Dbq About Slavery in America
AP U.S. History Document Based Question
DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION PROJECT
Question: How did slavery affect American Society socially, economically and politically during the Antebellum years?
Document A Source: William LLoyd Garrison, letter to a friend, 1830
Now, how is it with the slave? He gets a peck of corn (occasionally a little more) each week, but rarely meat or fish. He must anticipate the sun in rising, or be whipped severely for his somnolency. Rain or shine, he must toil early and late for the benefit of another. if he be weary, he cannot rest--for the lash of the driver is flourished over his drooping head, or applied to his naked frame; if sick, he is suspected of laziness, and treated accordingly. For the most trifling or innocent offence, he is felled to the earth, or scourged on his back till it streams with blood. Has he a wife and children, he sees them as cruelly treated as himself. He may be torn from them, or they from him, at any moment, never again to meet on earth. Friends do not visit and console him: he has no friends. He knows not what is going on beyond his own narrow boundaries. He can neither read nor write. The letters of the alphabet are caballistical to his eyes. A thick darkness broods over his soul. Even the "glorious gospel of the blessed God," which brings life and immortality to perishing man, is as a sealed book to his understanding. Nor has his wretched condition been imposed upon him for any criminal offence. He has not been tried by the laws of his country. No one has stepped forth to vindicate his rights. He is made an abject slave, simply because God has given him a skin not colored like his master 's; and Death, the great Liberator, alone can break his fetters!
Rationale:
In this letter by William Lloyd Garrison, he describes how slavery affected the lives of African Americans, the lowest social class in the United States during the Antebellum years. This relates to my question by giving me examples of how
DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION PROJECT
Question: How did slavery affect American Society socially, economically and politically during the Antebellum years?
Document A Source: William LLoyd Garrison, letter to a friend, 1830
Now, how is it with the slave? He gets a peck of corn (occasionally a little more) each week, but rarely meat or fish. He must anticipate the sun in rising, or be whipped severely for his somnolency. Rain or shine, he must toil early and late for the benefit of another. if he be weary, he cannot rest--for the lash of the driver is flourished over his drooping head, or applied to his naked frame; if sick, he is suspected of laziness, and treated accordingly. For the most trifling or innocent offence, he is felled to the earth, or scourged on his back till it streams with blood. Has he a wife and children, he sees them as cruelly treated as himself. He may be torn from them, or they from him, at any moment, never again to meet on earth. Friends do not visit and console him: he has no friends. He knows not what is going on beyond his own narrow boundaries. He can neither read nor write. The letters of the alphabet are caballistical to his eyes. A thick darkness broods over his soul. Even the "glorious gospel of the blessed God," which brings life and immortality to perishing man, is as a sealed book to his understanding. Nor has his wretched condition been imposed upon him for any criminal offence. He has not been tried by the laws of his country. No one has stepped forth to vindicate his rights. He is made an abject slave, simply because God has given him a skin not colored like his master 's; and Death, the great Liberator, alone can break his fetters!
Rationale:
In this letter by William Lloyd Garrison, he describes how slavery affected the lives of African Americans, the lowest social class in the United States during the Antebellum years. This relates to my question by giving me examples of how
Cited: Document C “Slave Market.”(1850) http://amst312.umwblogs.org/2009/04/02/slave-market/. Document I “Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers ' Project.” Narrative of Sarah Frances Shaw Graves at the age of 87.(1937).http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snvoices02.html