SLAVERY IN NORTH AMERICA:
ORIGIN, PRACTICE AND PRODUCTION OF CASH CROPS
Civil War historian
Murphy Wood will present “Slavery in
North America: Origin, Practice,
and Production of
Cash Crops” at the next meeting of the Chattahoochee Valley Historical Society
on January 19. The quarterly meeting will be held at 3:00 pm ET at the Bradshaw
Library in Valley, AL.
Slavery first emerged in the western
hemisphere during the colonial period as a result of the triangular trade
between New England and Africa. Slaves
were brought to the Caribbean islands to work sugar plantations, producing
molasses for the New England rum trade. Wood's research compares and contrasts
the practice of slavery in North America, from the sugar plantations of the
Caribbean, to rice production in the Carolinas, to the cotton fields that
spread across the South.
Ultimately a two-part lecture
series, Wood's presentation at the upcoming CVHS meeting will focus on the
earliest practice of North American slavery, the sugar plantations of the West
Indies. “CVHS is fortunate to have such
a scholar as Wood on our board of directors”, says CVHS President Dr. Mac
Holderfield. “We are not only looking
forward to his initial presentation, but are excited about his return to the
speaker's podium the following January to discuss slavery in the context of
rice and cotton production. We have been
working towards developing a special series event for our January program
slate, and Murphy Wood is an excellent choice as our first speaker.”
A native of northern Chambers
County, Wood teaches AP History at his
alma mater, Springwood School in Lanett. Wood's students recently partnered
with the Cobb Archives in an oral history project. He also uses his talents as a Civil War
re-enactor to create school-wide learning opportunities. Last summer he was
chosen to be part of a select review committee, made up of high school history
teachers from across America, to grade the essay portion of the AP History
Exam. Before returning to his roots,
he lived and worked in Virginia, where he received a master’s degree in Early
American History from James Madison University.
He has appeared as guest speaker and has presented research papers at
numerous Civil War conferences and lecture series in Virginia and
Kentucky. In addition, he has served as
tour guide for several Civil War motor coach tours of the Shenandoah Valley and
as a private guide for a variety of tour groups.
The Bradshaw Library is located on Highway 29
in Valley, Alabama, approximately one mile south of I-85 Exit 79. The public is invited and encouraged to
attend.
