Idea for next Felicity story...

[Katie from IL]

I'm sorry if I offended anyone [img]frown.gif[/img] I've pretty much learned most of my American history through American Girl. During my junior and senior years of high school when I was supposed to be taking American history, my dad had just died so I got out of it.

I had a vague idea about the Civil war and slavery but it was American Girl that really got me interested in it. Sometimes I feel like Samantha when she can't figure out if women's sufferage is right, or Felicity when she can't figure out if it is right to be disloyal to the king. I will have to take some history classes when I go back to college in the fall.

I guess I like to be creative sometimes but I would never do anything to deliberately offend anyone. [img]frown.gif[/img]

[gingerharp]

Katie,

I don't think anyone was too offended. It was a very creative idea. You go on and write that story if you want. Nobody's creative vision should be crushed.
I'm from Southern backgorund so I totally agree with what everyone was saying, but I wasn't offended.
Don't worry about not learning about slavery in history class. I went to school to high school and michigan and we were just told that all slavery was bad. It wasn't until much later when I read numorous civil war books that I saw other views and sides to it. Plus the war was fought for other reasons than just slavery.

[MareGathersWords]

Two words: Fan Fiction

Run with your idea and there's plenty of fan fic sites on the 'net that may take your story. I'm a fan fic writer/junkie myself...what's better then watching or reading one of your favorite books/shows/movies? Writing it! (To me, at least [img]wink.gif[/img] )

[Grapedy1982]

I'm not offended in the least, Katie! Your situation and Ashley's too, is quite common- outside the South. The Civil War and all of the issues surrounding it still very much affect the way we Southerners think and view the rest of the world. There's still a lot of bitterness over things that happened during the war and during Reconstruction, and it's even harder to let go of when the rest of the country refuses to even acknowledge that all of that stuff happened.

I find it very sad that unless you live in the South and are surrounded by the battle sites and the graves, you get a very one-dimensional picture of what was really going on. The subdivision I live in has a Civil War era wagon trail in the middle of it. The spot where my house is had Confederate soldiers marching over it and probably making camp down by the creek behind my house. The plantation where I work is one of 3 surviving plantations out of 123! Sherman burned all the rest to the ground in 1864. He burned the town where I live to the ground. The only thing left was the shell of the Catholic church by the levee. Tourists always complain about the lack of historical sites in our area, and very few of them believe me when I tell them it's pretty much the fault of the Union Army.

I do admire Pleasant Company for tackling the Civil War with Addy's character, it was a great idea. Just as a Southerner, I was very very disappointed with the way the idea was executed, and the one-dimensional viewpoint of everything. It's very true that the winners write the history books, especially when like me, you think the losing side was right but just took the wrong path to do it.

I've heard of Ann Rinaldi, Rebecca, but haven't actually read any of hers. Here in the South, that's the way we see it, that's what our surviving records and stories say happened. It's very hard to let go of what the Union army and the federal government did. People always complain about how unrealistic the Reconstruction parts of Gone With the Wind are. It's actually the most accurate portrayal of conditions from that time period ever to be put on film. The South's history and traditions and the things we hold dear literally went up in smoke during the war.

Unless you grow up in the middle of where the War happened, you don't really learn that much about it. That to me is the saddest part of all.

[rebecca191]

Ann Rinaldi's books are interesting... she manages to write from many different viewpoints realistically... she has books on the Civil War with both Northern and Southern characters... In My Father's House and The Last Silk Dress were from a Southern POV, I think Girl in Blue, and Amelia's War were Northern, and she may have had some others as well. She has also written several with slaves as main characters. I think one was well treated... and one was not... and there may have been a third I never read. The first one was set in early 1800s and the 2nd in the Civil War era. She's also written a lot of books about the colonial era and the American Revolution, and a few stories set on the frontier. She is one of my favorite authors. You might also like the Dear America book When Will This Cruel War Be Over. It is about the hardships of a once wealthy Southern girl during the Civil War. it is written as a diary.

It's rather interesting really, when it comes to kids/teen historical fiction. If the main character is a white southerner, 90% of the time if there are slaves they are treated well. And if the main character is a slave, 90% of time slaves are horribly abused.

[MorknMindy]

I like Katie's idea but I can also understand other points of view that have been expressed. I haven't read Addy's first book yet because I don't have it, but I've read two other books in her series. I really do like Addy, but feel like I'm missing so much since I haven't read the first book yet.

On the subject of slavery, I'm sure most slaves weren't physically abused. I've heard tour guides in New Oleans tell me that Irish immigrants were actually treated worse than most slaves because there was no long term commitment to them.

However, Felicity could still have questions about the morality of slavery in regard to ownership of people. Even if the slaves were treated well, the fact still remains that their rights were very limited. They couldn't legally be married to each other and that's why some slave families were separated and sold to other plantations. They weren't allowed to attend school. Even after they were freed, I'm sure many slaves chose to remain at their plantations because there really weren't that many good options for them. Obviously, the subject of slavery was a touchy one even back then, so it would make sense that Felicity might have a lot of questions about it.

Anyway, I hope I'm not offending anyone either. I've been to Louisiana many times on vacation and love it down there. The Garden District of New Orleans is beautiful. It's rich with history, and there's no doubt they serve the best food you can find.

[Monika]

I am highly offended by this thread & that anyone can possibly suggest that slavery is anything but WRONG, is sad.
Please don't believe otherwise. Owning other humans & forcing them to work for you "day & night" is not good or anything but BAD.

Look at the reality for newly freed African-Americans in the deep south:
1. you & your entire family (if you're lucky) are free, but you do not own the land on which you have worked all your life.
2. you do not own the home that you have lived in all your life.
3. slavery has been used as the basis for the civial war & you are now in a war-torn part of the south, where many non-slave owning whites have lost much & are seeing ex-slaves as the root of their sorrows.
4. where do you go?
5. your former master still needs workers, still owns the house where you live, still owns the land that you have worked, & offers to let you continue living there in exchange for working for him.
6. do you somehow try to return to Africa, you weren't born there, you don't know the language, you have nothing there either!

BUT NOW YOU ARE FREE - if you choose you can go, if you finish your work, you can go to the village on any day, not just Sunday! you can take a vacation, a day off, without fear of being hunted down, you won't be sold away from your family, alas, even with freedom, former slaves where still not treated like equals.

I am a born & bred white southerner, born in Mississippi & grew-up in NC, but I believe that all humans are created equally & have the right to be free. And yes, there are many underlying issues that caused the civil war, but the greatest thing that resulted was that slavery was abolished.

There is a lot more that I'd like to bring across, because I fear that some young girl will read this thread & somehow come away with the idea that slavery was not all bad, but that is wrong. Owning other people IS WRONG & no matter how good you treat slaves they are still property & not free humans!
We as women, should be the first to understand this, we have also been treated like less than equal & have had to fight for rights - & still in other countries, women can't own land, can't vote, can't marry whom they choose & are treated unfairly, unjustly & cruelly. Even in this country, women are fighting for equal pay, equal postions in governmant & corporations (think about it, has there ever been a female president or an African-Amerian one - people would rather redo the constatution to allow for Arnold Scwartzenagger to be able to run for pres, than to elect a woman). Not all women believed that women even needed the right to vote, does that mean that not having the right was not WRONG! No, it doesn't! We don't have to vote, but we are free to if we choose.

[lieu2]

OK, not to be ugly here. I agree that slaves were often treated well because they were in investment. But the underlying principle should not be lost. They were treated well because they were deemed subhuman, a piece of property. Sort of the way, we would view a luxury car. Not a person. So not to demean anyone, I think they main idea to get across to young people is that slavery is WRONG. Regardless of how well they may be treated. Owning people is a barbaric custom. Also one of the main reasons, the slaves stayed on the plantation after the civil war is because they knew no other life. It was a comfortable life and they knew they could survive. So I don't want to insult anyone but I do think the message has to be loud and clear. Regardless of how well you may treat your property, people are not property. And that behavior is completely and totally unacceptable for this day and time.

[bekeating]

Unfortunately I am out the door to school and I can't do this justice at this point. This thread will be edited .... there are two sides to every story, but no matter how you look at it owning someone in today's world in unacceptable. Yes, it happened and is part of our history, and I am sure that some masters treated their slaves differently than others. This argument is getting too heated and too personal. I am locking this thread for now and will do a better closure later. Thanks.

Bonnie

[adriana82]

I love Ann Rinaldi =) Time Enough for Drums is my most favorite book in the whole world!

Anyways...

HERE IS AN EXCELLENT MOVIE TO WATCH!!!!!! (If you can find it, I happen to own it on video)

It's called "TRUE WOMEN". It was a made for TV movie with Dana Delaney, Angelina Jolie, Annabeth Gish and others in it.

Maybe you can rent in thru inter-library loan.

It takes place in the south (both GA and TX) from the 1830's to 1870's. Shows treatment of Native Americans - very different on each side of the Mississippi! And different views on slaves, and slaves actually chosing to remain with their masters because they were treated well and have no place to go once freed (remember how many didn't truly enjoy freedom for another 100 years!)

Anyways, I know you will all love it! Go get it =) Has all that fun Texas-Mexican drama too.