The two Omeka items I created are:
http://omekahst251.jenniferandrella.com/admin/items/show/19
http://omekahst251.jenniferandrella.com/admin/items/show/28
The first one depicts an overseer of slaves holding a whip and beating a slave who is restrained to the ground with chains. A white woman is seen holding her baby while casually watching the overseer whip the slave tied to the ground, naked. This portrays that treating slaves like they did animals in the 19th century was not an issue, there were no civil rights to the slaves. It also portrays that all the people of colour were treated below the white race and seems common to let the woman’s child witness such harsh activities as if it was a way of life. This painting was painted in the 1840s which is quite interesting because the slave rebellions began just a few years after that. I found that the 14th item listed in Omeka was a complete opposite to my picture. This picture shows a black man whipping a white male to the ground, this picture is dated to 1863. It is quite ironic to see how the tables turn. My picture raises research questions related to the punishments the Americans gave to control their slaves. It would raise the question as to how far the Americans would go to punish the slaves even harder after the Haitian rebellion to suppress any future rebellions. It looks like the word of mouth is very strong, the slaves had a hope of leading a better life after hearing the rebellion in Haiti, it was unstoppable.
The second item is an advertisement by Dock Watson saying that he had found Alex Wesley, possibly a reply to a ‘Wanted information’ advertisement in the newspaper. The 19th century was a harsh period, the slave families were separated and sold to the highest bidder (no information to back this up, it is only my assumption), this created a split in the families and had them snatched of their basic right for genetic heredity within the family. I think the research question this advertisement rises would be that of how successful were the rebellions and how long it took the United States to establish a slavery abolishment act until a Black man/ woman would be allowed to publish an advertisement in a national newspaper.
These are fantastic historical sources with thoughtful analysis supporting them. The first, visual source stands out because of a particular conversation we had in class about the increased methods of control over the course of the early 19th century, whipping being one technique.
The second source certainly touches on one of the more sensitive parts of this history: family separation. Separation was personally traumatic, and for years after the Civil War was over, people tried to reunite with their families.