Imagine if social networking had been around during the antebellum period; how would this have changed things, specifically the Underground Railroad?
Social Networking would serve as a double edged sword for a slave wanting to escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad. On one hand, it would be much easier for slaves to communicate with each other on daily aspects of their lives, as well as specific details necessary for escaping to freedom (we are assuming that the slaves had access to the devices used in social networking, which probably would not be true; but hey, we are imagining, right?). If a slave wanted to escape on Thursday, he could text/tweet to his fellow slaves his plan, and encourage them to join him. The text/tweet could consist of code words, just as the songs that the slaves used to sing to each other as they worked in the fields held subliminal messages of freedom. I bet the Great Conductor, Harriet Tubman, would have been the number one trending topic on Twitter for quite a while!
Many times, slave families were tragically separated; social networking would provide an excellent way for these families to stay connected. A simple text after the day's work had been finished would provide loved ones with the comfort knowing that their family members had survived another day.
On the other hand, this form of technology could also serve as yet another way for overseers and plantation owners to brutally punish their slaves; imagine if an overseer got hold of one of his slaves cell phones and read his text messages. If the texts contained plans for escape, that would spell tragedy for the slave. Or even worse yet, what if an overseer read and MISINTERPRETED a slave's text/tweet?
While social networking technology could have definitely helped the slaves, it could have also greatly harmed them as well. Shirky describes how social networking can lead to change from the bottom up; do you think that slavery would have happened the way it did if the enslaved African Americans had access to social networking?
Slavery would have been completely different if social networking was available because slaves would of been able to communicate with other slaves at a faster rate, even free blacks up north. Thus, they would of organized better riots and spread news faster and further. Many black families would have also stayed in touch with other family members who were sold to new owners and would have reunited after abolition. Social networking would of connected larger masses of slaves together in order to revolt against slavery.
ReplyDeleteI think given the social context and power structures of the time, social networking would have been another way for slave owners to exert power over slaves. Slaves' tweets would have to be pretty crafty since they were public and slave owners could read them. Then again, maybe slaves would be able to gain more support from sympathizers?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, even if social networking did exist during slavery, I don't think it would have made much difference for most slaves, since most couldn't read. Assuming they did read, their masters would keep a close check to make sure they weren't using technology to reach the outside world. Assuming they could read, and could carry cell phones, I think using the internet to coordinate could be good and potentially very dangerous. Plantation owners could hire internet geeks to track down local signals, decode cryptic messages, and bust railroaders. Twitter may have landed Harriet in a noose instead of a history book. I think the internet is too public a place for such a secret mission.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking exactly what Eric stated after reading this. Most slaves were illiterate and didn't have the means of receiving an education, even if it was informal. I don't think social networking would have been very helpful for the Underground Railroad. The internet is an extremely public forum and the reason we have it is to stay informed. I think the best use of it during this time would be for sympathizers to send information to other whites in the North about what was happening in the South so it would have pushed the move to action.
ReplyDeleteEric brings up a great point in the fact that slaves would not be able to read. Which would also probably mean that they would not have access to these tools. The slave owners would probably use the social networking tools to work against the slaves and have been able to keep better track of their slaves. Slave owners would have had more power in the technology world and therefore have ways of finding out what slaves were plotting if they did have access to the internet.
ReplyDeleteSocial networking would have been an advantage to the slaves escaping to freedom as they would have a way to plan with each other. However, we would also have to to assume that slaves could read and write. How would they text each other if they didn't know the letters and couldn't read words? But I'm sure if that technology existed, schooling would have been different then too.
ReplyDeleteIts always interesting to think about how things could have and would have been different... I do think that it would have been different for the slaves, adding some new aspect to the equation typically changes the outcome. I do not think that it would have made a huge influence though.. Because the slaves did not know how to read and write, I think that the outcome would not have been as wonderful as we would like to think... They could however do video blogs? or take videos on their phones to counter this? who knows!
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