Emily Benjamin
ES150
2/12/2014 Reaction Paper #3: Black Indian Slaves Narrative

George Fortman’s interview concerning his past gives an extremely detailed account of the events that shaped the man he is today. He begins his interview by recounting the horrific past of his Native American people. He tells of the deception his ancestors lived through, as well as the journey that many of them did not live to see the end of. However, two of his ancestors, John Hawk, a Blackhawk Indian, and Rachel, a Choctaw maiden, survived the “trail of death” and brought their two children, Courtney and Lucy, to the cane lands. John Hawk soon after became ill and passed on, leaving Rachel and the two girls to become slaves and chattel. Courtney soon became a mother to Eliza, a half-breed daughter from Master Ford George. As Eliza grew older, she too bore a child for Master Ford George after spearing him through the heart and giving birth on her own, away from the plantation. This child is George Fortman, by whom this interview is held. George and his mother are well taken care of by the George family throughout his childhood, as they both work as slaves for the family. George is educated by Mistress Lorraine, Ford George’s widowed wife, and lives to see the beginning and end of the Civil War.
I found that the most troubling piece of information from George Fortman’s interview is his recollection of his mother’s own troubling past. From her confusing childhood as a halfbreed, to watching her mother grieve over Master Ford George’s infidelity to the disturbing relationship he had with her, Eliza faced many hardships. She was forced to kill the man who violated her, flee from her home and give birth to her son on her own. I find this extremely troubling, as a woman, to even think about facing this challenge.
This reading, however troubling it may have been, did not