African Americans in Central Virginia, 1864

Slave Interview

Assignment: Read the excerpt from the WPA interview of Reverend Massey. Reverend Massey was approximately 88 years old when a WPA researcher conducted this interview with him in 1937. At the time of the interview Massey lived in Petersburg, but spent his years as a slave in South Emporia, Virginia. In the following excerpt, Massey recounts what happened when Confederate soldiers came to his farm late in the war.


GLOSSARY:
dar--there
hit--it
dat--that
dey--they
dis--this
'longed--belonged
'tusslin'--wrestling


Level 1:

1. What was the goal of Confederate Captain Parsons and his men when they went to the plantation where Massey lived?

2. What did the Confederates expect Massey to do?

3. What happened when Massey was forced to help the Confederates?

4. What does Massey report other slaves did who had been seized by the Confederates?


Level 2:

1. Why would the Confederates want to recruit slaves?

2. What does this story suggest about how the war was going for the Confederates? Explain.

3. What does the story suggest about slaves' attitudes toward the war and the Confederacy? Explain.


Level 3:

1. Conduct additional research to discover why the Confederacy did not recruit slaves extensively before 1864 and to discover how the Confederacy used them to serve its war effort.



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