Constructing childhood: the Christian Recorder and literature for black children, 1854-1865

African American Review, Fall, 2002 by Chanta M. Haywood

"The Eye that Mocketh at Its Father" (23 Feb. 1861) speaks further to the parent-child relationship by reinforcing the need for parental guidance and child obedience. This story is about a little boy named Willie, who picks cherries to eat after his parents have instructed him not to do so. While his parents are away at church, Willie sneaks off to the tree. When startled by his babysitter, who catches him there, Willie falls from the tree, breaks his neck and dies. The story ends with the injunction: "Let the reader of these lines never forget God's command--children obey your parents" (28).

Even though this type of tragic ending was a staple of Sunday school literature of the day, which used such endings to teach children morals, there are two main ideas here particularly relevant to how antebellum black children are to see themselves. First, one must notice the subtext of configurations of family and family values being promoted. Not only does Willie have two parents who are present in his life, but his parents are also attending church together. Moreover, by having Willie's parents attend church and by ending the story with the reminder of not forgetting God's will, this piece also encourages the centrality of religion and morality in the construction of family.

At first glance it may appear as if the editors of the Christian Recorder are merely appropriating white, middle-class notions of the nuclear family as the only alternative for their children. Quite the contrary is true, especially when we consider the interesting fact that the Recorder also carried advertisements seeking information on family members who were dislocated and separated from other members as a result of slavery. Just pages from the children's section are advertisements like the following, from the October 28, 1865, edition of the Recorder.

The subscriber is desirous of obtaining information of his seven sisters and two brothers, viz: Maria Pryor, Nancy Copeland, May Ann Damson, Sarah Damson, Harriet J. Damson, Martha Damson, and Joseph W. and Christopher Damson. They were last heard from about sixteen years ago in Dunlap Creek, Allegheny Co., Va., and formerly belonged to a man named Damson. Any information will be kindly received by John Copeland or M. P. Riley. New Alexandria, PA.

The fact that the Recorder published stories that promote strong family ties just a few pages from these ads shows the complexities of black familial life in the antebellum period. Juxtaposing such stories against these ads provides a strong critique of how the institution of slavery fragmented the black family structure. While not giving up on the possibility of the nuclear family structure, the editors still critiqued its limitations as the only alternative for blacks, considering their social conditions.

Considering the context of oppression that antebellum blacks lived in, the author's caveat at the end of little Willie's story had political significance as well. Dianne Johnson's observation that twentieth-century black youth "live in a society and in a world in which the 'happy ending' does not constitute a realistic model" holds even more true for antebellum black youth (2). In a social context where black children were being depicted as wild and uncontrollable, where they constantly ran the risk of being kidnaped and enslaved, or even arrested for "unruly behavior," parents knew that there were many outside factors over which they had no control. Little Willie's death seems extreme, but it serves the purpose of emphasizing to children the dire things that could happen to them if they do not obey their parents. Black children simply could not take liberties with certain types of behaviors. If within the private space of their homes black families could create certain modes of discipline, then these lessons might carry over once children entered the public sphere.