Alabama State
My initial response to reading the Alabama textbook is that it offers more insight into the plantation life of the “old South” and Alabama in particular, years before the war. The textbook describes in detail the structure of the plantations, whereby there was one big home for the plantation owners together with their families and after that, hundreds of acres of land which were used for growing crops for two purposes The first purpose was for sale, this included corn and cotton while the second purpose was for food which included grain and vegetables. Social class was also displayed whereby the slaves lived behind the plantation owner’s house in rows of cabins. The theme of respect was also portrayed, whereby the slaves in greeting their masters had to tilt their hats and refer to them as “master.” As an overview of the plantation life, the slaves worked hard on the farms from dawn till dusk through the supervision of their masters to provide crops both for sale and consumption purposes of the plantation.
What I found most interesting is the description of the plantation owner’s house. This was described as a beautiful house up to two stories high that was painted white to portray perfection. The home was located precisely in a group of trees with a round chamber placed centrally on the roof. This chamber was used by the plantation owner to oversee his acres of land, with slaves bent over toiling hard on the farms. The house was built explicitly at the top of the hill to situate it in an advantageous position to be the highest point of the entire plantation. The house was accompanied by a driveway and iron gates. The slaves working in the plantation referred to the plantation owner’s home as “the big house.”
This text is different from my textbook regarding life in the Old South in that, to begin with, in this text, it is seen that one of the plantation owner’s children is being given a send-off party before going away to school, unlike in the textbook whereby plantation farmers engaged private tutors to teach their children everything they needed to know including the basics which were reading and writing. Another thing is that in this text, unlike the textbook where the slaves are treated harshly as they are seen as property, they are illustrated as being treated fairly and with care. The slaves are able to interact with the master and even chuckle in the process. The plantation owner’s wife, who is referred to as the Mistress by the slaves, attends to the sick among them and is regarded as their best friend.
“Know Alabama” perpetuates the myth of the South, which was that slavery was the basis and foundation by which the Southern culture developed. The people of the South, therefore, had the notion that slavery was fair and principled on the grounds that the South was able to gain economic affluence through it. According to the “Know Alabama” text, the plantation life with the slaves on the farms was one of the happiest cultures in the South years before the war arose between the States. It is also insinuated that through slavery, the plantation owners down South were able to grow cotton in the river valley lands and, as a result, harvested bales of cotton and sold them through the help of the slave workers, thus boosting the economic prosperity of the region. This was in line with the myth that slavery was a just cause as it boosted the economic development of the region.