Annotations

The following annotations to Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy, Late a Slave in the United States of America were compiled in the fall 2000 by Seton McGowan and Jenny Wong, first-year students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as a class project in Professor William L. Andrews's First-Year Seminar on Slavery and Freedom in African American Literature and Film. We welcome any corrections, additions, or suggested revisions of these annotations. Send feedback to docsouth@listserv.unc.edu.

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Title Page

William Pitt—William Pitt, the Younger (1759-1806), British Prime Minister (1783-1801, 1804-06) during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars and a champion of the antislavery cause in England.

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Page v

General Fessenden—William Pitt Fessenden, (1806-1869) Antislavery politician who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln from 1865-1866.

Ellis Gray Loring—(1803-1858). Abolitionist lawyer and financial supporter of the abolitionist periodical, The Liberator.

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Page vi

George Thompson—(1804-1878), British antislavery activist.

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Page 8

Camden County—A County in northeastern North Carolina bounded by the North River, Albemarle Sound, and Pasquotank River.

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Page 10

Hilling—To form into a pile, heap or hill.

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Page 11

Dismal Swamp—A swamp in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, bordering the Atlantic ocean.

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Page 13

The English Blockade of the Chesapeake—The Chesapeake, the largest inlet of the Atlantic Coastal Inlet and bordered by Virginia and Maryland, was blockaded by the British fleet during the American Revolutionary War.

Elizabeth City—A shipping port in northeastern North Carolina near the Pasquotank River.

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Page 14

Pamlico Sound—An inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in eastern North Carolina.

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Page 15

"She was blind…the usual manner of old worn-out slaves"—A usual custom for slave masters was to move elderly slaves to small homes on the outskirts of their property where they could raise crops, sew, or do other simple tasks once that they were no longer able to handle large responsibilities in the fields or the main house.

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Page 16

Dram—a small quantity of money.

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Page 18

Albemarle Sound—Coastal inlet of the northeastern part of North Carolina.

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Page 20

Custom House—A governmental building or office where customs are collected and ships are cleared for entering or leaving the country.

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Page 23

Brig—A two masked sailing ship with square rigging on both masts.

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Page 25

Lightering—To move cargo using a flat-bottomed barge called a lighter.

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Page 36

Yellow Flies—Also known as deer flies.

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Page 37

"Flies to blow sores"—Flies blow sores by laying their eggs in open wounds on human and animal flesh.

Oak of Jerusalem—A solid plant usually around two feet tall which is used to expel intestinal worms and prevent spasms.

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Page 38

Rheumatism—A common inflammation of connective tissues, especially muscles and joints.

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Page 39

Juniper Tree—An evergreen tree whose wood is insect repellent and is often used to build objects used for storage.

Cooper's timber—Wood for making a barrel or tub for storage.

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Page 40

Free Papers—Papers attesting to the free status of a person of color in the antebellum United States.

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Page 41

Whip saw—a saw for two persons, as a pitsaw, used to divide timbers lengthwise.

The Insurrection—The 1831 slave uprising in Southampton County, Virginia, led by Nat Turner.

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Page 46

consumption—a progressive wasting away of the body especially from the pulmonary tuberculosis.

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Page 48

Shewed—British variant for show.

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Page 52

Elizabeth City—a northeastern North Carolina town on the Atlantic coast.

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Page 53

Peck—a dry measure of 8 quarts.

hollow—A depressed or a low part of a surface, especially a small valley or basin.

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Page 62

Camden County—in northeastern North Carolina.

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Page 67

Quaker—a member of The Society of Friends, the first religious denomination in the United States to condemn slavery and the first to require its members to free their slaves.

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Page 68

William Lloyd Garrison—Founder and editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, launched in 1831.

Fanueil Hall—Opened in 1742 as a market and meeting hall, Fanueil Hall later and became a political meeting place.

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Page 70

Liberia—a republic in West Africa founded by freed American slaves in 1822.

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Page 71

first day of August—England ended slavery in the West Indies on August 1, 1833.