Category: Slavery

The Return of We the People: Rebels and Yankees

5/11/2026

Health

Part 5/13

… Rebels Gus.
Festive ones.
We didn't fight all the time.
I never saw ya party.
Just fight.
Is that Varina?
Yes, and she would say they are being kind.
She looks fine.
Exactly.
She didn't think so?
Who does?
Jeff on the left.
Kindness again.
Looks young.
And healthy.
Davis wasn't?
He had four healths Gus.
Okay.
Davis was either sick, getting sick, recovering from sick, or just fine.
Sick call type.
He would be weeks bedridden.
Uhhh …

Soldiers

Here are some Yankees Gus.
Dashing.
The best.
The colonnaded steps.
Yanks took over the building.
How Johnny?
Richmond's mayor went looking for someone to accept the city’s surrender - and for help with the fires.
Who did the mayor find?
The XXVth Corps.
Never heard of them.
A corps of Black soldiers formed in December 1864.
Black soldiers captured Richmond?
And helped put out the fires.
Good Lord Johnny.
The XXVth was commanded by a white German immigrant, Godfrey Weitzel.
Heard of him.
Western campaigns Yank.
Mississippi River.
West Point before that.

Time

Evacuated April 2nd 1865.
Varina left earlier, Jeff that day.
When did Godfrey the Immigrant and the Black XXVth arrive?
Morning of April 3rd.
Davis babies born here.
Two.
And they lost a five year old.
Fell off a ledge and died that day.
Confederate and personal.
Yes.
And self emancipators.
Beginning in May 1862.
I wasn't even a soldier yet.
And no Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation yet.
William took the Someday walk.
Freedom seeker.
James and Betsey are mentioned.
Right.
What do you know about them?
They’re kind of like you Gus.
Interesting - is that Davis?

Next up: 18 May (part 6/13) The Return of We the People: Betsey and James.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

The Return of We the People: Emancipate Yourself

5/4/2026

Hobbes

4 of 13

… Whoa Reb?!
What?
That.
It’s a ship shaft.
No, that side door.
For servants - it’s part of the tour Gus.
Is a servant a slave?
Getting precise.
The two words get slid together.
They do.
What is the distinction Johnny?
A servant slave gives up the right to kill a master.
And a slave never does.
According to Hobbes.
Calvin N. Hobbes?
Thomas Hobbes Gus, in a book called Leviathan.
Sounds Biblical.
Secular tome.
What does the servant get for not killing?
What do you think?

Someday

Something.
Like?
It would vary Johnny.
It did.
Humanness.
More liberty, more security, less violence.
Something.
Wouldn't work otherwise Yank.
Did servants run from here?
Yes.
From that door?
I suppose - I'm Johnny remember?
Duh.
One can say for sure people thought about it.
Start to imagine it.
Lincoln declared it.
So a Someday door.
Someday.

Numbers

Who did?
James and Betsey to name two Gus.
Ran from here?
January 8th in that year of your's.
“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery.”
“None but ourselves can free our minds.”
James and Betsey had to free themselves inside.
Like Bob sings of Yank.
What We the People need.
A free mind begins within.
None but ourselves.
Can end the Usurpation.
We got the numbers Johnny.
Napoleon said that was essential.
Nearly 350 million of us.
Against 435 of them.
Thus The Return.
Of We the People.
Let's continue.
This way Yank …

Next up: 11 May (part 5/13) The Return of We the People: Rebels and Yankees.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

The Return of We the People: Steps and Doorways

4/27/2026

Portal

3 of 13

Got a sign Gus.
Quite a name.
Marketing.
Starfish House wasn't working?
Stingray.
Right.
During the war it was called the Executive or President’s Mansion.
It’s old.
Like us.
The sign Johnny.
Built in 1818.
As a home.
Then Executive Mansion.
Until April 1865.
Then Yanks moved in.
Then a school Reb.
Then a museum.
And now what is it?
Portal.
Davis stepped here.
Lincoln stepped here too Gus.
Some of his last.
True.

Context

So that doorway saw a lot.
Part of being a portal.
Robert E. Lee?
Yes.
Mosby?
Maybe.
Why maybe?
Blur, you know Yank, too many particulars.
Davis had an office?
Here as well.
Let's go inside.
Maybe we see the visitor’s center first?
See Charlie?
There are things inside that best have some context.
Like what?
Context.
There are goddesses.
Good guess.
I took the one on the sign as a hint.

Virginia

The Roman Virtus Gus.
Virtus is on the Virginia flag.
Virtue kills a tyrant.
Mortal combat as virtue Johnny.
According to Virginia.
Understandable not using the Virginia story you told me.
Another Roman story.
Father slays daughter to keep her from being enslaved.
Virginius and Virginia.
That would be a tough image to put on a flag Reb.
Especially in a slave state.
You mentioned goddesses.
I did.
Where?
Visitor's center first.
After you.
It’s around back.
To the left?
Follow me.
Okay …

Next up: 4 May (part 4/13) The Return of We the People: Emancipate Yourself

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

The Return of We the People: Bob and Elbridge

4/20/2026

Jeff and Varina

2 of 13

Jeffy Johnny.
And Varina.
Sounds like Marina.
Correct.
Grapes of wrath.
Say more Gus.
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
“He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.”
Grapes of wrath.
The oppressed.
The enslaved.
We the People.
The hymn is about freeing the oppressed, about ending slavery.
Davis thought God was on his side.
Don't we all?
What's on your mind Yank?
Bob and Elbridge.
Go on.
Why them two?

Bob

We met them both along the way.
Bob in Berryville.
Elbridge in DC.
Yet why them two Johnny?
Bob was singing Misty Morning.
We only heard him.
In a cemetery with Johnny Rebs.
Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
Then again in Berryville Gus.
Bob told us about rights in the 1960s.
And you represented Yanks in the 1860s.
Til ‘64.
The Wretched of the Earth, Marley taught us that too.
More like taught you Reb.
You get it: it's about the oppressed.
Grapes again.
We are war signs Gus.
Soldiers.
Bob soldiers too.
For peace.
In our way, so did we.

Elbridge

And Elbridge?
Gerry found us Gus.
We were in DC.
Viewing the original Constitution.
And this colonial dude walks up.
Asking what we know about the smudge.
Kind of a Knowbody.
Kind of.
I thought Elbridge was a prop Johnny, like part of the show.
Tour guide even.
Then he starts in on you: “I can't believe you killed him over something I did.”
That was the beginning.
And now Elbridge supports the thirty Thousand.
‘Merican.
Gerry wants his due Reb.
Gerry wants to be known.
For more than ‘mandering.
What a hoot.
Elbridge.
Step to the left Gus.
Sure.

Next up: 27 April (part 3/13) The Return of We the People: Steps and Doorways

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Usurpation: America’s We the People Represented According to Numbers Law is a Tool for Conviviality

3/6/2023

Tools for Conviviality by Ivan Illich

A 1973 book, Tools for Conviviality by Ivan Illich, argues our dream was to build machines to replace slaves, and instead we have become enslaved to machines.

“To formulate a theory about a future society both very modern and not dominated by industry, it will be necessary to recognize natural scales and limits. We must come to admit that only within limits can machines take the place of slaves; beyond these limits they lead to a new kind of serfdom. Only within limits can education fit people into a manmade environment: beyond these limits lies the universal schoolhouse, hospital ward, or prison.” (xii)

Fifty years on and Illich is still apt.

“The foreseeable catastrophe will be a true crisis – that is, the occasion for a choice – only if at the moment it strikes the necessary social demands can be effectively expressed. They must be represented by people who can demonstrate that the breakdown of the current industrial illusion is for them a condition for choosing an effective and convivial mode of production. The preparation of such groups is the key task of new politics at the present moment.” (114, bold added)

Illich argues the available convivial tool: “can only be the formal structure of politics and law.” (115)

Our foreseeable catastrophe is the true crisis of We the People not being represented according to numbers.

Our politics is the usurpation and its supporters.

Our law is Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the US Constitution … and its supporters.

The choice is between usurpation, which is the law of rule, and the US Constitution, which is the rule of law.

Choose.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Benjamin

10/15/2021

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': People

Part XII of XIII

“… Here’s Ben Gus.”
“Three hundred years.”
“Ben’s birth year was 1724.”
“So you found some Benjamin history too?”
“Did.”
“What of Kentucky Sarah?”
“The Berry family was in Kentucky before it was Kentucky.”
“How?”
“There’s a Berry’s Lick operating in 1786.”
“Salt mining.”
“Sarah’s 1827 will stated she owned a thousand acres in Green River, Kentucky.”
“Making salt … in Kentucky … slave labor.”
“Yes.”
“More slave coin Johnny.”
“So much slave coin Ben would …”
“What would Benjamin do?”
“The word doesn’t sound right Gus, correct I mean.”
“What word?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Gifted

“Gift.”
“Benjamin Berry gifted people?”
“Via deed Gus.”
“An example?”
“Legal papers.”
“Say what?”
“‘Deed of Gift to daughter Sarah Stribling – 4 negroes.’”
“When?”
“1804.”
“No words for that Reb.”
“How slavery worked.”
“What else?”
“Sarah’s birth name appears to be Mary.”
“Mary Berry.”
“Sarah might have been a middle name.”
“Always something in Berryville Reb.”
“Always something Yank.”
“Let’s front.”
“Sure …”

Next Up: 22 October and the series finale Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Front.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Sarah

10/1/2021

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': 1775

Part XI of XIII

“… Sarah … I can’t find Sarah Gus.”
“What?”
“Well, word says she’s buried here, as Sarah Stribling.”
“Yet no headstone.”
“Correct.”
“Any history on Sarah Reb?”
“Lots.”
“Like?”
“Sarah Berry married John Humphreys.”
“Who’s that?”
“John Humphreys was KIA 31 DEC 1775.”
“KIA.”
“1775.”
“Where?”
“Quebec, Canada.”
“Reb … Daniel Morgan was there and surrendered on that date.”
“Humphreys was with Morgan’s company: First Lieutenant of Riflemen.”
“Sarah lost her husband under Morgan’s command during the Revolution?”
“Before independence was even declared.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': 1798

“So Sarah Humphreys is a widow in Berryville in 1776.”
“Well, there is no Berryville yet: that happens in 1798.”
“So what happens with Sarah?”
“In 1789, Sarah marries William Stribling.”
“Fourteen years after Humphreys.”
“Yes.”
“Who is Stribling?”
“William has money, is young and owns land next to Benjamin Berry’s (her father’s) plantation.”
“Children?”
“They have two.”
“Names?”
“Elizabeth and Dulcibella.”
“What else?”
“William dies in 1793.”
“Ach!”
“Something like that.”
“So Sarah Stribling inherits William’s land next to her father’s that then becomes Berryville in 1798.”
“Then there’s Kentucky.”
“Sarah goes to Kentucky?”
“After Benjamin … ”

Next Up: 15 October and part XII of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Benjamin.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Obelisks and Things

8/21/2021

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Crows

Part IX of XIII

“… How’s this?”
“Thanks Reb.”
“Them crows got to ya Yank.”
“I wasn’t sure what to think?”
“I heard ‘em too.”
“There are a lot of crows in Berryville.”
“Yes.”
“There’s even a street named Crow.”
“That’s for a family.”
“I thought so too, and said so to the crows.”
“And?”
“The crows, they wondered who that family would be named after, if not them?”
“Crows.”
“What is with these obelisks Johnny?”
“Good question Gus.”
“They’re … ”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Slavery

“… How much slavery was there here in Berryville?”
“Clarke County was about half enslaved in 1860.”
“Berryville’s in Clarke.”
“County seat.”
“These stone obelisks, crosses and testimonials, were built with slave coin.”
“I hear ya.”
“The stained glass windows, the brick church.”
“Economy of slavery.”
“We can see what enslaved people built, what their labors contributed.”
“We can.”
“It’s right here, here in these stones.”
“And the stained glass.”
“What’s next Johnny?”
“Got some news Gus.”
“Do tell.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Word

“The truth has come.”
“The thirty Thousand.”
“And the falsehood shall vanish.”
“The usurpation.”
“And shall not come back.”
“Sounds like you’ve gotten word.”
“Word is expected by 17 September Gus.”
“Constitution Day.”
“Yes.”
“What if no word?”
“Then the Office of the - ”
“- Don’t say Reb.”
“Right.”
“Soon enough, we’ll all know.”
“Meantime … let’s look for some Berrys.”
“Johnny: I had forgotten our purpose.”
“This way Gus …”

Next Up: 17 September and part X of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Smudge Day 2021.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Mount Horeb

3/22/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Mount Horeb

Part XIII of XIII

“… How’s this?”
“Feels like home.”
“Welcome home Gus.”
“Welcome home Johnny.”
“There wasn’t a horse before.”
“No?”
“It was people conveying the man.”
“Was there a child?”
“Yes.”
“Slave?”
“Represented.”
“Slavery, it means both: slaves and slavers.”
“Yup.”
“You bring the flag Reb?”
“I thought you did.”
“Not me.”
“Well then.”
“Well then what?”
“Let’s rally ‘round it.”
“Mount Horeb style.”
“Worked before.”
“Did.”

Thanks All!

*Next Up: Usurpation Day 2019.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: Survey

3/8/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Hello

Part XI of XIII

“… You weren’t.”
“Young George Gus.”
“It’s like he’s saying hello.”
“‘Hey Gus and Johnny.’”
“Hey George.”
“Like that Yank?”
“Just like that.”
“Seems so.”
“When did George own slaves?”
“Age eleven.”
“What?”
“His father, Augustine Washington, died and George inherited ten slaves.”
“Ten people.”
“At age eleven.”
“When did George get to Winchester?”
“Says here …”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank OOW: Surveyor

“… 1748.”
“Just a kid Reb.”
“Yup.”
“So before coming here, George had owned people for five years.”
“Correct.”
“Then the 16 year-old George went to Winchester, or Frederick Town, to survey.”
“Frederick was the eldest son of King George the second.”
“The future king?”
“Would’ve been, but Frederick died in 1751.”
“Colonial George was a loyal subject Johnny.”
“He was Gus.”
“Slaving, surveying and serving.”
“And then George was elected Burgess.”
“Is that good Reb?”
“Yes.”
“What’d he do?”
“Represented this area in assembly.”
“Early political career, eh?”
“Well …”

Next Up: 15 March and part XII of the winter series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank On Our Way: To Prevent Hogs Running At Large.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner