Barracoon: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Cudjo is part of the group of slaves claimed by Jim Meaher. He travels to Meaher’s plantation, where he and the others live under Meaher’s house, which is constructed on stilts. They are given some blankets, but it’s still too cold.

Now the slaves have to learn their new tasks and the new ways of farming; for example, they’ve never seen livestock used with plows. The work is grueling, and Burns and Tim Meaher are often cruel to their slaves, forcing them to work especially long hours under violent overseers. Cudjo has never worked this hard, but he says “we doan grieve ‘bout dat. We cry ‘cause we slave.”

At night, the villagers mourn their lost freedom and their country. Everyone here seems strange, and it’s hard to even talk to the other slaves because they don’t speak English. Sometimes the slaves born in America make fun of them.

Jim Meaher is kinder towards his slaves than his brothers. For example, he sees that Cudjo’s shoes are in pieces and gets him another pair. Cudjo has to work hard, but not as much as if he were on one of the other plantations.

Cudjo suddenly exclaims out loud, saying he’s so thankful that he’s free now. The slaves never have enough clothes and bedding, and even the women have to work hard in the field. Cudjo himself usually works on Jim Meaher’s boat, which carries freight and lumber from Mobile to Montgomery. Every time the boat stops he has to transport things on and off, and he barely gets any sleep because the boat leaks and they have to pump water out of it.

Every time the boat stops, the overseer stands at the gangplank with his whip and yells at the slaves to move faster, lashing them with the whip if he thinks they are working too slowly or haven’t taken a large enough load. Cudjo woefully exclaims, “Oh, Lor’,” remembering that he endured this life for five and a half years. He still remembers all the landings on the boat’s route, and he recites them all for Hurston. Even though he hasn’t been to most of these places since 1865, he thinks he will never forget.

The Civil War begins (in 1861) but the slaves don’t know what is happening at first; all they know is that “de white folks runnee up and down.” Eventually they hear rumors that people in the North are fighting to free them, and Cudjo becomes hopeful even though he’s not completely sure that this is the purpose of the war.

Union soldiers reach Fort Morgan in the Mobile Bay and establish a blockade, so little coffee or foodstuffs reach the village. To keep his slaves from starving, Jim Meaher allows them to kill some of his hogs, saying that “de hogs dey his and we his, and he doan wantee no dead folks.”

On Sundays, the slaves don’t have to work, so they dance the traditional dances of their homelands. The American slaves laugh at them, saying that they are “savage.” However, a black preacher and ex-slave called Free George visits the plantation and talks to the villagers, explaining the Christian importance of Sunday and telling them they should observe the Sabbath. After this, the villagers stop dancing on Sundays.

Cudjo describes the moment he’s officially freed, on April 12th, 1865. He’s working on the boat as usual when Union soldiers approach and tell the slaves they can’t stay on the boat anymore, saying “you doan b’long to nobody no mo’.” They ask the soldiers where they should go, but the soldiers just tell them to go wherever they want to.

The slaves don’t have anything in which to carry their belongings, so they pack small bundles. Still, they have to sleep in the slave quarters until they figure out where to go and what to do. These questions don’t bother Cudjo; he’s just happy to be free again.