THE UNTOLD STORY OF SHIELDS GREEN///LOUIS A DECARO JR.
I did not know who Shields Green was. I am guessing you don’t either. If we read W E B Dubois or Frederick Douglas, we would know. I can’t recommend this book highly in that there is so little actually known about Shields Green; the 150 or so pages was quite the stretch with a lot of speculation and rabbit holes which I enjoyed, like some specific narratives and stories about the raid on Harpers Ferry. There were some interesting passages for me:
Overview: Shields Green was a free black man who joined John Brown on the raid at Harper’s Ferry and was executed by the state of Virginia for his participation.
My understanding of that raid from history as taught to me in 1969 and 1970 left me with the impression that John Brown was a religious “wack job” who performed a remarkably inept attack on a town in Virginia, hoping to initiate a race war in Virginia. He failed but the impact of this act catalyzed the Civil War which following my impressions then as now, was a necessary war. Union soldiers sang a song about John Brown’s body, mouldering it the grave…….
Regarding John Brown’s belief that he personally carried God’s message (an important component for being labeled a religious wack job): he was a Calvinist who was able to encourage the exchange of ideas about religion. His co-conspirators were young and of many contradictory faiths (all Christian). His prayers were short and to the point and his focus on the favorable resolution of the slave question was ever-present.
He was quoted in an argument regarding the intellectual capabilities of women (again, with his co-conspirators) and he stated that his daughters were every bit as smart as his boys. “Anne here succeeds quite well holding her own in a dispute with any of you boys.”
He rebuked his daughter when she spoke of Southern prejudices and the character of Southerners in general: “You would feel just as they do if you had been bred as they have—it is not their fault but the fault of their training.” The war would exacerbate regional prejudices but his point was that slavery was a tumor on the otherwise healthy body of American Democracy.
Shields Green was charged with treason against the state of Virginia. His lawyer argued that the US Supreme Court Decision, the Dred Scott decision, denied rights of citizenship to such people living in the US. If one is not a citizen, how can one commit treason was the logical legal argument. The Virginian judge despite his prejudice, had to agree. This specific charge was dropped.
Regarding the raid and the trial, another black participant was quoted: “Much has been given as true that never happened, much has been omitted that should have been made known.” Osborne Perry Anderson. He would certainly recognize our world today!
My unfortunate phrasing: John Brown may well have been, by my standards, a “religious whack job,” but he certainly, by this and other accounts, was no lunatic. He had as many religious people do, a singular view and in his case, a fanatical need to meet the needs of that view. Along these lines: Malcolm X was asked if no white people had ever helped American blacks. His reply was that he could think of two: Hitler and Stalin. When asked if a white person could join his movement, his answer was not but then on reflection, he would consider John Brown. Like Malcolm X, one is struck by the notion of “walking the talk.” Both are made more human by the ability to read quotes and personal narratives of those who interacted with them. The story told in this book painted the picture of a man that was quite different from that which I developed impressions so many years ago. And like many of those times, he took a great picture!
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