What challenges does the study of slavery present for historians? How have some researchers tried to address these problems?

W1: The View from the Bottom Rail
Please see attached reading
Image credit: Escaped slaves, Cumberland Landing, Va, May 1862, http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/contrabands.htm

Learning Outcome
This assignment supports the following lesson objective:
Understand the way historians gather and analyze evidence
Assignment Overview
This exercise will help to recontextualize the study of slavery as a way to illustrate the challenges and opportunities connected to oral sources.
Deliverables
Written responses (300-400 words) to exercise questions
Assignment Details
Perform the following tasks:

Step 1: Read “The View from the Bottom Rail” from After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection (in this module).

Step 2: After reading the text, answer the following questions.
Use a word processor to write your response to the following questions:
What challenges does the study of slavery present for historians? How have some researchers tried to address these problems?
There is a long discussion here of the interviews of Susan Hamlin and Susan Hamilton. What does this illustrate about the challenges that remain from the use of oral testimony?
What happened to freedpeople after the war? What role does oral testimony play in recreating this portrait for us?

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