Historical Autobiographical Essay: Courtney Bennett
Historical Autobiographical Essay
A new year had just begun which was 1805; my family and I packed up and moved to a different state. The move wasn’t really by choice, but because the plantations had dried out and so had the money. Originally from Alabama, Mississippi, but we had just recently moved to Chesapeake, Virginia. I go by the name of Courtney Rich now, but in my past life I went by Courtney Bennett. It was very hard being a twenty four year old African American woman and married with a child in the eighteenth century. Three months of schooling was all I ever had. That was at a school for whites; though a few colored children were permitted to attend. To this school I walked five and a half miles each day, in going and returning, …show more content…
There were some minor advantages to working on a plantation or farm compared to working in an urban setting or household. Slaves on plantations lived in complete family units, their work dictated by the rising and setting of the sun, and they generally had Sundays off. A downfall was we were more likely to be sold or transferred than those in a domestic setting. We were also subject to brutal and severe punishments, because we were regarded as less valuable than household or urban slaves. A major fear was that my family would be broken up. It did come about that our master basically said that our son was no longer ours instead his and his wife. Five years have now gone by and we are pretty familiar with this area. In those five years, I had found a church and could express my Christian faith. Church made me realize that troubles don’t last always and God would see me through in time. I have to watch my son grow up no longer in my possession and it is very hard. I am glad that we live on the plantation though, so we see our son pretty much every day. My husband and I have plans to one day get our son and make a fresh start somewhere new not working under the white
A new year had just begun which was 1805; my family and I packed up and moved to a different state. The move wasn’t really by choice, but because the plantations had dried out and so had the money. Originally from Alabama, Mississippi, but we had just recently moved to Chesapeake, Virginia. I go by the name of Courtney Rich now, but in my past life I went by Courtney Bennett. It was very hard being a twenty four year old African American woman and married with a child in the eighteenth century. Three months of schooling was all I ever had. That was at a school for whites; though a few colored children were permitted to attend. To this school I walked five and a half miles each day, in going and returning, …show more content…
There were some minor advantages to working on a plantation or farm compared to working in an urban setting or household. Slaves on plantations lived in complete family units, their work dictated by the rising and setting of the sun, and they generally had Sundays off. A downfall was we were more likely to be sold or transferred than those in a domestic setting. We were also subject to brutal and severe punishments, because we were regarded as less valuable than household or urban slaves. A major fear was that my family would be broken up. It did come about that our master basically said that our son was no longer ours instead his and his wife. Five years have now gone by and we are pretty familiar with this area. In those five years, I had found a church and could express my Christian faith. Church made me realize that troubles don’t last always and God would see me through in time. I have to watch my son grow up no longer in my possession and it is very hard. I am glad that we live on the plantation though, so we see our son pretty much every day. My husband and I have plans to one day get our son and make a fresh start somewhere new not working under the white