Document 1b
african-born james l. bradley was a slave who purchased his freedom. in 1834, while a student at the lane
seminary in cincinnati, ohio, he wrote a short account of his life. this is an excerpt from his account.
… i will begin as far back as i can remember. i think i was between two and three years old
when the soul-destroyers tore me from my mother’s arms, somewhere in africa, far back from
the sea. they carried me a long distance to a ship; all the way i looked back, and cried. the ship
was full of men and women loaded with chains; but i was so small, they let me run about on deck.
after many long days, they brought us into charleston, south carolina. a slaveholder bought
me, and took me up into pendleton county. i suppose that i staid [stayed] with him about six
months. he sold me to a mr. bradley, by whose name i have ever since been called. this man
was considered a wonderfully kind master; and it is true that i was treated better than most of
the slaves i knew. i never suffered for food, and never was flogged with the whip; but oh, my
soul! i was tormented with kicks and knocks more than i can tell. my master often knocked me
down, when i was young. once, when i was a boy, about nine years old, he struck me so hard
that i fell down and lost my senses. i remained thus some time, and when i came to myself, he
told me he thought he had killed me. at another time, he struck me with a currycomb [metal
comb used for grooming horses], and sunk the knob into my head. i have said that i had food
enough; i wish i could say as much concerning my clothing. but i let that subject alone, because
i cannot think of any suitable words to use in telling you.…
source: bailey and kennedy, eds., the american spirit, volume i: to 1877, houghton mifflin,1998
according to this document, what was one hardship james l. bradley experienced as a slave?