Stephanie+Wilkinson-+Childbirth


 * = Summarizing ||
 * Source 1 (Lewellyn 1846-07-26): This is a letter to Mr. Cameron from Charles Lewellyn. Lewellyn is updating Mr. Cameron about crops and other happenings on the plantation.

Source 2 (Lewellyn 1846-08-18): This is a letter to Mr. Cameron from Charles Lewellyn. This letter is letting Cameron know of people who are sick, who had a child, and that the cotton crop is not producing much.

Source 3: (Lewellyn 1846-08-30): This is another letter to Mr. Cameron from Charles Lewellyn. This is telling Cameron that the crop is very bad, but other plantations are also in a bad state. The general health of the servants is the best it has been in awhile. Two slaves had a girl each, and one slave child is sick and will probably not live.

Source 4: (Lewellyn 1846-11-03): This is a letter from Lewellyn to Mr. Cameron. From Alabama to North Carolina. This letter is telling Cameron how much of each crop is packed and what all there is left to do. It also updates him on the health of the slaves.

Source 5: (Lewellyn 1846-11-08): A letter from Lewelyn to Mr. Cameron. It is a new update about the about of cotton that is packed. Fewer slaves this time are sick but the two that are mentioned seem bad off. A slave had an abortion for an unknown reason. ||
 * = Contextualizing ||
 * Source 1 (Lewellyn 1846-07-26): The letter was written July 26, 1846 in Alabama, and it was sent to North Carolina. This letter is letting Mr. Cameron know that crop may not be made this season, a few people are sick, and one women had a ‘fine son’. During this point in time slavery is still prevalent, especially in Alabama and North Carolina.

Source 2 (Lewellyn 1846-08-18): This letter is from August 1846, going to North Carolina from Alabama. A short sentence, “Mary has a girl” updates Cameron on the birth of a new child.

Source 3: (Lewellyn 1846-08-30): This is from August 30 1846, not even a full month since the last letter. “Eliza and Liddy had a girl a piece” is how the addition of two new babies is introduced. We now know for sure that this is a plantation and the people he describes are ‘servants’.

Source 4: (Lewellyn 1846-11-03): This is from November 3rd 1846. The growing season for most crops is over and the amounts of product he has packed is most likely close to the total they will have.

Source 5: (Lewellyn 1846-11-08): This letter is only 5 days after the last one that was sent. It was probably sent either because Lewellyn thought Cameron would need to know that the two slaves that seem very sick are still doing bad, or that a slave had an abortion. ||
 * = Inferring ||
 * Source 1 (Lewellyn 1846-07-26): It can be inferred that the people mentioned who are sick and who gave birth were slaves. We can also assume that Lewellyn is either a overseer, or some other important person in charge of a large piece of land.

Source 2 (Lewellyn 1846-08-18): We can assume that the list of sick people at the start of the letter as well as Mary, the one who gave birth, are slaves.

Source 3: (Lewellyn 1846-08-30): Since the people who are described are called servants, we can now be more sure that they were african slaves, since this is the most common servant for the time period and place.

Source 4: (Lewellyn 1846-11-03): Lewellyn no longer seems worried about the amount of product he has been harvesting, so it could be inferred that they’ll be fine through winter. Again a slave has a son and he is referred to as a “fine son”

Source 5: (Lewellyn 1846-11-08): We can not be sure of why the slave had an abortion, or if it was even her choice. She is not mentioned to be sick in previous letters so we can assume that prior to her being pregnant she was in good health. ||
 * = Monitoring ||
 * Source 1 (Lewellyn 1846-07-26): This source does not give extensive details on the topic I was looking at, childbirth, however it does give hints to slave owners feelings towards it. Lewellyn simple updates Cameron on the birth of a fine son, but does not mention how long the labor was, or how the mother is recovering. I think it would be important to find out more about the author and the amount of slaves, land, and resources he has to understand his view on childbirth.

Source 2 (Lewellyn 1846-08-18): Another useful source would be birth records. Obviously a doctor would not have taken records of a slave, but perhaps the overseer took notes in order to best keep track of the number of slaves he has.

Source 3: (Lewellyn 1846-08-30): Again, the news of two births seems a mere update. There is no excitement or worry for the mother.

Source 4: (Lewellyn 1846-11-03): It would be interesting to see how much product the average farmer and plantation owner got each year to compare to how this plantation is doing.

Source 5: (Lewellyn 1846-11-08): One thing to look further into was why women had abortions in this time period. It could not have been a safe, or cheap process given the health care at the time. ||
 * = Corroboration ||
 * All of these sources are written from the same man, so they are all from the same perspective. Since they were all going to the same person, his boss, they all have the same informative, respectful tone. Lewellyn refers to each birth, or abortion, in the same way. As a simple statement of fact, not showing excitement or concern for the mothers or child. One interesting thing I found was if a girl was born, he would flat out say X slave had a girl. But if a boy was born it would be X slave had a fine boy. This leads me to assume that the overseer was happier when males were born, which makes since for the time period, but also since they knew he'd be able to do more field work/labor compared to a girl. ||

Claim: Childbirth in regards to slaves is not widely talked about. It is simply a statement of fact. The overseer never mentioned the health or size of the baby, or how the mother is recovering from giving birth.

Uses: I would use a tool like this in my classroom because it really made finding sources easy. I think this could be a great tool when having student learn how to analyze research because it takes away a majority of the work required to find sources. This could let students be able to focus more on what the source is telling them. Eventually, you could make it broader and say you can use a document from this website, but you need to find 2 other sources elsewhere. It is also just a good place to find primary sources that can help students get into the mindset of that time period prior to diving into the unit.