Interpreting Slave Life

Posted By Nicole on October 18, 2012

Hopefully by now, many of you have read this excerpt from Henry Wiencek from his upcoming book, Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves.  If you haven’t, you need to read it and let all of that goodness sink in. Basically, Mr. Wiencek has discovered that along the way, historians, most notably those responsible for the 1953 edition of Jefferson’s Farm book, left out a passage that talks about brutal treatment to some of the enslaved boys who worked in the Nail Factory, to get them to be better workers. The only reason I can think of why a passage like that would be deleted is so we can continue in the fantasy and hero worship that we as Americans have developed for our founding fathers, without guilt or shame. But here is where I applaud Mr. Weincek. There’s always been something a little “off” about Jefferson to me, and I don’t discredit the amazing work he did for our country or the prolific writer that he was. But it just struck me as odd that he always seemed to have a severe internal struggle with freedom and owning slaves. And for the first time, I think due to what I am sure is going to be a controversial book, I think that feeling of, “ehhhh” might actually change to “ahhh…makes sense now”.

When most people think of Jefferson, they think of the man who wrote this beautiful Declaration of Independence. Some have images of a benevolent slave owner who treated his slaves like family, but when it comes to talking about slaves being like family…and then crossing over into slaves being IN the family, it seems that there is a disconnect as if this could never be. And that’s what I think I like most about Jefferson. His life should have been to many an awkward and complex situation where you knew something wasn’t right but you couldn’t put your finger on it. He ws a man who wrote all men, ALL MEN, were created equal, except for the men, women, and children who he owned.  Here’s the thing folks, to me, there’s no such thing as a good slave owner. Owning another person for your personal profit and gain is inherently wrong. As  a scholar, I have come to understand and long accept that slavery is what it is, and without it, this country probably wouldn’t be the hot mess of a powerhouse that it is right now. Do I believe that there were some slave owners who were better than others? Clearly, but that doesn’t change the fact that what they were doing was wrong. Somewhere in Jefferson’s mind, he KNEW what he was doing was wrong, but then greed took over and well…would you rather be broke and moral or wealthy and live with the guilt? I know that there are faithful lovers of Jefferson that will basically say all of this is complete rubbish but that’s your opinion and this is mine. What I think we fail to do is really examine who these men were and how they became who they were. Never forget the little people…or in this case, never forget the labor that helped him create this massive (and gorgeous) house on a hill. Never forget Martha’s half-sister whom Jefferson likely had children with. Never forget that for all men being created equal, even the slaves on Jefferson’s plantations weren’t treated equal. Please, PLEASE never forget that it is OKAY to be critical of a public figure that for so long people have held so dear. History isn’t supposed to make you feel good all the time. It should make you think long and hard about what happened in the past in order to get us to the present..good, bad and disgusting. When you lose sight of that and only go for the feel good portions, it’s harder to take in the information that pretty much gut punches you and leaves you breathless.

After reading the excerpt, I emailed Henry Wiencek to tell him how much I enjoyed the snippet and how I was looking forward to reading the whole book. I was surprised to get a response but more surprised at the tone. He seemed very grateful and relieved that someone was digging his work. I know a few people that loved the article but then I started looking at some of the flack he was getting and I understood. It’s hard to dash the hopes and dreams of so many and let them know their demigod was human and had faults. What I hope is that we start taking more critical views of our historic figures and drop the rose colored lenses. Everything has context and leaders involved in slavery have theirs. Perhaps this will lead the way for others to start putting their icons in a more realistic place.

Things in the article to look at: How Jefferson discovered how natural increase could naturally increase his pockets, the conditions in the nailery and the overseers he had.

image courtesy of Smithsonianmag.com

Category: Historians, Sally Hemings, slave life, slavery, Thomas Jefferson, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
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Posted By Nicole on October 11, 2012

Initially, when asked to do a blog post for Nicole, I was shocked that she would want to hear from someone who is so “green” in the world of interpreters.  After the initial the shock, came the proud honor to be selected to write something that would be published to this wonderful blog she has worked so hard to build and maintain.  You see, I haven’t been in the business of professional interpretation very long.  As a matter of fact, I am not sure I had the total desire to do this professionally until I actually applied for this job.  This is simply due to the stigma attached to “being a slave” and my own personal fears (mostly of snakes, mice and other wildlife)J.  All in all I had a sincere interest in history; primarily the Antebellum South and the Civil Rights Movement and I loved acting.  “Acting… That’s what I will be doing…” is what I shared with my students on my last day in the classroom with them.  They cheered, some cried, others had many more questions than I had time or answers for them at the time.  I had NO IDEA what I had gotten myself into.  All I knew, I was getting a better opportunity that would allow me to grow both professionally as well as personally.  I had no idea that the job I never thought I would work would soon change my life forever.

In order to understand my story, I guess I would have to start at the beginning.  So, here goes… “It was a cold day in February of 1983 when the world met Dontavius Williams…”  J  No, seriously, my first day on the job was actually two days before my birthday.  So as a “gift” on my birthday, I was privileged to lead a group tour.  “Nervous?” you may ask… There is not a real word in the English language that could describe the feelings I had going through me when I was asked to lead the tour.  This indeed proved to be a true learning experience for me.  Looking back, I have had quite a few of those moments.  Every day is a new opportunity to learn something new. And I LOVE it! After doing guided tours of the site for the month of February I learned a lot about the slaves who lived, worked, laughed, cried, and loved here.  Not long after I was hired, I was given the honor (responsibility) to oversee the planning of “THE” African American program for our site entitled “By the Sweat of Our Brows”.  This program has a special place in my heart because it is because of this program that I even came to know that Historic Brattonsville existed.  Almost 700 acres of historic goodness went hidden from me until I accepted the opportunity to be a slave for a day as a way to gain extra credit in a college class.  As the overseer of the planning of this project, I immediately got to work.  Thus, beginning a seven month journey to prove that I had the “chops” to hang with the “Big Dogs”; I mean, I had seven months to plan an awesome program that brought new faces and increased the knowledge of those who attended.  Thankfully, on September 8, 2012, the program was a HUGE success.  We had over 300 visitors to the event.   I was completely overwhelmed with happiness that the attendance to this program we worked so tirelessly was one of the largest  counts this program had seen in about 5 years.  It was through the planning of “By the Sweat of Our Brows” that I met some really nice people who would prove to help further my education in interpreting slave life.

During the planning of ‘Sweat’, I had the opportunity to meet the incomparable Michael W. Twitty.  I am so thankful for Nicole.  She opened the door for me to meet him and I had him come to Historic Brattonsville on his Southern Discomfort Tour.  Not only did I learn how to season and barbecue a pig, but I forged a friendship that I believe will be a lasting one.  I look forward to working with him again.  It was through Michael that I met hearth cook extraordinaire Ms. Clarissa Lynch  .  I had previously tried to contact her but was unsuccessful but I was so happy to finally get to meet her through Michael.  Clarissa is an awesome cook and in the short time I was in her presence in the brick kitchen, I learned so much.  I am happy to say that she will be volunteering with us more in the very near future.  I love how things  fall into place just right.

Since I am a neophyte in this fraternal order of African American interpreters, I have a long way to go but with great people like Nicole A. Moore, Michael W. Twitty, Clarissa Lynch, and Mrs. Kitty Wilson-Evans to look up to, I have NOTHING to worry about.  I am forging my own path through this world of interpretation, and I am glad I have great people who I can call on to help me grow.  I like to call them my family.  As I say in the “Quarters”, “Now dat you been here, you is family now.”  As I continue to honor those whose shoulders upon which I stand, I challenge you dear readers to dig deep into history and push past the lies and stigmas related to slavery and you will see the world in a very different light.

-Don

For more information about Historic Brattonsville, you may visit our website at www.chmuseums.org.  To contact Dontavius Williams you may email me at dwilliams@chmuseums.org.

Category: Guest Bloggers, historic brattonsville, historic interpretation, slave life, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Posted By Nicole on September 28, 2012

On Sept 22nd, many commemorated the 150th anniversary of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. My twitter buddy @SlaveryDatabase participated in an event that celebrated the crossing of the Rappahannock River. In 1862, slaves crossed this river in Virgnia in an act of self emancipation. The images by Timothy O’Sullivan capture refugees crossing at Tinpot Ford and they speak volumes. The reenactment on Saturday saw a large group of participants make the same trek to freedom in what I’m sure was an emotional and almost haunting experience. Knowing that you were literally following the footsteps of those who 150 years prior used this route to claim freedom had to be absolutely incredible. There are some fantastic images at Historic Wanderings, so feel free to head over and check them out. (image from the Library of Congress)

The New York State Museum has an amazing traveling exhibit on the Emancipation Proclamation that looks pretty dern spectacular. Among other amazing pieces of history, the exhibit The First Step to Freedom: Abraham Lincoln’s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation is traveling with a hand written draft of the prelim proc. The beauty of this (teachers, I’m looking at you!!) is that even if you cannot make it to the exhibit in person, you can (teachers this includes your classes) still discover everything via the website. Not only that, there is an Education Packet that provides pretty much all the material you need to make lessons POP.  The packet is in a .pdf so feel free to download and take a look.

Now how do I feel about the famous proclamation? Honestly, it’s one of those documents that I see at face value. In my face, it looks like a document that just exerts executive power and was not written with the meaning that we’ve given it. Lincoln found himself between a rock and hard place. First and foremost, he wanted to preserve the Union. It didn’t matter if African Americans received freedom as long as the United States were once again united. I look to a quote from Lincoln from a letter to Horace Greenley of the New York Tribune where he said “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.“ While I am of course grateful that he opted to use Emancipation as a war tactic, it leaves me uneasy that he finally acted upon the requests of many like Frederick Douglass as a means to get what he wanted…preservation of the Union. I give Lincoln the proverbial side-eye especially when reading the proclamations that gave freedom only to those slaves who lived in the states that were in rebellion. It tells me that if you were a slave fortunate enough to live in a state where they gave the middle finger to the government, then you would be “rewarded” with freedom, but if you happened to live in a state that was sympathetic to the Union, yet still held slaves, then you were rewarded with a pat on the head and continued enslavement. What I also look at with skepticism is this whole colonization issue. Yes, I know and understand that there were Blacks who were indeed in favor of going back to Africa or pretty much anywhere but these here United States…after all, look at how they were being treated. But my question has always been, “How do you have the unmitigated gall to forcefully import a people and then decide..you ain’t got to go home but you got to get the hell outta here?” Where in the world do they do that at? Oh yea, these United States. I wonder often how those who were in states that sided with the Union felt seeing their counterparts who lived in those rebellious states get the freedom that rightfully belonged to them, unsure of when their moment would come. It’s moments like that where I find pride in those who snatched freedom whenever and however they could. Why wait for someone to give you freedom when they really don’t want to when you could get it yourself? I think that’s why the crossing at the Rappahannock River resonates so soundly for me.

What I do see in the Proclamation is finally an opportunity to be seen as somebody. Not a piece of property. Not a name on someone’s inventory.  I see Lincoln putting all his chips out there, betting the house and eventually winning. I see generations before and after rejoice in the opportunity to regain their culture. I don’t see a savior in Lincoln (I just don’t), instead I see a small piece of justice being served…by any means.

Read both the Preliminary Proclamation of 1862, as well as the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and tell me what the documents mean to you.

Category: Emancipation Proclamation, freedom, slavery, US History | 2 Comments »
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Posted By Nicole on September 28, 2012

This week we lost a giant. Eugene Genovese died on Sept 26 after a long illness. I don’t have any long and amazing stories to share about him, but what I do know is that his works on slavery have helped shaped the historian that I have become. A staple in my library is his work Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made. When I need to know where to start looking for something slave related, I head to this book. It has been the starting point for much of my research and for that I am grateful.

The work of Genovese has also helped me when it comes to interpreting slave life. It’s hard re-creating the life of a group that had been slighted so often and even more difficult when there is insufficient documentation, but the images that he invoked allowed me to press ahead and find ways to interpret the home life, that life away from the fields and big house, and really get to the core of what life was like for enslaved men and women.

Anyway, just a sad moment in history. I hope that scholars for years to come will continue to use and critique his work and learn as much, if not more, than I did.

If you don’t have it, you can buy Roll, Jordan, Roll here

Category: Genovese, Historians, slavery | No Comments »
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Posted By Nicole on September 10, 2012

The world of African American Historic & Cultural Interpreters is a small yet spread out one. But fortunately the internet, events and introductions are bringing this world closer together, and one of my goals is to showcase interpreters making this story happen. So I’ve reached out to a few people I’ve met, or worked with and invited them to tell their story in the form of a post. So far, I have three lined up and I hope to keep expanding.  In these posts I’ll do as little talking as possible and let the guests speak for themselves. First up is Clarissa Lynch.

image courtesy of Jacob Dillow

As a child Clarissa Clifton would search her grandmother’s wood burning stove looking for the knobs to turn it on.  After all, Grandma Lillie was always waiting for the weather to get cool enough to ditch her gas burning stove and cook on her wood burning stove.  This was the start of Clarissa’s fascination with food history.  Today she can be found doing living history demonstrations at Latta Plantation and other historic sites.  She loves to discuss recipes and cooking methods before it became out of fashion to use a biscuit to sop up some pot likker from a plate of Crowder peas. 

Why Do I Love Sukey?

I started interpreting the life of an enslaved cook in 2000 at the Tullie Smith Farmhouse in Atlanta, GA.  Though I have always had a passion for food history I didn’t realize how my passion would include telling the stories of the women and men who survived such dehumanizing conditions.  Sukey is the slave I am currently portraying at Latta Plantation in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Sukey has allowed me to see past the one dimensional caricature often shown by Hollywood to the woman with many facets.  Sukey is allowing me to convey more of her story than just being a cook.  Sukey was also mother, grandmother, and wife who longed to see freedom for herself and her descendants.  She survived the Civil War to see freedom and to have her name recorded in the 1870 census.  Researching family letters connected to Latta I also know that Sukey made no secret that she wanted her freedom and could see it coming.  She was not a passive woman who accepted life as it was.  Instead she had a dream that life could be more for herself and those she loved.

Sukey allows me to move past the sanitized version of slavery that has been promoted for so many generations.  The plantation lifestyle was definitely not sustainable since it required the labor of humans held in bondage with the threat of physical violence that could include death.  As I’ve gotten older I definitely appreciate the rare opportunity I have been given to share not just Sukey’s skills as a cook but also her story as a woman.

Category: Guest Bloggers, interpretation, slave life, US History | No Comments »
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Posted By Nicole on September 8, 2012

I realize that there are quite a few of you who get posts as emails delivered as soon as they are posted. You probably got a few today that looked like complete and utter foolishness or previews to posts that will come out next week. I apologize for the influx of emails and any confusion. I am tinkering with the layout and setting up a few pages and some of the pages got published. So for that, and the clutter I apologize!

Category: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
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Posted By Nicole on September 5, 2012

Okay I’m back at it. Teachers, and really anybody else looking for more resources, I’ve started a page dedicated to books, websites, suggested readings, whatever…for you to utilize. A lot of the websites have teaching guides to really simplify your search. Look at the bar above, click on the resources link and enjoy!

Now for part two I said I was going to discuss historic sites, provide resources and tips on how to teach slavery across subjects. Cool. I am happy that the last post was well received. I know that sometimes people don’t want you to tell them how to do their job; and I am definitely not telling you how to do your job, but these tips do help retain said employment in a day full of litigation and hurt feelings. So thanks for all the love that you’ve shown so far.

Historic Sites
If you are so lucky to live and work in a location that has a historic site within field trip range that discusses slavery and you have FUNDING to take said field trip, you may want to go ahead and book that. Not only will the site appreciate the revenue, but someone else gets to do the teaching! Okay so some of that was sarcasm because the best way to prepare students for what they are going to see, hear, and experience is preparing them before you get on the buses to head out to the site. (Oh you didn’t think we don’t notice a group that talked about what they would learn in the classroom v. on the bus in the parking lot? HA!) If a site is worth it’s weight in gold, then they will have pre-trip and post-trip materials for the teachers to help them prep then review. If you’ve visited a site that doesn’t do it–make the suggestion. Most sites are looking for that feedback from teachers because we are educators too and if we’re not meeting the needs of your students, then we’re not doing our job. Say what you loved and then let us know what you’d like to see. Your reviews however that talk about how the interpreters/educators couldn’t control  your students because they were out of hand? Those don’t help us because we are looking at YOU  to reign in your class. Which brings me to the next point.

Historic Site Etiquette
CONTROL YOUR STUDENTS. Now to be fair, I didn’t experience a lot of groups with this problem, but that’s because I leveled with students early. Other interpreters were not so lucky some times. If you treat me with respect, I will treat you like an adult. For kids, being told they would be treated like an adult was kind of huge, so they gave me the attention I needed, and their teachers breathed easy. But it’s important that you lay down the law early on because usually interpreters have about 20 or 30 minutes to present their station. You’d be amazed at how fast that time can fly when you take into account getting students settled-presenting-doing any demonstration-Q&A. If we have to throw in calming  your students down? It takes out of the presentation/demo/q&a. With attention spans becoming smaller and smaller every year, that demo period is usually what your students will remember. The other thing about making sure you have a handle on your students also has to do with their safety and the safety of historic objects. The safety of the student is number one.

I’ll give you a few examples. If I’m cooking in the kitchen and the site is circa 1820, then you can bet I’m using fire. Fire is hot. Fires are  real (number 1 question…is that fire real?). And fire is dangerous. I have set my petticoat on fire before. I have stepped into a bed of hot coals before. It’s not fun. But in those instances I had students crowd around the fire although I requested again and again that they step back. Instead, I ended up in the hearth and I was not supposed to be on the menu that day. Make sure you know what’s going to happen and then make sure you relay that information to your students. We don’t like seeing them get hurt. Another example deals with live animals. There are some living history farms that have animals and they are a part of the lesson. Animals are real, most of them are NOT domesticated and they usually hate people. Fun fact: a pig can kill you. Rams like using their horns to “ram” up against gates, fences, etc. Chickens are the MEANEST animals I have ever encountered! Keeping hands, fingers, feet, knees and toes to yourself (kids are massively creative when it comes to the animals…whew!) will insure that the student goes back to school with those body parts. I’ll give you this though, lambs are pretty cool. Ewes that just gave birth though? Mean.

Artifacts at sites are also something you and your students need to be aware of. Kids like to touch everything. That’s human nature. But there are some times where keeping your hands to yourself will insure that that same piece of the collection will still look good when they grow up and bring their kids back. If there’s something being passed around and we’re saying it’s an actual period piece, then it’s been deaccessioned. We’re cool with you touching it. If it’s behind a rope, in a case, or just looks really fragile…assume that it’s original and if it’s touched by un-gloved human hands, it will crumble and you will be responsible for the loss of a 200 year old object. (heehee). Okay it may not crumble, but you don’t want to be the teacher/school that broke the first quill used by (insert historic figure here). Sites take accidents in stride in front of visitors, but when ya’ll go home we very well may have a funeral. We love you, we will give your students something to do, but we need your cooperation to make it safe, fun and effective.

Another note about historic sites: If you can over the summer, on a weekend, or special event or when you have a moment, visit the site before your field trip by yourself, or with a group of your coworkers if you like each other enough to hang out after school is over. Your familiarity with the site and comfort with the site will put your students at ease. Sure going to the same site every year can be boring for you (I’d have teachers who came to HB for the past 15-20 years and although the information changed, they IMMEDIATELY tuned out b/c they felt they’d been there enough). But getting to know the site and actually paying attention to your interpreter who may not be the same person you saw the year before, is important. And if the budget doesn’t allow your students to go on a field trip, think about bringing the site to you. Most sites I’ve looked at and worked with have Traveling Trunks that teachers can check out. These trunks will have the lessons and materials in them and in budget crunched times it can be cheaper than getting buses for 200 students. Something else you may want to look at is having the interpretive staff come to you. Sure I may not be able to start a fire but I can still show you some things. Look at all your options, look at what your sites are offering and if there’s something you’d like to see that matches your curriculum…ask the site if they can make it happen.

Teaching Across Subjects
So the slavery gone wrong lesson of the year last year belongs to the whole word problems fiasco can we all agree? At first glance, I couldn’t understand why slavery was being discussed in a math class and then I dug deeper and saw that they were trying to do this topic across various subjects. What a brilliant idea (no sarcasm there…I think it’s brilliant). What’s not brilliant is being so simpleminded that in terms of slavery the only thing you think about is slaves. Yes, they were the main component for without an enslaved human being, slavery has a hard time making a point. HOWEVER…I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Slavery is an institution, and a very complex one. There are so many ways you can teach slavery across subjects. You’re looking for a math component? Look at the cost of cotton. If cotton is $1.25/lb and you have 3 bales at 500 lbs each, how much will you make? Math is not my strong point but you see what I’m getting at. There’s tobacco, sugar, rice, other cash crops like corn and wheat (because people have to eat). Dealing with weight and money gives you math. BOOM. If you want to talk about the laws of the land and government, you can talk about laws regarding manumission. After awhile, it was illegal to manumit (free) slaves. That’s something people don’t realize. Explaining what laws kicked in that made this so is bringing the discussion to government on local, state and federal levels. Looking at Abolitionist and Pro-Slavery arguments? The literary works of Phillis Wheatley? Really…there are options. And those options don’t involve you asking Fred how many lashes he got for not picking enough cotton.

So I hope that these couple of tips help…give clarity…provide understanding…do something that makes it a little bit easier for teachers to talk about slavery and enslaved men, women and children without losing their jobs or ending up on the news. I’ll be looking to see if we can go an academic year without an incident but I really just wanted to help ease the burden of covering a heavy subject that a lot of people, educators or not, DON’T know how to handle or figure out the right things to say. The worst thing you can do is ignore the issue all together. As bad as the word problems were or the teacher who held an auction (sigh), it opened up a discussion on how to teach about slavery and determining what content is appropriate for what age. Questions? Comments? You know where to leave them.

Category: slavery, US History | 1 Comment »
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Posted By Nicole on September 3, 2012

It’s that time of year when schools starts again (although I know a lot of schools are already in session) which means that there will be lessons on slavery and the occasional field trip or two to a historic site. But for the past few years, I have noticed a growing amount of news reports of slavery being taught and instead of providing a lesson to the students, it’s been embarrassment and agony for students, teachers and school districts.

Make no mistake, slavery has to be one of the most difficult topics to teach. It’s an extremely charged subject that is often handled so delicately that the truth never comes out. I’ve heard complaints that slavery is never taught in class. I’ve heard that there’s very little time spent on this important topic in our nation’s history that it seems whitewashed. I’ve heard that some folks spend too much time on it. I’ve heard that it’s done wrong if done at all. You’ve seen the headlines, “Slavery Reenactment Rankles“, “‘If Fred Got Two Beatings Per Day’…Homework Asks” and “Va. Teacher Holds Mock Slave Auction“, among a host of others. You’ve read them with disgust thinking, “How could those teachers be so careless? How dare that interpreter make those students do that? They should be fired! This is an injustice!” but you never sat down to think, well how CAN slavery be taught in the classroom?

The one thing I learned about being an interpreter of slave life is that every single experience is different. When you are in front of a group talking about slavery and all that it involves, you learn to read your audiences quickly and adjust your presentation to keep their attention. When I speak of adjustment, I don’t mean the content, just the way it’s presented. I realize that for teachers in a classroom setting, that may not be possible, especially when you teach one subject to 6 or 7 different periods. Your lesson plans usually need to be identical right? Well, here are some tips that I have (take ‘em or leave ‘em) on how you can teach about slavery and not end up on the news.

Prepare the students
Slavery was hard and it happened mostly to African Americans. I always get one person who wants to argue that there were white slaves (um…indentured servitude and chattel slavery are two different systems.) and that there were Native American slaves. Yes, in the early moments of our nation’s history, Native Americans were enslaved. But the majority of enslaved men and women were African and later on, African-American as the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was abolished in 1808. There’s no getting around this fact and it seems to be the catalyst of most complaints about how slavery is taught. “Well they said that only the black students would have been slaves, and our African American students were offended” In those complaints and those moments, I’m not sure why telling the truth about who would have been enslaved would be a problem. Is it a pleasant truth? No, but it’s the truth. It’s best to just be honest and to the point on this one.

Explain chattel slavery v. indentured servitude
I used to get told that there were white slaves ALL.THE.TIME. Not just by children, but mostly by adults who would try to take ethnic background out of slavery (by the way, that’s not possible). What they are really referring to is indentured servitude where you belonged to basically a sponsor for a certain number of years, then you would be given a parcel of land at the end of your indenture. Indentured servants were white and black. But indentured servitude was not as profitable as slavery would become. Chattel slavery however is…not only do I own you for the rest of your life, but I own your offspring, and their offspring forever and always. This was reserved for those of African descent, point blank period. It’s imperative that students know this and understand this because both systems are a part of the “early success” of our country, but only one has a legacy that we are still afraid to talk about.

Avoid definite
What do I mean? Slavery as an institution was bad, that is definite. But not all experiences were the same. Some slaves were treated well, some were treated bad, but there is no definite description of what the enslaved experience was. It’s important to make sure that students realize that for the millions of enslaved men, women and children, every experience was different. The complexity of slavery is what makes it very difficult to discuss for many people. It’s this complexity and lack of understanding how vast the institution was that you get people who are offended because you hit on an experience that they never heard of.

Research
Teaching about slavery calls for extra research unless that’s your educational background. Before you teachers out there give me a hard time with everything that you already have to do, and how you don’t get paid nearly enough to do anything extra, I understand. And it pains me to even give this tip but it’s true. Research doesn’t always mean hitting up the library and reading the latest scholarly journal (although…) instead, it could mean taking a closer look at how the resources you have are being utilized. And if you don’t have any resources, then finding some should be your next step.

This is already a pretty long post, so in the next post we’re going to look at historic sites, provide resources and how to teach slavery across subjects.

Category: slavery, US History | 1 Comment »
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Posted By Nicole on August 29, 2012

I am very much a play the background and watch things happen kind of person, so I am very happy to see this introduction pan out into what I’m sure will be a wonderful event. It’s all about making connections and putting like minded people in touch with each other so that the message can be spread. I know Dontavius has worked tirelessly on this year’s program so do me a solid and check this out if you are in the Rock Hill area Sept. 8th. Michael Twitty will be there bringing the Southern Discomfort Tour and Miss Kitty will be doing a presentation as well.

Category: historic brattonsville, historic interpretation, slave life | No Comments »
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Posted By Nicole on August 29, 2012

Category: Guest Posts, networking, slave gardens, slave life | No Comments »
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