On Thursday, September 6, 2012, Beth Taylor presented the first lecture in a new series entitled “Virginia History 301: The Old Dominion in Antebellum Times.”
In this podcast, you will learn about how the practice of slavery became institutionalized in the American South. According to Taylor, field slaves worked 19 hour days sometimes in extreme temperatures. A slave’s working life could begin as early as age 6. By age 12, they were considered to be adults and assigned an adult’s work load. Taylor wraps up with the 1831 story of Nat Turner’s Rebellion, the bloodiest slave revolt in American history.
Ms. Taylor has served as director of interpretation at Jefferson’s Monticello and as director of education at James Madison’s Montpelier. She is also a fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
Taylor’s first book, A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons was a New York Times best seller and a National Book Award nominee. She has appeared on The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart.
The series was organized by award-winning historian and Charlottesville-based author, lecturer, and cartographer Rick Britton in conjunction with the Senior Center in Charlottesville.
This is the first of a four part Thursday series. Click here listen all four parts of this series.