Categories
1830s Poem

Vegetables, Minerals, and Animals

Vegetables, Minerals, and Animals

By Ransom G. Williams
Annotations by Jessica Abell
Charles Codman. Landscape with Farm and Mountains. Oil on wood, 1832, Smithsonian
American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C. 
In earth the vegetables grow,
   Fast rooted to the soil,
And minerals lie deep below,
   Dug thence with care and toil.

But animals have power of motion,
   For life to them is given;
On earth, or in the air, or ocean,
   Each kind preserved by Heaven.
Williams, Ransom G. “Vegetables, Minerals, and Animals.” the Slave’s Friend 3, no. 5 (May 1838): 3.
Contexts

The Slave’s Friend was a children’s abolitionist periodical/pamphlet produced from 1836 to 1838 by Ransom G. Williams for the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS). The periodical was a mix of poetry, stories, anti-slavery writings, and woodcut prints. The content was designed for young children to understand the wrongs of slavery.

Though The Slave’s Friend is an abolitionist periodical, its writings are also informative and entertaining for child readers.

Resources for Further Study
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