68: Horror, Heartbreak & Homicide- Happy New Year!!

2023/1/4

Chapters

The episode introduces the dark history of New Year's Day, known as Heartbreak Day, where enslaved people were auctioned off, leading to family separations and immense suffering.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.

So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.

Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better even when it's impossible to make time for them.

Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow. Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash darkhistory today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash darkhistory.

Hi friends, how are you today? I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. My name is Bailey Sarian, I almost forgot my name, and I'd like to welcome you to my study and to my podcast, Dark History. Now this is a chance to tell a story like it is and to, I don't know, share the history of stuff we would never think about, or at least we're not thinking about, or like weren't told about, you know?

So that's the goal here, okay? So all I need you to do is just sit back, relax, and let's talk about that hot, juicy history, goss. So normally when I start a story, I like to tell you guys how I arrived to this topic. So

You know, look, have you guys ever like noticed around this time of the year? There's at the end of the year, there's always a ton of car commercials about leasing a new car for the new year. It's like new year, new car, brand new certified pre-owned, gently used car that smells like cigarettes for some reason. And it's just like car, car. They're always shoving a car in your face, right? Lease a new car. And yeah,

sometimes it's good offers. No money down, no credit check, no income verification, no problem. And they always mention some kind of like 0% APR. I mean, whatever that is. Does anyone know what that is? Exactly. Crickets. I know. Anyways, I'm not in the market to even lease anything. But when I heard the word lease,

it immediately like released something in my brain that I had come across a couple of years ago when I was doing research for murder mystery makeup. I was looking into the Tulsa Race Massacre and I did a video over on my Monday upload about the Tulsa Race Massacre if you're interested but

When I was researching for that story, I read about how one of the women from it was quote unquote leased in her past. And I was like, wait a minute, what? Like people were leased? People were leased? I don't know. It sounded, I was confused. So then I went down this rabbit hole to research this more and like, I was shocked.

For years and years, enslaved people across the country were leased out by their white enslavers. And it all happened on one day called Heartbreak Day. Oh, and Heartbreak Day, it's a day that you and probably everyone you know celebrates every year. It's also called New Year's Day.

Let's get into this. Back in the 1800s, some Americans rang in the new year reflecting on the past and going to church. Which, okay, great. But other Americans were doing the same thing we do today on New Year's. I mean, they're partying their faces off. Many free Americans would spend the holiday getting dressed up, having parties, getting sloshed, maybe making out with strangers, the whole shebang.

but there were some traditions that we didn't keep around that were big during this time in the 1800s. On the east coast, wealthy white people, usually single dudes, would go door to door around the neighborhood to the homes of any eligible well-to-do single ladies who they may fancy. They would go to their neighbors' houses and they'd be invited in for a little drink or two. It was kind of like trick-or-treating but for adults and honestly I was like what?

"What? This sounds way more fun. Like, why aren't we doing this now?" Inviting strangers or neighbors into our house and just having a party together? That sounds fun. But people would set up little saloons inside their homes and whoever came knocking on the door, they invited in and this was how they celebrated the new year.

And this all usually happened during the day because at this time in history, most places weren't lit up at night. You know, electricity wasn't really a thing yet.

Yeah. Now, if you had children, your children were more than welcome to come to the party festivities, but the children weren't guests. This was the time for your child to shine, and they were put to work helping host the party. Many of them would be straight-up bartenders. I mean, it didn't matter how old you were. If you were a guest at this party, you'd turn to a kid and be like, kid, hey, give me a dry martini on the rocks.

And then they ask you like, "Shake in her stud, mister." And that kid went hard, okay? But I get it because this is a side note, but like it reminded me of my mom because my mom, she would throw a big holiday bunco party every year. And me and my sisters who were children, she would make us be bartenders. And we looked forward to it because look, we learned at a young age, if you get people sauced up, they start tipping you.

Like real money. And I was like 12 and they were giving me like 20s and stuff. So I'm like, all right, you want another one, sir? Hey, mister, you ain't driving. You want 10 more? I mean, it was wild. I made money. Okay. So yeah, this tradition in the 1800s reminds me of that bunco party. The end.

There's even an account of a typical well-off family who lived a pretty privileged life. They would all get on New Year's Eve, the whole family would get dressed in their finest attire. They would be downstairs at 10 a.m. sharp because people would start showing up pretty early, 10 a.m., literally. And, you know, the whole family would have to be ready for their guests and have the cocktails and the food all set up. Sometimes they would have delicious hors d'oeuvres like cake and oysters. I know.

Yum. Sounds so good. Cake and oysters? Exactly what you want to eat before a long day of drinking, I'm sure. Anyways, this event was something to look forward to. It was a fun time and a great way to meet your neighbors and network.

But the party didn't stop there. In southern states, once the afternoon of New Year's Day rolled around, everyone would leave their houses and head on over to the town square. Now, the town square was literally where everyone would go and hang out. They would buy some stuff or it was just a place to socialize. But it was like the main hubbub.

As you approach the town square with your family, you would link up with neighbors and you all would like hear the music playing, people laughing, people drinking, food vendors are there selling snacks. It's like a whole new party, right? But, because there's always a but.

The main difference with this celebration, well, for starters, there was a big ass wooden stage right smack in the middle of the square. And everyone was like gathering around it. And my first thought was like, oh, my God, they're going to be square dancing fun. But nay, nay, this was not square dancing. This was not square dancing at all. Oh, my God. This was where an auction was about to take place.

In front of the stage, you have all the white townspeople boozed and ready to rumble. Meanwhile, behind the stage, there is this whole other experience happening. A ton of enslaved people were brought in to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Oh yeah, it was a day that the enslaved population of America was sold or leased out at auction.

But this wasn't like any other day. Well, first off, in the early 1800s, there was a big shift in American farming. So farmers used to need tons of manual labor to be able to harvest difficult crops like tobacco. But then those farmers shifted to growing wheat and corn. And these crops didn't need as much labor to harvest. So now farmers didn't need a ton of enslaved people to help.

Suddenly these landowners and farmers are like, "Hey, I already own them. We're not just gonna free them. Like, don't be silly." So enslavers came up with a whole new concept. They're like, "Hey, what if I lease out my workers to other people who maybe need them more than I do? I can not only make a bunch of money,

But if I have some debts, it can settle those right up. Free and clear, baby. And doing this made enslaved labor more accessible to middle-class people. And again, this was a completely new concept. I mean, remember, it's the 1800s. So owning an enslaved person at this time was considered a status symbol and something like to aspire to. And the fact that the lower and middle-class people could now afford it, they're thinking like, now I can make more money too.

And this was happening all over the place. Thomas Jefferson, you know him, the author of the Declaration of Independence, allegedly, the guy who said, "All men are created equal." Yeah.

so he leased out people he enslaved and one historian said schools and churches sometimes raised money by hiring out enslaved people yeah so they're all like the whites are happy they're all high-fiving like we did it well we saved america i don't know they're just stoked on this new concept of leasing now

To the townspeople who showed up, this day was called hiring day and a day to look forward to, to get more workers. Yay. Finally, they could get some work done around here because Martha can't lift a freaking rock.

but to the enslaved people who were behind the stage about to be auctioned off this wasn't hiring day they referred to it as heartbreak day which feels like a more accurate name for it because the day was all kinds of tragic i mean it was a day where families were torn apart and children were ripped from the arms of their mothers and

sold or leased to the high.

Visit BetterHelp.com slash Dark History today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash Dark History. Dark History. As an enslaved person, you would have to wait for the auctioneer to call you up onto the stage. Sometimes it could take hours, sometimes not long at all. But once it was your turn, you would come onto the stage in front of all these people.

While the auctioneer announced to the audience any special skills you might have, usually these were things like woodworking or sewing, being a good cook, a blacksmith, gardening, doing repairs, working with livestock.

Those who were being auctioned off would have to be given a health inspection to make sure they didn't have any diseases or injuries that would consider them defective, quote unquote, to the buyer. For example, there was a man named Henry who was about to be auctioned off to a woman he did not want to work for. So he went to the nearby forest, found some poison oak, and rubbed it all over his body. Poison oak, when it comes to poison oak,

When it comes in contact with your skin, it can just leave behind a horrible rash, which then turns into like this gross pussy like blister thing. I hear it's gross. I've never done it. I'm kind of afraid of that bush. But the logic here was that he would be less desirable and not be auctioned off. So the tactics to get out of this day were pretty limited. You either could run away and risk being killed.

caught and severely punished. You can give yourself some kind of rash or injury where you can lie and try to upsell yourself so you get the best possible outcome.

whatever that means in the 1800s, you know? Then in front of everyone watching, this human being would be forced to remove their clothing and show the audience how many times they had been whipped. The less number of scars from the whip on their bodies meant that they were not punished a lot and were considered well-behaved. It was an indication of how they were as a person and a worker. I know, I know, this sounds gross because I'm talking about human beings here, but this is what happened.

Once their inspection and reputation was announced by the auctioneer, the bidding would begin. Behind the scenes, the enslaved people were talking amongst each other and sharing like who was the cruelest owner or, you know, who would you want to hire you or who you should stay clear of. And they would talk because it was a way to devise a plan. Now, a lot of families, for example, like a family of six,

would get auctioned off and then sent in completely different directions. But sometimes the families would come up with a plan in hopes to not get split up. So they would hype up their skills and kind of position themselves into a package deal. Like, oh, my husband is great at farming. The kids can do the chores. I'm a rate seamstress. You know, with one family, you could have everything covered.

But to the enslaved people, it was a last-ditch effort to keep the family together and not be separated. Most of the time, this did not work. I mean, you'd try everything you could to stick together, and that's exactly what they were thinking too. Unfortunately...

This didn't always work because selling each family member off one by one would bring in more profits to the seller. And what have we said here over and over and over again in Dark History? It's like money over everything and that's all people ever care about. The fucking end. Sick of this shit.

An author named Harriet Jacobs, who actually was once enslaved herself, wrote a book sharing her own accounts of Heartbreak Day, saying, quote, "On one of these sale days, I saw a mother lead seven children to the auction block. She knew that some of them would be taken from her, but they took all. The children were sold to a slave trader, and their mother was bought by a man in her own town. Before night, her children were all far away.

She begged the trader to tell her where he intended to take them, and this he refused to do. How could he when he knew he would sell them one by one wherever he could command the highest price? I met the mother in the street, and her wild, haggard face lives today in my mind. She wrung her hands in anguish and exclaimed, "'Gone! All gone!'

why don't god kill me i had no words wherewith to comfort her instances of this kind are of daily yeah of hourly occurrence end quote back at the auction there were times when it was looking like a person might get sold off to an owner who was just a full-blown like psycho the devil himself and maybe didn't want to go with this person if an enslaved person was like nope i'm putting my foot down i'm not going with them no

Well, I mean, I'm sure you can imagine that it wasn't received very warmly. Now, we don't have numbers or hard numbers of how many did that, but we do know that the consequences for doing just that were beyond brutal. There are reports that some who resisted were whipped horribly. Many were beaten right up until the point of death. And if slave owners didn't use that tactic, they went a different route.

The enslaved person would be thrown into jail and left there to waste away until they finally decided to let them out. And if the enslaved person ran away in hopes to find freedom, there's only a very small percentage of people who actually even made it that far.

So, as enslaved people were brought to the stage for auction one by one, the townspeople would place their bids. Whoever had the highest bid won the right to lease that specific enslaved person for a period of time. The typical period of time for this contract was usually one year.

Now you might be thinking, once a person does their year-long lease, they can come back and like be with their family. Eye roll. But sometimes like the leasing just never ended. One year would lead to another year and this often meant you'd probably never see your family again. Enslaved people went from places like Kentucky to Mississippi and back again and even though there was a chance that they could reunite with their families during the holidays, it often did not happen.

There were no rules, just suggestions. Enslaved workers frequently got horrific punishments and sometimes died under the abuse they suffered. And it wasn't like there were child labor laws, my God, for the children of enslaved people, no. It didn't matter how young they were,

The belief was if you could walk, you could work, and people wanted their money's worth. And we know this because there are some accounts written by enslaved people who experienced multiple heartbreak days as young children. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking.

Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance. It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts.

discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24, 7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.

This is an ad by BetterHelp. What?

What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better, even when it's impossible to make time for them. Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow.

Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

Visit BetterHelp.com/DarkHistory today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp.com/DarkHistory.

When he was just nine years old, he recounts the traumatic experience he went through. After spending about four years away from his mother, Israel was brought to the auction block as a nine-year-old and was hired out to another man for 10 whole dollars. That was for the whole year. That's about, math, two cents a day.

So Israel did his time working for this man for the year, just waiting for the holidays to arrive in hopes to go back and like see his family. When Christmas did roll around, Israel asked to see his mother, but he was denied. The man who hired him said he had to have Christmas dinner with him instead. Yeah.

Thanks, but no thanks. Like it's kind of creepy when you think about it. Anyways, Israel ran away. This is a side note, but I found out that like the time between Christmas and New Year's was treated to the enslaved people as sort of like this time off period vacation. I'm laughing because of how stupid this, you know?

But during this time, they'd get the best food they had all year and would be given alcohol. Now, on its face, this sounds like a party, but this wasn't done out of, like, the kindness of these awful people's heart. The enslavers gave all this stuff out to quiet, like, anyone from talking whispers from people who maybe wanted to revolt against them or simply run away. It was like a time off to...

make them shut up and be happy, you know? So back to Israel. Even though he was risking severe punishment, he just wanted to see his mom.

who could blame him, right? So we don't know how far Israel had to go, but again, he's nine years old running through the South. It doesn't matter if it was one mile or 20 miles, either way, it was a very huge risk to defy his enslaver and just up and leave in the middle of the night. Israel was one of the lucky few. He actually made it to his mother's location and was able to spend the Christmas with her.

In Israel's autobiography, he talks about how these few days with his mom was the longest amount of time they spent together since he was taken from her as a baby. And here's a really sad part. This would be the last time he was able to spend the holidays with her. But like clockwork...

Heartbreak Day came back around and once again Israel's entire life was uprooted and he was auctioned and leased again, forced to be removed from his mother, and then he was sent off to a whole new town to start over. And this is how things went for Israel well into his adult years and how it went for thousands of enslaved people throughout the United States during this time. So

Back to the auction itself. Once the auction is over and everyone is now going to their new assigned locations, the women who were auctioned off would usually be enslaved as cooks for the household, do laundry, be seamstresses, or even work as a wet nurse. New mothers who are enslaved would use their breast milk to feed their enslaver's child, and for the men, they would most likely get sent to do jobs that required very hard labor.

Many of them were working as bricklayers, iron workers, or even constructing the railroads. And children, they were utilized as well. They were put to work in the fields or as house servants doing domestic chores. This was a 24-7, 365 job, quote-unquote job, no pay, no choice, no freedom. But that didn't stop people from still trying to escape to work.

Something. Something better. Anything really. But this was extremely difficult to do because there were often slave patrols out on duty all across the southern states. Now slave patrols, their jobs were to literally scour the land in search of enslaved people who were trying to make a run for it. They would capture them, discipline them, aka beat the crap out of them, or just like

almost kill them and then bring them back to whoever was their owner at the time. The slave patrol guys were just average hoo-haws with guns like

using their power to put the fear of God into the runaways. But the slave patrols could only do so much and owners were getting quite annoyed that their workers were disappearing with no trace. Oh, this is a little side note because I learned this the other day. Okay, so slave patrols was like the introduction to what we know as police officers, but they come from that same foundation. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Police officers based their whole thing off of the foundation of the slave patrols. Do you understand how maybe that's a problem? Anybody? Let me know. I think maybe we should fix that, huh? Anyway, so back to the story. So owners were getting quite annoyed that their workers are disappearing. No trace, right? They can't find them. Their money is wasted. So a law was passed to help these poor whites out.

that's when something called the Fugitive Slave Act became law. This law essentially required an enslaved person to be returned to their owners even if they made it to a state where slavery had been abolished. But here's the thing, this quote-unquote new law just reinforced the concept of hunting down the escaped enslaved people because even in the United States Constitution,

It said fugitive slaves must be returned. So let's say you did escape, okay? You may, you're, yay, you know, you escaped somewhere safe. You were still constantly having to look over your shoulder because someone could come barging in and arrest you and take you back where you were most likely going to be punished for escaping in the first place. There would be times when an enslaved person would be caught and

And instead of going back with the slave patrol, going back to their enslavers, their only option at that time they felt was to just kill themselves.

So if you're damned no matter what you do, you might as well just roll the dice and see if you can run away from all of this. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer survey who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. That's what a lot of people seem to be thinking, right? Well, someone back in the day had this exact thought. Meet Shadrach Minkins.

From the time he was born in Norfolk, Virginia, he only knew a life of enslavement. At the age of 36, Shadrach had enough. I mean, he got word about there was a ship

pulling in and it was going out to Boston. Yes, I too was thinking Dropkick Murphys. And he knew if he could get on that ship, it was his chance at freedom. And he figured out a way to do that. He did just that. He was able to get onto the ship and get to Boston where he was able to find a new job working as a waiter. Now things were going pretty okay for a while.

And then everything changed. One day at work, a couple of guys came in, they took a seat, no big deal, customers, you know? But then out of nowhere, they just tackled Shadrach to the ground. Well, surprise, surprise, it turns out these weren't just a couple of customers. These were undercover US Marshals who had been watching Shadrach and waiting for the perfect time to enforce that Fugitive Slave Act, which they did and placed him under arrest.

But that's not the end of his story. Shadrach arrested and he's sitting now in the courthouse waiting for his trial. He knew he wasn't going to get off easy for his crime, quote unquote crime. He needed a freaking miracle.

And then all of a sudden, boof, a large group of black citizens storm the courthouse. Now it only takes a matter of seconds for the group to completely overpower the guards. Then they kick down the door to Shadrach's cell and they get him out. It's like incredible.

So over the next few weeks, they hid Shadrach in a house off of the beaten path. Once the coast was clear, they smuggled Shadrach from town to town and they got him over the border and into Canada where they knew he'd be free and out of harm's way. Now, eventually Shadrach was able to settle down in Montreal where he found steady work and he stopped having to live in fear and paranoia and was able to go on and have a family of his own, which is a whole new life for him.

But most people didn't get to have a happy ending like this. It gets to a point where the simmer becomes a boil and the country is getting tense as hell.

the civil war broke out and violence was everywhere and because half the country was fighting to keep slavery in place it felt like there was never going to be any real change that is until 1862 in september 1862 president lincoln made an announcement that the emancipation proclamation was coming

It was more of like a save the date because that announcement said the official Emancipation Proclamation would go into effect three months later on January 1st, 1863, which as we all have just learned is the same day as Heartbreak Day and after centuries of slavery, enslaved people are not really trusting this whole save the date announcement. I mean why should they trust the man in charge?

Why? You know? So for three whole months, enslaved people all over the country were just in a state of uncertainty. Anxiety was high. Nobody really knew what or how this was all going to play out. Was it even going to happen? I don't know.

So, that upcoming New Year's Eve was shaping up to be different from any other that enslaved people had experienced. There was hope that Lincoln would make good on this emancipation promise and end Heartbreak Day. It wasn't for sure.

So the night before it was set to go into effect, enslaved people all over America were watching and waiting to see what would happen next. This evening was called Watch Night. Groups of black Americans and enslaved people spent New Year's Eve in churches praying together because...

To be fair, they had their doubts. They had no real reason to believe in a system that didn't even treat them like humans. So when Lincoln promised them a happy ending, they were kind of like,

Okay. You know, like, I heard this before. But when January 1st rolled around, Lincoln actually followed through with what he promised. And on New Year's Day, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. The announcement was bittersweet for many because it said that, quote, all persons held as slaves, end quote, within the rebellious states, quote, are and henceforward shall be free, end quote.

So yes, overnight about three and a half million enslaved people in the South were now legally free, but it did not address the half a million enslaved people in the border states between the North and the South.

So for hundreds of thousands of enslaved people, heartbreak slash hiring day went on for a couple. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

More years. It still kept going for them. Official hiring practices did not stop until the end of the Civil War in 1865.

To this very day, some of America's Black communities celebrate Watch Night services. On December 31st, around 7:00 PM, people gather together to pray, sing, and dance. And as the clock counts down to midnight, so do the people in the church.

When the clock strikes 12, the minister yells out, "It's now midnight, freedom has come." So the reason I wanted to tell this story is because honestly, I personally had never heard this before. I never, like this is a huge part of American history that affected a large portion of our population in this nation. Many of us know nothing about it. In school, I can only speak from my experience, of course, but in school, we learned about slavery.

But there was still so much that was not taught. And to be honest, a lot of the time, our history books are like, yay, and then they were free, the end.

But the reality was much different. Just because the Emancipation Proclamation was passed, it's not like these big ol' golden gates opened up and were like, "Welcome to your new life!" You know? No! I mean, people still had a lot of uncertainty about what was going to happen next. I mean, is it a trap? You know, like, could the law change?

Step one, hopefully even locate your family. Like, how does one even do that? Also, where were many other people going to go? I mean, some felt it was almost better off to stay just where they were because even though the South after the Civil War was chaotic and dangerous as hell...

These places where the enslaved were forced to live and work were just as much as their homes as their enslavers. But also, groups like the KKK showed up and did not make traveling freely through the South very easy for the formerly enslaved.

So many stayed in places that they knew and just as many stayed because they had really no other choices. So what I'm getting at is passing one law didn't erase the hundreds of years of trauma, abuse, murder, and torture that millions of people experienced. And it's even more sad to think when a lot of people were counting down the seconds to hit New Year's, there was another side of America who was literally counting down to their freedom. So if you're like me, you're probably like, what the, like what?

Maybe I'm the only person in this planet who did not know this story, but look, it's the truth. And I don't know, I don't understand why America can't just own their shit and be honest. Like what's, people can't move forward unless you acknowledge the hurt and pain that's

happened in the past, you know? I don't know. I don't know what I'm talking about. Anyways, history isn't something to run from, you know? Just tell the truth. It's really that simple. And a good place to find that truth is learning from the firsthand accounts I mentioned in this episode. Israel Campbell wrote an autobiography called Bond and Free or Yearnings for Freedom. And the book from Harriet Jacobs is called The Slave's New Year's Day, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

You can read both of them right now and hear their stories. I'll put some links down in the show notes down below, but I would love to hear what you guys think. Thank you for learning with me today. Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions to get the whole story because we deserve that, don't we?

I'd love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story, so make sure to use the hashtag darkhistory on social media so I can see what you're saying. Join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And while you're there, also catch my murder mystery in makeup. I hope you have a good day today. You make good choices. And I'll be talking to you next week.

Bye.

Research provided by Xander Elmore and the Dark History Researcher Team. A special thank you to our experts, Callie Holloway and Joshua Rothman. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. Goodbye, darling. Goodbye. Joan's going down!

Bird down. So guess what? It's January. Welcome. We made it. Yeah, great lead-in. My name is Bailey Sarian, and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Pay attention to me. You're not paying attention to me. I need you to focus.

Today is real good, real hot, real juicy. Also morbid, but it depends on how you look at it. I had to turn to Google because I gotta know what the hell is that about. Let me tell you, I was not ready for the information I uncovered. Ooh, it's juicy. They popped off. They were like, torture fun. It's up at a notch.

And the stuff going on behind the scenes, ugh, once again, did not disappoint. The subjects of our stories, our designing, nightmares I guess? Yeah, everything was great, right? No, this is Dark History.

It's about winning and showing the man what's up. You're kind of put in that stretch position, kind of hot, but then it takes a dark twist, bitch. Would you say no to that, Joan? Oh my God, Joan! I already can imagine what the comment section is gonna be like. Don't take it personally, it was a real thing. Look, history's fucked up and we're owning it.

You know, I didn't know that. I was like, damn, okay. And the more I read, the more I was just shocked that I didn't know her name. Work to live, not live to work. Isn't that what life is, bitch? You can't afford shit. I'm talking about that shithead, toad-looking Harvey Weinstein. I'm angry. Demand more, bitch. So that's fun, huh? Thoughts, reflections?

68: Horror, Heartbreak & Homicide- Happy New Year!! 35:30 Share

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68: Horror, Heartbreak & Homicide- Happy New Year!!