Topic: SLAVERY IN ARKANSAS, THE LIFE OF A SLAVE

Ark. History

Frameworks: 1.1.8, 1.1.15, 2.1.8, 2.1.12, 3.1.9, 3.1.11, 3.1.13, 4.1.11

Objectives: Students will research and relate the daily life of a Southern Plantation slave in 1850.

Materials: * Reference books, Arkansas 1800-1860, S. Charles Bolton and Negro Slavery in Arkansas, Orville W. Taylor

* Vocabulary activity I
* Photo Documentary series, Slavery (or other photo sources of slave life)
* Table of slave owners copied for Taylor, pp. 147-148.
* Leading Slave Counties in Arkansas, 1860 (handout)
* Rubric for writing activity

Key Terms: Vocabulary from Taylor, Ch. 8
Sidemeat Arkansas Razorbacks Joe High
Ben Low Wild Game Fish
Muscadines Scuppernogs Dewberries
Osnaburg Kerceys Lindseys
Turtles Cornmeal Wheat
Jeans Lowells Calico
Molasses Food Crops Hickory nuts
Cottonade Hard times Wool
Black walnuts Chinquapins Red haws
Velvet Linen Cassinet
Black haws Maypops Possum-grapes
Cassimere Homespuns Negro houses

Directions: Students classify each word into one of the following categories: Food, Clothing, Shelter. After completion, Discuss the accuracy of their answers, correct, if necessary. Discuss the "3 M's" of slave diets, the source of their clothing, and the lack of descriptions ofor slave houses.

Key Facts: Lecture material from Bolton, ch. 7, Human and Chattel, pp. 125-129.

1. Slavery preceded Americans in Arkansas

* Introduced by the French, 1798
* Spanish slaves in Arkansas Post
* Slaves brought by American settlers
* The beginning of commercial agriculture in Arkansas
* Slave population increase by the time of the Civil War
* Slave population among various counties

2. Treatment of Slaves

*Abolitionist position
*Pro-slavery advocates
*Advantages for the slave owners
*Power of the slave owner

Activities: Math Activity II: Hand out copies of the table of slave owners from Taylor, pp. 147-148. Have students calculate the average number of slaves per house for each owner. Discuss where they would have preferred to live and why.

Math and Geography Activity III: Hand out Leading Slave Counties in Arkansas, 1860. Locate each county on a state map. Discuss answers to questions 1-10.

Writing Activity IV

Read pp. 131-144 from Taylor.

Write a diary entry in which you are a slave on a small farm. Describe your daily activities form the time you get up until you go to bed at night. Include descriptions of the food you ate, your clothing, your house, and all the jobs you were responsible for during your workday. As much as possible, use the correct vocabulary from the earlier activity. As you write, try not to use judgment words to describe your situation. For example, do not say that you had to eat "horrible" food. Instead, simply describe your life as a matter of fact.

By Patty Stone