Asher Sisneros

The Life of John Thompson, a Fugitive Slave, is an autobiography giving insight into the life of a field slave. He was born in 1812 as a slave to Mrs. Wager, but he worked for multiple plantation owners, giving him broad experiences with different masters. His account informs us that not all slave owners were universally and equally evil. Some decent masters provided for their slaves, and one man stood by his slave’s bedside as he was dying. In this essay, I will talk about the negative sanctions that some slaves received and why they had repercussions. 

The first story I’ll look at is from chapter 4. Mr. Wager had a slave, Aaron, who was exceedingly strong. However, Aaron didn’t allow anyone to beat him. The whip was his enemy. Whenever Mr. Wager wished to whip Aaron, he required multiple men to restrain Aaron. Finally, growing pestered by this constant inconvenience, Mr. Wager decided to sell Aaron. When men came to tie Aaron, he tried defending himself with an axe, but to no avail. The slave trader went by the jail to pick up Aaron, but Aaron was missing. He escaped jail. That was how much he despised whippings. 

After Mr. Wager’s daughter married, the slave John Thomson was given to her husband, George Thomas. Thompson described his new master “as inhumane as he was rich.” To provide you, the reader, with a sense of how perverted this man was, I will tell you one story testifying to his depraved character. One day when George’s wife was away, socializing with her friends, George had a splendid idea; Being the lecher he was, he attempted to seduce John Thompson’s sister. When that failed, he tried to force himself upon her. Her unfailing resistance made it impossible, and Mr. Thomas became so enraged that he had her stripped naked and whipped “until the blood stood in puddles under her feet,” as John Thomas put it. Eventually, Mrs. Thomas learned of this incident, but Mr. Thomas didn’t care and persisted in “trying to get freaky” with his slave. Mrs. Thomas ended up dying, and the doctor said it was because of a broken heart. I include that story to prove that Mr. Thomas wasn’t an exemplary man of character. 

A couple of years after John Thompson arrived on Mr. Thomas’ plantation, he hired a new overseer, and he was a master of cruel devices. On one occasion, the new overseer was challenged by one of Mr. Thomas’ best slaves – Ben. Ben was of the mind that death is death, so getting hung was better than dying from whippings. The incident took place when Ben was carting corn to the barn. The overseer decided that Ben wasn’t pushing the cart fast enough and knocked him onto the ground with the butt of his whip. However, when the overseer went to lash Ben, he sprang up like a lion and grabbed the overseer by the throat. With tenacity, he pulled the overseer to the ground and stomped on his chest. He continued choking and beating the overseer until the overseer neared death. If it weren’t for the intervention of two other slaves, Ben probably would’ve killed the overseer. This incident was soon reported to Mr. Thomas, and Ben was beaten severely until his organs could be seen moving inside his stomach. John Thompson says, “Poor Ben! His crime, according to the laws of Maryland, was punishable with death a penalty far more merciful than the one he received.” Ben later admitted that if he could do it again, he would’ve killed the overseer and been rewarded with death by hanging instead of torture through whipping. 

On another occasion, John Thompson was out chopping wood. After a full day of laborious work on an empty stomach, John decided to fetch some food in the house. However, on his way there, the overseer ran into him. Bumfuzzled by why Thompson wasn’t tending to his work, the overseer ordered him to turn around. When John tried to explain his actions, the overseer lashed out and struck John. In a rage, John seized the whip and threw it into the grass. He then clenched the overseer by the throat and stopped his breathing. However, when John set his assailant free, the overseer ran towards the house and reported this incident. 

The next day, the overseer ambushed John Thompson inside the stable. He attempted to bind John’s hands and whip him, but John refused to oblige him with the gift of cooperation. With wrath, the overseer seized a tobacco stick and attacked John. John, refusing to be persecuted, defended himself and sprang on the overseer. John proceeded to beat the overseer with the tobacco stick. Eventually, the overseer escaped John’s grip and again rushed towards the house. However, this time, his master came out. John was bound and flogged with ten cuts. John Thompson said of this incident: “I thought much of being thus punished for nothing and resolved that should the overseer again attempt to whip me, I would kill him and abide the consequences. I, therefore, told Master Richard, that I had rather die than again be whipped; that the punishment of death was not so dreadful and I should know next time what to do… You alone have the right to correct me, sir. Had you been made acquainted with all the facts in the case, you would not have had me whipped so; and if the overseer strikes me again, I will kill him and be hung at once, that there may be an end of me.” 

Upon examining the three instances of intemperate whippings—Aaron’s, Ben’s, and John’s—we notice that the slaves would’ve rather died than be beaten. This shows the ineffectiveness of these negative sanctions. In each case, the slave had done little to offend, but they were punished severely. In some cases, the negative sanctions had become so heinous that death would’ve been a blessing. This was ludicrous on part of the plantation owners. By rebelling and killing their overseers, the slaves would’ve been blessed. Clearly, throughout the writing, the slaves realized this. Negative sanctions are ineffective when further rebellion would bless those being punished. Them’s the facts. This was John Thompson’s observation. How can you balance maintaining order and discipline while avoiding resentment? This was the great slave dilemma.