2023-05 History Lab Slave Trade and Commodification
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School
George Mason University *
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Course
100
Subject
History
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
4
Uploaded by CaptainScorpionMaster290
History Lab #6 Slave Trade
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HNRS 240 Fall 2023
HNRS 240 History Lab #5 Report Instructions:
Slave Trade, Commodification, and Soul Value
In this History Lab we explore the impact of the slave trade and commodification on a person’s sense of soul value.
Purpose:
•
To practice working with
primary source materials to understand how historians “read the past.”
•
To explore the way the domestic slave trade functioned on a regional and individual level.
•
To identify the kinds of questions that historians ask about the past.
•
To understand the threats to family stability and the ways that families and individuals endured.
This assignment assesses the following course learning outcomes:
•
Experience the work of historians through gathering evidence, communicating ideas, and engaging with
historical scholarship.
•
Identify the history of racist policies and practices that created inequities for generations.
•
Develop strategies for critically reading information: interpreting events through the context of their place
and time; identifying silences in the historical record; and analyzing the power of privileged voices.
•
Develop language and strategies for engaging in conversations about the past with civility and respect for
multiple viewpoints.
•
Communicate an interpretation of the past through different modalities: through oral presentations, through
written work, through digital work, and through multi-media formats.
Instructions:
Using the
resources in today’s history lab content folder,
address the following questions in written, audio, or
audio/video format. Include specific examples and evidence (quoted text) from the sources to build your answers
and arguments:
1.
Lab Themes:
Select
TWO
of the major themes for this History Lab and respond to the questions given in
those themes. A list of themes and their questions are provided at the end of these instructions. Themes are:
a.
Theme #1:
Valuing Enslaved Bodies Cradle to Grave
b.
Theme #2:
Artistic Ways of Interpreting History
c.
Theme #3:
“Put you in my pocket” –
personal finance, debts, and the slave trade
d.
Theme #4:
Slave Trade and Slave Traders
e.
Theme #5:
How do we know about the impact of the slave trade?
f.
Theme #6:
Lasting Memories of Family
2.
Analysis:
As seen in the many documents and stories in this history lab, the slave trade can be interpreted
in different ways based on the perspective or viewpoint used. If you were to create a paragraph that defined
the “slave trade” what would you say
? Whose story would you present? Create a 500-word synopsis of the
meaning of the slave trade.
Submit your responses through one of the two History Lab Report portals in Assessments
–
History Labs. You can
upload a written, audio, or video response for this assessment. Length: about 2-3 pages, double-spaced; of a similar
length for audio/visual submissions.
Deadline: by noon on Sunday, October 22
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Theme #1: Valuing Enslaved Bodies Cradle to Grave
How did people quantify a monetary value on an enslaved body?
One way that historians understand how enslaved persons were commodified is to study estate appraisals. After a
property-holder's death, county magistrates selected three to five close neighbors who could be relied upon to fairly
judge the value of each item of value. Developing the ability to set a value and recognize value in enslaved bodies
was expected of slave-holding men and women.
Explore
the information in the appraisal from the estate of William Elgin of Loudoun County, Virginia recorded in
June 1852.
•
What items were considered valuable in Elgin's household?
•
What do the items tell us about Elgin's life and the lives and labors of the enslaved persons in Elgin's
household.
Compare
values of enslaved men, women, and children from two estates in Fauquier County from 1844 and 1859.
•
What inferences can be made from the data in these charts?
•
How much did age and gender matter in placing value on enslaved persons?
•
Why might value be higher or lower based on age or gender?
•
What does the data suggest about changes over time?
Theme #2: Artistic Ways of Interpreting History
Listen
to Rhiannon Giddens' song "At the Purchaser's Option" and the story behind the creation of this song.
Discussion Questions:
•
What do the lyrics (the words in the song) tell you about the slave trade?
•
In what ways can a song help to understand the experiences of people from the past?
•
How do the lyrics, voice, and music affect your thinking about the impact of the slave trade?
Theme #3: "Put you in my pocket" - Personal finance, debts, and the domestic slave trade.
When an enslaver chose to convert an enslaved person into cash, he was said to "put you in my pocket" - literally,
put the cash value of the enslaved person into his/her/their pocket.
•
What does the story of Alfred Thornton from Middleburg (Loudoun County, Virginia) in “Arrival from
Virginia, 1858” tell us about enslaved persons as
fungible assets
? (fungible means "of a product or
commodity that has been contracted for: that can be replaced by another identical item without breaking the
terms of the contract. More generally: interchangeable, replaceable" so a person who could be exchanged
for cash or could be used in the place of cash. Oxford English Dictionary.
•
What was the excuse of Thornton's enslaver for calling in a slave trader?
•
What actions did Thornton take to change his future?
Theme #4: Slave Trade and Slave Traders
Some of the records of slave trader, George Kephart, are contained in the 1846 chancery records case of
George
Kephart versus Joseph Bruin
. [You will explore selected documents from this collection in the linked document
below.] Kephart worked as an agent for Joseph Bruin's slave trading business. Though the business was based in
Alexandria, Virginia, George Kephart roved the northern Virginia countryside in search of potential purchases of
enslaved persons. As detailed in the depositions, Kephart had access to tens of thousands of dollars of cash to make
purchases on the spot. He might attend local public auctions or networked to build business relationships with
clients across a vast region of northern Virginia and southwestern Maryland.
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Explore
documents and images related to slave trader, George Kephart and his boss, Joseph Bruin who worked the
local slave trade in northern Virginia out of their Alexandria slave pen.
In your groups, if you select this theme, discuss the questions given on the slides.
If you are
submitting a History Lab Report
, and select this as one of your themes, address all the questions in the
slides.
Theme #5: How do we know about the impact of the slave trade?
Select one of these letters to discuss in your group OR excerpts from the story of Henry "Box" Brown:
Choice #1:
Read this 1852 letter from Maria Perkins to her husband.
Choice #2:
Read these letters from 1859 from Harriet Newby to her husband, Dangerfield Newby.
Discussion questions for Choices #1 and #2:
•
What can we learn about the slave trade from the voices of these two women?
•
What can we learn about the lives and families of these women from the letters?
•
Letters, writing, and enslaved education: what does it mean that each of these women wrote letters to their
husbands?
o
In 1831 Virginia legislators made it illegal for enslaved and free persons of color to meet or
assemble for the purpose of teaching them to read or write. A white person caught teaching
enslaved persons to read or write could be fined up to $50 for each offense and, at the discretion of
the justice of the peace, could be imprisoned up to two months. If the white person was paid to
teach enslaved persons to read or write, they could be fined up to $100 for each offence. Consider
that a fine of $50 in 1831 would be about $1,692.82 in today's value.
•
How much influence could their husbands have over the sale of family members? What might they be able
to do?
Choice #3:
Read excerpts from the biography of Henry Box Brown
.
Discussion Questions for Choice #3
are located in the margins of the text as comments.
Theme #6: Lasting Memories of Family
The domestic slave trade forcibly removed thousands of men, women, and children from Virginia, across county
and state lines, and into the developing regions of the Southwest, the Deep South, and to the West.
When people were sold into the domestic slave trade, they carried with them the memories of family and of the
moment when they were forced to separate from all that was known. Years later, some used newspaper
advertisements, often called "Lost Friends" or "information wanted" ads, to seek out information about family lost
in the trade.
In this theme, explore some of the notices formerly enslaved persons posted in newspapers in their hopes to
reconnect with lost family members. You can utilize the notices posted in the Memories of Family slides or use
notices found at the Last Seen: Finding Family after Slavery website
https://informationwanted.org/
Discussion Questions:
•
What kinds of information were included in these notices?
•
What does this tell us about family structures during enslavement?
•
What do you learn about family history in the notices?
•
What does this suggest about how the domestic trade operated?
•
Why might some information be remembered, and other information not remembered?
•
How might the newspaper notice help find information about family?
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Background Information:
The
Southwestern Christian Advocate
was published by the Methodist Book Concern
in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1877 to 1929. The newspaper was distributed to about 800 post offices and
reached as many as 500 members of the clergy. Many of the 4,000 subscribers lived in Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Tennessee, or Arkansas. The "Lost Friends" section published notices and letters from formerly
enslaved persons hoping to find family and friends separated during slavery or during the Civil War.
Grading:
9-10 points:
Student responses consider and synthesize information from a variety of sources and perspectives
(enslaver, enslaved, gender, present day, past historical context, self). Each question is addressed. Student
identifies where additional knowledge is needed to fully articulate an answer (I think this is what it
means….; This seems to be like another situation…; etc.). Student points out where evidence comes from
to support conclusions (citations, footnotes, indicating which source, ex. In Giddon’s music video…; in
Berry’s Key Concepts video…; in the
Southwestern Christian Advocate
news item…; In Harriet Newby’s
letter…; A classmate in my group pointed out that…etc.)
8-9 points:
Student responses consider a variety of sources through multiple perspectives. Each question is
addressed. Student identifies gaps in personal knowledge but does not propose questions or theorize what
they need to know to fully address question. Student makes some connections to assigned resources by
introducing evidence. There is a clear attempt to cite the source of some information presented.
7-8 points:
Student focuses on one perspective in addressing each question. Student analysis of questions focuses
on a surface or simplistic answer that could be enhanced with thinking about historical context, gender,
and connections to other assigned materials. Does not propose questions or explain what additional
information would be beneficial. Limited or no attempt to cite sources.
6 points:
Student focuses on one perspective in addressing each question. Student does not propose questions or
explain what additional information would be beneficial for understanding. No apparent connections
made or cited to assigned materials or resources or to historical context.
Reminder:
You will receive feedback on your analysis. You have the option to revise and resubmit the assignment
based on your grade and feedback within four days of receipt of feedback.