Description
An inquiry into the experience of slavery by researching the lives of those who searched for loved ones separated due to slavery.
Goal: To research individuals mentioned in an ad by a loved one following separation while enslaved. This should help us understand, analyze, and share the story of slavery as well as the separation caused by the slave trade.
Tasks:
Read this article that provides some purpose for this project.
Locate an advertisement(s) that interests you and can be used as the subject of your research project. Choose one (or two) with enough details to support additional research such as the name(s) of former slaves, enslavers, details about family members, locations or other information that offers details about their life.
Identify components of the ad that you can research that could more information about the lives of the people identified in the ad. This might include geographic locations such as cities and counties, names of former slaves and enslavers, years, or events, etc.
Do research using Works Progress Administration (WPA) interviews, ex-slave narratives, census records, county histories, and secondary sources to create a written and visual account that traces the life and search for someone lost/separated through the domestic slave trade. This will require you to dig deep online.
Possible questions to help you:
What can you discover about general life in that state or county?
Can you find the enslaver in the census records? What do those records reveal about life in that particular household? If not, can you find information on any plantations in the vicinity? This will give you a general idea of slave life there and what they may have experienced.
What can you find out about locations mentioned in the ad as they existed at the time? What was their economy? What did they produce? How much did they produce? What was the contribution percentage from plantations at that time?
What historical events might have shaped the lives of the people mentioned in the ad? This is using your historical context to draw conclusions.
What do historians know about the lives of the enslaved and/or formerly enslaved that might add depth or context to your research?
Final Product:
Write a 1400 word narrative research paper and also create a poster that includes a timeline, images, and map that tells a story—of slavery, of separation, and possibly of reunion—for that person/family. Think of the poster as a “visual board” that tells the story about the research you conducted to uncover this narrative. What narrative do your sources tell about this person’s life and experiences?
Narrative—tell a story based on what you found through your research.
Develop a thesis regarding slavery that will be supported by what you learn from your research
Describe and analyze what life was like in the state/county of origin for enslaved people (think about crop, region, work, family, community)
Describe the likely path that person traveled as they were sold south (include locations and possible slave markets they might have traveled to/through)
Use census records, formerly enslaved individuals’ oral interviews or written narratives as evidence to draw conclusions regarding separation and offer insight into what life was like for enslaved people as they experienced sale/separation, and in general.
What did you learn from your research? What can others learn or take away from the narrative and research you have presented? Why does this research matter?
