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American Social History Project • Center for Media and Learning

Doing As They Can: Slave Life in the American South

The harsh realities of slavery on a cotton plantation in the antebellum period are brought to life in this documentary, told from the point of view of an escaped slave. On the plantation, time and work are dictated by the master. Still, slaves strive to make life in the quarters independent of his control. The narrator escapes to the North, only to discover that her former master’s power extends even to New York City because of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. (Length: 30 minutes)

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Teaching Materials

Viewer’s Guide (.pdf)

See collection of related primary documents and teaching activities in HERB

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