The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South

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?

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

How did religion change life for Southern enslaved people for better and for worse?

Name and discuss at least three ways that culture and/or community helped give enslaved people a sense of autonomy.

In his “Appendix III: Critical Essay on Sources”, Blassingame argues that former slave autobiographies provided him with valuable insight into slavery and the plantation system (367-72). Do you agree that these sources helped support his overall view on slavery? Why or why not?

Describe at least one disagreement Blassingame has with previous historians’ discussion of the history of slavery. How does he try to address this issue in The Slave Community?

How does Blassingame use psychological theory to support his thesis?

In your own words, describe how an enslaved person might have defied the Sambo stereotype without escaping or outright rebelling.