Punishment and Master/Slave Relationships

To the right you will find additional slave narratives and tips that will help you complete your research on your particular topic. Below are questions to get you started. Please read carefully!

Help each other in your team read the sections assigned and interpret any confusing dialect. Analyze and research topics like amateur historians. Look for themes and share what you find with group members, because they are looking at the same topic you are. WORK AS A TEAM!
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QUESTIONS TO GET YOU STARTED

What kinds of punishments did slaves receive?

Was this punishment mental or physical?

Did treatment of the slaves vary with skin color?

Were children punished?

Why do you think slave owners used violence to punish?

Did slaves ever runaway due to treatment?

Did slave masters provide clothing, food, housing and medical care for slaves?

Did slaves ever retaliate against their masters?

Were slaves' needs adequately met?

If slave owners could not punish do you think slavery could have existed?

RETURN TO MAIN INVESTIGATION

William Wells Brown, Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave

Moses Roper, A Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper, from American Slavery

Austin Steward, Twenty-Two Years a Slave

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What are Primary Sources?
They enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period.  Primary sources were either created during the time period being studied, or were created at a later date by a participant in the events being studied (as in the case of narratives) and they reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer.
What are historians?
A professional scholar who constructs the past from written, visual, oral and archaeological evidence.
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Questions to Think About


How much time had passed between slavery and the published narratives?

How might time lag affect their stories?

How old were the subjects when the narratives were written?

Does age affect memories?

How were these documents written, if most slaves had no formal education?