“Some who in England lived fine and brave,
Was there like horses forced to trudge and slave.
Some viewed our Limbs turned us around,
Examining like horses we were sound.
“Some felt our hands others our Legs and feet,
And made us walk to see we were complete.
Some viewed our Teeth to see if they were good,
And fit to Chaw our hard and homely food.
“No shoes nor stocking had I for to wear
Nor hat, nor cap, my hands and feet went bare.
Thus dressed into the fields I did go,
Among Tobacco plants all day to hoe.
“Till twelve or one o’clock a grinding corn,
And must be up at day break in the morn.
For I was forced to work while I could stand,
Or hold the hoe with my feeble hands.”
“Void of all Relief”
“Sold for a Slave”
-John Lawson, 1754
When children like John were lucky enough to be captured by Indian ‘savages’ they often became the most aggressive enemies of the white man, such as escaped white slave Blue Jacket of the Shawnee, who led warriors in battle and planned massacres.
Other children who remained strong enough as teens escaped to the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to New York where they formed refugee bands. British authorities incited some Indian tribes to wipe these ‘hillbillies’ out. Eventually American authorities, including George Washington, would use military force against these people to enforce tax laws.
