William Henry Singleton Research Paper

William Henry Singleton was born August 10, 1835 in Newbern, North Carolina. William was born after the installation of the Declaration of Independence, but it had no influence on his freedom or his life. He was born a slave as a result of his skin color; and therefore he was considered to have no soul. Those who were born black had absolutely no rights or received any sort of respect. In accordance to the law at the time he was viewed as property, and could be either bought or sold at anytime. William was born after the installation of the Declaration of Independence, but it had no influence on his freedom or his life. During the time that William was born if one were born black, whether full or half, they were considered a slave. His …show more content…
Singleton mentions that his other was supplied “with all the food we wanted.” At the time he was a small child and it can be assumed that William did not fully understand the severity of the situation. So the amount of food they actually received may not be the close to the amount that he thought really did. The family did not need many cloths wince the weather was warm fro the majority of the year. Dependent upon whom the owner of the plantation was, the slaves would take up his or her name. For example, when a widow by the name of Mrs. Nelson owned the plantation, the slaves were known as Nelson’s slaves. William wrote, “My presence on the plantation was continually reminding them of something they wanted to forget.” The quote referred to William being the half black, half white nephew of the plantation owner, John Singleton. John sold him out of embarrassment at the age of four; he was taken to a widow in Atlanta, Georgia. William was not very accepting of his new owner, not like any slave would be, but he ends up escaping. Singleton eventually finds his way back to New Bern where his birth mother is enslaved at, and where he was originally from. Lettis hid her son in a cellar for the next three