On a sheet of notebook paper, answer the following questions about the given political cartoon:

1. O – Overview – What is the picture? What is going On?2. P – Parts – Pick out 5 specific details3. T – What is the title? If one is not listed, make one up

that relates to picture4. I – Interrelationship – look at the title, why did it get the

title it has or why did you give it the title you did?5. C – Conclusion – Of all the pictures I could have shown,

why this one?

Slavery in Texas and the United States

The Middle Passage

• Voyage of slaves from Africa to the New World

• Slaves tightly packed in ships’ holds

• Filthy conditions• Disease outbreaks• Some 20% died

during the voyage to America

Diagram of a tightly packed slave ship

Slave Auctions• Slaves

“seasoned”• Slaves

auctioned in a manner similar to livestock

• Inspected by potential buyers

• “Grab and go” auctions

Slave auctions such as the one depicted here were common in the colonial era and after the Revolutionary War

1793-1861 “King Cotton”Comes to Power

•Revolutionized southern agriculture

•In south, cotton became only product grown on many Plantations

•Transformed south intointernational power

•Southerner plantation ownersbelieved their success was based on slavery, but thatwas certainly not the case

Explosion in Cotton Production

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

1790 1810 1830 1850

Cottonproduction(thousands ofbales)

Slave Family Life• Slave marriages not

legally recognized• Families vulnerable to

separation• Slave children often

put in separate cabins from parents

Slave Children• Slave infant

mortality rates high• Children generally

malnourished• Children forced to

work at an early age

• Most labor involved unskilled work

“Picking Cotton on a Georgia Plantation”Note the children working side-by-side with the

adults in the field.

Impact of Religion on Slaves• Religion an

equalizer; both whites and blacks worshipped same God

• Negro spirituals• Black churches

A religious revival meeting

Southern Justificationsfor Slavery

• Traditional view about constitutional protection of property

• Religious, historical, economic justifications

• Many Southerners saw slavery as beneficial to slaves

• White “equality”

Discipline of Slaves• Slave owners used a

range of punishments• Denying passes to

leave plantation

• Whipping• Shackles and chains• Imprisonment in

private jails• A few rewards existed

The Underground Railroad• Vast organization

helping runaway slaves

• More blacks than whites involved

• Locally based rather than nationwide

• Larger significance

Runaway Slaves• Escape extremely

difficult• Many runaways left

family behind; relatives might be punished as retribution

• Recaptured slaves severely punished

• Underground Railroad made escaping somewhat easier

University of North Texas Libraries

Primary Source Adventures:

Runaway Slaves

Texas Slave Population, 1860

University of North Texas Libraries

Primary Source Adventures:

Runaway Slaves

Green Cumby WPA Slave Narrative

University of North Texas Libraries

Primary Source Adventures:

Runaway Slaves

Frederick Law Olmsted,A Journey Through Texas.1857.

University of North Texas Libraries

Primary Source Adventures:

Runaway Slaves

Marshall Texas Republican

March 25, 1859

University of North Texas Libraries

Primary Source Adventures:

Runaway Slaves

Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph

October 19, 1958

University of North Texas Libraries

Primary Source Adventures:

Runaway Slaves

Clarksville

Northern Standard

January 6, 1855

University of North Texas Libraries

Primary Source Adventures:

Runaway Slaves

Clarksville Northern Standard

May 5, 1855

University of North Texas Libraries

Primary Source Adventures:

Runaway Slaves

Clarksville

Northern Standard

October 24, 1857

Follow the Drinking GourdWhen the great big river meets the little river,

Follow the drinking gourd.For the old man is waitingfor to carry you to freedom

If you follow the drinking gourd.When the sun comes back,

and the first Quail calls,Follow the drinking gourd,For the old man is waitingfor to carry you to freedom

If you follow the drinking gourd.

http://www.followthedrinkinggourd.org/Music/1-Weavers.GoodnightIrene.FollowTheDrinkingGourd.mp3

Follow the Drinking Gourd

• 1. What is this song about? How do you know?• 2. What knowledge does the listener or reader need• in order to understand this song?• 3. Why do you think the composer created this song?• 4. If you were a slave, how do you think you would• feel while listening to or singing this song? What would• you think if you were a white Southerner?• 5. What genre does this song belong to?

full interpretation of the song was posted in the ‘Detroit News’ on Tuesday 25th. February 1997.

 ‘When the sun comes up and the first quail calls, follow the drinking gourd.For the old man is a-waiting to carry you to freedom,If you follow the drinking gourd.’

(With the beginning of winter on Dec. 21, the sun starts climbing higher in the sky each day. And in winter, the call of migratory quail echoes across southern fields. So Peg Leg Joe's ingenious song advised slaves to escape in winter and head north toward the Big Dipper -- code name, drinking gourd. A guide will be waiting at the end of the line. )

 ‘ The riverbank makes a very good road. The dead trees show you the way,  Left foot, peg foot, travelling on  Follow the drinking gourd. ‘

    (This verse directs fugitives to the Tombigbee River, where special "Peg Leg" markings on fallen trees will show they're on the correct northerly course. Travelling under cover of darkness, slaves could find their way along a river even on nights too overcast for the Big Dipper's stars to shine through. The Tombigbee River, which empties into Alabama's Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico, originates in northeast Mississippi. Perhaps as many as 200,000 enslaved people lived near that river.

‘The river ends between two hills.  Follow the drinking gourd.  There's another river on the other side,  Follow the drinking gourd. ‘

 (When the Tombigbee ends, the runaways who'd memorized the song knew to walk north over a hill until they came to another river, the Tennessee, then go north on it as well. )

    ‘Where the great big river meets the little river,     Follow the drinking gourd.     For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom,     If you follow the drinking gourd. ‘

(The song ends by instructing slaves that at the end of Tennessee River they must cross over to the north side of the big Ohio River, where someone from the Underground Railroad would ensure their passage to the first of a string of safe houses reaching all the way to Canada. )   

http://pathways.thinkport.org/secrets/music2.cfm

Additional Slave Songs…

Going Back in Time: An Attempt to Freedom

You will assume the identity of a runaway slave, writing to your friends or family about your journey. Your letter will need to include the following:

1. Where you attempted to escape to and why.2. Why you attempted to escape.3. What the outcome of your journey was. 4. Create an illustration of your journey – yes it needs to

be colored.5. Please be creative and use unlined paper for your final

product.