Freedom At Last

August 20, 1831

Dear Diary,

I am in my chamber and I'm not supposed to be up this late. Especially if I'm writing.

Mistress McAfee has taught me how to read and write, but she could get in real trouble if anyone found out. She gave me this diary 2 weeks ago as a gift for completing the alphabet.

I am Ruth McAfee. I live on the McAfee plantation as Mistress McAfee's personal servant, and I am about 12 years old. My ancestors, I am told, were brought here on a slave ship to America. I have a younger sister, Maggie, who is Miss Elizabeth's servant girl and friend. The McAfees treat us well, but being a slave is not the best life. Of course, I am grateful that I don't get beaten or forced to work in the fields, but my mama and papa were both sold to separate plantations.

I haven't seen them in 3 months.

Slavery tears families apart. I can't even imagine how it felt for Maggie, who was a little tot at the time, watching her parents be taken away on a carriage, let alone how Mama felt when she was taken away from her two baby girls.

Today, Maggie and Miss Elizabeth played outside together, in the back of the house, of course. Away from the fields and the slaves.

I was amazed by how Miss Elizabeth played so well with Maggie. Usually white children stayed away from us. Gave us mean, mean looks and told us we didn't belong. I always told Maggie not to take it too hard, that the children didn't truly mean it, and that they had just heard their parents talking to one another.

After a while, though, I began to realize the children really did mean it. They were brought up to treat us this way, they were brought up to think we were lower than them, as was every other white child.

While the Constitution states that all men were created equal, we clearly are not treated that way. At least, that is what I hear Mistress McAfee say. She hates it when anyone doesn't keep their word. Especially when the government talks about slavery. Master McAfee, however, doesn't care what happens in government. As long as he can keep his slaves, he's happy. That is why he's generally nice to Maggie and I, although he does sometimes lose his temper and hit us once or twice on the back of the head. But that doesn't happen often.

Everyday I wonder why Mistress McAfee stays with Master McAfee. Both of them have such different views of what the world should be like for us slaves. For some reason I think that Mistress McAfee is afraid to go against her husband. What else could be her reason for staying with him?

I remember when I was small I went on a walk with Mistress, and she told me what she had heard from the other ladies in town. She told me that slavery was eventually going to be ended and that gave me such hope! But sadness came after what she told me next. The South was going to leave the Union if slavery was abolished. Therefore, slavery continued.

I hope slavery will be ended soon, and that Mamma, Papa, Maggie and I will be free. I understand that this will be hard since many people here in the South agree with slavery, but I think if slaves like me had a voice in the issue, slavery would be abolished.

Still hopeful,

Ruth