My Thoughts
Number your paragraphs as below and write on another sheet of paper. Your writing should reflect thoughtful insights and your sentences should be well developed with no spelling or grammar errors.
- Imagine that you are a white teenage factory worker who lived in 1865 in New York City. You have just learned that Lee has surrendered his army to Grant and that millions of slaves have been freed. You are happy the war is over but you have heard that many of these freedmen are planning to move to northern cities to work in the factories. Living and working conditions are already bad, but how will this massive influx effect you and your family? Will your younger brothers and sisters be able to find work? Your family will be depending on their income for survival. You have always felt that people should not be enslaved, but at the same time you don’t want other people taking your family’s jobs. Write at least a five sentence paragraph describing how you feel about the prospect of all these new workers moving to town.
- Imagine you are a white teenager who lived in 1865 on a small plantation near Charlotte, NC. Your brother is in the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of General Lee. You have just learned that Lee has surrendered his army to Grant. This news leaves you filled with very mixed emotions. You are glad your brother will no longer be fighting, but you know that life as you have always known it will never be the same again. Your father has lost most of his money and the family’s ten slaves have been freed. How will your family survive? Write at least a five sentence paragraph describing how this news makes you feel and what you believe your family will have to do to survive.
- Imagine you are an African American living in Appomattox County, VA in April 1865. You are now free because of Lee’s surrender. Your former master has asked you to stay and help him put in the spring crops. You will be able to live in the house in which you have always lived. You know there will be food on your table and clothes on your back, but he cannot pay you. He has no money. You hear about former slaves moving to northern cities going to work in the factories and earning money. For the first time in your life you have the freedom to choose the path you will take. What is your choice and why? Write at least a five sentence paragraph explaining your choice.
