Manumission and Marriage

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Recommended: Slavery and freedom in the known world

A. Plan of Investigation (133 Words)
Slave marriages among other slaves and slave owners have always placed a social burden on the plantations and the government of the United States. What were the social issues that occurred as slaves had relations with other slaves or their masters? Government scandals, black salve owners, and law changes have all came about as part of the social discrepancies that came along with slave relations. Biographies of William Ellison, the first African American slave owner, will be scrutinized to see the social implications of a slave master owning slaves of the same ethnicity. Personal Journals written about the Thomas Jefferson and Sally Heming's case will be analyzed to see the government scandal placed on Jefferson’s slave relations. These social issues helped play out the course of slavery in the United States of America.
B. Summary of Evidence (530 Words)
The east side of the United States contained the highest percentage of slaves in the country. It was in 1802 when Thomas Jefferson had taken all his slaves to his new home in Monticello. After his wife had died, it is claimed that he had an affair with Sally Hemings, a slave. Sally Hemings had at least six children, and it is believed that Thomas Jefferson is the father of these children. Social complications were immense after this scandal was brought forward to the media. This situation set the stage for master-slave relations in the United States. In 1860, William Ellison, a freed slave, was South Carolinas first black slave owner. Being freed as a young man, Ellison was a strong supporter of slavery and owned more than sixty slaves. The reason for this was that owning slaves gave a great opportunity for econ...

... middle of paper ...

...heal the scars of this war.

Works Cited

Brown, Kimberly Juanita. "Black rapture: Sally Hemings, Chica Da Silva, and the slave body of sexual supremacy." Women's Studies Quarterly 35 .1/2 (2007): 45-66. Print.
Graham, Pearl. "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings." Journal of Negro History 46.2 (1941): 89-103. Print.
Hussen, Aida. ""Manumission and Marriage?": Freedom, Family, and Identity in Charles Johnson's "Oxherding Tale"." African American Review 42.2 (2008): 243. Print.
Johnson, Michael P., and James L. Roark. Black masters: a free family of color in the old South. 1. ed. New York u.a.: Norton, 1984. Print.
Johnson, Michael P., and James L. Roark. "4." No Chariots Let Down. 1. ed. North Carolina: University of North Carolina, 1984. 53. Print.
Wood, Sarah. "Exorcising the Past: The Slave Narrative as Historical Fantasy." Feminist Review 7.3 (2007): 92. Print.

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