Dr Lou Natic
01-28-06, 11:40 PM
From 1936 to 1938, over 2,300 former slaves from across the American South were interviewed by writers and journalists under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration. These former slaves, most born in the last years of the slave regime or during the Civil War, provided first-hand accounts of their experiences on plantations, in cities, and on small farms. Their narratives remain a peerless resource for understanding the lives of America's four million slaves.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/index.html
There's a moderate amount of variation, I don't deny there were some "whuppins" and some cruel overseers, but the overwhelming message I'm getting from these accounts is that life was better for blacks and whites alike before the civil war.
It seemed a rather beautifull charming culture was flourishing but was then crushed by people from somewhere else on a crusade to enforce their ignorant views on what was right upon others.
Common theme through history.
I see it as being quite similar to america's meddling in iraq now.
The slaves weren't waving their shackled arms from the cotton fields saying "over here yankee sol-jer, free me", they felt as though they were being attacked, their way of life was being threatened by this invasion.
And afterwards they had no where to go and nothing to do. They had to work harder than ever for less than they ever had.
They generally lived tougher less joy filled lives than they did when they were slaves.
Frankly I wouldn't even mind being a slave living on these beautifull properties in the picturesque countryside eating fresh hog and corn, drinking brandy wine and cider and having parties around bonfires.
Without a care in your wooly head.
Everything was provided for them, and they just had their one little job, their little specialised "roles" in the social unit. And those social units (comprised of whites, blacks, dogs and mules etc) thrived off the land and lived full satisfying lives.
These people seem to have many great memories of the good times before the civil war. It seems everything just got bleeker and cold once they were set free, from what I can tell.
Is this a biased propoganda site? I don't think so.
Yes there were some whippings here and there, and they'd come across mean people and there'd be some downs as well as ups. But thats life, has anything really changed?
The only significant difference is the overall quality of life people of all colours had back then compared to now, and I think they had it better.
The poorest cold homeless negroes shuffling about the ghettos of today's dirty cities might have full bellies and warm loving families, singing songs in front of fires in luxurious mansions on expansive estates if they were slaves.
A bit of hard work by day yeah, a good honest way to earn a happy life for yourself without the vast array of annoying little responsibilities.
I think it would have been great, and it seems this view of mine is generally supported by the words of actual slaves.
Don't get me wrong, some bad stuff went down, and I'm not for mistreating slaves.
But it seems most weren't mistreated, they were more like employees, only with deeper bonds to their employers like they were family.
The fact they weren't paid money is not so significant as money wasn't important, hardly anyone used money ever, everything anyone needed was produced by the farm.
The whole unit just worked to produce everything it needed.
The real era where blacks were mistreated for being black came after slavery was abolished, and it was largely due to the turmoil caused by the dismantling of a perfectly functional culture for no good reason.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/index.html
There's a moderate amount of variation, I don't deny there were some "whuppins" and some cruel overseers, but the overwhelming message I'm getting from these accounts is that life was better for blacks and whites alike before the civil war.
It seemed a rather beautifull charming culture was flourishing but was then crushed by people from somewhere else on a crusade to enforce their ignorant views on what was right upon others.
Common theme through history.
I see it as being quite similar to america's meddling in iraq now.
The slaves weren't waving their shackled arms from the cotton fields saying "over here yankee sol-jer, free me", they felt as though they were being attacked, their way of life was being threatened by this invasion.
And afterwards they had no where to go and nothing to do. They had to work harder than ever for less than they ever had.
They generally lived tougher less joy filled lives than they did when they were slaves.
Frankly I wouldn't even mind being a slave living on these beautifull properties in the picturesque countryside eating fresh hog and corn, drinking brandy wine and cider and having parties around bonfires.
Without a care in your wooly head.
Everything was provided for them, and they just had their one little job, their little specialised "roles" in the social unit. And those social units (comprised of whites, blacks, dogs and mules etc) thrived off the land and lived full satisfying lives.
These people seem to have many great memories of the good times before the civil war. It seems everything just got bleeker and cold once they were set free, from what I can tell.
Is this a biased propoganda site? I don't think so.
Yes there were some whippings here and there, and they'd come across mean people and there'd be some downs as well as ups. But thats life, has anything really changed?
The only significant difference is the overall quality of life people of all colours had back then compared to now, and I think they had it better.
The poorest cold homeless negroes shuffling about the ghettos of today's dirty cities might have full bellies and warm loving families, singing songs in front of fires in luxurious mansions on expansive estates if they were slaves.
A bit of hard work by day yeah, a good honest way to earn a happy life for yourself without the vast array of annoying little responsibilities.
I think it would have been great, and it seems this view of mine is generally supported by the words of actual slaves.
Don't get me wrong, some bad stuff went down, and I'm not for mistreating slaves.
But it seems most weren't mistreated, they were more like employees, only with deeper bonds to their employers like they were family.
The fact they weren't paid money is not so significant as money wasn't important, hardly anyone used money ever, everything anyone needed was produced by the farm.
The whole unit just worked to produce everything it needed.
The real era where blacks were mistreated for being black came after slavery was abolished, and it was largely due to the turmoil caused by the dismantling of a perfectly functional culture for no good reason.