"FOR MY RUTHIE" (a story on slavery)
"It’s huge!" exclaimed Molly as she walked up the stairs to her new home in Alabama.
"Huge, it’s like a mansion!" exclaimed Jason who was walking right behind her.
"Hopefully, this will be our ‘forever home,’ and we never have to move again."
"Daddy said that the army was making him stay in Alabama for a long time."
"Good, that means we can make a lot of friends and invite them over to our home," said Molly excitedly as she walked into her bedroom. Molly got a confused look on her face as she walked further into her room. "Hey, look at that over in the corner," she said as she bent down to observe a small wooden door.
"Maybe it leads to a secret passage or something cool like that," said Jason as he bent down and started to pry open the door.
"Wait!" shouted Molly. "There may be scary things in there, and I am only 7 years old, and you are only 9 years old. We don’t know how to handle something scary in this old house. Daddy said that this used to be a plantation. What if there are plantation things in there?"
"Oh, don’t you know what a plantation is?" "A plantation is a large farm." "Oh," Jason groaned. "It won’t budge open." "We’ll have to get tools to help us pry the small door open." "Go downstairs and get daddy’s toolbox."
Jason continued pulling on the small door while Molly went to search for the toolbox. Jason’s thoughts got more creative with each pull of the door. "Maybe, there is a secret treasure with a lot of gold coins," he thought. "Or, maybe, there are snakes in there that no one has ever seen before, and I will get to be on television because I discovered a new type of snake." Jason wasn’t about to tell Molly his thoughts in fear that she might be to scared to find out what is in this small door.
Molly returned to her room with a hammer and screwdriver. "I hope that these will be able to help us pry the door open." "Jason, what do you think might be in there?" Jason just smiled and replied, "I don’t know," and kept his thoughts to himself.
"Okay," said Jason. "On the count of three, you will pull with the hammer, and I will pull with the screwdriver." "One, two, three!" Jason and Molly pulled and pulled and finally-POP-the door flew open.
Jason and Molly climbed through the small door. Their eyes were full of amazement as they saw a small table with wooden chairs. They were full of cobwebs and dust. On the table, there was something that appeared to be a letter. Jason picked it up. It was a letter enclosed in an envelope. Jason could barely read the writing on the envelope. From what he could tell, it said, "For my Ruthie." Jason opened the envelope, pulled out the letter, and this is what he read:
Dear Ruthie,
I’m sitting at the table in our little secret place. I miss you so much that I feel like I want to shout it out. But, if I shout it out, people may look at me strange. Just like my sister said that people would look at me strange if I walked beside you on the road, they may look at me strange if I declare that I miss you. I still can’t figure out why Poppa says it is wrong to be friends with our slaves. Poppa says it is because Negroes are only three-fifths of a person. Last time I checked, though, all our slaves had all their arms, legs, eyes, nose, mouth, and everything else. I walked by a Negro auction yesterday. It reminded me of the day that you left our plantation to be sold to some other master. That was the first time that I saw a Negro auction, though. Ruthie, did they really make you stand on a big box? I saw a momma and her boy get bought by two different masters. Did you and your momma get bought by two different masters? What’s it like at your new master’s place? Is the wife as strict as my momma was? Are the children willing to be your friend? How big are the cotton fields? I remember when you said that our cotton plantation was the biggest you had ever worked at. My poppa had overheard you and scolded you for thinking so selfishly. I remembered that as punishment you had to do housework until the early morning hours. You said that you only got two hours of sleep that night. I remember that whenever you got punished, you told me that you were going to runaway and escape into a free state by means of the Underground Railroad. I’ve kept my promise to never tell that secret to anyone. I hope you keep mine. I never want anyone to find out that I don’t believe people should have slaves. I love my poppa and momma, but I don’t think they should be mean to the slaves. I hope that your new master is nice and at least lets you eat three meals a day. Our new slaves haven’t been put in chains yet. Poppa says that they do not stand up at all to him so there is no need for chains. He says that he prefers it when the slaves do exactly what they are told instead of trying to fight for something called "rights." Isn’t that wrong, though, Ruthie? Shouldn’t people fight for what they believe in? This is another secret that you can’t tell anyone, Ruthie. But, I think that the slaves should fight for freedom. Last time I checked, you people were not animals and shouldn’t be tied up in chains. Well, Ruthie, it is almost six o’clock. I must not be late for dinner. You know how mad poppa gets when anyone is late. Ruthie, I hope you miss me. But, even more I hope that one day you will be able to read this letter. Try to remember all that I taught you about the alphabet. It will help you read one day. Take care, Ruthie. You will always be a person and a friend to me.
Yours Truly,
Betsy
p.s. My dolls miss you, too.
- In the context of North, South, East, West, where is the state of Alabama
located?
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- What do you think the Underground Railroad was?
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- How do you think you would feel if you didn’t get to eat three meals a
day?
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- Why do you think that Betsy never sent the letter to Ruthie?
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"FOR MY RUTHIE" (a story on slavery)
By Joy Griffith
Outline:
- New home
- Examine new home.
- Observe that it is like a mansion
- Observation of small door
- Wondering what it is the door
- Pried the door open
- Found letter
- Full of cobwebs
- Could barely read print
- Contents of letter
- Misses Ruthie
- Inquires about Negro auction
- Recognizes slavery is wrong
- Closure of letter
Answers to questions:
- South
- The Underground Railroad were people that secretly hid slaves and helped them move to the North into a free state.
- Answers will vary. Some examples: tired, weak, wouldn’t be able to work.
- She didn’t know where Ruthie was living. She was afraid that people would see that she didn’t like slavery.