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Book Review

Days of Tears

I read Day of Tears by Julius Lester. Day of Tears takes place in Georgia, a southern state in the United States, beginning March 2, 1859 and ending approximately 50 years later. At this time, slavery is legal in the United States, and Georgia is a slave state. Day of Tears is based on the largest slave auction in the United States, selling 436 enslaved African Americans over the course of two days. Slave owner, Pierce Butler was addicted to gambling, and sold the slaves to cover his gambling debts. He made over $300,000 at the slave auction. At the start of the auction, a torrential rainstorm occurred, finally stopping at the end of the auction.

 I was unfamiliar with this event, and the people involved. I learned not only about the largest slave auction, but Pierce Butler, his ex wife Fanny Kimble, and their two daughters, Sarah and Frances. Piece and Fanny divorced because she was not a subservient wife, and did not be believe in the institution of slavery. She is remembered today for her writing, Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation . Pierce Butler inherited one of two Georgia plantations from his grandfather, Major Pierce Butler, a senator from South Carolina who is responsible for the fugitive slave law in the Constitution. Their two daughters shared the opposing views of slavery. Sarah, like her mother opposed it, and Francis like her father believed in it, and tried to restore the plantation to its financial glory. She even wrote a book defending slavery: Ten Years on a Georgia Plantation Since the War.

 If Days of Tears was written in 2020, I believe that instead of slavery, it would be about the Black Lives Matter movement, and the deaths of African Americans by police force. Based on a historical document, Julius Lester lists the names, ages, and the price the slaves were sold for. I think Julius Lester would list the names of POC whose lives were taken by police. 

Day of Tears is uniquely written. It is a novel in dialogue - similar to a play. This made the book a quick read, yet still powerful. It felt like a spotlight was each character as they spoke, honing in to how the effects of auction was on them: the fear and despair that they would never see their loved ones again while experiencing the terror of being sold to a sadistic master. Day of Tears is only 171 pages long, but is a powerful and gut wrenching story of American history.
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