Queen: The Story of an American Family

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Queen: The Story of an American family by Alex Haley and David Stevens is a partly factual historical novel which has served to bring back to the consciousness of many White Americans the plight of the children of the plantation - the offspring of black slave women and their white masters, who rarely acknowledged the children, who were legally their slaves.

The noted author Alex Haley (1921-1992) was the grandson of Queen, the illegitimate and unacknowledged daughter of James (Jass) Jackson, III (the son of a friend, but not a relative, of Andrew Jackson) and his slave, Easter. Although the novel alters many historical details to the extent that it cannot be treated as history, the basic outline - including the premise of Jass Jackson's paternity to Queen - has been accepted as fact by Jackson's white descendants. The novel recounts Queen's anguished early years as a slave girl, longing to know who her father was, and how it gradually dawned on her that he was none other than her master. After the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 and the subsequent abolition of slavery, Queen was cast out. Jass Jackson would not acknowledge her as his daughter, afraid of compromising the inheritance of his legitimate children and goaded by his wife, who despised Queen. After many adventures, often unpleasant, she married a reasonably successful former slave by the name of Alec Haley, and had one son by him. Both Alec and Queen had a son each from previous relationships.

Alex Haley, her grandson, was unable to finish writing Queen before he died, and it was completed by David Stevens. While Stevens benefitted from the many boxes of research notes and a 700-page outline of the story left behind by Haley, he would later say that his writing was guided mainly by their many long conversations.

[edit] Overview

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James Jackson was a man of considerable wealth; he owned many acres and had a Linen mill. In this time of England rule his power flourished. He loved the English way of life, and felt sad about those who stood against it (Basically the peasants, and people without a decent amount of money). Other than securing his wealth, he only really had two main things that he loved. One was having sex with his wife (therefore he had twelve children), and breeding fine racehorses. “From what I read he was a horrible father who cared little for his children. After the death of his wife, four months after childbirth, one of his nurses took over.” While he loved the British rule and prospered because of it his children didn't. The older children (Jon and Eleanor) got put in jail once for not being good about British rule. The character that the story follows is James Jackson the third. He was the eleventh son of James Jackson the second. Through his maid James meets a boy named Sean who would be a strong role model throughout his younger years. Because of his friend Sean he learns to love the peasant life and hate the British rule. Because of Sean he eventually got into the Irish rebellion and fought the British as well as they could, but they could not win. The British out-manned and out-gunned the rebels, and they had superior training while the rebels had no idea what they were doing. So James was captured and put in prison and Sean was killed in battle. After several years in prison James was released to go to America in exile. His father was very mad that his child had done this because it harmed his business and now no one would be able to inherit his fortune, but James the second did give his son some money so that he would be able to live in the new world. James would never see his father again.

In America James did very well. When he first came over he already had a decent amount of money from his father and from his brother Jon. Therefore he was already very attractive to women for he was in his early twenties, and he had a decent amount of money. Soon though, he wanted to go out and make more money on his own. He and his brother started up a small store in Tennessee which at that time was like the frontier. The store did well and soon enough James had to buy a slave to keep his store going. A friend of his named Andrew Jackson. The slave that he buys is the first of very many that he will buy later in his life. James buys land and resells it for double the price and soon enough he has a fortune. He is well known throughout the town that he lives in and is respected by most. He had several children. His first born son A.J died in an accident. This was a great lost for James. Because of the loss of their first born it was Jass who would have to be head of the house one day. Jass was not exactly his father's son. Jass was a friend of one of the house slaves named Cap'n Jack. Cap'n Jack was James’ personal slave, but he had been promised freedom by James if he worked hard and did his best to help James. In the end this is exactly what Cap'n Jack did. If it weren't for Jack James wouldn't have gotten married to Sara, or at least not as soon as he did. The thing is one of the slave keepers sold Cap'n Jack's wife away because he was having problems keeping his hands off Annie (Annie was Jack's wife she was supposed to be a very beautiful women.). Because of this Jack had hated James for the loss of his wife and swore that he would get vengeance for his crime. As a start he had trained Jass to be the master of his dreams. He had taught Jass to be kind to his slaves and to respect them. Jass and Cap'n Jack's daughter had fallen in love with each other a long time ago; they had grown up together pretty much. Since A.J was the first born boy Jass was often excluded and had to go play with whoever else he could find. Once A.J died a lot changed for Jass. Since he was now the oldest son he would be expected to run the household when he came of age. At first Jass didn't exactly like this, but later on after his father died he came to enjoy this fact and settled in decently after he went to college. Although before he went to college he got Easter pregnant, but this ended in a miscarriage. When he came back he got her pregnant again and this time she did go through and give birth. During this time Jass proposed to Lizzie his girlfriend for a good amount of time. He proposed to Lizzie the same night that Easter gave birth to her baby girl that she named Princess, but Jass changed it to Queen. This was okay but the thing is that Cap'n Jack ran in and told the Jacksons and the Perkins (Lizzie's family) that the child had been born, and thanks to one of Jass's little brothers Lizzie found out what Jass had done and wept mightily over the idea of her future husband mating with a negro. For a second there was a chance that Lizzie wouldn't marry Jass but thanks to her mother this was cleared up and they married and had a nice honeymoon. Lizzie gave birth to a boy and a girl which seem to not matter as far as the story goes. Queen moved up into the big house to be a slave for her first born William. This was a slap in the face for Lizzie for Queen was not her child but Jass' daughter and she hated this, but since Jass was the man of the house she couldn't do anything about it so it was so. Lizzie put up with Queen, but held contempt for her either way. Queen got to see her mother every weekend or so for a large amount of time until the war started. Then she started to see her mother more often as they had to do more work around each other.

When the war did start things around the Forks of Cypress went downhill. Jass went to fight in the war but was then discharged due to a leg injury that made it so he wouldn't be able to fight as well. Soon after his return Easter died and that was a terrible loss to him for he loved her. Lizzie liked this because now she was not sharing her man with anyone; soon after Jass went back to the war with a higher rank, where he fought till the end. During this time, the Forks of Cypress lost almost all of its original prosperity. Most of the slaves left because they were now free, and left the plantation without the manpower to pick or seed all of the cotton fields, therefore their only source of income was destroyed. Queen was the only one who remained loyal to the Jackson family because she wanted Jass to love her and embrace her as a member of his family. She did the best she could with the cotton fields and in feeding the family.

When the war ended Jass and Mr. Henderson who was the family's old slave driver returned. Henderson took his wife and opened up a shop with money he had saved before the war. The Henderson store did pretty well. They gave out lots of credit which got them lots of customers who had almost no money, but once people started paying them back they were making a profit. Although they eventually had to close down for some unknown reason (which I think is kind of weird because they had a pretty good plan. I think that the guy just did this to make it look as if the “bad guys” lost.). Jass on the other hand did not have as much to come home to; he had lost an arm in the war and he had no money now. Queen had done her best to keep up the house but it was too much for one person. Queen left the house a few months later after she had a fight with Lizzie that just made her lose her temper all the way (she had been almost raped by Mr. Henderson and some of his boys.) When she came home in the morning of the next day, Lizzie behaved like an ass and talked to her as if she had never done anything for the family at all and was just living with them and giving nothing back (which of course wasn’t true.) So Queen left with nothing but the cloth on her back and twenty dollars that was given to her by Sara for all the work she had done. As she was leaving, she saw Jass riding by after a night of searching for her. She explain she was leaving and instead of stopping her, he bid her good bye and good luck.

She walked east towards the next city over. She met up with an old slave from the Fork's of Cypress who gave her a ride to town. She passed herself as white, which was good and bad. On one hand, more people treated her a tad better and she was able to get into the white soup stand. On the other hand she was looked down on by both whites and blacks. She was a poor white woman who made whites look bad, and she was a white which made blacks dislike her. She ended up being reduced to a petty thief until she met a friend who was the same as her. The friend whose name was Alice was a whore that had gotten lucky in finding a very rich man to sell her service to. She also worked part time in a soup stand for whites. Alice could tell that Queen was a mulatto and took her in. Queen and Alice were good friends for a decent amount of time until a man came in between them. Queen had gotten a job at a flower shop. She made a decent amount from this, but she also met a man. This man was in truth a very evil person, but he put on a nice face and made a good impression. She liked him for what she thought he was. Alice had tried to warn her about him, but she was in love and couldn't help but to like him. Soon though he raped her and she lost her virginity. She had given out that she was part black, so Alice was forced to kick her out of her house for her own safety. If it was found that she was sheltering blacks then she could be in great danger. So Queen left. She had lost a great friendship because of some man.

She traveled to yet another city where she adopted Christianity. She got a job working for two old ladies that paid decent wages, but were Christian freaks and were always jabbering about God. Queen didn't seem to mind this much for she believed in God too so that was fine for her. Soon enough yet another man came into her life though. One day a black man named Davis came to her house looking for work. He had skills as a gardener. He had a strong powerful voice that led many people to do what he wanted. He had been a cotton picker for a white family. He had tried to escape many times and had failed many times. Because of this he had many scars on his back from all the whippings he had gotten. He offered a day of his work free and told the ladies that if they thought his work was good enough that they could give him a job. He worked well and got the job. He and Queen slowly but steadily develop a relationship. He got her pregnant and they made plans to get away and move so that they could have the baby and have a happy life. But this was not to be. He fled the day that he was supposed to ride away with her. He did not want to be a father. He had wanted to help his fellow black man out, and improve the black life. After five hours of waiting for Davis to come, Queen went home very unhappy. She and a friend of hers went up to the old ladies too see if she could still work for them even though she was pregnant. They almost fired her because she had sinned, but it was decided that she could stay for the baby's sake.

While Queen was pregnant the women were very kind to her, and did their best to make sure she stayed healthy, but after she gave birth they turned ugly. They started trying to steal her baby from her. At first, they took her right to name her baby, which she wanted to name David, and gave him the name of Abner. Then they were spending more time with Abner than his own mother.) Then teaching the baby boy to hate his own mother. Because the old bittys were white and Queen is part black the person in charge joined the old religious girls. Because of this they got the authority to take Queens baby. On the last night she had with her child she ran away to look for Abner's father.

She walked all round the southern land doing odd jobs, and doing whatever she could to find news about her husband-to-be. Soon enough she came upon a high ranking white woman who could not breastfeed her young boy. The white woman hired Queen at a reasonable price. The white woman was very picky and disliked by all those that worked for her. Queen was not surprised that the original wet nurse had left and gotten a different job. While serving as a wet nurse she comes upon Davis her husband-to-be. He was giving a speech on black and white equalism and rights. She picked up Abner and told him that that man was his daddy. Her boss noticed it and told her husband so they could tell their leader. They were, in fact members, of the Ku Klux Klan or the KKK. When Queen had found her love she was eager to find him and show him his son. She found some of his followers who agreed to take her to him if she was unarmed and didn't try anything. She agreed.

When she met Davis he was very surprised and happy to see her. First she was about to have a row with him then he calmed her down with his voice and they went in his cabin. He at first played a bit with Abner. Then when he went to sleep he took Queen to bed with him and had sex with her.

In the morning she headed back to the hotel she was staying with her boss at. She had a stressful day, and at the end of it she was very tired. She had to sleep in a very hot room that was pretty much a slave quarters that had been renamed. That night Queen awoke to a knock at the door. Her employer told her that the KKK had learned of her husbands hide out and was planning to attack at dawn. Queen gave Abner to her and then took a horse and rode as fast as possible to her child's father, but she was in truth unknowingly leading the KKK to him. She was being followed by a member of the Klan who was riding behind her with a horse that had cloth over his hooves so that she wouldn't hear it.

She told him about the Klu Klux Klan, but instead of running away with her he decided that he and some of his armed men would stand and fight for what they believed in. She weeped and then left to go home. Soon after she left Davis was attacked. His men were either shot, or ran away. Davis was hanged and burned. Abner who the women had given to her husband who had given it to the leader of the attack was sat down to watch his daddy burn.

When Queen found them she was horrified. The sight of her first true lover dead would haunt her for the rest of her life. She thought that they had killed her child as well but she was lucky, and Abner was merely sleeping. She did not go back to her job as a wet nurse she took Abner, and left.

She and Abner kept trudging north. Queen now had no real aim. She had lost her love, and everything she had once cherished. She did odd jobs when she could find them for money, but she would soon get fired because of her nowadays nasty temper. She did this until she finally met a kind black man who owned some land and a steam boat. He used the boat to give trips from one side of the lake to the other. Queen had been planning to take the ferry north. The man Alec saw her and felt sad for her. He had only one child but his wife had died, he missed her a lot. He saw her and looked at her he thought she was gorgeous. She gave him the money to cross. It seems that these were her last coins. On the trip he talked loudly about a job that a friend of his was giving as a house maid. He talked about the cook there who made really good food. Queen had already acted really rude to Alec and everyone else on board. She got off the boat, but when Alec came back a little later with more people she hadn't gone anywhere. She had sat down under a tree to wait for the boat to come back. She asked Alec about the job with a no nonsense voice. At the end of that day he took her to the Cherry mansion which even after the war was running pretty well. The current house maid who was the awesome cook that Alec had talked about was a very kind (and rather large) black women. She had requested some help because the house was very large and she was only one women so some help would be good. Queen had been starving, but she still fed Abner first. In fact she had to be ordered to feed herself before she would eat. Queen was employed and she helped out in the house a lot. She did good work, but the thing was she was always in a bad mood and she brought down everyone's spirits. They could have probably taken this if they knew why she was like this, but she kept all the horrors of her life bottled up inside of her.

Apparently Abner knew that this was supposed to his home. He would be nice and smile for everyone, and sometimes walk over to Alec when he came over to the Cherry mansion. When Alec gave up on the teenage girl he had for a baby sitter before Queen came along he asked her if she would like to work for him. They had been on very bad terms since they had first met, but something had changed in Queen now she started to be more cheery. Once Queen stopped being an ass Alec started to talk to her more often. Over time Alec and Queen began to like each other, and at some point they fell in love. Soon enough Alec asked her to marry him, and she happily accepted. They had a happy wedding and a wonderful honeymoon. Queen had another boy who was named Simon who she loved dearly, but possibly not as much as she did Abner. Only Abner had shared her pain with her. When Abner grew old enough to lead a life on his own he asked for it. Alec thought that if he could find a job wherever he decided to stay it was fine. Queen on the other hand did not take so kindly to the idea of letting her “baby boy” go. He did find a job in the next city over, and only because of Alec he was allowed to leave his mother and go start a life of his own. When her son left her she was hurt badly.

Simon unlike most black children was very good at school, and had already done more in school then most blacks have ever done in their whole life. To the amazement of the teacher at his school he was even able to make it up to high school which was outstanding in his time. Simon's life dream was to go to college and then get a good job. Alec reluctantly agreed to let him go to college, but he would have to pay for it on his own. His father gave him money to take with him to college.

Queen began to go mad at the fact that her two boys were leaving her. Due to all the evil things that had happen to her, she begin to go crazy and had to be admitted into a mental institution for women.

Simon got a very very lucky break. He had spent his summer working on a train to earn money so he could buy a mule and a wheel barrow so he could work on the land that his father owned. He just happened to meet a kind white man who had a good amount of money. The man had asked for some help on the train late at night and Simon had given it with a forced smile for he was glum about not being able to go to school. The man asked him why he was glum and Simon told him. The man was sympathetic and tried to cheer him up. Later when he went back to the college to pay off something he was told that white man had paid for a full college course and everything else. Because of this Simon finished college and had a good life. He married a girl named Bertha and had four children. George, who became a lawyer. Julius, who became an architect. Lois, who taught music. And Alex Haley, who became a writer.

[edit] Adaptations

A miniseries adaptation of Queen aired on CBS on 14 February 1993, directed by John Erman, and starring Halle Berry, Tucker Stone, Jasmine Guy, Tim Daly, Martin Sheen, Paul Winfield, Raven Symone and Ann-Margret. According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, Warner Bros. has announced that the entire miniseries will be released on DVD January 15, 2008.

The series begins with the friendly relationship between James Jackson Jr (Tim Daly), the plantation owner's only son, and his slave, Easter (Jasmine Guy), daughter of an African house slave, Captain Jack, and his true love, Annie, a Cherokee Native. It is revealed that Easter and James grew up together, and gradually, their feelings for each other develop into romance.

Just minutes after the death of his father, James Jackson Sr. (Martin Sheen), James retreats to the comfort of the slave cabin where Easter lives. James and Easter make love, and it is only when they are alone months later, that Easter reveals she is carrying his child. In the meantime, James is being pushed by his widowed mother, Sally Jackson (Ann-Margaret) to marry the respectable and pretty Elizabeth Perkins (Patricia Clarkson).

On April 8, 1841, Easter gives birth to a healthy baby girl. Excited about his new granddaughter, Captain Jack announces to James' family during dinner that a slave child has just been born. In his announcement, he assures James that "Easter's doing just fine". This worries Lizzie, James' soon-to-be fiancée. Excusing herself from the table when she realizes the baby Jack is speaking of was indeed fathered by James, Lizzie vows to never marry him. Her mother convinces her otherwise.

James proposes to Lizzie the next evening, and the two are married four or five years later. While Easter tends to the white ladies, a young Queen is shown being carried around by an African American maid.

During his engagement to Lizzie, James continues to visit Easter's cabin, leaving books for his daughter, whom he has named Queen. Since it is illegal for slaves to read, James does this in secret. He also convinces Easter to let Queen live in the Big House, where she can be trained as a Ladies' Maid. Easter and Lizzie are both opposed to the plan, but James' word is final, and five-year-old Queen(Raven-Symone) is taken to live with her father. While living at the Big House, Queen is tormented and teased by the slave children because she looks white. The children tell her that she is just like them, and does not have a father. James, seeing his daughter in trouble, chases the other children off and hands Queen over to Captain Jack. He goes to Easter's cabin and leaves children's books there for his daughter to read. Although it is illegal for slaves to be educated, James comes though for Queen in the only way possible.

Meanwhile, Lizzie learns that she is pregnant. She and James welcome a daughter, Jane, whom Queen is ordered to care for and serve. Although she is Jane's half-sister, no one dares think of Queen as part of the family because she is Easter's child.

The film fasts forward to 1860; Queen (Halle Berry) and Jane are two young ladies growing up in the South. There is talk of a civil war breaking out among the North and South because of the slave trade. While no one wants war, James tells Easter, that if war does come, he will fight in the Confederate Army.

Later in the year, the Union Army invades, and James leaves for battle. As he rides away, Easter, Queen, Jack, Lizzie, Sally and Jane, stand watch. It is at this moment that Easter reveals to Queen who her father really is by saying, "Pray for him Queen. He your Pappy."

While James is gone, Queen serves the ladies of the house, Lizzie and the now elderly Sally Jackson, as does Queen's mother, Easter. During a diphtheria epidemic, both Easter and Jane come down with the disease. Lizzie sends for the family doctor, but he tells her there is nothing to be done about Jane's deadly condition. Jane dies, and soon Easter becomes ill. Just as James returns from the battlefield, Easter dies with Queen at her side.

Regarding the plantation as her rightful home, Queen vows to stay with "her people". However, though Sally Jackson has been kind to her granddaughter over the years, she is also pragmatic in the aftermath of the war and Emancipation and makes it clear that Queen can expect no help or support from her white family. After a mishap and near run-in with Mr. Henderson (James' foreman) and his friends, Queen returns home, tired and hungry. When questioned by Lizzie as to where she's been, Queen accuses her mistress of treating "an old dog better" than her. When James finally comes back to the plantation for good, he finds that Queen is leaving.

Now on her own, Queen finds it hard to find a place in society. Because she is very light-skinned, Queen does her best to 'pass' as a white woman; sometimes it works, sometimes she is recognized as black. Along the way, she befriends Alice, a young woman in the same position. Teaching Queen how to not give herself away with "slave talk", Alice takes her new friend under her wing. While at a local dance hall (for white folk), Queen meets Digby (Victor Garber), a seemingly religious, ex-Confederate soldier who treats African-Americans as if they were animals. Digby falls in love with Queen and soon, the two become engaged to marry. When Queen tells Alice of the events leading up to Digby's proposal, Alice is horrified and tells Queen that she cannot marry him, but Queen ignores her warnings.

Making a nearly deadly mistake, Queen confesses to Digby that she is the daughter of a slave woman and Colonel Jackson. Digby is infuriated and tries to rape her. In the end, she is beaten and raped anyway. Fearing that she will be found out as well, Alice turns Queen away, leaving her to fend for herself. Desperate and starving, Queen seeks help from the black community, which takes her in. A job is arranged for her with two white women, Miss Mandy and Miss Giffery, who hire her as a housemaid.

Seemingly well-settled, Queen attends a local African church, where she meets an African-American man named Davis. The two fall in love, and Queen finds herself pregnant with his child. Promising her that they will run to freedom, Queen leaves for the train station, but Davis never shows. Obviously abandoned, Queen is taken under the wing of Doris, a woman from the church where she and Davis met. At first, Queen opts to abort her pregnancy. At the last minute, she changes her mind and returns to Mandy and Giffery's house.

Calling Queen a sinner, Miss Mandy, along with Giffery's help, plans to steal her child as soon as it is born and raise him as their own. When Queen gives birth to a boy, whom she vows to name for his father, Miss Giffery declares that Davis is the name of an adulterer and baptizes the child as Abner. Feeling like an outcast, Queen asks for help from the preacher at her church. He says that there is nothing she can do to stop the women from stealing her son; they're white and she's black.

Convinced it's the only way out, Queen takes Abner and runs for her life, planning to move north and open a flower shop. She gets a job with an aristocratic woman, Mrs. Benson, nearby and eventually comes across Davis leading a Black strike. He is captured and brought before a judge, but manages to convince the man to let him and his followers go. He and Queen reconcile shortly thereafter. However, Mrs. Benson tricks her into leading the KKK, of which Mr. Benson is a member, to Davis' hideout in the woods. They approach his house and he comes out armed with a shotgun, but is forced to lower his weapon when he sees that they have Abner. He is then lynched and Queen finds his charred body the next day, with her child in a cage beside him. She sets out on the road again.

She soon meets Alec Haley, a widowed African-American farmer (who also runs the ferry), raising his young son, Henry. At first, Queen finds a job, again as a housemaid, with a kind, old man, Mr. Cherry. In the process, Queen and Alex fall in love and eventually marry. While each has a son from a previous relationship (Queen has Abner and Alec has Henry), the two have a third son together, named Simon. He will later become the father of writer Alex Haley, the famed author of "Roots" and of Queen's life story.

As their boys grow up, Abner wants to leave home to find his own place in the world, Simon wants to attend college, and Henry wants to stay on the farm. While Alec tells Abner he can go, Queen refuses to let her firstborn depart, telling him that Alec Haley is not his real father. Queen seems to lose her sense of reality, and a fear of fire overtakes her life. Shoving pieces of clothing into the stove, her skirt catches fire, and she runs out into the wilderness. It is only the next morning that she is found by a neighbor and his son. Queen is admitted to a mental institution, where she encounters Mr. Cherry, the man she'd worked for years ago. Queen asks Mr. Cherry to loan her fifty dollars so that Simon can go to college. He lends her the money, and all three of the Haley boys leave home. The miniseries ends with Queen and Alex sitting on their front porch as Queen tells her story of growing up as a slave owner's daughter.