[Gutenberg 44626] • Plantation Reminiscences

Letitia Burwell (d. 1905) first published her account of the antebellum South shortly after the war under the pseudonym Page Thacker. It was meant to serve as a counter-argument to what she felt to be falsehoods being promoted about slavery and plantation life. In particular she held the common belief that slavery served to "civilize" and thus improve the "black race". As she states toward the end of this narrative:

"All plantation reminiscences resemble a certain patch-work, made when we were children, of bright pieces joined with black squares. The black squares were not pretty, but if left out, the character of the quilt was lost. And so with the black faces, if left out of our home pictures of the past, the character of the picture is destroyed.

"What I have written is a simple record of facts in my experience without an imaginary scene or character; intended for the descendants of those who owned slaves in the South, and who may in future wish to know something of the high-toned character and virtues of their ancestors.

"The pictures are strictly true, and should it be thought by any that the brightest have alone been selected, I can only say, I knew no others.

"It would not be possible for any country to be entirely exempt from crime and wickedness, and here, too, these existed; for prisons, penitentiaries and courts of justice were, as elsewhere, important; but it is a sincere belief that the majority of Southern people were true and good."

This narrative was later expanded and reprinted as 'A Girl's Life in Virginia Before the War' in 1895.