Enslaved Women

First, read Two Love Stories, by William & Ellen Craft, and Polly Shine. After examining the documents, prepare a response that draws on specific details from the documents in answering the following questions: 1. What were some of the myths about Africans and Africans Americans that were fundamental to establishing and maintaining the slave system? 2. How did the characters in these two accounts (the Crafts, Polly Shine, and the man in Shine’s story) reject and defy these myths? 3. The Crafts wrote their narrative 12 years after their escape from slavery, and the Polly Shine interview is conducted decades after the end of slavery. Consider the role of memory in each of these documents as far as how it possibly impacts their credibility. 4. What do these stories tell about forces shaping love and other intimate relationships among people under slavery?