Come August, Come Freedom The Bellows, The Gallows, and The Black General Gabriel - JeDarius Jackson

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The book I read is called Come August, Come Freedom The Bellows, The Gallows and The Black General Gabriel. It is about a man born into slavery with aspirations to be free. The man’s name is Gabriel.

Since birth even Gabriel’s mother knew that he would be a great man, a free man. For example when Gabriel was just a baby the book says “What Ma believed was this: her youngest son would grow strong free.”(pg. 4) Ma often compared Gabriel to her husband and his father Pa who was sent away for speaking to strongly of freedom. Gabriel grew up with a boy named Thomas Henry Prosser who was the son of the owner of the plantation. Thomas and Gabriel were always good friends and had been close since birth because Ma nursed both of the boys. They remained close until a day when they were kids and Thomas Henry was instructed by his father and Gabriel’s master to strike Gabriel with a wooden board after playing a game with Thomas that got them in some trouble. In the book Mr. Prosser says to his boy, “Don’t be chickenhearted, Son. Gabriel must learn his place, said Mr. Prosser. Are you a man?” (pg. 30) After that Gabriel and  one of his brothers Solomon were sent to Richmon

d (a place of business in the city). In Richmond the boys began working for a blacksmith named Jacob Kent who taught their father how to blacksmith.  As Gabriel grew older he became a great blacksmith just like his father. While in Richmond Gabriel met a girl named Nanny and fell in love with her but, he never really made a move on her. One day she was moved from the city and left Gabriel with an empty space in his heart. He wasn't sure if he would ever see her again until he found her one day when visiting his mother. He finally made his move and she fell in love with him.

The older Gabriel got the more he wanted to be free. Gabriel came up with a plan so that he could marry Nanny then buy her freedom. Gabriel’s plan did not go quite as planned though because he got in some trouble before the wedding. Even though Gabriel’s first plan failed he did not give up on his quest for freedom. So Gabriel decided to lead an uprising of the slaves and he got many people to join in but on the planned night for the revolt there was a terrible storm and it stopped the plan from being carried out. The next day word started getting around to the “white folk” that there was supposed to be a revolt led by General Gabriel and in the blink of an eye Gabriel was a very much wanted man. Gabriel tried to flee to a black general who had already led a rebellion so he could help free his people but he was captured, tried, and hung. Nanny could not watch her husband hang because they hung him in a separate place from where the other men hung. Men that were planning to revolt alongside General Gabriel. The book says “As Nanny witnessed the four men fall, she witnessed Gabriel fall four times over. Whether his name is Sam or George or Gilbert or Frank, his name is also Gabriel.” (pg. 224) Nanny gave birth to Gabriel’s child months after Gabriel’s death.

The author of this books name is Gigi Amateau. Amateau is a Mississippian who lived in Richmond, Virginia for most of her life. This is the place where most of the historical events that inspired Come August, Come Freedom came from. She has wrote 6 other books.

I think Gigi did a great job expressing what it was like for slaves back in those times. The story really gave me a better understanding of the struggles of African American slaves to try and start families. I thought it was really interesting that she based the story with real events that happened in her hometown many years ago. While reading the book I felt like I was General Gabriel himself living in the 1800s and I found myself being so into the book that I would get upset by some of the struggles he went through. I would recommend this book to anybody. Alltogether Come August, Come Freedom was an excellent book with an amazing story.

JeDarius Jackson