Historical Compare and Contrast

Author’s Note: This is a compare and contrast essay that is comparing the fictional happenings in Jump Ship to Freedom to the real time period of the American Revolution.

           

Historical fiction novels are based on historical events that really took place in history but the author changed the happenings of that event by creating a fictional character. Jump Ship to Freedom is an example of a historical fiction novel. The main character, Daniel, is an escaped slave hiding from his master in the New York harbor in 1776. This book is very realistic compared to this time.  The only thing that really stands out is the way they talk -- the author had to put some words in that we use today to flavor up the speech of the characters. The book has little fiction as it relates to the events that happen.

First of all, the main character, Daniel, is an escaped slave boy who is trying to buy his freedom for his mother and himself. He escapes from his master’s ship searching for his freedom, like many of the slaves of that time. He accumulated enough soldiers’ notes which he got from his father to get his freedom. Many slaves during that time period did not have money and, if they did, it was likely not enough to buy freedom.  Many of them fought in the Revolutionary War and were awarded freedom for risking their lives. Slaves in that time didn’t like the working conditions and the cruelty, so they often escaped.  Instead of buying their freedom, they ran for their freedom to land that was not owned by the wealthy white men.

In the same way, the book used the writing of the American Constitution as another historical happening. Daniel was a part of the writing; he had come along with an old dying Quaker who would carry with him the important note to make the Constitution finalized. Daniel came with him to hide from his master.  When the old Quaker died, he relied on Daniel to deliver the note to the writers of the constitution. Daniel did eventually meet the founding fathers and delivered the note, and that really did happen with the writing of the constitution back in 1776.  However, Daniel wasn’t the one to deliver the note. Also, the American Constitution was a real thing and it did settle the slavery disagreement.  In the book it was the thing to get Daniel out of slavery.

On the other hand, many of the slave boys in 1776 were thought of as stupid because of their low schooling compared to the white boys. Daniel was really smart compared to the slave boys; he was even smarter than the white boys which only happened in this book to give it a more modern sense than the dull stereotypes of the 1700’s. Even the way Daniel talked was different to the slave boys; he had talked like he was schooled every day, which didn’t happen often to white boys let alone black boys. The authors had to put some changes in because the flavor that they spoke with back then would be hard to comprehend. The author even put a note in the book explaining his reason to make Daniel so advanced compared to the other boys, so we could get a sense of what it was like to be a slave in the 1700’s.

In conclusion, the events in this book are very real. While they might not be exactly how they happened, for the most part they give a sense of what it was like in the 1700’s as a slave. It also gives a sense of how the slaves were treated.  One mess up or mistake and the owner could send them half way across the world to be even more miserable. This book gave me a good idea of the conditions and the treatment of slaves in the 1700’s.  From reading this book, I now know that it is not what we think.  It was even worse.

Jump Ship to Freedom

Authors Note: This is a writing piece where we have to analyze the cause and effect happenings in the story Jump Ship to Freedom.  We also will be analyzing the climax of the story.

           When Daniel Arabus jumped his ship to swim a mile, he never knew that it would cause his life to change as a slave.  He jumped ship for obvious reasons -- he was a slave and he wanted to become free with his mother.  Daniel meant no harm to his master by jumping ship, he just wanted his father’s soldier’s note to be wasted away for a good reason and he had one, buying his freedom.  

            First, the climax in the story was Daniel jumping ship so he would be able to take his notes to congress to buy his freedom.  When he jumped, he could not swim back and get a lashing from his master, Capitan Ivers, for doing something so foolish.  He was in it till the very end.  All of the other crew mates thought he was crazy, but Daniel knew what he was going to do right when he hit the water.  Daniel wanted his freedom so he went and got it.

            Then, as Daniel was traveling with the dying Mr. Fathercaft, as a result of hiding from Capitan Ivers, he was able to meet General Washington and some of the most famous men of his time.  He met all of them because Mr. Fathercaft died and he wanted Daniel to deliver his message about the new country’s constitution.  Along the way to delivering his message, he was able to meet all those men and buy his and his mother’s freedom from slavery as a result of the new laws of the new country.

          

            Daniel was able to accomplish everything he did because he was able to jump the boat and eventually ride his way to the writing of the American constitution.  He would have never done that if he had never jumped the ship.  For a black boy in his time period, it was hard for them to even think about freedom.  However, Daniel was able to do more than just think about freedom, he was able to cause freedom by delivering his message to the constitution writing.  Daniel was able to make things happen that were good for the new country and, as a result, Daniel was able to live in America for the first time as a free man.

Big Tom

               Authors Note: This is Big Tom's POV showing what happened when Daniel in the story “Jump ship to Freedom” jumped his master’s ship to escape and buy his freedom, while he was being chased down by Big Tom and Capitan Ivers.  This POV will help analyze what happens in the story to determine who is really the good guy and who is really the bad guy.

               The Book “Jump Ship to Freedom” is written in the point of view of Daniel Arabus.  In this specific scene he jumps his master’s ship so he can go to the government and buy his freedom with his dad’s soldier’s notes. Captain Ivers is Daniel's master.  In this scene Daniel is viewed as the good guy and Big Tom is viewed as the bad guy.  While Daniel is trying to escape, Big Tom is trying to keep him from causing trouble between black and white folk.  Daniel sees it as Big Tom trying to keep him working for Capitan Ivers or Big Tom trying to get Daniel caught for stealing the soldier’s notes.  While we never hear what Big Tom is thinking, he might have seen it as Daniel trying to cause trouble for the white folk by escaping, which Big Tom doesn’t want to happen because he would like to buy his own freedom using the money he saved from doing work for Capitan Ivers.  Big Tom feared that if Daniel caused trouble, Capitan Ivers might take away the money Big Tom had made so he would not be able to buy his freedom. This might have been the point of view of Big Tom while Daniel was escaping and Capitan Ivers was looking for him.       

What a coward jumping ship, I thought.  I’ll have to go after him as Capitan Ivers orders.  I’ll teach him a lesson or two about what he does around white folks when we need our freedom.  As I went down to tell Capitan Ivers what happened, I saw him fiddling around in the storage by the oxen. “Capitan Ivers,” I said, “What are you doing down here”.  He replied, “Well that Negro Daniel had been down here, probably hiding those soldiers he stole from me”.  “About him, sir, he just jumped ship and swam to the little island across the bay from the New York harbor, probably trying to escape”.  I had seen by the look on his face that he was not pleased with Daniel for escaping.  “Big Tom, go and watch the unloaded storage, and if you see that Daniel, make sure to give him a piece of my mind for escaping,” Capitan Ivers ordered.

               As the crew was just about done unloading the ship, the slave boy Daniel ran by just pass the supplies. I jumped out of my chair and dashed for him.  He was screaming and knocking down the box and barrels up and down the street making me slow down to dodge them. I came close enough to grab his shirt.  I reached out and grabbed a fist full of his shirt, stopping him in his tracks. “You got some nerve to jump ship, boy” I said while keeping him in my grasp. “Well, I was going to be dealt to the West Indies and I would have never seen my momma again,” said Daniel.  I loosened my grip and he was able to wiggle out of his shirt and jump into the bay, I didn’t go in after him because I, like many other sailors, cannot swim so I decided to let him be free for now. I knew Capitan Ivers would be furious with me for letting him go, but he would probably leave town to escape from Capitan Ivers.

                     When I got back to the ship, the whole crew was surrounding the storage while Capitan Ivers was giving them a talking to.  I could hear him a little talking about stolen supplies.  I tried to duck down so he could not see me because it was my responsibility for losing those supplies. It was no luck, he could see a big black man a mile away.  “Big Tom get over here right now and explain to the crew why some of the supplies were stolen,” he yelled. “Well that escaped Arabus kid ran by here.  I got orders from you to catch him if he runs by here,” I explained. “Well that is not a good excuse.  I am putting the responsibility on you to either catch that Arabus kid or find those supplies,” he reconciled.  At night fall, I went looking around for the Arabus kid.  I found him in a popular tavern owned by a wealthy black man and an old quaker. I was guessing that they were hiding him there away from Capitan Ivers so he could buy his freedom.  I decided that at sunrise Capitan Ivers and I would go into the tavern to capture him.

               The next morning, Capitan Ivers and I were hiding outside of the tavern waiting for Daniel to come out. I had to guard the back door.  I heard yelling and screaming from the front, and that was my signal to go in after Daniel.  When I got in, I saw him waiting on the stairs and his back was facing me.  I wandered up the stairs so quietly that he could not hear me.   Just as I reached the top, he turned his head and saw me.  He started to run, but he was not fast enough and I grabbed him.  “Who do you think you are causing trouble between whites and blacks?,” I yelled. “That is no good for me or you.  Capitan Ivers is going to whip you so hard when I bring you back to him,” I hollered.  “Well, I was hoping that Capitan Ivers wouldn’t have noticed the missing soldier notes,” he murmured. With a fist clenched, I was about to sock’em one, but again he was able to escape by wiggling out of his shirt. He ran up the stairs and slammed a door shut.  In a matter of seconds, I was able to break through the flimsy door. He was nowhere to be seen.  I looked up the chimney and he was halfway up the chimney.  I was too large to fit up but, I was able to go up the stairs to the roof.  Daniel was dangling from the side of the tavern.  I thought he would not jump, because it was about a twenty foot drop to the ground and he could not live from that high of a jump.  But he was a stupid kid.  He let go and fell twenty feet.  As I looked down, he was fine.  He got into a carriage and had escaped.  By the time Capitan Ivers and I got down, Daniel was long gone and there was nothing we could do.

               In this scene, Big Tom’s point of view made him look like he was the good guy trying to keep things straight between slave owners and slaves.  While in the real book, Big Tom was seen as the bad guy who was a right hand man to Capitan Ivers, the slave owner.  In a different point of view it can change how a person thinks of the characters in the book. When I first read “Jump Ship to Freedom” I thought that Big Tom was the bad guy trying to get Daniel in trouble for stealing and running away from his master. While Big Tom was just trying to keep things good between him and Capitan Ivers so he could eventually buy his freedom. With careful examination Big Tom could be seen as a good character trying to stay out of trouble a buy his freedom or as a bad guy trying to keep things good with Capitan Ivers by selling out the other slaves with nonsense that could get them in trouble.