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Analyzing the Evidence

"De Furst Work I Done"

While many old documents you'll come across while researching a family's history will be public records, you may encounter other sorts of personal narratives -- private papers, journals, letters, and so forth. What do you think this document is, and when do you think it was written?

a) A letter from a schoolboy to his grandmother, written prior to the Civil War

b) A complaint written by a slave to his owner after the Civil War

c) An account of life during slavery written after the Civil War

d) A story by a slaveowner making fun of his slaves after the Civil War

Need a hint?
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Typed transcript of a dialect narrative