Diary of a Slave

April 3, 1861

Slaves are just properties to white man, properties that could be use in any ways. As properties, slaves have no rights. Slaves have no spouse, no children, no country, and the most important, no home. A male slave often get whipped or punished, and a female slave would most likely be raped. The life of a slave is just like hell. If you are born as a slave, you will forever stay as a slave.

As a female slave, working in the house as a house slave is a very lucky thing. It is the most easiest work that a slave had to do. I clean the whole house everyday, from top to the bottom from left to right. My master is a very rich man, so his house is like a mansion. It's so big that cleaning it takes up all my energy. Even though it's very tiring, I don't ask for more. Other slave's working conditions are even worst than my work around the house. Some slaves has to pick cottons from the cotton fields for a very long period of time. It is a very painful job. Imagine, working like that everyday would kill me. Good thing I was sold to a good master...

April 4, 1861

Most masters treats their slaves like a tool. All they had to do was keep their slaves healthy enough to work. All masters tried to get the most work possible out of slaves' tired bodies. Slaves live in houses that were in bad conditions and our clothes were made out of coarse homespun linen or rough " Negro cloth". Where we live and what we wear are extremely uncomfortable. One thing that a slave felt every moment, was hunger. We work so hard and even over, we will never get enough food to be full. I am always hungry, like at this very moment writing my diary.

April 7, 1861

Masters can do anything to keep their slaves under control. Some masters used harsh punishments like beating, whipping, and other forms of torture. The negative thing about harsh punishments is that if the slaves hurt horribly hurt, they won't be able to work. Most masters like to control their slaves by making their slaves feel more and more depended on them. My master use the second method of controlling his slaves. He kept telling me that if I don't listen to him and follow his directions, he will sell me to other horrible slaveholders. That was one thing I'm fearful of. I'm afraid that if I was sold to a bad slaveholder, my life would be so horrible that I might even suicide.

April 10, 1861 Slavery is a harsh thing. I believe all slaves think that it is not fair but we

cannot do anything about it because we were born to be a slave. One thing a slave would do was day to day resistance. We would rebel quietly or very little so our masters don't notice. For example, some slaves break tools, pull the fences down, work sloppily, and steal food from the kitchen. My job is a house slave and I do steal food from the kitchen pretty often. But if I get caught I would probably get punish. Another way was to run away. Running away is a very dangerous thing. If we are lucky en

ough, we will probably be free, but if we get caught we would be punish really badly and there is a slight chance of dying.

April 12, 1861 Family is like a dream to slaves. In the wold of slaves, there's no such thing as "family". Having a family is a wonderful thing, but you have to care for a lot of things. Like me, I was sold to my master since I was six years old. I don't even know who my pa rents are. I don't even remember how they look like. Family have warmth and love, but in the world of slavery there is only pain and regret. As a slave, I would not want a family because it's too much to care for.

April 13,1861 Leisure time is like the favorite period of time for a slave. During this time, slaves can relax and have fun. Quilting is my favorite activity. I get to make a lot of different patterns and whatever I want. I can express myself of my quilt. After we all made our small little quilt squares, we would gather around and put all our quilts together to make a even bigger one with a lot of different personalities on it. Everyone looks forward to leisure time!

April 16, 1861 A lot of slaveholders persuade their slaves to go to church on Sunday.

Region at church help slaves endure what they suffered from their masters and find joy in life. I personally don't like church that much. But my master makes me go to church every Sunday, so I have to go because he said so. All I do at church is just sit there and observe what the other slaves are doing. Sometimes it is kind of boring.

April 20, 1861 Our culture are a big combination of songs, spirituals, dances, and legends all mixed together. Songs are often sung by slaves. We sang about faith, love work, kindness, and cruelty of slaveholders. One of my hobby is to listen to people sing about their master. Just by listening to them, I learn more stuff about other slaves and their life.

Pioneer Woman Script

Number of People: Either 5 if you want people playing double parts or8 if you want equal parts.

Character Description:

Andrew: A frail pioneer woman that is heading to the west to get married.(and an Indian)

Garret: A strong pioneer man following the love of his life to the west.

Cheery: A strong minded pioneer woman traveling towards the west to become a teacher and spread knowledge.(woman whose voting)

Mandy: A young pioneer woman going to the west to seek new opportunities.(priest)

Tiffany: A pioneer woman who seeking a new homestead.

~~ = Actions that the actors are doing

[] = scene setting

( ) = what the audience says

Intro
Everyone except Garret: “Hello there! We are the pioneer women!”
Garret: “and 1 man”
Cheery: “ I came from Illinois”
Mandy: “ I came from Ohio”
Andrew and Garret: “We came from Iowa”
Tiffany: “And I came from Indiana”
Mandy: “We all met here in Kansas to continue west”
~All Point to the west on the word “west”~
[ In Kansas ]
Cheery: “Hey Angelica!”
Andrew: “Hey what are you up too?”
Cheery: “Oh nothing just packing with my friends”
Andrew: “Oh? Where are you guys going?”
Cheery: “We’re going to the west!”
Andrew: “Oh really!??! MEE TOO! Why are you guys going west?”
Mandy: “I’m going west to find new opportunities!”
Tiffany: “I want to search for a homestead!”
Cheery: “I’m traveling to become a teacher.”
Mandy: “What about you Angelica?”
Andrew: “I’m going to the west to find a husband. I hear the men are big strong and handsome there”
Tiffany: “But there are big strong men here too!”
Andrew: “Fine…

~shouts to the audience~

WHO WANTS TO BE MY HUSBAND!”
( Audience: DUNDUNDUN )
Garret pops out of nowhere: "MEE! I want to be your husband!"
Andrew: “Fine… we’ll go get marry in the west.~Looks at Cheery&Mandy&Tiffany~ Do you want to travel with us?”
Cheery&Mandy&Tiffany: “Sure”
[ In the wagon on the journey to the west ]

Cheery: “Hmm this looks like a great place to start a school!”

~Build School~

Tiffany: “We can be your first students!”

Mandy: “ Yeah! Teach us”

Cheery: “Maybe another time…”

Garret: “Come on lets keep moving!”

~Everyone gets back into the wagon~

~Mandy and Cheery fight for the seat~

Cheery: “Move over!”

Mandy: “No you!”

Cheery: “But I can’t! There‘s no more room! The wagon is too small!”

~Cheery push Mandy off & wagon runs her over.~

( Audience : OHHH )

Cheery: “Oops.”

Andrew: *cough cough*

Garret: “Angelica , my love is anything wrong?”

Andrew: “No my honey bun. I am fine your love give me strength.”

( Audience : Awh! )

~Garret looks out wagon~

Garret looks out wagon: “Hmm this looks like a great place to build a church so Angelica and I can get married”

Tiffany: “Great idea! Then I can start a charity fund outside the church!”

~Gets out wagon and start building church~

~Put up crosses and Mandy gets up in front~

~Tiffany goes out in the audience asking for donation~

( Audience : Wedding Music )

Mandy: “Do you take Angelica as your wife?”

Garret: “I do!”

Mandy: “Do you take Garret as your husband”

Andrew: *cough* “I-”

~Andrew dies~

( Audience : Gasp )

Garret: “NOO HONEY MUFFIN ARE YOU OHKAY?!?!”

Cheery: “Its too late she's gone”

Mandy: “The least we can do is bury her”

~Tiffany walks in~

Tiffany: “What happen?”

Cheery: “Angelica died.”

Tiffany: “Oh that’s nice”

Garret: “Nice? HOW IS THAT NICE?”

Tiffany: “She wasn’t your type.”

Cheery: “Cmon the least we can do is give him some alone time”

~Cheery and Tiffany walks out of church~

~Indian Andrew pops out of nowhere~

Andrew: “Stop don’t move!”

~Andrew starts shooting @ Cheery&Tiffany~

~Cheery &Tiffany dies~

~Garret comes out~

Garret: “NOOOO IM ALONE!”

~After burying Cheery & Tiffany~

Garret: “Well I guess I have to continue west and build a new life”

[In the west]

Garret: " Yes! I finally reached the west! I can start a new life! I can forget the past!"

~Cheery voting~

Garret: " Hey that's not right! Women can't vote!"

Cheery: "Shows what you men know! Us strong and clever women DO have a right to vote. It was something that we didn't get to do in the east. But now that we're in the West , we have the right too. Even Wyoming granted us to vote!"

Garret: " Wow! You're right. I guess Women do have the right to vote! Things are so amazing out here in the west."

END.

Manifest Destiny Journal

June 1, 1869
We finally make it to the West. Even though we faced a lot of hardship, we still made it here. We came to the West because come of us were looking for a homestead, husband or new opportunities. I came to the West for new opportunities. I found a job as a priest. I remember, a few days ago, a sweet couple were getting married but when the bride was was going to say " I do" she died of a disease. The poor husband was left alone.
We faced a lot of different hardships. The space in the wagon was limited, there were a lot of different diseases, children fell out of the wagons, and Indians were attacking. On my way to the West, the space of the wagon I was on, had limited space. I was being squeezed inside. When me and this other woman was fighting for the space in the wagon, she accidently pushed me out. It was very dangerous, I almost got ran over by the wagon, but good thing I wasn't hurt.
When I got to the West, I found a job as a priest at a church. I think we made a lot of things that would stay forever. For example, I think we would leave behind, schools, churches, libraries, and maybe more. I'm glad that I traveled here for a new opportunity even though it was hard and tiring.