If we could somehow be sure that the WPA Slave Narratives were exact, 
unedited statements of what former slaves said about slavery, they would be 
the remembrances of elderly people of what their childhood had been like 
during slavery just before the Civil War. Surely, an important source of 
information but not the definition of American slavery.

Virginia’s county court records reveal a much fuller story of what slavery was 
like. They are like newspapers, telling us what happened of importance on the 
county level over the approximately 250-year history of slavery. (Much of the 
Virginia Gazette has survived as well). These are the historical records of  the 
white community’s treatment of slaves. 

And the wills and deeds written by slave owners expose their true thoughts 
and actions on the subject. They tell the story of the total degradation of a 
people:

“To my son John my wearing apparel, my horse, my wench Agnes…”

Paul

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