Exploring American Histories: Printed Page 257
Interpret the Evidence
What do Thomas Jefferson’s letter (Document 8.5) and Meriwether Lewis’s journal entry (Document 8.6) tell us about how American Indians were perceived in the early Republic? How would you compare their opinions of Indians?
What encouraged slaves to revolt (Documents 8.7 and 8.9)? What do these documents reveal about slavery in Richmond and in Virginia more generally?
What does the runaway slave advertisement in Document 8.8 tell us about Andrew Jackson as a slave owner? Does the fact that it was written by a future president shape how you view it? Why or why not?
What does Robert Sutcliff’s report (Document 8.9) reveal about the treatment that slaves in the North and in the South endured? Judging from his writing, how does Sutcliff’s English and Quaker background affect his views of slavery?
Given the horrors of slavery in the North and the South and the near impossibility of overthrowing the institution, why did free blacks in Philadelphia oppose colonization (Document 8.10)? What language did they use to address their audience?
Put It in Context
According to these documents, how did race relations in the United States change between 1785 and 1817 as slavery expanded along with white Americans’ movement into new western territories?