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Marli Jenkins Assignment #1 Conditions in the South HIST 1108-US II August 25, 2011

1. How does William Revenal see the plight of the ex-slave after the Southern defeat? Mr. Revenal does not think the slaves can support themselves and he feels the slaves will still be working for whites as labor in domestic and mechanic employments. Its as though de does not understand the term freedom and what it must mean for the slaves. 2. As you read Revenals journal, he seems to have sympathetic and paternalistic feelings toward his slaves. How do you think he reconciled in his mind the fact that he actually owned another human being? I think Mr. Revenal feels that he is doing the slaves a favor by having them; he doesnt understand what it must be like for the slaves and what freedom would mean to them. As wrong as it may be, I also feel that in Mr. Revenals mind he does have feelings for his slaves like we may feel toward our pets and he thinks he knows what is best for them.

3. Do you think that Revenal is bitter, inconsolable or reconciled about the Confederate surrender? Mr. Revenal does seem a bit bitter talking about the soldiers from the North being in town among the soldiers from the South and chatting with them. He gives you the impression that southerners now what is best for them not some Yankee.

4. Does Revenal believe the emancipation of the slave should be quick or slow? What is the rationale for his opinion? Mr. Revenal believes the emancipation of slaves will go slowly so there will be no radical change in the social and political economy and he states that his slaves have made not changes in their behavior. 5. What is your opinion of Revenals rationale? Mr. Revenal believes that the slaves have a better deal being a slave because their housing, clothing, food and medical needs are met. He believes that if they accept

their freedom they will have a hard time supporting their families and will still be working for whites.

6. How has your idea of the South, both before and after the Civil War, been affected after reading Ben Johnsons account of slave life and his encounters with the KKK? I think that sometimes we see the as a glamorous place the way it is portrayed in movies such as Gone with the Wind. However, after reading Mr. Johnsons experiences with the KKK you understand the fear that people lived every day. The KKK was closed minded individuals and whether you committed an offense or not, if you were black you were presumed guilty and hung. Im sure many innocent blacks were killed during these times. Its hard for me to imagine living like that. 7. Why do you think there is such a stark difference between Revenal and Johnsons accounts? Mr. Reveanal has no accounts of the KKK and does not understand the fear that black American must have been under. He only says how he felt like the slaves were his family; Johnson obviously does not feel this way.

8. After reading these accounts, what do you see as the major hurdles and conflicts that would develop as the South was being transformed from an agricultural society based on slave labor to something else (free labor economy)? It had to be a major hurdle for the blacks to be transformed from slaves to free labor. Im sure that many farmers wanted to hire them for little pay and long hours. At this time with no labor laws, Im sure they were worked to death. Farmers probably still felt their workers were their slaves. Im sure it was hard for a black family to survive and make it. Today its difficult to imagine not having access to an education and many basic rights we take for granite every day.