CVHS Program to Examine Slavery
Civil
War historian Murphy Wood will present the third part of his series, Slavery in North America: Origin, Practice, and Production of Cash
Crops at the next meeting of the Chattahoochee Valley Historical Society on
July 20, 2014. The quarterly meeting will be held at 3:00 pm ET at the Bradshaw
Library in Valley, AL.
The production of cotton in Alabama
and Mississippi fed the insatiable demand of a burgeoning international textile
industry that forever linked the old South to cotton and slavery. The early
social and economic history of Alabama and Mississippi were defined by cotton
production and it is important to understand this time period and the global
economic forces that swept it forward.
Having traced the origin of slavery and sugar and rice production in
earlier lectures, it is hoped participants will have gained a greater
understanding of slavery in its many forms and will not want to miss this last
installment that focuses on how slavery practiced here in the Chattahoochee
Valley.
A native of northern Chambers
County, Wood teaches AP History at his alma mater, Springwood School in Lanett.
Last summer and again this summer he has
been chosen to be part of a select review committee, made up of high school
history teachers and university professors 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.