Reading Response - Charity Bowery

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Reading Response #2 Charity Bowery by Lydia Maria Child Charity Bowery was interviewed by Lydia Maria Child. Bowery was at age sixty-five she had been enslaved as a house servant. She says that on Sundays, she have seen the Negroes up in the country going away under large oaks, and in secret places, sitting in the woods with spelling books. All the colored folks were afraid to pray in the time of the old prophet Nat. There was no law about it; but the whites reported it round among themselves, that if a note was heard, they should have some dreadful punishment. Her husband and son died, and she got separated from her children as well. Many unfortunate events happened in Charity Bowery’s life. This context means that even though it doesn’t really states that Charity Bowery is a black woman. We can still picture it by reading between the lines. In my perception, this incident happened when colored folks still don’t have freedom. When there was no equality on the law. However, as we can see, that Charity Bowery loves her family; this can be proven when she wanted to buy her children back from the evil Mrs. McKinley. She will do anything for her children. In addition, as I can see that Charity Bowery didn’t really know how to speak [or maybe write] well. The education in this time is only to the fortunate ones. I think that Charity Bowery represents the lives of the “colored folks” back then. They were discriminated and have been enslaved by the “white folks”. In my opinion, inequality among races is the main argument in this
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