Summaries and Commentaries

Part One: Chapter 10

coffle  a group of animals or slaves fastened together in a line, or driven along together.

taking a bit of foreskin with him to Jesus  biting the guard's penis during fellatio before being shot.

bay or eat my own mess  go mad and howl or eat excrement.

talked through that chain like Sam Morse  communicated through the chain by wordless jerks similar to Morse code.

Georgia took up all of Alabama and Mississippi  the taint of slavery made one Deep South state indistinguishable from another.

Alfred  possibly Alpharetta, a small Georgia community north of Atlanta.

Sea Islands  islands sheltering black communities that cling to African language, customs, and worship.

the river that slid down from the Blue Ridge Mountains  the Oconee River.

Oklahoma  the destination of 14,000 Cherokee, who in 1838, following the discovery of gold on their lands, were forced to resettle on reservations after a long march named the Trail of Tears. Over 4,000 Cherokee died along the way.

George III  King of England during the American Revolution, with whom the Cherokee sided.

published a newspaper  Sequoyah's Cherokee Phoenix, founded in 1828.

led Oglethorpe through forests  native guides helped General James Oglethorpe colonize Georgia in 1733, the same year that he founded Savannah.

helped Andrew Jackson fight Creek  the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, March 17, 1814.

King of Spain  Charles IV.

been experimented on by Dartmouth  refers to the use of blacks and Indians as test animals. These unsuspecting people were infected with syphilis so that health officials could study the progress of the disease.

wrote their language  In 1820, Sequoyah invented a phonetic alphabet which enabled Cherokees to become literate after only a few days' study. Very quickly, they established a mail system with distant Cherokees.

established asylums  created places where runaway slaves would be safe and secure.

barnacles  smallpox.

buffalo men  men with wiry hair; Negroes.


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