| Episodes |
Mrs. Felton Finds a Democracy of Hypocrisy
Casey Hollawell and Kiernan McGinnis
[1] Throughout the neglected halls of American history looms a controversy that shakes the very foundation of our revered nation. A very real possibility exists that the writer of our Declaration of Independence and the intellectual founder of our nation, Thomas Jefferson, had sexual relations with one of his slaves that resulted in six mulatto children. By virtue of these accusations, a dichotomy has developed between the true meaning of "All men are created equal" and the practice of such a novel concept. It comes as no surprise that Jefferson has received harsh criticism for perceived hypocrisy.
[2] After the American Revolution many British travel writers ventured to the new nation with a bit of the big sister complex. Among the dozens of travel logs featuring references to the Jefferson controversy, one account sticks out: a woman known only as Mrs. Felton wrote an 1842 book titled American Life: A Narrative of Two Years' City and Country Residence in the United States. Little is known about Mrs. Felton -- in fact, that name could very well be a pseudonym -- but we do know that she makes keen insights about the institution of slavery in America. The documentary's chronology consists of Felton's voyages from Belfast, to New York City, later to New England, and then her departure from America from right where she started. Almost out of nowhere, nestled in a chapter about city life in New York, Felton elaborates upon her preconceived notions of slaves formed from reading borderline incomprehensible colloquial Negro dialogues, in contrast to her firsthand experiences observing and conversing with African American freedmen in the North. These observances develop into an enflamed commentary about the sanctimony of a nation in which "All men are born free and equal," unless, that is, they are Negroes, for even the libertine saint, Thomas Jefferson, violated his own mantra.
[3] Mrs. Felton tells us that she developed her tendentious ideas about slaves from her reaction to Negro dialogues, presumably spoken in broken English, which she had "met with in the course of [her] readings" (57). Upon arrival in New York, Felton expects to see sub-human creatures, the lowest of low, who can barely communicate; what she witnesses, however, sharply contrasts her expectations. She explains that "I have frequently conversed with the females, and . . . they generally express themselves in good language, and with an enunciation, as bold and as clear as any Englishman" (56). And she further elucidates that the women are "remarkably civil, and grateful for any trivial act of kindness" (56). Felton even paints a similarly pleasant image of "negro children," who, "on some occasions . . . have stood in mute astonishment, while I have patted the heads of one of their companions" (57-58).
[4] This dramatic inconsistency between what she gleans from her readings and the civilized humans she actually encounters strikes Felton with complete dismay and affliction at the anti-Negro spectacles that follow. What she does experience which she didn't expect is blatant hatred, prejudice, and disgust aimed directly at Negroes: "I beheld, with acute sensations of sorrow, their late task-masters regarding them with feelings of hatred mingled with contempt, and as a class far below the rest of the human species" (55). Felton witnesses a German and an American engaged in a heated altercation, the German exclaiming that he would wager one hundred dollars that he could "produce a negro that is a better calculator" than the American, the miffed American responding that "he would not sit at the same table with any one, who esteemed him no better than a Negro" (60).
[5] Felton claims that in America she never, "heard of a white man . . . that would condescend to sit at the same table as a black"; to "converse in accents of kindness with Negroes . . . is considered shockingly coarse and vulgar" (59). Additionally, upon having "patted the head" of that negro child or two, Felton meets with the surprising remark "on the strange taste that could induce a lady to take notice of such creatures" (60). Perhaps, most shocking of all, were the actions Felton witnesses toward Negroes from white children, dogs, and, strangely enough, parrots too. In Felton's words, "children . . . regard them as beings that may be annoyed and insulted with impunity; dogs are encouraged to bark at them; and, as a crowning point, parrots are taught to curse them" (58)! More or less any lack of respect for Blacks transcends mere faux pas and rises to the level of heresy. Mrs. Felton cannot in good conscience abide in the midst of such oppression without making these crimes apparent to the world!
[6] Felton definitely disapproves of America; however, her vices in regard to accounting Negro treatment are purely altruistic: "I regard this not in a political point of view, but purely as a case of Liberty and Equality . . . were it not for the sake of humanity, I should have regarded the whole affair with indifference" (57). Keenly, Mrs. Felton notes that, "Besides their intellectual deficiencies, they are charged with a long catalogue of moral misdoings, which more properly springs from a neglected education then a depraved disposition" (56). All of the malicious stereotypes regarding Negroes stem from a want of education rather than a racial inadequacy. Felton never actually ventures to the south to see any real slaves, yet she does indicate that "Negro slavery is the foulest blot on the character of the American government, and their spiteful treatment of those who have obtained their freedom" (61).
[7] Even in the north where slavery has been abolished for decades, Blacks have no rights. Racism is so engrained in the American psyche that it appears that true equity can never be achieved. Cementing her sentiment, Felton exclaims, "What! Are these blacks indebted to their neighbors, and it is for the purpose of obtaining satisfaction that all classes unite in heaping the reproaches on their heads?" (61). This travel writer offers no solution to the great Negro contempt; however, she does state that "I freely admit the vanity of these Negroes is boundless, I contend that it is not to be cured by an indiscriminate administration of ill treatment" (62). The depravity of African Americans ignites Felton's bowels of compassion; she sees states united in scorn. All of these falsities aimed at Blacks aggravate Felton's opprobrium, for she sees a newborn nation governed by blatant hypocrisy.
[8] Felton describes the elephantine contradiction in this manner: "I was not prepared to find this [what we would now call racism] in a nation who all are taught to lisp, with their infantile breath, that monstrous falsehood -- ‘All men are born free and equal'" (55). Throughout the passages, Felton makes sure to reiterate this platitude from the Declaration of Independence three times. Most American historians concede the notion that we gained our ideals of liberty from the British, however from an outsider perspective; America did not have the same definition of this novel, God-given right that their preceptors had practiced. Felton saw that America takes an undeserved moral high ground that prompts repugnance from those privy to the actual domestic happenings. As far as Felton is concerned, America can be represented by "a man wearing a cap of liberty, and holding a slave whip in his right hand, while his left displays The Declaration of Independence; his right foot, at the same time, resting on the naked back of a prostrate Negro. -- With this motto; ‘All men are born free and equal'" (61). Imagine such a debased Statue of Liberty in lieu of the figure that we adore.
[9] As much as Mrs. Felton despises the Declaration of Independence, she lashes even harder at its author. From Mrs. Felton's lens, the Jefferson-Hemings controversy epitomizes American complacency in regard to the practice of liberty. In her words, "this sublime character had, by his Quadroon slaves, a vast number of children of both sexes; whom he retained on his plantation in a state of vassalage, and dying left them so!!" (55). Felton continues to spout off as if her moral duty is to inform the English of the "crimes of an atrocious wretch" (56). The actions of Jefferson exacerbate the state of Felton's criticism, as illustrated by her commentary that he is both "the framer and violator of the law found united" (56). As a point of information, accounts such as this are leaked all over the Anglo world, which in many ways can be blamed for the proliferation of the scandal we are following. Felton continues, "Surely it may here be said, that licentiousness and tyranny have met together; democracy and slavery have kissed each other" (56). If all of this castigation was not enough, Felton makes sure to once again use the words of Jefferson against himself: "The existing slavery of these ‘free and independent' States, combined with the atrocious conduct of Jefferson, the progenitor of whole gangs of slaves, forms a beautiful comment on his favorite apothegm -- ‘All men are born free and equal'" (56). Without a doubt, this overwhelming dichotomy between denotation and real-life practice provides for lively commentary on the Jefferson scandal.
[10] The partial impressions of Negroes coupled with impartial first-hand accounts, the contradictory nature of a slave-holding nation founded on the principles of equity, and the existence of a framer and flagrant violator of such ideals all collide in the form of an English travel guide abounding with early American baggage. The author of these accounts had no idea at the time, but her words would help fuel a controversy that has spanned the centuries.
