Summary of Kristen Green's The Devil's Half Acre

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 As a child, Mary may not have realized that she was enslaved, as white and Black children were often allowed to play together. But as she grew up, she would be given jobs to do, and by the time she was ten years old, she was doing the same work as grown women.

#2 Slavery in Virginia was similar to that in other states, in that it was common for enslaved people to be separated from their families. It was also common for enslaved people to be sold away from both their parents, or their parents away from each other.

#3 The sale of children to erase a debt was common and necessary for enslavers who borrowed money using enslaved people as security. A small child could serve as a pledge on a deed of trust for a small loan.

#4 Richmond was a boomtown in the 1780s, and was home to many slave jails. The slave trade was the state’s most profitable industry, and Richmond was alive with activity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jul 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822545809

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Insights on Kristen Green's The Devil's Half Acre

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

As a child, Mary may not have realized that she was enslaved, as white and Black children were often allowed to play together. But as she grew up, she would be given jobs to do, and by the time she was ten years old, she was doing the same work as grown women.

#2

Slavery in Virginia was similar to that in other states, in that it was common for enslaved people to be separated from their families. It was also common for enslaved people to be sold away from both their parents, or their parents away from each other.

#3

The sale of children to erase a debt was common and necessary for enslavers who borrowed money using enslaved people as security. A small child could serve as a pledge on a deed of trust for a small loan.

#4

Richmond was a boomtown in the 1780s, and was home to many slave jails. The slave trade was the state’s most profitable industry, and Richmond was alive with activity.

#5

The Lumpkin Jail was a characteristic and prominent feature of the neighborhood. It was a brick building with a forty-one-foot jail in the center, and it was surrounded by tall fences. It was where Robert Lumpkin imprisoned and brutally punished enslaved people.

#6

Slave trading began in the early days of recorded history, when Nigerian Igbos were traded as punishment for crimes. Europeans entered this established market in the sixteenth century, when the Portuguese purchased Africans who had been