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A Day In The Life
African American Boy a) Yes
Such a house might have been built of logs or wood, whatever materials were readily available. There would have been a front door, and maybe even a window or two, but rarely would these windows have had glass panes. They would most likely have been openings of some sort in the walls and covered over in rainy weather with oil cloth or animal hide. Inside, the floors were dirt, though some homes did have rough wood plank floors. Fathers often made what little furniture a slave family might own, as well as carving the household utensils used in cooking and eating. Mothers and daughters made beautiful quilts used as bedcovers. Slave families worked long, hard days. Even the children had specific duties to perform.

What would your work day be like?

a) Getting up, having breakfast, going to school, coming home, playing.

b) Getting up, going with your father to hunt for food, playing with your friends, helping to feed the horses.

c) Getting up at dawn, making breakfast, cleaning the fireplaces, dusting, serving dinner.

d) Getting up at dawn, picking cotton, toting water, cleaning shoes, being a “play child.”