Slavery in Virginia
This is “historical fiction.” I would like for you to write a first-person narrative from the position of a slave in Virginia.
It would be very easy to get overwhelmed by this topic so try using just your textbook index for “slavery” and concentrating on the entries that are closest to the outbreak of the Civil War…certainly Chapters 8, 9, and 10 for this.
The time frame is just after the results of the Election of 1860 are announced. Tell me all about slavery from the point of view of a slave of your same-sex. What have you been hearing about the tensions between the North and the South? Do you think there will be a war…a Civil War?
Where do you live, are there other slaves and if so, how many…how many acres on the farm/plantation…what is your family history (be sure to incorporate a statement about how your family got to America (and remember that the year 1808 is crucial-no further legal importation of slaves was allowed so don’t tell me that you were born in Africa), what kind of master do you have, how’s your health, what is your family situation, what are your religious beliefs? How do you live from day to day-what is your work day like?
How does your master justify keeping you as a slave-what does he say about the northern factory workers? What do you think of the free blacks in Virginia? Did you ever think about resisting? What have you heard about slave rebellions? What might you do if war breaks out? WHILE THIS IS FICTION, YOU MUST TREAT IT AS HISTORICAL FICTION AND INCLUDE SPECIFIC AND FACTUAL INFORMATION FROM THE TEXT BOOK. USING OTHER RESOURCES IS NECESSARY TO FULLY ANSWER THIS QUESTION.
Okay, I know I said to try to keep this manageable but…try this interesting www site:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/index.html
Contemplate being a slave in a non-agricultural setting…how about working at the University of Virginia in various capacities:
http://www.locohistory.org/Albemarle/Slaves_at_the_University_of_Virginia.pdf
A good bibliography:
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/SlaveryInVA.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/bowa/a-birthplace-that-experienced-slavery-the-civil-war-and-emancipation.htm
More help:
Here are a couple of nice sources for your Exam 3 project. Remember to include any sources you used on this project…points will be taken off for failure to do so!
https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/about-this-collection/
On the one below, be sure to take a look at the block called “Reading the Narratives” because it will give you some insight to the wording of the stories…worth your time to contemplate!
http://www.civil-war.net/narratives/slavenarratives.asp
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/WPA/wpahome.html
