February 1, 2013
Letter from a formerly enslaved person to his old master
In August, 1865, newspapers printed a letter sent from an emancipated slave, by then gainfully employed in Ohio, replying to his cruel former owner, a colonel in Tennessee who wanted him and his wife to come back and work on the farm where they had been held in slavery. Be sure to read the full letter and absorb the brilliant reasoning of the former slave, Jourdon Anderson. The introduction with this letter from the “Letters of Note” website contains a link to a photo of the original article as it was printed in the New York Daily Tribune, August 22, 1865. Also included with the introduction is a link to updated information about Jourdon Anderson’s descendents. This letter is a fitting introduction to Black History month, celebrated every February in the United States and Canada.
