Visit Your Local PBS Station PBS Home PBS Home Programs A-Z TV Schedules Watch Video Support PBS Shop PBS Search PBS
Slavery and the Making of AmericaPhoto of a group slaves on a Beaufort, South Carolina plantation
Time and Place Slave Memories Resources The Slave Experience

The Slave Experience: Responses to Enslavement
Intro Historical Overview Character Spotlight Slave Decisions Personal Narratives Original Docs
The Decisions Slaves Madereturn to introduction
Link to Cynthia Link to Slave Ship Robert Link to Josiah Henson Link to John Mason Link to William Grimes Link to Charles Ball
William Grimes

As a boy, William Grimes was a slave in the Thornton's Culpepper County house. In his capacity as house servant, William was given the job of brewing coffee for his master and mistress each morning. Jealous of the trust and good will her owners bestowed on William, Patty, another house slave, resolved to turn the Thorntons against him. At every opportunity, she slipped medicine into the coffee William prepared. William was severely beaten on each occasion. 		Do you think William:

a. Abandoned his house position for work in the field?
b. Hoped that the medicine Patty put in the coffee would eventually kill his owners?
c. Pretended not to understand the charges put forth against him?
Outcome
 Illustration of coffee cup

email this page to a friend
About the Series K-12 Learning Feedback Support PBS
SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York.
© 2004 Educational Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.