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James Roberts (born 1753) was an American slave. Roberts was born on the Eastern shore of Maryland, during a time of slavery. He was enslaved by Francis De Shields, a colonel in Washington's army. Roberts had fought beside De Shields in the war, and once the seven-year war with Britain ended, worked for Washington in Philadelphia. Roberts went with De Shields as his servant. When De Shields died, Roberts expected to be set free, but instead was sold to William Ward. Roberts was torn away from his family and then sold at an auction in New Orleans to Calvin Smith.
While he was enslaved by Calvin Smith he experienced traumatic events on the plantation. His cousin was whipped and put in the stocks only to die a week into being on that very homestead. Soon thereafter, General Jackson traveled to Calvin Smith's to enlist 500 slaves to prepare for the Battle of New Orleans. Roberts was one of these 500 men. When the army arrived in New Orleans, Jackson saw the fear in his men's eyes. To get their spirits up he said, The triumph of Jackson's battle had cost Roberts a serious wound to his head as well as a missing forefinger. After the battle was over, the promise that Jackson had made to the enslaved men had evaporated into thin air. They marched to the Kentucky tavern to drink as much as the men pleased.
After the hearts of these men were broken, the only thing Roberts was allowed to do was go back to work for the master he had learned to despise only to return and observe additional abuse to him and others. In 1856 Roberts contacted a President Pierce located in Washington city for an interview about receiving a pension for his merits in the war. Pierce said that Roberts was nothing more than a horse or a sheep and that it would be a disgrace to take a pension that his master was still receiving and give it to Roberts. ==Sources== * (James Roberts slave narrative ) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James Roberts (slave narrative)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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