Matheny

12/4/12

1st

Letter from Jourdon Anderson to his old master 

1. Jourdon Anderson is writing to Colonel Anderson for two reasons. One, to see if it would be possible

to get a large sum of money by working for the Colonel, if he is offering a good wage and living

conditions. Second, he is in a way bragging to his old master by proving to him that a freed slave can be successful.

2. Jourdon Anderson tests the Colonel's sincerity by asking the Colonel to not only promise a goodwage and working conditions, but also back-payment for all the years that he and his wife worked for 

him.

3. Jourdon's greatest desire in life is to get his children an education and for them to “form virtuoushabits.”

4. I would describe the letter's tone as sincere, but at the same time tongue-in-cheek. Jourdon mayknow that it is unlikely for the Colonel to agree to Jourdon's payment requests, and because of this he

 proves to the Colonel in a roundabout way that he is living a happy, successful life. In someways, he

may sincerely want to return to his home, to see people of his old life, but I am not sure of his sincerityregarding his feelings towards the Colonel himself. He claims to have been worried about his well

 being, but then talks about how he killed a union soldier and shot at Jourdon twice.

5. Jourdon “often felt uneasy” about the Colonel because he may have wanted him to not be killed byunion forces, though, if Jourdon is saying this insincerely, he may mean that he felt uneasy about him

 because he was a slave-owner that killed a Union solider and shot at Jourdon multiple times.

6. Jourdon mentions that his wife is called “Mrs. Anderson.” He could be doing this for multiple

reasons. He could be rubbing the fact that he now has a wife in the Colonel's face, or he could be

demonstrating that even after Jourdon is free, his old master still affects his life through his name.

7. I am not sure whether or not there is a sub-text going on in this letter. I do not know enough about

Jourdon and his relationship with the Colonel. Was it abusive? Or was it mild? I also don't know whatkind of person Jourdon was. Was he smart and witty? Or was he trusting and forgiving? Several parts

of the letter definitely have sub-textual meanings.

8. I think neither slave nor slave-owner should have been financially compensated. The amount of moving around would have been tremendous and complicated to handle. A compensation system at this

time would have been ripe with abuse and might even lead to more trouble than good.