[music] Yes, hello and welcome to the dubious book of Famous Deeds. The history podcast that looks at the world as the Victorians did by way of a book from 1889 that I found in an alleyway, the pictorial treasury of famous men and famous deeds. I'm Paul Bates, your host, not a historian, not a scholar, but each episode I do my best to explain what the hell this book is talking about. This week we're going back to Russia. This book loves Russia. Russia was a vast empire in the mid-1800s but in many ways a backwards one. For one thing, it was still a quasi-futal state consisting of millions of surfs forced to work on the land of their lords, landlords. But the emperor Alexander II was determined to do something about it and on March 5th, 1861, the day after the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in the United States, Alexander proclaimed the emancipation of the surfs. It didn't happen overnight and it wasn't a smooth ride, but we're going to hear from what purports to be a first-hand account of that historic day. And joining me for this episode, an old friend and castmate from the second city, he is an actor, a comedian, an innovator, and a provocateur. My words, not his. Please welcome Anand Rajaram. Alright Anand, this is Chapter 11. Here we go. The emancipation of the surfs. This is S-E-R-F-S-S-S. Yes, the surfs. Yeah, you remember the surfs? I'm familiar with the surfs. Everyone had been long looking for the great event, but looking for its occurrence at some more distant day. Unpleasant rumors were ever afloat, and it was ever being alleged that new and insuperable difficulties had arisen. I just learned that word. Insuperable. Well, the amazing thing, too, is that this is a profound lead-up. This is a great lead-up, too, without naming what it is. Extended paragraphs. I hope it goes on for another five paragraphs without naming it. You let me know when we finally get to what it is. You let me know if it went longer or shorter than what you expected. Alright. And super, by the way, it means impossible to overcome. Okay. True many had heard that the printing presses of the government were at work night and day throwing off hundreds of thousands of the long looked for proclamation. But it was felt that these rumors might be baseless reports, such as R in constant circulation in a populous city. Okay, so already we know it's a proclamation we're looking for. If this is about slavery, this is going to be a heavy chapter. Okay, go ahead. Yeah, there's a lot of slavery in this book. It's not going to lie. No doubt. Contrary to what is usually the case, in this instance, the secret of government was perfectly preserved. It was expedient that it should be so. The occasion was extraordinary. Still no mention of what it is, but the important thing is there's the first time the government secrets have not been leaked. Yeah, that's right. They kept the secret to spring the surprise on the populous. They're building up expectations. There's a lot of anticipation building. Lots of expectation. That's at least three paragraphs now. Okay. At first, the populous, at least the populous and the metropolis. Okay, so it's not just the city base that you can't great. Seemed to receive the intelligence of the intended repeal of the law establishing surfdom with deep interest. Well, that's the clue right away. It's about surf. So I should have said it's clear about the emancipation. But afterwards, as year after year passed away and nothing was done, the interest lost much of its intensity amongst the multitude. So they've been waiting a long time for this promised repeal to happen. But at length, on the fifth day of the month of March in the year 1861, an event occurred which will make this year so memorable in Russia. Okay. Okay. That millions of her people will date from it as the epoch commencing a new era in the history of the nation. On this fifth day of March, which happened to be the last day of the carnival at early morning prayers, a small body of worshipers were privileged. That's a hard twist. Wait a minute. That's a really hard twist. We're at a carnival now. Yes, we are in a carnival. Well, we're talking about Russian surfdom emancipation and now we're at a carnival. It is a hard left turn. It's a pretty big turn. Okay. We're getting to the homestretch here. Meanwhile at the zoo. A small body of worshipers were privileged to be amongst the first to learn that the set time had come and on that very day, would their freedom be proclaimed? Okay. So here we go. So it is the last day of the carnival. I looked up which carnival it is. It is the carnival called Maslenitsa. Maslenitsa. Yeah, or Butter Week. Oh, okay. It's Butter Week in Russia. It takes place the last week before Lent. Highlights include the Sunday of Forgiveness when one can seek forgiveness from family and friends and offer small gifts. And also the burning in effigy of Lady Maslenitsa in which a giant scarecrow is built, dressed in finery, and then that finery is ripped from her. She is set of flames, her ashes to spread fertility amongst the crops. Wait a minute. So they drew, but what does she represent? I think renewal, but I couldn't quite figure out what Lady Maslenitsa represents exactly. The thing that kind of twigged with me is that you said she is dressed in finery and then at the last minute they stripper of the finery and then set fire to her. Yes. Which is what we are about to see happen to the aristocracy in Russia. That's why I am saying I wonder if it is a precursor that they have been meaning to do this for decades. I love that foreshadowing. That's great. Okay, so this is indeed the emancipation of the serfs of Russia in 1861. Now when they say that people had long expected it to happen and then finally had lost interest saying it's never going to happen. Maybe it'll happen one day. It's because the Tsar initially announced that he would emancipate the serfs in a speech to the country's nobility back in March 30th 1856. So five years prior in which he stated it is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for that time when it starts to abolish itself from below. Well, that's wise, but now can is there any clarity on what the nature of an emancipated serf is versus one under serfdom? What do they suddenly have the ability to do? They can no longer be sold. Okay. They have the right to travel and marry at will prior to that. They had to ask permission of the landlords on whose estates they lived and worked. They could own property, not just real estate, but personal property. And they could seek out their own livelihoods and work. Okay. Is there a sense of the percentage of the population that are serfs here? Yes. That was disgusting. 34% of the Russian population. It's a massive of people then. It's huge. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Let's keep going. Yep. At the conclusion of the service says a Russian eyewitness. The priest advancing amongst them said, "Yordfe-Dox. Come again to church today. And after Mass I will read in your hearing the imperial edict which will fill your hearts with joy. "Joy, such as your fathers and your fathers' fathers, did not even dare to dream of. Come then, yet again to the temple of God, and honor this day by a quiet and sober gladness. Not giving yourselves up to that revelry unhappily so common on these holy days, in which the church is already commencing the services of land." So don't drink. Everybody stay sober, come back to church, listen to this important message. Yeah. That means that the church was on the side of the 30%. The whole thing about coming back to church and hearing this proclamation, I think that was the intent of the government of Russia to get the word out as widely and as efficiently as possible. Oh, right. That makes sense. Every church is going to have to read this to reach the widest possible audience. Right. That makes sense. I'll get that. The hearts of the more quickwitted of the hearers beat high on hearing this in spiriting announcement. Others scarcely knew what these things meant. [Laughter] There's always the one. [Laughter] But all talking with subdued tones amongst themselves went to their several homes. Each one bearing to their kindred these the glad tidings of great joy, which were still involved in a veil of mystery intensifying the entry into the church.
they created. They know how to tease a lead. Yeah, yeah. The same announcement was doubtless made in all the churches of the Medropoulos, and the joyful intelligence, passing from mouth to mouth, was speedily diffused through the dwellings of the rich and poor alike, reaching at once the Garrett and the Cellar, and filling with gladness the hearts of all who hear it. Well, I'll tell you who wasn't glad. The nobility. No, they probably weren't, but maybe. I mean, it'd be interesting to think about what their benefit would be besides not being murdered in their sleep. Yeah. I mean, there's got to be a way that they thought, this could, we can make something good of this. The nobility always finds a way to turn something like that around. Yeah. Well, we'll get to that because they kind of did. Right. Long before the commencement of the service, the people had begun to assemble in the church. Some were sitting in the porch, others within the church on benches of the recesses, but there was little speaking, most satan's islands. Others quietly communicated to each other their views and feelings, but deep thought was manifest on every countenance. The worship commenced. In all the service, there was something unusually solemn. Whether it was that the priests were affected by the great announcement they were called to make to the people, or whether it only seemed so because the heart of the worshipper was in a state of expectancy of something great. It would be difficult to say, but so it was. Now, I have a question here. I know from popular culture about Italian hand gestures and communication. Oh, yeah. I'm not aware of the subtlety of Russian silent gesture. That communicates ideas. Is it a lot of eyebrow raising or head tilting or do you know what I mean? Yeah. I think I associate stoicism with their countenance. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Just a lot of furrowed brows, I think, and maybe a gentle nod, like the subtlety of nods. Yeah. Or considering this is a round the time of Rasputin. Maybe it's a hint of telepathy. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So just silently speaking to each other through their eyes, what do you think is going to have? Very intense conversations through that stoicism. The service being finished. Three priests and a Deacon, loved to that show, in their resplended robes, came out from the holy place and stood before the golden gates. The Deacon then stepped forward with paper in hand. I was in the middle of the crowd. What? There's a first person account now. Okay. This is a huge twist. Yeah. I'm not sure if this is a callback to says a Russian eyewitness before, but is it a quote? No. Well, that's interesting. Like it's a lot of liberty being taken here. Halfway is a lot. Has that happened in past chapters? Never before has halfway through a chapter. The story gone from third person to first person. Right. I was in the very middle of the crowd, but to my surprise, I saw nothing of that pressing and squeezing generally witnessed in such circumstances. This arose, I suppose, from everyone fearing to lose the opening words of the decree. I unintentionally turned around. That happens to all of us, just a spontaneous spin around and see. Whoa, I just pivoted 180 degrees. It's very not stoic. So it's a big deal. It's a big move. What a scene presented itself all around me. Thousands of most varied faces, faces of old and young, faces of males and females, faces of parties worn out with hard labor, and faces of parties full of strength and vigor of manhood, but faces mostly kind and mild in their expression expressed in their diversified features, one and the same feeling of the most profound attention. Huh. It made me look up diversity in 1861, Russia. All variations of cousins I would imagine. No, although it's a big empire. It's a big empire, and I think it grew so big that there were dozens upon dozens of distinct ethnic groups. At least 19 spoken languages in Russia, at least 16 practiced religions. This is from an 1897 census, so things had changed maybe a little, but about half of the people in Russia spoke Russian primarily, and 70% of them practiced the Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which is the religion of the church that we're in in this story. I would be interested in the tactics of the day. I mean, if it was done today, it would be, there'd be an advert. What are you going to do when we're free? Well, why not come on a trip to Vladivostok? You know, support your bed in breakfast. Yeah, there would be so you're free. What now? And then of course, the surf was like, I'm free now. You can't beat me and then would get beat anyway. Yeah, that's right. Well, I'm noble and I act with impunity. All right, where in any heathen land could such a peaceful, holy, solemnity be possible during the reading of the decree, which lasted nearly half an hour, not a wrestle nor a cough, not a moving of a boot heel on the marble pavement of the church even broke the silence. Long must it be since any oration or discourse has called forth such intensified attention. No, or need we wonder what could be more eloquent than the announcement of freedom proclaimed from the steps of the Christian altar before the open gates of salvation. And that at once to 23 millions of men, 23 million surfs. Well, you know what's interesting to me for that is the flex of its inner church and lengthy oration by one person is Christ. So this is saying this is a Christ-like situation. Oh, you see what I mean? Yes, I do. It feels like it's built on the same parallel. Long since is probably that reference. It sounds like the Tsar was beloved and next to God to them. There seem to be a lot of skepticism and distrust of the aristocracy and nobility, yet a lot of faith-based in the intentions of the emperor. Yeah, fast and you know, the Thailand is like that. Oh, yeah, they love their king. They really love their king. Do you know that thing where you take a, you can't do it now with the plastic money, but with the paper, 20, you used to be able to fold Queen Elizabeth's face so that when you tilt it up and down, she smiles her friends. Yeah, I did that in Thailand and I almost got killed. Oh my God. This mussely guy in a motorbike was like, you cannot do that to our king. And I was like, Oh, I'm sorry. It's just a joke. And he was like, no, no, no, no, no, you don't mess with our king. Wow. Yeah. Wow. And this is a guy who clearly murdered somebody. So yeah, you know what happened to the last guy that folded a bill like that. 23 million serfs. Wow. That's intense when Lincoln's emancipation proclamation was delivered that freed four to 4.5 million slaves, about 15% of the US population. However, if you count just the US south, the percentage of slaves of that area is around 35 to 40%. So as much closer to the percentage of Russian serfs that got freed. Wow. I mean, what's interesting is the ramifications of that idea of voicing that social change on a population not ready for the change. Right. Because of the the current ramifications of that, considering, you know, the way Russia is now, where it seems like they still want a kingly state or they maintain one anyway under Putin, you know what I mean? Yeah. The more I learn about Russia from this book, the more it seems to me that the state of Russia now is in its DNA and has been in its DNA for hundreds of years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. That's what I mean. And ramifications of it continue. The Deacon having finished reading, incidentally, half an hour, like I skimmed through that proclamation. That's like sitting down and having someone read you the terms and conditions of your cell phone agreement. Well, yeah, but you know what? It's a different time because they would have been a rhetorical culture where people would have listened to speeches with a different, I think different focus or remembered an oral tradition. I'm assuming still a huge amount of illiteracy. Yeah. So they would have been attuned to like actually, maybe somebody, you know, there'd be some some kid who, you know, would be paraded around the town because he memorized the whole thing. I'm one listening. I'm going to stay fair. And now the amazing Anton. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll find out how Alexander the second managed to pull off this feet. And also, what was in the fine print of this declaration? Was it good news? If it was good news, it wouldn't be printed so small. Fine print is never good news. That's why I never read it. Anyways, find out after this brief but necessary break. This episode is brought to you by Spreaker, the platform responsible for a rapidly spreading condition known as podcast brain. Symptoms include buying
microphones you don't need, explaining RSS feeds to confused relatives, and saying things like "sorry, I can't talk right now, I'm editing audio!" If this sounds familiar, you're probably already a podcaster. The good news is, "Spreaker makes the whole process simple." You record your show, upload it once, and "Spreaker distributes it everywhere people listen." Apple podcasts, Spotify, and about it doesn't apps your cousins swears are the next big thing. Even better, "Spreaker helps you monetize your show with ads," meaning your podcast might someday pay for more microphones. Start your show today at spreaker.com, "Spreaker," because if you're going to talk to yourself for an hour, you might as well publish it. We're back. We've reached the end of the reading of the Emperor's Proclamation. Now let's find out how it was implemented and how it was received. As we continue, in part 2 of chapter 11, with Anand Rajaram, "The Deacon having finished reading the concluding word, the signature of the Tsar. Alexander loudly resounded through the arches of the church, and loudly was the name re-echoed by the hearts of the heirs. And that blessed name was proclaimed the freedom of 23 millions of men. What must the Emperor have felt in that all-complete, all-confirming word?" Alexander II changed a lot of things about Russia. Ending Serf Tim was his most notable and greatest accomplishment. He also sold Alaska to the United States. He eliminated taxes on being Jewish. This is a really progressive guy. However, he was also responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Sir Cassians that we covered in a prior episode of this podcast when we read about Shamil. He survived five assassination attempts and was finally assassinated in 1881 at the age of 62. So I guess not everyone loved this. Is that right? Do you know how assassinated by, like, was he shivered or was it a gunshot? Bombs. Bombs. People kept throwing bombs at him. Some people pulled guns on him. A lot of people tried to set off bombs, and it was from a radical political party that wanted to see an end to the crown. Now what must the Emperor have felt in that completing all-confirming word? Probably this has been a tremendous pain in my ass. I got to get into the background of this. Okay. This is one of the last countries who abandoned the feudal system. To end the feudal system in Russia, I guess there were a couple of good reasons to do it for the Emperor. One, as we discussed was better to do it now before they do it themselves and overthrow everyone. Two, the Industrial Revolution was passing them by. Tens of millions of people in bondage meant an enormous chunk of the population unable to buy and sell goods and take part in an economy. Alexander really hoped that he would be creating a market economy and a new middle class with the elimination of Serfdom. Naturally, the nobility hated the idea because they looked at the Serfs as a hereditary right. This was a law since ancient times. They were instrumental in maintaining the aristocracy's lavish lifestyle. There were about 103,000 landed estates upon which these 23 million Serfs worked and lived. But because the country is so big and the climate was so varied, depending on where you went, these Serfs worked in wildly different jobs and positions and ways. Some of them were farmers, some of them were hunters, some of them were servants. So there was no easy way to extract the Serf from the landed estates across the whole country in one edict. This is why it was so long in words. Bessar had to establish provincial committees to sort out the best way to settle the matter. But of course, the nobility sat in on all the committees and really fought hard against giving the Serfs any land. The most opposed were the 4% of landlords who owned 44% of the Serfs. They were exerting political influence to try and slow down and reverse the decision, but they didn't have a leg to stand on. There was no possible justification for Serfdom anymore other than to maintain the lifestyle to which they had grown accustomed. It had persisted in part because the landowners depended on the Serfs to fulfill their obligations to the government of the Empire of Russia. But 100 years prior, the landlords were liberated of that obligation. So they're like, "Oh, we don't have to provide to the government anymore." But for another 100 years, we're still going to take from these people who live on our land. They reached a compromise eventually through these committees and the compromise included land for each Serf. Wow, they got land. They got land. Did they actually fulfill that? It looks like they fulfilled the promise, too, right? Not like the states. 40 acres in a meal never happened. Yeah, right. The land was fulfilled, but there were catches, which we will get to. Yeah. Incidentally, I don't know if you know this, but Queen Elizabeth was the grandmother to the Tsar of Russia, as well as the King of England, as well as the Emperor of Germany. And I'm not sure which other heads of state. So they were all cousins. They were all related. But it must be, you know, some familial conflict as well if whoever was the first emancipated their Serf's, that suddenly becomes, you know, kind of the, the darling of the bunch, you know? And then it becomes a competitive thing. Or the black sheep of the bunch. If like the first monarch was like, you know what, no more, no more Serf to have. And everyone is just like, oh, you just ruined it. Yeah, you ruined it for everybody. Yeah, exactly. On leaving the church, I heard as I passed through the crowd several short and unconnected exclamation such as these. Glory be to God. We have lived to see the day at last. God grant many happy years to our father, the Tsar. He has kept his word. The word of the Tsar never fails. He has remembered us. Now we must pray and pray earnestly to God. I love an earnest prayer. Yeah. Like the ironic prayers are so, are so empty. Such were the shouts and remarks heard from the crowd. "Aye, but did you hear two years yet?" said a young sledge driver to his companion. "Hower, why should it be otherwise?" Was the ready reply. "You would have it all done out of hand at once, would you? Why you yourself take some three hours simply to harness your horse." Oh, burn. That's a sick burn. Okay, here's one of the compromises reached between the government and nobility in the emancipation of the serfs and transition of land to them. There would be a transition period of two years in which the serfs would still do their obligatory labor for the landowners. The labor on the field was called "barcina." Barcina usually required three days a week of unpaid labor. However, many landlords abused the system and had their serfs working six unpaid days a week because they could. So one of the disappointments of emancipation was that you find out you're free, but for two more years you still have to be a serf. So it gets way worse for two years, really solidly worse. Yeah. In the streets, a young lad, a workman, in some factory, apparently worse for liquor. He attempted to call out "hera." But immediately there was heard on all sides of him such reproofs as these. What are you giving tongue for there? Why are you bawling you drunken fellow? Oh, the wretch to get muddled on this day. To be fair, this guy didn't know there was going to be. This was a surprise. It was a surprise, right? Yeah. I mean, if it's the last day of the carnival, someone's going to say, "I can't wait to get lit." I know. Why are you in the last day of the carnival? That's why it's terrible. Yeah. That's the best day in the last day. It's the easily the last, yeah, the big party at the end. We're going to burn Lady Malasnitsa today, such whether we're proofs showered on him from all sides. And his attempts at a noisy demonstration completely failed. What are you snapping at? He growled between his teeth and he staggered off home. Little side story there, just shaving drinkers. Well, listen, my understanding of russia is it's a very strong drinking culture. So this guy could have been just an alcoholic. He needed to drink to just get through the day. Right. And now he's celebrating with his fellow countrymen and they shout out to you, idiot. And honestly, let's say maybe he did hear that all the serfs were going to be freed. He's just like, "This calls for a drink." You know what I mean? Exactly. Exactly. And I think it inherently shows that they may be free, but they'll still be dicks to each other. The sun was shining brightly and the warm breath of spring was in the air. I hastened home to congratulate my family on the liberation of the serfs. In the chronicles of russia, there is not recorded a brighter, a more Christian day. We get it. You're Christian.
God bless the author of this great joy and gladness to the Russian people. The author of this truly Christian triumph, an achievement of which Russians and mankind at large may ever be proud. This reads like a press release from the office of the Emperor. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Well, especially with the guy running home telling his family and about the liberation of the serfs, sounds like he was not a serf himself. Yes, that's right. So there's a privileged perspective in this as well, but yeah. So it is a good time to get into the rest of what the serfs had to do for their freedom. Surely there must have been a lot of happiness about this. Everybody must have felt that there are place in the country is going to be elevated in some way. But evidence also shows that this was met with confusion, dissatisfaction, and some anger. In simple terms, the former serf holders received through their negotiations with government of generous compensation. And the former serfs were saddled with a litany of regulations and obligations. Obviously, they hated the idea that they still had to work their landlords fields for two more years. On top of that, they now had their own parcel of land. So some serfs were like, I've got this land, but I have no time to actually work it because I'm spending all my days still working in my landlords fields. The serfs didn't just receive land. They were forced to buy the land from their landlords at unfavorable terms. The landlords were compensated for it immediately. The serfs had to pay the government for it in installments plus interest over the next 49 years. 49 years, wow. Yeah. So there were serfs on smaller plots of land growing crops while still working on the states and then having to sell all the grain they grew just to cover the cost of their own liberation. Right. You know, one of the things that really kind of struck me about even in slavery with the emancipation that happened is that prior to that, slaves disgustingly were a property of the owner. But what that meant was the owner had invested interest in the health and well-being of the slave to make sure that they didn't get sick. Whereas once they were liberated, then suddenly they had to take care of their own. And this is where we're talking about like the state of America right now is a form of modern slavery. Right. Because they found other ways to institute that supremacy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The one thing I would like to imagine though is that just prior to the deacon stepping out to make this proclamation, there was one cause player dressed as Moses saying let my people go. Now I'm just imagining cause play through the centuries. It feels like it's a recent thing. Well, I'd like to think, I mean, listen, royalty apparently had cosplay because it would dress as serfs and go, you know, dress as the commoners walk through the city. Yeah. It's just you couldn't do it the other way around because you couldn't get regal robes without being, you know, you have to, well, yeah, you'd have to make it like a true cosplayer. Like find the fabric and sew everything together. And then you show everyone what a great job you did of constructing a regal costume. Yeah. Everyone's like, how one's the best one? You win. You win the carnival. Yeah. Although I will say that religious festivals around the world have done cause play for centuries, you know, whether you're dressing as Christ on the cross or Hindu idols or Hindu gods. I saw a guy dressed as Shiva walk barefoot painted his whole body blue. This was intense cosplay. He painted his whole body blue. He got a tiger or leopard skin somehow and made a loincloth. And he had his hair tied up in like a massive thing and he had a little bowl and walked around. Was it as part of any kind of festival or event or was it just like straight up just I'm going out dressed as Shiva? I think he was more akin to like somebody who makes their money outside man's Chinese theater as an impressionist. I think it was his profession. Got it. Take pictures with me. And to be fair, I mean, he was barefoot walking through the streets. So probably he was poor. And this is his way of making money. So it was one of those things of shaming people into giving you money because how can you deny giving money to someone dressed as a god? It wasn't so much a photo op. I see what you mean. Just the average person begging on the street, you go, you can make some more effort like this guy. Yeah. He had much effort. Why can't you be more like Shiva? Yeah, exactly. On the following morning, oh, there's more. I thought you ended the chapter. I'm sorry. No. There is an epilogue. Okay. On the following morning, a friend of mine, a foreigner called on me and the conversation naturally turned to the event of the day. You Russians said he, there's no evidence of this guy's American, but I'm making him American. Sure. Are estranged people? An event so important, one for which you have been waiting apparently with great impatience has it length broken upon you and there was not the slightest demonstration. Oh, yes, said I. There was a demonstration only you did not remark it. Was there indeed? Where? How? A very original one certainly was my reply. Yesterday, the last day of the carnival, usually a day for revelry and drunkenness, the gin shops were empty and the churches were full. "Do you know," said my friend, continuing the conversation, "I could not help thinking yesterday that while with you this truly great work has been accomplished quietly and without disturbance on the other side of the globe, a great empire has fallen to pieces and a bloody struggle is commencing in connection with the same question that of slavery and freedom." Oh, so and that's the tide of the states apparently. Yes, that's the add a little foreshadowing. Well, and the other thing interesting about that is the United States, I think, was the last country to abolish it. Was it not? Yeah. And Russia being the last to abolish it. And it's interesting to compare this to the abolition of slavery in the United States because not only did they happen two years apart, almost every other country that got rid of slavery, the legislation or the edict or the proclamation that declared it abolished in most other countries followed the social change that made it inevitable. It was phasing itself out before the government stepped up and said, "Yeah, you're right, we should just phase this out." Russia and the United States stand out in that it came from the top down. This is a huge upheaval that we're going to do to our own countries and change it immediately. Another interesting contrast is that this one in Russia was the product of years of private negotiation and deliberation. Whereas in the United States, the work of sorting out how to do it only happened after the president proclaimed it and the House of Representatives passed it. All slaves became free, and then there were two years of real time legislation, public debate and planning, trying to figure out how to actually establish a new class of living for the freed slaves. I wonder if that's just a function of like a term presidency. I mean the same Trudeau passes the marijuana legislation, but we still don't have laws about driving, for example. And how do you test if someone's stone when they're driving? Yeah, I guess when you're in a democracy, and again, not a scholar, I watched Lincoln a couple of years ago. It is a fight just to move the ball forward a few inches. Right. There's a thing about Gandhi talking about how you change a society in order to adapt to these, like a legislation, and saying the important thing is to pass it in law first. Pass it in law first, and then you can figure out all the other ideological ideas or practical ideas about it, put it into place. Because if it's not true in law, then it can never be true in society. It's a thing Obama said that in government, you can only try to steer a ship like one degree because a boat takes a long time to change. So if you can get it to change one degree in course, it can have profound effects in the future. But for now, it feels like nothing. So now we've reached the end of the chapter. Yeah. Yeah. I'm so glad I got to hear about that. But from a first person, I witness account. You know what I would have loved to know is what his wife and kids said, were they were like, that's greater than they like, who cares? And keeping with the tone of this book, what the wife says is inconsequential. Of course. Yeah. No, we never hear from the wives. Yeah. I wonder if there's any merch from the time. Oh man. Like a cap. A little cap. Yeah, caps, mugs, key chains. 3561. 3561, never forget. Yeah. What else can I tell you about this? A lot of people believed when they heard that there was this whole two-year transition, where they still had to work for their landlords and essentially be surfs. A lot of people believed it was just a ruse by the aristocracy and not what the emperor intended in that they were being--
tricked in a way into continuing working and depermanently delay emancipation. To the point where one religious dissenter, named Anton Petrov, wrote his own version of the emancipation edict in simpler terms, but basically made up the rules and spread that around, disseminated that through the countryside and thus amplified his conspiracy theory that this was an employee by the inability to keep the bunter their thumb and it caused refusals to work, which caused the police called in for arrests of criminal activity, which caused some beatings and in one case, you know, a particularly brutal general calling on his army to fire into the crowd. But eventually things cooled off, you know, with that Russian stoicism, people just kind of got through the two years and I think in the long term, you know, it may have taken a generation or two, but they did succeed what they set out to do, which was to create a middle or at least working class in Russia. Well, to an extent, but they still felt the need for violent upheaval in the early 19s. That's true. So clearly it hadn't gone far enough or done enough. You're right. One of the byproducts of emancipation is that the emperor now had to deal with independent courts and with more free people, there was way more pressure to have an elected parliament to represent them. And I think that was the intent of the radical groups that ultimately assassinated him. Do you think that that surfs found liberation in like greeting each other by saying, what up surf? Do you think that was like a term that the aristocracy could not use? I think they would give each other a thubs up and say, surfs up. [LAUGHTER] My thanks to Anand for joining me for this chapter. You can find him on Twitter @hrhonadrajaram and on Instagram @hrh_onand_rajaram. Anand's latest project is called The Center for Cardboard Dreams. You can find out all about it at his digital performance website, c4cd.digital. Next episode, it's our season finale. And in true dubious book tradition, it's about someone you have never heard of. Print journalism may be dying these days, but we're going to talk about a guy who brought it to life. The citizen can of his day minus the toboggan. It's Edward Baines of Leeds. The dubious book of famous deeds is produced and recorded in Toronto. It's part of the Sonar Network. Go to thesonarnetwork.com and check out the many funny and thoughtful podcasts offered there. If you enjoy this podcast, please leave me a review. It goes a long way towards helping this show find its audience. You can subscribe as well so that you never miss an episode. Follow the podcast online at famous deeds on Twitter and Instagram @batespot9000. If you want to get in touch, whether to ask questions, correct my work, logic and complaint, or just say hi, I want to hear from you. Shoot an email to
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