Slavery across North Carolina

By Dayna Durbin Gleaves

In this lesson for grade 8, students read excerpts from slave narratives to gain an understanding of how slavery developed in each region of North Carolina, and how regional differences created a variety of slave experiences.

Provided by Documenting the American South

Page contents

1. Learning outcomes
2. Teacher planning
   1. Materials needed
   2. Time required for lesson
3. Pre-activities
4. Activities
5. Assessment
6. Alternative assessment
7. Supplemental information
   1. Print sources
   2. Websites

Links

• Primary source: Excerpt from Uncle Tom Jones slave narrative Thomas H. Jones was born into slavery near Wilmington, North Carolina. He lived on a plantation until about 1815, when he was sold to a Wilmington storekeeper. Later, as a free man, he moved to the North and played a vocal role in the antislavery movement in the 1850s and 1860s. In this excerpt from his memoir, Jones describes some of his experiences as a slave.
• Primary source: Excerpt from Moses Grandy slave narrative Moses Grandy was born a slave in Camden County, North Carolina around 1786. He became the property of his master's son, James, when both Moses and James were eight years old. Moses was hired out yearly until James was 21. This excerpt from his memoir describes Moses' experiences during those years.
• Primary source: Excerpt from William Henry Singleton slave narrative William Henry Singleton was born into slavery in eastern North Carolina. This excerpt from his memoir describes his experience of being sold to a "slave farm" in Atlanta -- a place where young slaves were bought for a low price and then raised until they could be sold for a higher price.
• Primary source: Excerpt from Lunsford Lane slave narrative Lunsford Lane was born into slavery in Raleigh in 1803. He began earning money when he was very young -- selling fruit, tobacco, and pipes, and cutting wood -- and eventually made enough money to arrange for his freedom and a new life in the North. In this excerpt from his memoir, Lane describes his early money-making ventures.
• Primary source: Excerpts from James Curry slave narrative James Curry was born into slavery around 1815 in Person County, North Carolina. In these excerpts from his memoir, he descrbies his mother's experiences as a slave and reflects on the differences between slave labor and paid labor.
• Primary source: Excerpt from Fannie Dorum slave narrative Fannie Dorum was born into slavery in Franlin, North Carolina. In this brief excerpt, she describes the work she did as a slave.

Related pages

• Spirituals and the power of music in slave narratives: In this lesson for grade 4, students will learn about the importance of music in the lives of slaves by reading slave narratives and listening to recordings.
• Historic Rosedale Plantation: Located a few miles from the center of downtown Charlotte, the Rosedale Plantation is a good representation of plantation life in Piedmont North Carolina.
• Historic Stagville: Read about the history of the plantation, the Bennehan and Cameron families who owned the plantation, the slave community, the structures on the plantation, and the effect the Civil War had on Stagville Plantation.

Learn more

• Learn more about North Carolina, history, slave narratives, and slavery.

Legal

Often our impression of slavery is one of slaves toiling in the fields of a large plantation, but slaves in North Carolina had diverse experiences. Although some North Carolina slaves did work on large plantations, many more worked on small farms. Others labored as skilled artisans, performed domestic work, worked in the shipping industry near the coast, or were able to “hire out” their time and work for themselves. In this lesson, students will read excerpts from slave narratives written by North Carolinians from different parts of the state. Taking what they’ve learned from the narratives, students will then create a map illustrating the differing types of labor associated with each region.

Learning outcomes

• Students will recognize the variety of slave experiences.
• Students will understand how slavery developed in each region of North Carolina.

Teacher planning

Materials needed

• North Carolina state map for each student
• North Carolina atlas or online map
• Art supplies to illustrate map (pencils, pens, markers, magazines, scissors and glue for collage, etc)
• Print and online sources for research (see “Supplemental Information” below)
• A computer with internet access for each student to read narratives, or printed copies of the narratives for each student
• Slave narrative excerpts:
  • Coastal area
    • Excerpt from Experience and Personal Narrative of Uncle Tom Jones (1850s) by Thomas H. Jones, Wilmington, N.C.
    • Excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy (1843) by Moses Grandy, Camden County, N.C.
    • Excerpt from Recollections of My Slavery Days (1922) by William Henry Singleton, New Bern, N.C.
  • Urban areas
    • Excerpt from The Narrative of Lunsford Lane (1842) by Lunsford Lane, Raleigh, N.C.
  • Piedmont
    • Excerpts from Narrative of James Curry, a Fugitive Slave (1840) by James Curry, Person County, N.C.
  • Western North Carolina
    • Excerpt from Federal Writer’s Project interview with Fannie Dorum, Franklin, N.C.

Time required for lesson

2–3 hours

Pre-activities

• Students should have basic background knowledge of slavery in North Carolina.
• Teachers should read through the slave narrative excerpts in preparation for the lesson.

Note: The slave narrative excerpts used in this lesson have been selected for grade-level appropriateness, and avoid the most shocking themes of the slave narratives, such as extreme violence and sexual abuse. Links to the full-length narratives, available on the Documenting the American South website, are provided below, under “supplemental information.” If students choose to read further in the online slave narratives, teachers may wish to lead an additional discussion on some of the difficult themes they may encounter, such as violence, sexual abuse, and use of racist language, before students read the narratives.

Activities

1. As a class, brainstorm images that come to mind when you think of slavery. Record these ideas in a place where you can refer to them again later. If the class comes up with images such as cotton fields, plantations, etc., ask where they have seen or heard of these images.
2. Explain that while many slaves did work on large plantations, slaves in North Carolina did a variety of jobs. Depending on where they lived, slaves may have worked on small farms, performed domestic labor, been skilled artisans, worked in the boating and sailing industry, or even become entrepreneurs. Tell students that they will be reading parts of slave narratives, or autobiographies written by slaves to share their experiences, from slaves who lived in North Carolina.
3. Have students read the excerpts from the slave narratives, taking notes as they read. Then, ask students to plot the hometown or home county of each narrative’s author on their maps.
4. Have students illustrate the different types of labor described by the slave narrative authors in the area of the map where slaves may have performed that type of labor. Students may need to do additional research about slavery in different regions of the state to complete their maps; possible sources are identified below in “supplemental information.”
5. As a class, look back at the list created in step one. How do students’ initial impressions of slavery compare to those recorded on their maps?

Assessment

Students should have correctly plotted the locations of the slave narratives (Raleigh, Wilmington, Person County, New Bern, Franklin, Camden County) as well as correctly illustrated the different types of slave labor, demonstrating an understanding of the diversity of slaves’ experiences in North Carolina.

Alternative assessment

Rather than creating a map, students may choose a region of the state and write a brief slave narrative as a slave living in that area. Students should demonstrate understanding of the regional differences of slavery by writing about the type of labor a slave may have performed in that region.

Supplemental information

These texts can be used by teachers or students to further research slavery across the state.

Print sources

• Cecelski, D. (2001). The Waterman’s Song : Slavery and Freedom in Maritime North Carolina. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
• Crow, J. (1992). A History of African Americans in North Carolina. Raleigh: NC Department of Cultural Resources.
• Inscoe, J. (1989). Mountain Masters, Slavery and the Sectional Crisis in Western North Carolina. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.

Websites

• Full text of Experience of Uncle Tom Jones, Who Was for Forty Years a Slave (185?) by Thomas H. Jones, from Documenting the American South
• Full text of Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy (1843) by Moses Grandy, from Documenting the American South
• Full text of Recollections of My Slavery Days (1922) by William Henry Singleton, from Documenting the American South
• Full text of The Narrative of Lunsford Lane (1842) by Lunsford Lane, from Documenting the American South
• Full text of Narrative of James Curry, a Fugitive Slave (1840) by James Curry, from Documenting the American South
• Full text of Fannie Dorum narrative (This links to the first page of Fannie Dorum’s five-page narrative, part of the Library of Congress’ collection of slave narratives recorded in the 1930’s for the Federal Writers’ Project. Follow the site’s “next page” links to access all five pages.)