Day of Tears; by Julius Lester.

A most interesting part of history of US, described as

"On March 2 and 3, 1859, the largest auction of slaves in American history took place in Savannah, Georgia. More than 400 slaves were sold. On the first day of the auction, the skies darkened and torrential rain began falling. The rain continued throughout the two days, stopping only when the auction had ended. The simultaneity of the rain storm with the auction led to these two days being called " the weeping time." "

makes one wonder.

Surely it could not have been a coincidence, surely a supposedly devout nation - US does put "In God We Trust" on US currency - might have considered the possibility that this rain was not exactly a blessing or indifference from heavens, surely rain never had a connotation of happiness or relief attached to it for the immigrants from Europe that conducted the slavery, the sales, the auctions?

And did it occur to anyone to enquire with any religious figure of authority if this was a sign of disapproval from above? Or at the very least something to stop and ponder about?

When an innocent soul is hurt, a cry goes up and reaches directly all the way up, and does not go unnoticed - and this was a lot of innocent souls being tortured and humiliated for no fault of theirs.

Surely this much might have occurred to someone?

At any rate one might note that after a century or so of various slaves attempting to flee and a few rebellions, this day or days - March 2 and 3, 1859 in Savannah, Georgia - of the largest auction of slaves in US history when 400 slaves were auctioned, was not too long before the whole edifice of slavery and slaver states collapsed. Within less than two years, Confederacy had declared an independence, and in April 1861 war was declared. Within less than a decade the war was over, the slaves were emancipated, and southern owners went through a horrendous time of occupation for a while. The tide would turn around a couple of times, and it was not all that hunky dory for the freed slaves in all parts either, but still ...

The cries indeed had reached up, way up.