General information
The text
The narrative
History
Misc.
100
In what time period were slave narratives written?
1840-1850s as well as the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
100
In the late 18th and 19th centuries, slave narratives were an important means of opening a dialgue between blacks and whites about slavery and freedom. (p.1)
Slave narratives were a resource for opening conversation between races about social justice and humanity.
100
What are slave narratives?
First hand accounts of slavery in American South.
100
How many slaves were brought to America during the centuries of the Atlantic slave trade?
approximately 2 million
100
What happened to slaves after emancipation?
They became involved in a share cropping exploit. There was no hope for owning their own property.
200
How have slave narratives influenced contemporary literature?
Neo-slave narratives & reactions by supremacists to slave narratives.
200
In many antebellum narratives, the attainment of freedom is signaled not simply by reaching the free states, but by renaming oneself and dedicating one's future to antislavery activism. (p. 3)
In many slave narratives, the quest for freedom didn't end by moving to the north, but by estabilishing oneself against slavery and actively fighting it.
200
Why were slave narratives written?
To expose slavery and reality compared to the desire for freedom.
200
What role did slavery play in the South during this time period?
It provided a labor force to support white supremacy and run their businesses.
200
Why are slave narratives important?
They reveal the complexity of race relations in the U.S.
300
What are two reasons, according to Andrews, why there should be a "complete database of post-Civil War ex-slave narratives."?
To give a voice to slaves and to black women.
300
These autobiographical and fictional descendants of the slave narrative confirm the continuing importance and vitality of its legacy: to probe the origins of psychological as well as social oppression and to critique the meaning of freedom for black and white Americans alike from the founding of the United States to the present day.
The slave narratives of the 1800s are important for us today in order to understand current issues in race relations.
300
What content do the slave narratives often cover?
White supremacy in the South.
300
Identify two key ways in which slave narratives have been beneficial to our society, according to William Andrews.
The provoke reflection & cause debate between races.
300
Defeat in the Civil War severely destabilized slavery-based social, political, and economic hierarchies, demanding in some cases that white southerners develop new ones [hierarchies]. (p. 2)
Because the South was defeated in the Civil War and the class structure of their culture was completely disrupted, southerners had to recreate hierarchies of different classes in order to rebuild themselves.
400
Do you believe that racism is a serious issue in America in 2011? Why or why not? Explain your answer thoroughly.
Various answers.
400
While autobiographies of the men of power and privilege in the 19th century south are not read widely today, the slave narrative's focus on the conflict between alienated individuals and the oppressive social order of the Old South has spurred the reevaluation of many hitherto submerged southern autobiographical and narrative forms, including the diaries of white women.
Writing by oppressed people, especially in the South, is becoming more commonly read by popular culture.
400
In most of the narratives, what is the quest that the slave is undertaking?
Attaining freedom.
400
What historical event destabilized the hierarchies of slavery?
The defeat of the south in the Civil War.
400
Slave and ex-slave narratives are important not only for what they tell us about African-American history and literature, but also because they reveal to us the complexities of the dialogue between whites and blacks in this country in the last two centuries, particularly for African Americans. This dialogue is implicit in the very structure of the antebellum slave narrative, which generally centers on an African American's narrative, but is prefaced by a white-authored text and often is appended by white authenticating documents, such as letters of reference attesting to the character and reliability of the slave narrator himself or herself. (p. 4)
Slave narratives reveal to us that race relations were not simply white versus black, but that there was a complexity within the relationship between races during the time.
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