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...And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi Study Guide Compiled By ! !Emily Denison ! Alison Maloof and Table of Contents Play Summary and Character List 3 1863 Fast Facts 4 The Civil War 5 The Black Experience 6 Soldiers 7 Every Day Life in the Civil War Era 8 Jesus 10 Demeter 11 Other Mythology 12 2 The Play SUMMARY AND CHARACTER LIST Playwright Marcus Gardley at work. Miss Sippi tells us the story of Damascus, a fleeing slave who gets caught by the Confederate army and hung from The Great Tree. The tree saves his life, and he becomes a woman, Demeter, and is given three days to save all those who died never knowing freedom by finding a child who can part the sea. Meanwhile, Jean Verse is fed up with fighting in the war, and decides to leave the army to go home. He wants to find his love, a slave named Po’em, and run away with her. He meets Yankee Pot Roast and enslaves him, forcing him to follow him home to Louisiana carrying his bags. When Yankee tries to escape, he gets injured by enemy soldiers, and Jean carries him the rest of the way back to Louisiana. Jean’s family (Wife, Cadence and daughters Blanche and Free) is struggling to survive. Their only remaining slave, Brer Bit, pretends to be a faithful servant, but plots the family’s deaths when alone. The women are on the verge of starvation and wary of the advancing Union troops. Demeter wanders into their cellar in search of food, and begins providing for the women (tending to their vegetable garden and slaughtering and cooking a pig) while questioning them about her daughter (Po’em). Po’em, it turns out, is dead, but before she died, she had a child with Jean (Free). Brer Bit tells Demeter Cadence killed Po’em, and encourages her to poison his mistress. Cadence claims Po’em died of a broken heart. Demeter discovers her granddaughter, and takes Free to the shore to part the sea. Meanwhile, Jean has arrived at home. He forces Yankee to write a letter to his family explaining that he is leaving them for Po’em and then sets his captive free. Yankee kills Jean, and Brer Bit convinces him to run to the house where he is so desperate for food that he knocks over a lantern and sets the house on fire. Free parts the sea, and Demeter passes through it to join her daughter. Free chooses to stay behind. The play ends with Blanche showing her the letter Jean wrote them. The Characters Blanche Verse--Free’s half-sister, she is the Verse’s ! daughter with Cadence. Brer Bit--a slave in the Verse household, he plays ! the fool but secretly plots to take over the ! house. Cadence Verse--Jean Verse’s wife. Always drunk, " she doesn’t take good care of Free and ! Blanche. Damascus/Demeter--a slave searching for his " daughter, Po’em, Damascus is lynched. The ! Great Tree saves his life by turning him into a ! woman. As Demeter, he continues to look for ! his daughter. The Great Tree--the tree of life/God Free Girl--Jean Verse’s daughter by Po’em. Jean Verse--a deserter from the Confederate army, ! he is trying to get home, not to his family, but " to his love, Po’em. Jesus--Free Girl’s imaginary friend. He performs ! miracles...and the moonwalk. Miss Sippi--the Mississippi river incarnate, she tells ! the story. Yankee Pot Roast--a Union soldier whom Jean ! Verse kidnaps for a companion on his journey. 3 1863 The only known photograph of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. The president is at the tip of the arrow. FAST FACTS January 1: The Emancipation Proclamation “frees slaves” " in the United States. In the South, which no longer ! considers itself part of the Union, slavery continues. Jan 31: The 1st all-black Civil War regiment, SC Volunteers, ! is mustered into Union army. January 8: Construction of the first transcontinental ! railroad in the US begins. January 9: The first subway train opens in London. June 20: West Virginia becomes the 35th US state. July 7: The 1st military draft in US history is declared. ! Exemptions cost $300. July ! ! ! 11-16: Angry about the draft, the citizens of New York riot in the streets. The riots become extremely violent, and countless black citizens are murdered in the streets. July 30: In response to the cruel treatment of captured ! black soldiers, President Lincoln issues the "eye-for-eye" ! order to shoot a rebel prisoner for every black ! prisoner shot. September 4: The women of Mobile, Alabama, begin A drawing of the New York Draft Riots. " ! ! ! looting stores and threaten to burn the city if the Confederacy won’t either provide them with help or end the war. Though ordered to, the soldiers nearby refuse to stop the women. November 19: President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg " Address which begins “Fourscore and seven years ! ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new ! nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the " proposition that all men are created equal.” Just For Fun: James L. Plimpton patents the first four-wheeled roller skates. P.T. Barnum stages the wedding between General Tom Thumb (2’ 11” tall) and Lavinia Warren (2’ 8”). The wedding (and the wedding party that greeted its 2,000 guests from atop a grand piano) makes front page news. On October 3, President Lincoln issues a proclamation in favor of a day for giving thanks. This later becomes Thanksgiving. The wedding of General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren. 4 The Civil War A Civil War era army unit. A BRIEF HISTORY The War Begins: Why the Civil War Happened The American Civil War, contrary to popular belief, was not about slavery. Though certainly this divisive issue was key in driving the wedge between North and South that eventually cracked the Union in two, the essential difference of opinion was ultimately the same one that continues to haunt American politics: the argument between those in favor of states’ rights and those in favor of a strong, involved Federal government. In Antebellum America, the South championed the former cause while the North championed the latter. This meant that the North believed that the federal government should be strong in order to guarantee all men equal rights, something they thought would bolster War and the American People economic progress. The South, more concerned with social graces and moral values, felt that democracy was purer and the people better served by a strong, local government. It was their belief that the fundamental, regional differences in states made it impossible for a central body to govern in favor of all. In terms of slavery, this meant that the North wanted the federal government to ban slavery everywhere, while the South believed that the states should have a right to determine for themselves. For years, the two factions had struck compromise after compromise, solving the disagreement only briefly before it sprang up again. The election of Northern favorite Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was the last straw. Fearing the implications for the South, states began to secede from the Union. The lame duck, Buchanan, chose not to act, passing the buck to the incoming President, but Lincoln did not have that luxury. He could choose to compromise, more or less abandoning the principles upon which he ran for president to offer concessions to the South. He could let them go and begin maneuvering to hold onto border states. His final option was to go to war. For better or worse, Lincoln chose the third option, and the Civil War began. The Civil War was the bloodiest in American history. About 3 million men between the ages of 10 and 59 served in combat, and about 618,000 perished, most from disease or mistreated wounds. Countless women also served their country as nurses, scouts, and spies. Thousands spent time in hellish prison camps, and families were torn apart as they fought on opposite sides of the conflict. Those who came home were traumatized physically and emotionally by their experiences, and those they came home to were equally changed by economic hardships faced while their breadwinners were away. The toll was greatest in the South where approximately 43% of wealth was lost (not including the considerable financial investment lost along with the freed slaves). 5 Black Experience A Unit of African-American Soldiers AFRICANAMERICANS IN THE CIVIL WAR African Americans in the Army and Navy ! During the Civil war, there was a lot of African American involvement in both the Union Army and Navy. If a slave enlisted in the army, he was freed and no longer a slave. ! In the entire Union Army 10% of the soldiers were black. As for the U.S. Navy 18,000 black men and women served, which is about 15% of the total enlisted. There were over 700 navy vessels, and AfricanAmericans served on almost every one of them. The most notable vessel was the Mississippi Squadron, which was comprised mostly of people of African decent. Along the Mississippi river, there were large concentrations of black slaves working on plantations. ! For almost every three black men in the navy born into slavery, there was one man born free. On the Mississippi Squadron alone, 34% of men were of African descent, but even in this squadron, free men were separate from those who had been freed by enlistment. They were often put in more inferior positions and rated and paid less despite their capabilities as naval officers. Quilts and the Underground Railroad There is much historical debate about the role quilts may have played in the workings of the underground railroad. Many believe that as innocuous items that were often seen drying on fences, quilts could very easily have served as signposts along the way to freedom. In one theory, hanging a quilt with a particular block pattern indicated a specific warning or action a fleeing slave ought to take. Life as a Slave ! In 1860 3.9 million slaves were counted in a census. Slaves struggled with constant punishment, beatings, hard-labor, fifteen-hour days, and the nightmares of being sold and losing their families, not to mention the mentally damaging idea that they could never make any life choices. The majority of slaves worked on plantations or in agriculture with cotton, tobacco, sugar, rice, or hemp. There was a very large market for slaves in New Orleans and along the Mississippi River as well as other southern cities. About 400,000 people and more than half of all people in the South were enslaved. Underground Railroad ! The Underground Railroad was a network of people who helped slaves escape the South. 100,000 slaves from the South were freed through the railroad between 1810 and 1850. A slave would first have to escape his/her owner and then find the first safe house. People would make trips with the slaves to get them to the next safe place until they reached the north. ! One station for slaves to begin at was in Donaldsonville, LA, which is on the Mississippi River. Many slaves followed the river north towards freedom and a new life. 6 Soldiers YANKEE POT ROAST AND JEAN A young, Civil War Soldier Conditions on the Battlefield: Soldiers in the Civil War The typical union soldier was in his early 20’s. For the most part, men joined up in the North thinking the war would be over quickly or, later in the war, were drafted into the army. Unlike their Confederate counterparts, the soldiers in the Union Army were, for the most part, well-fed, meticulously dressed and even had items for personal hygiene included with his rations. The Union army suffered greatly from deserters. Many of the soldiers had no desire to be at war, having signed on in haste or having been conscripted. The Confederate soldier was also likely to be in his early 20’s, though he probably fought to defend his moral beliefs rather than because he was drafted. Confederates suffered greatly when their supply lines were cut off, and it was not uncommon for soldiers to go without food or pay. Uniforms were in even shorter supply. Desertion was less common in the confederate army, though when confederate soldiers did desert, it was often to go home to protect their families (their were rumors of Indian attacks) or to feed them (since confederates often were not paid and thus couldn’t send any support home, where their families were starving). This was if the fear of death in battle or from starvation didn’t convince them to run. In both armies there was the occasional teenager pretending to be old enough to enlist, in addition to the rare woman dressed as a man to join the fray. Women also served as nurses, scouts, and spies. Prison Camps About 410,000 soldiers spent time in prison camps during the Civil War. For the lucky ones, this meant being confined for long periods of time with nothing to do. Unfortunately, many prison camps were not so humane, particularly in the South where the Confederacy struggled to feed its own citizens much less the prisoners in its camps. Activity! Create your own secret code just like the ones used in freedom quilts. Draw six symbols that guide your friends to safety, but make sure your enemies can’t solve the code. Make sure the symbols are simple, so you could draw them in the sand or sew them into a quilt! 7 Everyday Life DURING THE CIVIL WAR Rose O’Neal Greenhow (a confederate spy) and her daughter photographed sometime between 1861 and 1864. Fending for Themselves: Southern Women at Home Life for Southern women was very hard during the Civil War. Husbands, fathers, and brothers all went to fight, believing their families would be safe and well provided for on their soldiers’ salaries. Unfortunately, the North cut off supply routes to the South, making it very hard of Southern families to get food. Like Po’em does in the play, slaves ran away, leaving women even less help at home. Then, later in the war, confederate soldiers didn’t get paid. This meant that their families had no money with which to buy the little food to be found in stores. The danger of starvation was very real. Mobs of angry, desperate women stormed through the streets of cities like Richmond, Mobile, Macon, Atlanta, and Augusta carrying banners and weapons. They looted and destroyed everything that came in their path. Sometimes, out of pity for their plight, the police didn’t even try to stop them. The South was also where most of the battles happened, so women also had to worry about the invading army. Sherman’s march through Georgia, for instance, left a swath of burned homes in its path. This was especially true in African American school children in 1863. Louisiana, where the play takes place, since it bordered the Mississippi river. Cutting off ports in Louisiana meant that supplies could not get into the south from the river. Many women took up arms to defend their homes, while others joined the army as canteen women. Discussion War always has an effect on the people left at home. What kind of effect have the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had on your life? How is this similar to the Civil War? How is it different? Children and the Civil War By the time the Civil War broke out in 1861, the role of children in the home had changed a lot. Before this time, children were expected to be miniature adults. They were expected to behave perfectly, and were punished very harshly when they did not. They had jobs to earn money for their families. People had just started believing that children were in a separate stage of life, preparing for adulthood. Wealthy children, like Free and Blanche, were treated more like children are today. They weren’t punished harshly, and they got love, attention, and free time to play. When the war began, however, this changed rapidly, and children had to take on very adult roles. Brothers dodged bombs to find food for their siblings; sisters became responsible for caring for younger children. Much of the loving attention children had just gotten used to receiving disappeared as the war absorbed all of their parents’ attentions. 8 On the left is an idealized portrayal of Southern women bidding their men farewell. On the right is a depiction of the Richmond Bread Riots. An anonymous 17-year-old widow quoted in Reluctant Witnesses by Emmy E. Werner I ventured to a front window that faced the two roads leading to the capital…. Looking out I screamed in horror [at] the rush of Yankee ruffians…. All day long the men and wagons poured into town…. No yards, no gardens were spared in our ill-fated village…. The soldiers…would walk up the steps of the back veranda on which we stood, and throwing down the hams and shoulders of our meat, would cut them up…in our very faces. Next they found the sugar, flour, lard, salt, syrup which mother had stored away in a cellar dug beneath one of the Negro houses…. Like statues mother and I stood looking on, and saw them take all the provisions we had, then kill the milk cow and other stock about the lot—saw them find the wheat and grain we had hidden in the attic behind the wall; stood silent and sad as we saw the “potato hill” robbed,and knew that now our last hope for food was gone…. That night we went to bed supperless…. Sadly I had seen the rice, sugar coffee, and lard taken from the storerooms…but sadder now was the thought, “The cows are killed. I will be so hungry I cannot nurse Baby.” CarrieClayton, Berry Francis disguised as a Vivamus est ipsum man in order Feugiat rhoncus, accumsan id, nisl. to Lorem fight ipsum dolor sit amet, lorem ipsum consectetuer adipiscing elit. Pellentesque nunc tellus, iaculis quis, volutpat eget, bibendum ac, lectus. Vivamus est ipsu vehicula nec. Primary Sources: Children of the Civil War From the recollections Mrs. James Devereux several years after the war " They said that the Yankees were coming. I had heard them talking about the Yankees before, it seemed. I did not know exactly what Yankees were, but I did know they were some kind of beast-animals certainly." " " Mrs. Devereux paused for breath, got up and walked to the window, then sat down again. She resumed her narrative. " "I had never seen a Yankee in a zoo, but I always thought that I would come across one of them there. I was convinced that they were animals with horns. Today, I tell every Yankee I meet about my childhood fancies - thinking they were animals with horns. It seems to amuse them... " "The Yankees were marching through," she continued. "I was much surprised to learn that they were not beasts. One of them gave me a dime and I was delighted. My ideas changed quick as a flash. After that I thought the Yankees were fine. I wondered why my parents thought they were awful. From the diary of 10-year-old Carrie Berry of Atlanta, Georgia Aug. 2. Tuesday. We have not been shelled much today, but the muskets have been going all day. I have done but little today but nurse Sister. She has not been well today. Aug. 3. Wednesday. this was my birthday. I was ten years old, But I did not have a cake times were too hard so I celebrated with ironing. I hope by my next birthday we will have peace in our land so that I can have a nice dinner... "" " " " " Nov. 12 We were fritened almost to death last night. Some mean soldiers set several houses on fire in different parts of the town. I could not go to sleep for fear that they would set our house on fire. We all dred the next few days to come for they said they would set the last house on fire if they had to leave this place. Nov. 16 Oh what a night we had. They came burning the store house and about night it looked like the whole town was on fire. We all set up all night. If we had not sat up our house would have been burnt up for the fire was very near and the soldiers were going around setting houses on fire where they were not watched. They behaved very badly. They all left town about one o’clock this evening and we were glad when they left for nobody knows what we have suffered since they came in. Activity! Imagine you are a child or a woman living in Louisiana during the civil war. Write a couple of diary entries about your life. Describe what you’ve done that day. What kinds of things are you worried about? What do you miss about your life before the war? 9 Jesus THE MAN AND HIS LIFE A Parable Disciples Peter and John asked Jesus to prove he was the son of God. Jesus walked from boat to boat on the water without falling in (shown above). In the play, Jesus is too cool for that, so he moonwalks on water instead. His Birth The Angel, Gabriel, appeared to Mary and asked if she would bear the son of God, and she agreed to do God’s will. Mary was engaged to Joseph. He wanted to end the engagement, but God told him not to be afraid to marry her because her child was God’s. When the Roman government told everyone to go back to their hometown, Joseph and Mary returned to Bethlehem. They couldn’t find a hotel, so they stayed in a shed where animals were kept. This is where Jesus was born. A star appeared, and three wise men traveled to see Jesus. Along the way, The Savior in Popular Culture they met King Herod, who was jealous of the new baby. He told the wise men to return and tell him where Jesus was. The men had a dream telling them not to return to Herod. The king found out and ordered all children under the age of two killed. Joseph, Mary and the baby fled to Egypt where Jesus was raised. The Crucifixion In ...And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, a group of confederates hang Damascus. This event closely parallels the crucifixion of Christ. Christ went to Jerusalem, and the people cheered his arrival; out of jealousy, the chief priest arrested him. Pilot, as governor of Jerusalem, reported to Herod, who was drunk and just laughed. Pilot didn’t know what to do, so he asked the people of Jerusalem who he should release, Jesus or Barabbas, a murderer. They chose Barabbas. The priests convinced the crowd to crucify Jesus. As he was crucified, there was an earthquake and thunder, and the sky darkened. Someone told Pilot Jesus would rise from the dead in three days. Sunday morning the women of the disciples (Jesus’ closest followers) went to the grave. The soldiers Pilot had standing guard were gone because they were so frightened by Jesus rising from the dead. He appeared to several people including the disciples as proof of his resurrection. In the play, when Damascus is hanged, his magic frightens the men away much like the earthquake frightened away the people of Jerusalem. He also rises from the dead and visits people, and like Jesus’ death atoned for humankind’s sins and allowed them to go to Heaven, Demeter frees the souls of people who died before they knew freedom. The word “Christ” is from the Greek word for “anointed” or “messiah”; he was called “Jesus, the Christ” which was then shortened to Jesus Christ. In the television show, South Park, Jesus has his own TV show, Jesus and Pals. The Passion of the Christ (2004),directed by Mel Gibson, details the crucifixion of ! Christ. The 2008 movie, Hamlet 2, features a song called “Rock Me, Sexy Jesus.” 10 Demeter Persephone’s (lower right) return to her mother Demeter (upper left) as rendered by Frederic Leighton in 1891. MYTHOLOGICAL SOURCES Demeter and Persephone As goddess of agriculture, grain, bread, and the Mysteries (which allowed initiates a blessed afterlife), Demeter was the ancient Greek goddess who sustained humankind. The most famous myth involving Demeter explains the change of seasons. In the myth, Zeus decides to give Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, to Hades in marriage. As Persephone is picking flowers, she is enticed by the Narcissus flower which, when she picks it, opens up the earth beneath her feet. Hades carries her away in his chariot, but only Hecate and Helios can hear her cries for help. Distressed at the loss of her daughter, Demeter dons a black cape and wanders the earth in search of Persephone. When Helios explains what happened, Demeter shuns the company of the gods and goes to live among humans, eventually convincing them to build a temple that becomes her home. Because of her extreme grief and anger at Zeus, the earth becomes cold and infertile. Knowing the Gods will no longer receive tributes from the mortals if Demeter will not grant them crops, Zeus allows Persephone to come back. However, since she ate some pomegranate seeds while in the Underworld, she must return to Hades for one third of every year. Demeter’s grief over her daughter’s absence causes winter (no plants grow and it’s cold), and while Persephone is with the gods Earth is warm and fertile (spring, summer, fall) Discussion What are the similarities between the Demeter myth and ...And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi? And what are the differences? What character in the play can you compare to Persephone? Why is this myth important to the play? Demeter Facts --Demeter has more than 30 different surnames that describe different facets of her power and the different places she is worshipped. --Demeter appears in the 1997 Disney film Hercules. --Demeter could always be recognized by the ear of wheat and cornucopia (horn of plenty) she carried. --Much in the way that we say “God bless you” when someone sneezes, Ancient Greeks dedicated sneezes to Demeter. --Demeter’s Roman equivalent was Ceres, the goddess of growing plants, particularly cereals (a word derived from her name.) 11 Other Myths Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby from the book Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation, 1881. BRER RABBIT OSHUN GREEK UNDERWORLD Brer Rabbit Throughout many regions of Africa, there are tales that include trickster characters; many of which are rabbits or hares. These stories were brought over during the slave trade and combined with Native American stories about similar characters to become part of American Folklore. This blending of cultures created the stories that we know today as “Brer Rabbit” stories. The characters’ adventures embody an idea considered to be a universal creation among oppressed peoples—that a small, weak, but ingenious force can overcome a larger, stronger, but dull-witted power. The word “Brer” itself means brother, and throughout these stories there are many characters with that title like Brer Fox, Brer Bear, and Brer Wolf. Brer Rabbit is the trickster character who is at odds with Brer Fox in many stories. In one story, Brer Fox is very angry with Brer Rabbit and decides to kill him. Brer Fox makes a baby out of tar and puts it on the side of the road. Along comes Brer Rabbit, and he sees the baby. He greets him several times with no response, which angers Brer Rabbit. He decides to hit him, but the tar just sticks to his paws. He eventually gets completely stuck, while Brer Fox just laughs and taunts him with ways to kill him (hang, drown etc.). Brer Rabbit is too tricky for him and convinces him to “kill” him by throwing him in the briar patch, which he does. The next thing Brer Fox sees is Brer Rabbit sitting behind him, wiping the tar out of his fur. The Goddess Oshun Oshun is an Orisha (a diety or goddess) of Yoruban clans of present day Nigeria. She is the goddess of fresh waters. She watches over the poor, she heals the sick and she brings fertility and prosperity. In some stories, she is a mermaid with a fish tail. She is the mother of birds and fishes. When the people of western central Africa left their homeland, they brought this goddess to the Americas. Many cultures took on the idea of this water goddess. In Brazil and Cuba, she was called Oxum, and in Haiti she was Vodoun. As with all Yoruban deities, she is assigned a number, color, and a metal; hers are 5, yellow or amber, and Gold or bronze. The vulture and peacock are sacred to her. ! Water in Greek Mythology Five rivers separate Hades from the world of the living, Acheron (river of woe), Cocytus (river of lamentation), Phlegethon (river of fire), Lethe (river of forgetfulness), and Styx (river of hate). ! People were buried with coins in their mouths. When they reached Charon (the ferryman of the rivers), the coin was the fee to get into the underworld. Someone buried without a coin is doomed to roam the banks of the river for eternity. " If a god gives an oath upon the River Styx and doesn’t keep his word, then Zeus would make that god drink from the river. It was so foul that it would make the god lose his voice for nine years. 12