always been used to further an agenda while another highlights the truth in society despite being small. The importance of this part is that it serves the book’s purpose, which was to bring to light the idea that there was always an option of setting enslaved people free. Even though the story in the book may be remembered as unreliable, it does not affect the author’s legacy as a historian.

References

Chhaya, P. (2022). How the word is passed: A reckoning with the history of slavery across America by Clint Smith.The Public Historian, 44(3), 177–178. Web.

Stampp, K. (1956). The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum, 27-33.

Oates, S. B. (1975). The Fires of jubilee: Nat Turner’s fierce Rebellion/Nat Turner’s fierce rebellion (No. 975.555 Oa8f Ej. 1 025124). Harper & Row.

Scythes, J. (2019). Nat Turner’s revolt spurred Southern fears and sparked public debate over slavery. In The Antebellum Press (pp. 39-48). Routledge. Web.

Wiebe, D. J. (2019). Slavery in ancient Rome and the United States of America: Natural rights and their role in the brutality of slavery in America and its abolition.Crossings, (3), 197–214. Web.

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