Francois Rabelais Quotes
Time, which gnaws and diminisheth all things else, augments and increaseth benefits; because a noble action of liberality, done to a man of reason, doth grow continually by his generous thinking of it and remembering it.
Rabelais, François. "Book 1, Chapter 50." The Complete Works of François Rabelais, translated by Donald M. Frame, University of California Press, 1991.
The newly freed slave would have no practical chance of success in a capitalistic, competitive society unless he had the basic tools and property to earn a living and compete. This was mandated for the ancient Jews in the Law of Moses. This was not considered too seriously in Reconstruction after the Civil War, and much of the discrimination and racism might have been avoided if the freed slaves were all given some land as many were in general homesteading programs. These Blacks, and those that went to the industrial North where business owners provided them with the tools and resources in exchange for their labor, were generally the most successful.
Previous Sultans had developed a large army of Black Moors. Then there was a civil war in Morocco where the light skinned Moroccans fought against those of dark skin. The light skins won and the new Sultan ordered the remnants of the Black soldiers with their families to Larache where he surrounded them by Arabs and simply gave the Blacks to the light skinned Arabs as slaves.
Jennings had been purchased by Webster and served as his personal butler. As such, and technically a free Black, Jennings had the run of Washington including the Capitol. Webster had freed Jennings with the understanding that Jennings would work off his purchase price. About a year before Jennings had fully worked off his freedom price, he organized a slave escape of Washington house slave by arranging for a ship, the Pearl, to take them North. He wrote his letter to Webster and then went to the docks where the slaves boarded the Pearl. At the last minute, he left the ship and returned to the Webster home feeling that he had given his word and to leave at that time would be dishonorable. The slaves sailed, but were caught by a posse shortly. Most of the slaves were sold as field hands to the deep South, but the white ship’s master, Daniel Drayton, was tried for stealing property. He was defended by Horace Mann, and fined an amount he could not pay and went to jail. The Pearl escape received much notoriety as the escapees were all very “privileged” slaves. Two years later in the Compromise of 1850, selling slaves on the open market was banned in Washington DC. Millard Filmore pardoned Drayton after 4 years in jail. Jennings completed his promise of service and was never prosecuted for his organization of the escape.
François Rabelais (UK: /ˈræbəleɪ/ RAB-ə-lay, US: /ˌræbəˈleɪ/ -LAY, French: [fʁɑ̃swa ʁablɛ]; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes, and songs.
