I am expected to write a five-page paper this week. I need some ideas for a thesis about slavery, that uses eight separate documents from the...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." --Declaration of Independence

Thesis statement on slavery:

When the thirteen colonies of the Americas broke free from the tyranny of a monarch thousands of miles across the Atlantic, high expectations existed. It was an optimism that the enlightenment dreams of...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." --Declaration of Independence

Thesis statement on slavery:

When the thirteen colonies of the Americas broke free from the tyranny of a monarch thousands of miles across the Atlantic, high expectations existed. It was an optimism that the enlightenment dreams of liberty and representative government were finally realized. This optimism, however, was not meant for millions of slaves that were forced to work on plantations for the economic well-being of this newfound republic. It would take over a century for this disenfranchised population to realize liberty and citizenship.

Use the following eight documents from the textbook:

• A Slave to Thomas Jefferson, November 30, 1808, Chapter 10


• Bennet Barrow, Highland Plantation Journal, May 1, 1838, Chapter 13


• Frances Anne Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839, Chapter 13


• The Confessions of Nat Turner, 1831, Chapter 13 


• Interview, 1873, Chapter 13


• Frederick Douglass, The Constitution of the United States: Is It Proslavery or Antislavery? 1860, Chapter 14


• Correspondence between Lydia Maria Child and Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise, 1859, Chapter 14

After reading the eight documents and recording notes, try to identify seven or eight themes or topics from the readings. Organize those themes into paragraphs in which you cite or quote information from the documents within the paragraphs.