User:Kazmo Kida/JDG

Jacob D. Green's Life
Jacob Green was born into slavery on August 24th, 1813. His master, Judge Charles Earle put him to work at age eight; using him to run chores and deliver water to 113 other slaves. At age twelve he witnessed his mother being sold, this awakened him to the harsh reality of the world he was born into and deeply affected his views on skin color and race. Five years later he caught a white boy stealing from him and when they got into a fight, a man by the name of Mr. Burmey came in and broke up the fight beating Jacob and threatening to cut off his hands for hitting a white boy. This triggered a deep hatred within Jacob and when he finally got the chance, he managed to replace Mr. Burmey’s smoking tobacco with gunpowder. No one ever suspected him of the murder, and he got his satisfying revenge. Although he often committed criminal acts which would occasionally land him in trouble, his cunningness often allowed him to avoid severe punishments. One time he stole a couple of sweet potatoes, his master found out and ordered him to deliver a letter which he was sure had a order to lash him. Instead of going himself he found himself a loophole and got one of the other slaves to deliver the letter in his place, this caused the other man to be beat while he avoided it. However bad it was for his friendships, it certainly was beneficial to his welfare. On another instance, he left the barn door open and allowed eight of his masters horses escape on purpose. When his master questioned him later, he convinced his master that the other slaves must have done it. He was utterly convincing and his master believed him, and then set out to punish the other slaves. Although this caused Jacob personal pain for the suffering he caused his fellow slaves, he did not speak up.

He fell in love with a girl named Mary, who was evidently not in love with him and had another lover named Dan. Jacob told her that if she didn’t give up Dan and love him he would proceed to hang himself, Mary didn’t care. He took a rope and pretended to string himself up, standing on a stool. He tried many ways to convince her he was dying but she took no interest. When he was finally ready to give up, a dog came out of nowhere and knocked the stool out from under him. Now that he was truly hanging, and unable to free himself, he called out for help in genuine fear. She sat sadistically and watched him slowly dying. After howling and yelling eventually the strength in his arms couldn’t hold the rope off any longer and he blacked out. When he came to, Mary’s master; a doctor stood over him. He never knew who cut the rope.

Shortly after this, one of Mr. Burmey’s sons forced himself on Mary. Her screams brought Dan onto the scene and without thinking, Dan plunged a pitchfork into the son’s back killing him almost instantly. Realizing what he had done, Dan ran away into the nearby woods. After confessing to her master, Mary died that same day most likely from drowning herself. A bounty of 1000 dollars was placed on his head. Two months later, Dan was caught and taken to former Mr. Burmey’s other two sons, Peter and John. The two brothers tied him down and burned him alive, slowly cooking him in a pile of crudely placed wood. In the same year both brothers incidentally perished in a fire, they were drunk as usual and locked themselves into a barn. That night the barn caught ablaze and devoured them, in an attempt to save her son’s Mr. Burmey’s wife broke into the barn, was struck on the head by a piece of falling timber and joined her boys in their fate.

At age 20, Jacob’s master had him marry another one of the slave girls. Five months after the marriage, she gave birth to a white boy. When Jacob inquired who the father was, she told him it was the master. Nonetheless, they were a happy couple and lived together for six years, having a total of two children. When the master’s wife died, he sought the doctor’s daughter to be his future wife. When they got married, she ordered any female slave who had ever been intimate with the master to be sold. Jacob was out running errands when his wife was sold, along with both their children and as much as he begged his master to sell him to the same person his master refused. Dreams of escape began to dominate Jacob’s mind. After witnessing a couple of his fellow slaves escape, and with the news of the free northern states tempting his daring, Jacob studied astronomy; specifically the North Star, to help him escape and guide him to the north. He also knew that in order to successfully escape, he would need sufficient funding. He stole minor livestock to make money and after 9-10 months he had made 124 dollars.

Resource
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/greenjd/greenjd.html