A year in the south
Prompt: How did the different backgrounds of John, Cornelia, Lou, and Samuel affect their abilities to adjust to the end of the war? How did the end of the war affect their daily lives? Explain, making sure to support your answer with evidence and quotes from the text.
A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865 The background of an individual allows the individual to adapt to new circumstances no matter how radical the change may be. It is very apparent that in the book, A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865, that people whether they were black or white suffered different hardships, however their background was what enabled them to succeed or fail after the war. There were four people which this book was focused upon: Louis Hughes, who was an educated slave in the Deep South, in Tombigbee, Alabama; Cornelia McDonald, who was the wife of a Confederate soldier, and the mother of 7 children in Lexington, Virginia; Samuel Agnew, who was a priest exempted from military service due to his position in the church, in Tippah County, Mississippi, and John Robertson, who was an ex-confederate soldier looking to settle down and live a religious life accepting defeat as a Confederate soldier, in East Tennessee. Although the backgrounds of each of these individuals were different, their skills gained from their background is what led them to be able to adapt or fail to adapt to the end of the war. Louis Hughes was an educated slave who was taught many skills by his master whom he refers to as boss, and skills he learned from various jobs but not limited to nursing, working in the fields, and working the salt works. Louis Hughes was very highly skilled for a slave. “Nursing was only one of many skills Lou acquired in the McGehee household. He could drive a carriage, cultivate an ornamental garden, and even operate a sewing machine, not to mention serve expertly as butler and body servant.” (Ash 25) This shows how well rounded Lou was as a slave and as an individual. Lou was
A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865 The background of an individual allows the individual to adapt to new circumstances no matter how radical the change may be. It is very apparent that in the book, A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865, that people whether they were black or white suffered different hardships, however their background was what enabled them to succeed or fail after the war. There were four people which this book was focused upon: Louis Hughes, who was an educated slave in the Deep South, in Tombigbee, Alabama; Cornelia McDonald, who was the wife of a Confederate soldier, and the mother of 7 children in Lexington, Virginia; Samuel Agnew, who was a priest exempted from military service due to his position in the church, in Tippah County, Mississippi, and John Robertson, who was an ex-confederate soldier looking to settle down and live a religious life accepting defeat as a Confederate soldier, in East Tennessee. Although the backgrounds of each of these individuals were different, their skills gained from their background is what led them to be able to adapt or fail to adapt to the end of the war. Louis Hughes was an educated slave who was taught many skills by his master whom he refers to as boss, and skills he learned from various jobs but not limited to nursing, working in the fields, and working the salt works. Louis Hughes was very highly skilled for a slave. “Nursing was only one of many skills Lou acquired in the McGehee household. He could drive a carriage, cultivate an ornamental garden, and even operate a sewing machine, not to mention serve expertly as butler and body servant.” (Ash 25) This shows how well rounded Lou was as a slave and as an individual. Lou was
Bibliography: Ash, Stephen V. A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865. New York City: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.