Introduction

In class we have been studying slavery that took place in the southern parts of the United States prior to the Civil War. We have been doing this by reading your text book and the excerpts of primary sources that I have provided for you in class. The primary sources of the slave narratives I hope gave you a better understanding of how these people lived.
The one thing that I feel that has been missing in our class discovery of this particular subject is the emotional connection to these actual people that suffered and over came so much. These people were no different then you and I. They just happened to be in extremely unpleasant circumstances. ______________________________________________________
QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU GET STARTED:
How would you feel if you could not make any of your own choices?
How would you deal with being separated permanently from your family?
How does it feel to be denied an education?
How does it feel to work long hours in the fields even when you might not feel like it?
What does it feel like to watch family and friends get hurt, but you can't do anything about it?
How would you deal with being punished frequently and cruely even when you don't know what you have done wrong?
How does it feel to go to bed hungry?

“At last, one of the children ran up to me exclaiming, “Fred! Fred! Grandmamma’s gone!” I ran into the kitchen to see for myself, and lo! She was indeed gone. Heartbroken at the discovery, I fell upon the ground and wept. My Brother gave me peaches and pears to quiet me, but I promptly threw them on the ground. No one had ever lied to me or tricked me before and I felt anger and sorrow at this parting with my grandmother. I suppose I cried myself to sleep. I was less than seven years old, and this was my first introduction to the realities of the slave system."
-Frederick Douglass