Final Ebook

The Setting - Geography

The setting of my book takes place in Alleghany County, Virginia on a farm. Alleghany County is a very vast place, is very mountainous, and is the location of the Allegheny Mountains. Alleghany County is right on the border line of Virginia and West Virginia. My farm is located on the most westerly part of the county in a field. These two geographical features effect my story. The county lies on the border of West Virginia and Virginia had split and West Virginia became apart of the Union in their support of the abolition of slavery. In my story there is a fence between the two states, to identify that they are two seperate states. This fence runs through my main character's farm and my other character's property, seperating the two families, one black, one white. These geographical features make an impact on my setting. The other major effect of where my story occurs is that Alleghany County is a place that is very unpopulated and where the Allegheny Mountains run through. The Allegheny Mountains are very tall and rural, much like the Adirondack Mountains. This makes an effect on my story because when the slaves escape, they can try and work their way through the Allegheny Mountains to West Virginia where they can be free. When they run into the mountains, it would be difficult to capture the slaves back. The first picture I chose, that I thought best described my setting, was taken in Virginia looking at the West Virginia Mountains. You can see that it is very mountainous, but there are places where there are farms. The second picture are farmlands looking at the mountains, very much like my setting as well. The two images together are what I visioned as the geography of my book.

My sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleghany_County,_Virginia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mountains_of_the_Alleghenies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleghany_Mountains

The Setting - Mood

The mood that is created in my book is suspense and frustration. The way that suspense is created in my book is when John, my protagonist, teams up with John Brown, a former slave, whom lives next to his farm. They and a current slave at James' farm, Sojourner Truth, come together to help the rest of the slaves escape from his family's farm. The suspense aspect of this situation is that when James is going outside to meet the slaves, John, and Sojourner before the escape when his father almost catches him. He walks downstairs and his father is reading by the candlelight. HIs father asks where he is going and he makes up an excuse. His father was very suspicious but James gets himself out of it. The other aspect of suspense in this part is that he is, in a way, insulting his family and the powerful Caucasian people of his area by releasing his families slaves. This is also embarrassing for his father because his own son went against him to release his own families slaves, a very bold move on James part. The frustration aspect of this story is built on the way that John feels at first and he how he feels later in the story. James' farm and John's property are separated by a fence that was created because two sections of Virginia disagreed over the abolition of slavery. While James and John become better friends, John explains to James how frustrated he feels about slavery and how horrible a slave's life is. James was sometimes sympathetic of the slaves because they were treated unfairly. Although he hadn't thought much about it. As James soaks in John's anger and frustration, James feels his pain and feels guilty he has slaves doing his family's work. He also feels frustrated whether he should stick to his families values or whether he should do what he thinks is right. As the story goes along James frustration and guilt becomes so intense that he needs to do something drastic to end it.

The Setting - Time

The time at which my story occurs is during the early 1800's. This was a time where there was many farms and many people's lives revolved around the agriculture business. The first image shows fashions that were worn from the late 1700's to the 1860's. The more wealthy women in my story may have worn something shown in that image. The second image shows a horse-drawn carriage which was the way most people transported from place to place. At this time there were no cars and this is what people of that time traveled in. The third image shows what a typical town looked like in the 1800's. There were many horse-drawn carriages and many people walking around with the attire typical of that time. The fourth picture is of a farm with many crops in it, which, in the 1800's, was a very popular way of life. Finally, the fifth image is of a farmhouse and the picture was taken in the 1800's. This shows what the farmhouse is my story may look like and what a typical one did look like.

Main Character: James K. Polk

James K. Polk was born on November 2, 1795 right outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Polk was the first of 10 children. He lived with his father and mother. His father, Samuel Polk, was a slave owner and successful farmer. In 1803 most of his family moved to what is now called Duck River, in Tennessee. His immediate family didn't follow until 3 years later. In Tennessee, his father became a very successful farmer, one of the most successful in the area, and a county judge. James was not a healthy as a child. Just before he turned 17 his father took him to a doctor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His pain became of such multitude that he was taken to a nearer doctor. The doctor did an operation, which removed urinary stones. When he recovered, his normal education began at the age of 18. He studied at the Zion Church near his home. He later attended an academy in Murfreesboro. There were rumors that he met his future wife there, but it hasn't been proved. He then attended the University of North Carolina as a second-semester sophomore. His family had connections with the university. While at college, he joined the Dialectic Society, where he learned the art of oration; he became a good public speaker. James' roommate William Dunn Moseley at college later became the first governor of Florida. Polk graduated in May 1818 at the top of his class. After he graduated he went to Nashville Tennessee to study law. He studied under a well known Nashville trial attorney Felix Grundy. While working for him, he worked as the Tennessee state clerk for a few years. At the age of 28 he married a woman named Sarah Childress. They married on January 1, 1824. What a great start to a new year! At that point, he became a supporter of Andrew Jackson. Jackson ran for President, while James ran for the House of Representatives. James succeeded at age twenty-nine, but Jackson did not. Though Jackson had won the popular vote, neither he nor any of the other candidates had owned a majority of the electoral vote. The House of Representatives then had to select the winner. In his first speech, James said that the House's decision to choose Adams was a violation of the will of the people. He even proposed, although it did not follow through, that the Electoral College to be abolished. At that point he ran to be the governor of Tennessee, wanting to retain democrats the lead seat in Tennessee's government. He had fought hard against the other party, gaining him national attention which may have helped him win the Presidential Election. He hoped to be nominated for vice-president for the past president Martin Van Buren. The Democrats went through 9 ballots and it finally came to a conclusion that James would be the best candidate. He was supported by a past president, Andrew Jackson, who still had a lot of influence on people's descisions in the government. He later won the election by popular and electoral votes. As President of the United States he delt with many problems; slavery, foreign policy, Oregon territory, the war with Mexico, etc. He delt with many problems through his presidency and I think he goes down as one of the most well known Presidents of the United States of all time.

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner was born in 1797 in Swartekill New York.She was one of 13 children. She was born right into slavery. Her mother and father were both slaves of a man called Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh. He then died, and the ownership of the family went to son Charles Hardenbergh. He died as well. Sojourney was then sold at an auction. When she was about 10 years old she was included in a flock of sheep for about or $100 to John Neely, near Kingston, New York. Until she was sold, she only spoke Dutch. She was then sold and resold many times throughout her slave life. She then fell in love with a man named Robert, another black slave. Robert's owner forbid the relationship because if they were to have kids, he would not have ownership of them. Robert was beaten by his owner, and Sojourney never saw him again. She was then forced to marry and have children with a man named Thomas. During her lifetime she had five children; one of them with Robert, and the others with Thomas. In 1799, the state of New York began to emancipate slavery. It took many years for this process to be complete, but it did in 1827. Her slave owner at the time promised Sojourney to release her, "if she would do well and be faithful." Sojourney had a hand injury and her owner changed his mind because he claimed that she was less productive because of the injury. She was very upset by this. She continued working until she felt she did her work by spinning 100 pounds of wool for him. Late in 1826, she escaped to freedom with her youngest daughter, Sophia. She had to leave her other children behind because they were not legally freed in the emancipation order until they had been servants into their twenties. Sojourney said later," I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right."She then moved to the home of Isaac and Maria Van Wagener, who took her and her baby in. They lived there until the emancipation act was restored in New York. She had help by the people that, who so kindly, took her in to get her son back legally. She heard that he was being abused by his new owner. She went on with her life with her two children, trying to do many things. In 1870, she tried to secure land grants from the federal government to former slaves, a project she pursued for seven years without success. While in Washington, D.C., she had a meeting with President Ulysses S. Grant in the White House. In 1872, she returned back home and tried to vote in the presidential election, but they forbid it. Those are just a couple of things she did, the list is far too extensive to mention them all. To this day she is a woman who is very inspiring and even at times when Blacks and women were not treated fairly, she still managed to make a difference in the world.

John Brown

John was born in 1810 in Eastern Virginia. He and his mom, at the age of ten, were moved to a tobacco company in North Carolina. Soon after he was sold as a slave and was forced to leave him mother to go work in Georgia. He grew up on the cotton farm there. He did not like his master, and he came to dream of living free in the country of England. He did try several times to escape but every time he was brought back to the United States and was heavily beaten for his bad deed. His owner died, and he then became property of the owners son who was worse and more harsh then his father. He ran away again and made it all the way to Louisiana where he was put back into the slavery and was sold to Theodore J. James a planter in Mississippi. He soon left again following the Mississippi River north into territory where he would be free. He worked as a carpenter in a free black community in Marshall, Michigan. He worked another year and a half with English Miners, in the northwestern part of Michigan. He then moved again to a runaway black refuge called the Dawn Institute in Ontario Canada. He then finally sailed east to England working as a carpenter. While in London, he contacted the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. There he talked about his hardships about being a slave. He gave him memoirs to the company and they published it in proper English. It was one of the few writings of its kind, at the time. He stayed in London and married a woman. He earned his living as an herb doctor. He remained a free person and never returned to
America again. He died in 1876.