34 pages 1 hour read

John W. Blassingame

The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1979

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Essay Topics

1.

Choose a primary source cited and discussed by John W. Blassingame, such as Solomon Northup (126) or Thomas R. Gray’s description of Nat Turner (220-21). How does Blassingame use the source to support his arguments?

2.

Compare and contrast the experiences of white enslaved people in West Africa and Islamic countries with those of enslaved Africans in the Southern United States. What are some key similarities and differences? How does this comparison help Blassingame’s thesis?

3.

In what ways did elements of enslaved people’s native African cultures end up changing the Southern United States?