Compare Contrast Paper The emancipation proclamation freed slaves after two hundred and forty five years. Since then there are an endless number of movies, books, and articles that portray their own vision of what the slavery era was like. Each story recounts a different event and no two stories are exactly alike. The same applies to the stories of former slaves Mazique Sanco, and Lulu Wilson. Some historians find it difficult to use the WPA slave narratives as part of history. David Walbert -valuable interviews but finds it difficult to understand the “slave narratives”, because of how they were transcribed and are difficult to read. Oral history interviewers were amateurs with little experience and had little understanding of the possibilities …show more content…
Their experiences were similar in some aspects, but for the most part the stories recount significantly different experiences. Manzique was born to a family that was owned by the Green family. He was given away two more times after that but for the most part his story did not include any details of mistreatment, or abuse from his owners. Lulu, on the other hand, was born to a mother who was a slave but to a father who was free. Which did her no good in the end because her mother was still forced to be with the younger slave the Hodge’s family owned. Of course the family was more concerned with breeding more kids they could sell into slavery. “White folks what wanted niggers to breed like livestock.” Lulu’s mother went on to have nineteen children, which the Hodges gave away soon as they could. Lulu’s owners were cruel, they starved her, beat her, and were not the least bit concerned about her well- being. She was fed just enough to keep her alive, and able to work. Manzique, even though he was owned by another family, lived a considerably better life. Yes, he was sold to other families more than once but each family treated him about as well as a slave could be treated compared to other