George Washington's Enslaved Housemaid: Caroline Branham
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.พ. 2019
- Character Interpreter Brenda Parker remembers the life of Caroline Branham: mother of 8, wife of Peter Hardiman, and enslaved housemaid at Mount Vernon.
Learn more at: www.mountvernon.org/slavery
Martha Washington inherited all the slave upon George's death. No slaves were freed.
This moving content was delivered with such great care, thoughtfulness, and compassion - providing a compelling glimpse into the past. Thank you for sharing history. Thank you.
Thank you for watching and for taking a moment to share your feedback. We are all delighted that we could provide you with such a meaningful experience through our videos
She is talking about this as if it was good. Calling it WORK? You have got to be kidding me? Such care? This entire fraudulent story is BS!
Very good story I enjoyed it I had always heard that Washington did not want to separate families
OMG! That had to be so hard!! Washing clothes, nasty dirty sheets and getting paid in NOTHING but being treated like trash everyday!!
I don't think Washington treated them like trash. As said by the storyteller his preference was to keep families together. You don't do that if you think you're dealing with trash.
@@Hurricaneintheroom are you fucking kidding me? He beat them for doing stupid things like not complying? In order to cut costs he put the enslaved people into barracks, like they were in the freaking military?? these were enslaved people and you cannot tell me that he didn't treat them like a slave master in a plantation owner?? There is absolutely zero ideal about their living situations and their lives??
@@ujuMD You better tell that truth!! And I don't appreciate this video being told by a Sister with a warm and welcoming smile on her face!! Like Really?! We're still talking about SLAVERY!!! Rapes, murders, beatings, brutality!!
@@natalieshepp641 thanks natalie
@@ujuMD yeah , dam .unbelievable.
She’s so pretty and I love how she tells stories. I could fall asleep listening to her voice. U can tell she has a passion for what she does
SmartFashionFairy @B.L. Find a AA Chanel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
Can't get enough of this lady and these stories.
Wonderful, historical information. Wonderful, not ref to slavery, but wonderful bringing the Slaves of Washington TO LIFE! I am a product of European, American Indian, and African people...and your story telling touches my spirit in a way that I cannot explain. Thank you.
Thank you Darlene, if you can get to Mount Vernon you may be interested in exploring our exhibit, Lives Bound Together in our museum. It follows the lives of 18 enslaved individuals at Mount Vernon. If you're unable to attend we have digitized the entire exhibit on our website: www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/
I'd love to hear about the culture "behind" the slavery because even in the midst of their hardships they were still individuals with great passion for life. Reminds me of the saying, "when life gives you lemons." They patiently overcame and wove a life within their imprisonment. New dishes with what little was given to them, their own songs, religion, customs etc. The true history is cruel and unacceptable, but within those layers there were good things like Taylor's story. Their bodies and minds were shackled, but their relentless spirit was never enslaved.
The enslaved community absolutely made lemonade. Preserving cultural practices and a strong community affirmed their humanity in a world that denied it. You can find out more about religion, cultural practices, and music of the enslaved community here: www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/community-and-tradition/
Thank you, Brenda Parker, for putting a face on Slavery in the 18th century, and how it was at Mount Vernon. I have watched several of the videos showing Brenda interpreting enslaved women. She makes me want to sit down with her and glean all the stories, and all the facts of her lives as she interprets. (Although to be historically correct she probably would not have had permission to do so, or the time for it. No time to be idle, or to even daydream of freedom.)
I listened to the video with the Negro Spiritual, Steal Away. Brenda, I felt both of the meanings in your singing of it. Your voice is beautiful, you are beautiful lady, whether in the 18th century or the 21st.
Perhaps one day I will visit Mount Vernon and meet you. That is on my bucket list.
Best time to go is May. I was there in 2017. I liked it. I wore my tri horn hat. It wasn't that busy with tourist, and I saw the helpers planting vegetables in the garden. I was told that sweet corn was not grown at that time period. Be careful not to hit your head walking up the stairs to Washingtons bedroom.
Carol Haycock @B.L. Find a AA Chanel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
You could benefit from some genuine research. Records of daily life on the Mt Vernon farms were detailed and accurate. All workers (including slaves) were provided with time for fishing and hunting. This was time for themselves. They were also allowed to work for themselves, as craftsmen. If you want to be historically correct, do your research.
Thank you Brenda for this insightful commentary.
Sally Boyd @B.L. Find a AA Chanel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
@@therenegaderev469 ikr
It's a shame how many people take history out of context. Great video, thank you!
I don't get all the comments saying she's making it sound like a good life?? She's described a life of ceaseless, unpaid labor. Only able to keep your family together if it suits the whims of a white man. She's got a smooth calming voice, but I'd say we can TRUST she's anti-slavery!
These founding fathers really liked the word "constitution" didn't they.
But were all hypocrites .that is why America was built for white peoples only.
Yeah I forgot the rapping part . They are the worst and America honored them with their status every where. They don’t deserve any .
@Jessica Roig God said that vengeance belongs to Him and He WILL repay.
@@wendinmonegdepitt4210 loser
@Ava Roig cool I love them
What a wonderful and bittersweet story, told with touching simplicity and sincerity by the lovely Brenda Parker. She is a soothing voice during the pandemic. I now know what it is to lose my own freedom to some degree, and feel for the difficult life Caroline Branham led - and how gracefully, how kindly, she took care of the little girl who stayed in Mount Vernon. I am so glad the family stayed together.
What a terrible life, for those people. God bless them.
The beautiful lady narrator of these stories, is just the best. She brings the story alive with ease,it seems. It must be hard to tell these stories ,which are difficult at best. Well done,Mam.
Wonderful story. Enjoy watching reinactors of Doll and Billy Lee also!
Brenda, you are blessed with the gift of bringing history to life. I enjoy seeing the people you portray, and feeling the underlying tension and anguish these people lived with daily. Well done!
Gail Mpintos @B.L. Find a AA Chanel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
Thank you for this!
Oh, so sweet. George was kind enough to keep his slaves’ families intact. But they were enslaved and couldn’t legally marry or care for their own children, while laboring and waiting on the Washingtons and their guests.
Thank you for sharing this. Keep SHINING your Light ❤
Thank you, Brenda. Keep going.
Thank you for this piece of history.
Keith Garland @B.L. Find a AA Chanel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
Great story. Thank you. I love this channel!
Ms. Parker if you ever see this I want you to know your interpretation of Caroline Branham brought tears to my eyes. You are doing such important work. I'm trying to get real history taught in our schools. Until we accept our countries history good and bad, racism will repeat generation to generation. Our children need to know the people enslaved in our country helped, and helped puts it too lightly, build our country from the ground up. Every child needs to hear the words of the slaves, put real faces and lives behind the word slave. I'm still learning to this day the real history of our country. You touched my heart and did Caroline Branham proud. I wont forget her or you. I will be bringing my grandchildren to Mount Vernon to see the living, real, history of our country.
I love your videos , please make many other videos about slavery and individuals who went through hard times . 👍🙏☝️👌
I am so grateful to learn her name, and about her in some small way.
Wow 😯 Your a great story teller!
Ringpop617 @B.L. Find a AA Channel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
Thank you for your channel. This was very informative and enlightening. We need to learn more about the real history of American Black People.👍🏼❤
Amazing stories truly thank u
Charity Leonard @B.L. Find a AA Chanel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
Nicely read however she making it seem like it was a wonderful life..NOT
Right!
Yes, she should wipe off the smile. Not cool for the slaved lives
@Paul Nightwolf Stop making up nonsense dude
Finesse G I think she tried to make positive out of the dark history
Run Gunn lol it was bad without a doubt
Thank you.
Awesome, thank you so much for the information. This is my family name, and I'm proud of Carolina.
Laura Bell @B.L. Find a AA Chanel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better? Oh and were you proud of them feeding the babies to alligators? Bet that just made you feel dandy!!
Thank you for using the term “enslaved”. Calling someone a slave dehumanizes a person . You have given back all the enslaved people of the United States back their humanity. You make the crime very real. Thank you.
Our goal at Mount Vernon is to use language that respects the dignity of all. When possible, we have replaced the word “slaves” with “enslaved people” in order to emphasize their humanity, rather than a status imposed by others.
@richard Harris awseome!!!..
Why try and hide the fact that they WERE dehumanised?
It’s still means slave no matter how you slice it.
@richard Harris Amen Amen !!! tell the truth
Thanks again Brenda for widening our scope of Black lives that matter. For some reason, the fact that Caroline and Peter could not be legally married really touched me today. While I, as a white woman, cannot claim to know or understand all that Caroline must have gone through, I do know what it is like to be married, to hold someone in your heart, and not have that relationship be acknowledged by the government. I did not worry about my children being sold, but I did worry about them being taken from me. Thanks again for telling us about Caroline Branham and for telling her story.
You are soooooo pretty! It’s breath taking! If you wear make up, it’s so well executed and I love the way that you are so eloquent and articulate.
Your voice is so soothing! It could help others seek and find comfort in whatever way!
I guess you are just therapeutic!
Well done job!
...also, if you don’t mind, can you share which products you put on your beautiful face? PLEASE?
It would be most greatly appreciated!
Cheers!
Thank you for this, I find this lady very entertaining (as in knowledgeable), my partner who is Ugandan is interested in Victorian Era (Old West) re-enactment and living history and wants to look more into the history of the slaves in the mid to late 19th Century, portraying and teaching people what it is like. Please keep these videos coming we love them
Excellent! Loved it.
Carla McClafferty Ringpop617 @B.L. Find a AA Channel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
The Renegade Rev my guy you always commenting on people’s comments everytime they say it was good chill out why can’t they enjoy it? Please I need you to calm down
Im reading comments about how she is making it seem like Washington was a great slave owner others are mad about her tone
I just don't like when she quotes the workers she talks like they would have in the southern accent
It was the only accent Mount Vernon slaves ever heard. After Ona Judge lived in Pennsylvania then escaped the Washington household and lived in New Hampshire her accent may have changed but Caroline Branham didn't have that cosmopolitan an experience and must have had a Virginia accent.
I've lived all over the United States and I still have my Southern accent....this lady has Virginia/Carolina accent I'm a Georgian....from a Coastal NC Family I have a Georgia/Carolina accent
I don't need to be reminded of such horrible times.😔
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
I'm reading a bio of GW (Alexis Coe's) and it's distressing to know he beat slaves and broke up families just like many in his time. For reasons of naivete, I guess I expected more of him.
I love these stories of real people and their lives. Slavery isn't real to most of us. What they teach in school, and what movies portray doesn't really touch the complexity of the issue. The longing, sadness, hope, pain, and bravery are best described by the stories of the people who lived under it.
This lady was way too happy telling the story I was about to throw up 😢
She was in character. She was supposed to be speaking to guests from the North. She had been instructed to do what the guests asked of her.
Brenda has such a soothing pleasant voice.
how did you come across songs of the enslaved? I think it would be cool to find these songs and record them to bring back forgotten music
Much was passed down through oral histories. In our TH-cam channel, we have several being performed. th-cam.com/video/dGUy_GKCo1M/w-d-xo.html And if you are interested we have an event being held April 4th where you can hear the music in person as part of our Year of Music programming. www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-visit/calendar/events/how-sweet-the-sound/
Can't listen anymore . Bs
Have a good life with George. Out of here.
Does she have living descendants in 2019 who know of this history?
Well my last name is Branham and the family of my ancestors were from Kentucky. So this is kinda thought provoking I'm going to get ahold of more information about my name. Proud Branham here.
I like the story. I want to hear more stories.
We love to hear that! Here is a video about an enslaved woman, Ona Judge, who escaped in 1796 while the Washingtons were eating dinner th-cam.com/video/O9qf6WWc6QU/w-d-xo.html
@B.L. Find a AA Channel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
You said it right stories💀💀😂😂
She is a very good narrator
pat goff yeah she fluffed it reeraaal good
The Renegade Rev what is wrong with you why you commenting on every person comment
Why is she trying make like Washington was a good man
Exactly!
She’s talking from the slaves pov. This was their normal, being depressed everyday would not do them any good. They always tried to stay positive.
You need to think of the cruel period of slavery. So during that sickening time the lives of these poor people could have been worse like living with abusive SOBs. That's why she sounds like he was a good man.
History which actually means His-Story.
@@portiamatthews9654 Don't start with that Feminazi garbage. History was also made by women, and men were not the only slave owners or sellers. Plenty of WOMEN abused these people, too--they're part of History.
Life was very hard for all the people in 1600 hundreds to after 1800 hundreds everything was handmade very little machinery or appliances like today! Very few people lived a long life! It is hard for modern day people to understand how people lived without communications electricity etc
Wow what an incredible story. How did they take care of their kids if they have to tend to master's all day long? What a testament to our people that families and marriages still survived through all this
It is history. I am glad we are starting to telling both sides. In 1976, when I visited Monticello, TJ's home, there were only vague references. I came away unsatisfied that there was less than half a story represented.
Janell Evans Ringpop617 @B.L. Find a AA Channel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
@@therenegaderev469 I would not think to tell you your truth. Not all truths are the same. I respect your truth. Through understanding each other's truth we will better understand history.
I like how she tells this story and others ive heard her tell, its almost like shes mocking, those owners of the slaves, them thar thinking the slaves lives were easy
Thank you for this history lesson. Our ancestors are in the marrow of this nation’s bones.
This kind of documentary only serves to remind us of how sickening slavery really was!
That story has quite the spin. It makes it sound like it a beautiful life.
Miss Brenda makes history come alive. A wonderful wonderful woman.
You make this sound like a romantic story when it was NOT!
She is giving a presentation based on primary source documents Don't get ass hurt if history does not fit your perconceived narrative.
"He seems unwilling to part with his wife and children." Crazy that this is quote from our "founding fathers"...
Crazy my first time learning about her..I have the same last name and my grand dad family are all from Virginia..my last name Branham always stood out and I’m so curious if we have a blood line with her..
She seems like she was a wonderful lady. I struggle with the whole slave issue.
BTW, I am a white woman.
I respect her more than Washington
SINCE I am still getting qustions re: my comment, my struggle is WHY men kept treating them like pieces of worthless human beings when God Almighty created them the same as ALL of us. Then learning that the Dems STILL want them on the Plantation & realizing they want us ALL on their Plantation.
This angers me. I am a TRUMP fan major. AND I ♥️🛐🦁 Jesus Christ 😇🙏
Much love from Alaska ❤️. Hoping this clears it up a bit.
You go and be a slave then.
I don't think many of you understand, every ethnic group has been subject to this evil practice at some point in human history and skavery has always been a deeply dividing issue in the country; Slavery is a testament of the evil that continuously lurks in the human heart.
Just what is your struggle with slavery lady??
@@mikecmike6163 yes, I wrote "unsderstand". I know it's spelled "understand".
I don't think that the OP is saying that she struggles with the idea of slavery being a "good" thing. I think she is saying that she struggles with the fact that the very people who founded our country and who we are told to respect also condoned slavery. But, maybe I'm wrong and maybe we should simply ask HER what she's trying to say before we jump down her throat simply because she is white and speaking about slavery.
Why is Washington hanging out at the vegetable garden at Monticello in the video?
I want Brenda Parker to be my best friend.
I don't like how you telling the story, you talking like it was something good!
She is giving a history lesson, her voice is calm and demure, you expected her to be angry and aggressive??? you can draw your own emotions and feelings from what she is saying.
Elaine Taylor Exactly! Considering the day and time that this lady lived in? There were 1000x worse plights than being with this very important man. She, just like we would have done, did the best she could with the life she found herself stuck in. Its a shame every one of these historical vignettes brings out the haters.
You one of those ppl that always got something to complain about.
Elaine Taylor The big smile is misleading of a HORRRIFIC HISTORY.
T guRl Graet coming from a white person who had / has everything handed in a silver platter. And if you don’t benefit from it’s because of pain laziness.
Internal dialogue: Should the beauty of history hide its inhumanity? Contradictions sooner or later produce controversies. If human rights are inalienable in principle, what about the duty to enlighten one's own conscience? How to communicate with someone who does not know that he is racist, and often by education which he received and by his intellectual laziness and his weakness of heart?
Joselico gracias Dios 🙏 🇺🇲🏗🏛🤜
I visited the Christ church in Alexandria
What about the other presidents who had slaves. I am interested in hearing about their stories as well.
GEORGE WASHINGTON's Mount vernon
It's the same story. I believe Adams was the only founding father who didn't own slaves.
@@tellthetruthna8523 wasn't Benjamin Franklin a signer of the Declaration of Independence? He was not a slave holder, at any time of his life. He was a Pennsylvanian...from a Quaker family. Look at the names on this document...the signers were from Baltimore and further north...where slavery was not permitted. Maybe you are confusing "founding fathers" and "US Presidents". The so-called "founding fathers" were the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
@@ceceliaclarke8427 Franklin owned slaves from 1735 to 1781. He became an abolitionist before he died in 1790 but he owned slaves most of his life.
I forget Onas last name. She ran away from the Washingtons.Anyone remember her last name?
Judge?
@@robynfountain7646 Maybe that was her. Her father was a judge visiting the Washington's estate.
I am always filled with the horrors of slavery, though I am eager to listen to your narratives the presentation of your delivery makes slavery look like a promenade in a park.
I recognise that their tomorrow was invested in you in the way you tell us about them.
if that lil girl was black she would not had that the same treatment n i enjoy your speaking voice.
Marshan Thomas Ringpop617 @B.L. Find a AA Channel so you can hear the truth or are you afraid to hear the truth. Fluffed up is better?
This is a sad story. Not a fairy tale.
Perhaps George was better than I gave him credit for. Got to be fair to your workers.
They had jobs, in a time when having a place to live, clothing and food was not an easy thing to maintain. Slaves at least had a roof over their heads with clothing and food. Medical care was provided when needed. Also most people don't realize that after a slave had finished their assignments that they could hire themselves out for work to make money for themselves.
You talking as if this was a good thing
What about william costin?
The housemaid is NOT the same as a mistress/ladies maid.
You have to judge people in the times that they lived not by todays standards . In Washington’s time owning a slave in Virginia was very common place . While many slave
owners were cruel to their slaves Washington was not. He treated them far better than most would. Slavery never should have existed
She's making Slavery sound like something wonderful and highly touted on career day. Is this video real?!
Hal...she is providing facts, from Mt. Vernon documents which have been preserved. If you would actually listen, you would notice that the speaker never says anything about whether these events were good or bad. She just provides facts concerning the lives of these people. She does not make slavery sound like anything. These are your words.
She is just talking about somebody's life it's because she doesn't focus on the Doom and gloom doesn't mean you have to
She is giving a presentation based on primary source documents Don't get ass hurt if history does not fit your perconceived narrative.
@@ednakelley814 CRT should be required teaching 7-12th grade. That will put all of this silly present day teaching to an end.
@@halbleavy9900 No, CRT does not teach history. It teaches hate based on skin color
Life for free people was hard enough back then. For someone who was not allowed their liberty it had to be beyond that! U are born into this system on either side. The free side knew better as jefferson wrote in the DoI and it should have been settled then in 1776. I appreciate the first republic since the fall of Rome but.....something as americans we should never forget. The founders did very good but it should have ended there with the birth of a new republic not 100 years and a million deaths later
Interesting... but the slave concept is just mind blowing... and it's not so long ago...
I am still amazed at how wicked and evil the founders of America dealt with slaves.
In England the Life of the kings was written as they were, the dark side and the bright side. All scandalous situations were written and well known by the citizens. The madness, infidelities, bastards children and Queens and Kings sickness never kept private in the old times.
She doing too much dam smiling like “life was Good” come on nw....
I imagine it will take several more Generations from now 2 completely heal from our history involving slavery. I am a native of South Carolina and I am white. I have great respect for the African American culture here. I always have. So many descendants of a darker time have risen above the nastiest part of our history. I have mad respect. Not to mention the recipes that have been handed down for three or four hundred years. I have learned so much about cooking authentic Southern food from Southern black women. There is certainly a division between the races here. For the most part everyone is comfortable with this reality. Unless blatant discrimination and racism is being practiced. Most white people in this culture are not in favor of such unfairness. I've been discriminated against because I am white by black people. I never react in anger. I just respectfully attempt to avoid conflict. However, many times I have seen the two races Unite when an outsider is disrespectful to either white or black. I have been in on such interactions. You can see the love we have for each other.
支援している人はお金の問題じゃないと思いたいが支援した人の苦労考えると高い
❤️👩🏽💻
Girl they were slaves, she makes it sounds like they had a good life really 🙄
Telling it from a slaves POV. Don’t learn from Hollywood, most slaves life were mundane, read some slave narratives from the 30s, you’ll see some say yeah it was tough with ol massa and some say they never laid a finger on them their whole life so it’s a varied life.
No she doesn’t. She literally portrays this slave in person by reenacting her, and she doesn’t make it sound nice. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Just because she has a soothing voice doesn’t mean the content of her story is equally nice.
Did martha grandson had a child by her
Did you know that the real founding fathers were a group of very smart businessmen ?
I find the information in this video very helpful and insightful However, I feel you are being way too positive. and ignoring the fact that George Washington was a slave owner. Maybe he was a little bit nicer than other slave owners, but he was still a slave owner. I only mean this as constructive criticism.
Why are you smiling
That stuff makes American history awefull makes me sad very sad. I hate the success of African people depended on European people and then people fought wars which led to freedom also terribly sad some people never really had a place for the Africans and their descendants other than the slave quarters they forced the enslaved people to build.
I highly recommend this video of Brenda Parker from Townsends: th-cam.com/video/MVFdsqQby9o/w-d-xo.html
Enslaved housemaid, SLAVES
El rey de España no tenía esclavos en su casa, tenía criados a los que pagaba y vasallos que eran libres.
Nada que ver con la "Democracia" norteamericana.🇪🇸👏👏
Here's something that most people don't know it was a slave woman I was pregnant and in today's society it would be called a breech birth Washington himself pay the $7 for a doctor not an animal doctor for the MD doctor to come to the house and deliver that breech birth it should be noted but the child was partially blind and in some cases these children would have been discarded but not this child this child was taught the main house and was a water carrier it should also be noted to all the loud mouths out there if anyone said or make statement that he was protecting his property a quote from Washington himself I do not consider them slaves or property the only Assemble that we would never ever forget and we will one day have to answer for it
Yeah, he quoted that.....but he still kept slaves! In fact you could type his quotes out all day, but he still kept slaves.
Black Americans beautiful history
You're talking to about people who lived their lives in concentration camps, the cheery demeanor seems highly inappropriate.
Exactly what I said.
Honestly it’s because these stories are much more pleasant than stories from other slaves. Being George Washington’s slave was probably more pleasant than being on another plantation.
Also I think that comparing slavery to concentration camps minimizes the true concentration camps of the holocaust and what they went through. Both evens were extremely dark parts of history but comparing them I minimizes the reason behind the holocaust. There’s a difference between using people as slave labor and ethnic cleansing. Yes they are both types of racism but there’s a difference between believe a group is lesser than and should serve you, and believing that a group is too disgusting to be allowed to live.
@Run Gunn BOOM !!! THANK U RUN GUN .
ABSOLUTELY.
@@Inamichan Then u don't know slavery.
Hello Mrs. Parker. I'm viewing these videos for the first time and appreciate the interpretive work that you're doing. However, why do you (and other Black Americans in similar situations) feel compelled to smile while telling these stories? It is within context to smile when talking about Mrs. Branham getting married and starting a family. It is, however, strange to see you smile when talking about the relentless work she had to do. While her own health is being neglected due to enslavement, relentless work and lack of proper rest, you smile when talking about her being up at all hours of the day and night to wait on some other person who benefits from comforts and care that she could not have for herself. Just an observation.
Could be that the original audience of this video was young kids? Might make some sense , I guess
"enslaved housemaid" aka his slaves