Historical Accuracy Of Nightjohn By Gary Paulsen

In the United States, history is often believed to be categorized to good and bad. But, sadly that is not the case. Many times the cruel stages in history are often sugar coated and disguised to be something that they are not. While the brighter parts of history are many times untouched/unaltered. The times of enslaved people throughout the United States should never be forgotten. Slavery was an event in which people of color were brutally mistreated due to their appearance. Nightjohn, is a historical fiction novel written by Gary Paulsen and follows the life of a young girl named Sarny and her life on the Waller Plantation. Although many believe this book is one of Paulsen’s greatest pieces, many question the historical accuracy throughout

Although Nightjohn is a historical fiction novel, the way the enslaved are punished and restricted and also their resistance to these conditions are immensely accurate. The way that the enslaved people are being punished in the novel may seem to be over the top and exaggerated but they are definitely historically accurate depictions of the torment that the enslaved people went through. When Nightjohn was bought by Waller and brought to the plantation, Sarny saw that his whole back and more was, “whipped to rags and raised up and down like ripples”. Also later in the novel a runaway slave gets half eaten by a vicious bloodhound sent by Waller. These punishments may seem extreme but they are only scratching the surface of reality. According to an article written by the Mises Institute, In 1640 six servants of Captain William Pierce tried to escape to the Dutch settlements. The runaways

The enslaved people who were located on Waller’s plantation did many different things to rebel against their limitations and oppose Waller himself. They did things like name calling, praising god, and learning how to read and write. For example, Nat Turner was a slave who was self-educated and believed heavily in some religious visions. On the morning of August 22, Nat Turner and his followers murdered their master and his family. After continuously growing more and more members Turner continued on his massacre killing around 55-65 white slave owners-the aftermath lead to about 60 slaves being executed. Turner hid for a month and a half before being discovered and was hung around a week after his trial. Although in Nightjohn, the enslaved people never rebelled this severely, this proves that slaves did indeed rebel to extreme measures even though the consequences would be just as extreme or even worse. This historical event which sparked other uprising around the country, was very important in altering different ways the enslaved chose to rebel. According to Allen Allensworth from an except about African American Education in Slavery, “slaves would slip out of their quarters at night and go to these pits, and someone who had some learning would have a school.”