Breaking News 1859: From the Slaves
From the Slaves
When Jesse road in to the city, he always brought some important news,
generally discussed in Richard’s cabin. Here the men would meet at night
and talk over the events and progress of the Lincoln Campaign. He stated
that it was the general opinion in Nashville that he would be elected.
It was thought, and generally believed, that if he stood by the principles
of the Republican party and its platform, namely: “Free people, Free souls,
and a Free press,” there would be a civil war. I daresay there was not a man
present who knew what all this meant – about principles and party platforms.
Since the news of the hanging of John Brown had reached the Clover Bottoms,
every man had hid his gun. The patrollers, however, continued their search for arms,
night and day. The comet that made its appearance in the southeast a few
weeks before, and the first I had ever seen, was now quite large, and had
an enormous tail. On a clear moonlight night the men were out looking at it,
and in their simple way, were discussing its meaning.
From John McCline’s recollections of his life as a slave during the Civil War, Slavery in the Clover Bottoms, edited by Jan Furman, 1998
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