Sean


 * Preface**

Did you know that some slaves successfully escaped? You might know that a lot of slaves tried to escape, but most of them failed. The historical fiction story you’re about to read is about a slave that gets auctioned to a farmer and tries to escape.


 * __What is the historical setting in this story?__** I set this story in 1862. This was during the Civil War, that started in 1861. This war was fought between the North and the South – parts of the United States. The character is a slave working at a farm because he got bought at an auction. He’s working in Virginia.


 * __What’s true in this story?__** Slavery did exist, and lots of slaves did try to escape. It’s true that slaves got whipped for things as simple as gazing off into the distance. It’s true that young slaves were taken away from their parents, and never saw them again. It’s true that slaves tried to resist their masters //passively// – by sitting down and not doing anything, by acting stupid or blind, or by acting crazy. It’s also true that they would make plans with other slaves to escape, and that masters went after with them with guns and dogs.


 * __What’s fictional in this story?__** In this story the characters are not real historical people, and the story is made up. Bob would not be a real slave owners name. There probably wouldn't be a random whole in the ground big enough for a human to sit in it with his whole body hidden. And the slave owner probably would be meaner to the slaves.

The historical fiction story you're read is about a slave that gets auctioned to a farmer and escape. Some parts of the story are true and some parts are not. the character rebels, try's to escape, and hides from his owner.

__**Sources:**__ "How did most slaves die in the 1800's"? Accessed 18 March 2010. __**http://www.wikianswers.com**__. "How did most slaves escape"? Accessed 18 March 2010. __**http://www.wikianswers.com**__. "How were slaves treated in the 1800's"? Accessed 18 March 2010. __**http://www.wikianswers.com**__. "What are some punishments for slaves in the 1800's"? Accessed 18 March 2010. __**http://www.wikianswers.com**__. "What did slaves eat in the 1800's"? Accessed 18 March 2010. __**http://www.wikianswers.com**__. "What did slaves wear in the 1800's"? Accessed 18 March 2010. __**http://www.wikianswers.com**__. "What is the worst thing a slave has ever done"? Accessed 18 March 2010. __**http://www.wikipedia.com/nat_turner**__. "When was the civil war"? Accessed 18 March 2010. __**http://www.google.com**__.

Some one was talking in the other room. I had no idea who it could be. I put my ear against the door to see if I could understand them. They weren't talking very clearly. I heard a door open then shut. I sat down and thought about who they were but I just couldn't figure it out. The door slammed open and there was a white man standing in the door.

"Lets go its time to go"

I was scared, I didn't know what he was talking about.

"Go were"? I asked. "You'll find out" The man grabbed me and yanked me out side. " Now here's a fine young Negro. Look at these fine teeth, nice and strait, crystal white, just perfect. And the muscles on him... woo wee, now this young Negro can lift some weight, that's for sure. So lets start this bidding at one hundred dollars" "Two hundred" the man in the back said. "We got two hundred do I have three"? "Three" another man said. "Oh! We got three hundred; does any one want to go higher? No okay sold to the man in the hat." The man toke me to his farm. I was angry, I didn't want to be sold. "Here we are the Jones' house". This house is beautiful I thought to my self. The rivers roaring and birds chirping, over the great hills of Virginia. It was great. "Okay here's some cloths for u to wear but u better make it last because its all the cloths you're getting." Henry gave me two linen shirts, two pairs of pants, one jacket, one pair of shoes, and one pair of socks. "That should last you a while, and if not oh well." He showed me all the stuff that I was going to do around the farm. There was three other slaves, one was named Sean one was John and the other was Devin. "Hi my name is Abram. I guess I'm a Jones now too." "Just to warn you in gets pretty rough around here so I'd do my work if I were you." John told me. " Yeah John's right" Sean said." "Hey get to work you Negros!" "Oh there he is, Henry Alexander Jones.” Devin said with a slight hesitation. He gave all of us a tool called a hoe. I wasn't sure what to do with it so I just copied Sean John, and Devin. I found out what to do with the hoe in about ten minutes. It was pretty simple, you just dug out weeds. I was looking around and saw a pop belly pig just standing there. It was mostly white with the cutest black spot on his face and side. "Hey why aren't you working"?! Henry screamed. "Sorry sir I was just..." "I don't have time for excuses just get back to work"! The next morning I was really sore from all the work. I was dreading doing anything that morning. It was making Henry mad for some reason. He was getting so mad that he was threatening me and yelling a bunch. But I was so tired that I couldn't work as hard. It was really annoying because Henry wouldn't get off my back. During the night I was telling the other slaves about how Henry was threatening me and stuff just because I was tired and it mad me really mad how we have to do all this work while he just sits around and watches us, and we don't even get any breaks. He also doesn't feed us enough, and when he does feed us its gross. They said at least I didn't get whipped. Today was really sunny and very hot. It must have been about 100 degrees or more. I was sweating like crazy. I was dieing for a drink. So I asked Henry if I could have some water. He said no so I went back and started working, but then I thought to myself that I shouldn't work if he doesn't give me water so I put down my hoe and sat on the ground. "Hey get up and start working before I beat you"! I didn't reply. "Okay I'll go grab the whip." I still didn't reply, I just sat there like a stump. Henry came back and sure enough he had a whip in his hands. It scared me but I didn't want him to see the fear in me. If he saw it he would probably think that I was weak. About 2 day after the 30 lashes my back was still as red as a cherry and drenched in blood, my eyes were watering my teeth were chattering and my legs were trembling. I was in so much pain and I was so angry it felt like my back was on fire and there was nothing I could do to make it feel better. I now know what Sean, John and Devin have gone through and it was not fun. I want to get out of this horrible place but I didn't know how or were I would go if I made it out. Maybe I should make a plan to escape with the others. The next morning we had to work extra hard because Henry was having guest's come over. We had to make everything spotless or we would get a cruel and unusual punishment. I was really sore from the lashes and I was still in pain. I soon got tired of cleaning and doing hard labor and started to not work as fast as I should have. Henry's guest arrived and I wasn't done with my job I started to panic and work as fast as I could, but I couldn't finish on time. I was scared of what my punishment was going to be but I tried to think positive. "Its okay, maybe he will not even do anything. Or of he does it will not be so bad, maybe it will be fast and easy." I thought to myself even though I knew it wasn't true. Henry started to walk over to me. I was worried, I didn't know what to expect. There was still a mess in the kitchen and that's the main thing that he told me to clean. "Why is the kitchen still dirty! I demand to know what is the meaning of this!" Henry screamed at me. " I'm sorry sir, I tried my best but I just couldn't I'm really sorry sir." "Well sorry isn't going to cut it now is it!" "No sir." "Okay so what do you think you're punishment should be?" "I don't know sir." "Okay I got one." Henry tied me up to the side of the shed facing the sun and left me there. I was there for 3 days. I got bug bites, sun burns and I was really hungry. During the night the other slaves and I were talking and we started to make a plan to escape. "So what's the plan?" "When we're working tomorrow I'll stop working again and he'll come over. I'll distract him then I'll scream and you guys run, He'll soon notice that you're gone and chase after you and I'll run the opposite direction." "Okay sounds like a good plan." "Yeah this is going to work." The next day we were hoeing and I stopped working; Henry ran over and started to yell at me. I got up and started to act like I was stupid. I started to fall on him and say really dumb things that made no since, Then I screamed as loud as I could. Henry didn't know what was going on. "What was the scream for?" he asked. I didn't answer but he soon found out. He took off I looked and he was chasing after the others. I ran the other direction; I was running for my life. I was so scared; my heart was going a million miles per hour. I ran for about 30 minutes at full speed. I found a hole next to a tree and jumped in it, it was just big enough for me to sit down in. I covered the hole with leaves and branches so they couldn't see me. I sat there for about 15 minutes then herd hounds howling, men yelling, and footsteps stomping. I thought they were going to here my heart beating it was going so fast. I cleared my mind of any thoughts I lied there with my eyes closed. I fell asleep and started dreaming. I started having a flash back of when I was young and with my mom. There was a man who was looking for slaves. "How old is he?" the man asked. She tried to ignore him but the man grabbed her arm and asked again, "How old is he?" "Not old enough." she calmly told him. "He looks like he's old enough." "He isn't so leave us alone." "I'm afraid I can't do that so give him here." "No he's my baby, you can’t have him so go away!" The man grabbed me and yanked me out of my moms hands. "Some body help! This man is taking my child! Help!" She screamed in terror. She watched as they took me away knowing that there was nothing she could do but cry. I woke up and tried to make a run for it but all the men and dogs were standing rite there, I knew I was caught. I stopped and fell on my knee's I prayed and started to cry. BAM! BAM! Its over, no more.

__HISTORY OF RHODESIAN RIDGEBACKS__

You might be wondering what a Rhodesian Ridgeback is. Well let me tell you, it is an amazing dog. A Rhodesian Ridgeback is also known as the African Lion Dog. It this name (African Lion Dog) because of there ability to hunt lions.