Comparing to the American Dream

             William Byrd was born in Virginia in 1674. William Byrd received a quality education in England. He returned to Virginia after learning of his father's death. Byrd now had the responsibility of managing his inherited plantation.
             William Byrd character was constant. In "The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover", he recorded the highlights of his day. He was an early bird. He wrote that he would wake up no later than seven I the morning. Another observation I read that he loved to eat the same things. For instance, he would eat milk for breakfast and boiled beef for dinner. Byrd would either read Greek or Hebrew. I also noticed that Byrd would pray at the end of each day. It would end just about like this every time, "I had good health, good thoughts, and good humor, thanks be to God Almighty." Byrd enjoyed games and company. He always had company in his home. Several times he cousin visited, Mr. Mumford accompanied Byrd as they walked in the garden, shot bows and arrows and play billiard until dinner time. Byrd's friends, Drury Stith, Colonel Hill, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Platt also were some of William Byrd's guest on the plantation. William Byrd was a plantation owner with a vast amount of slaves. Some of his slaves were sick and some even died on his plantation. A lot of times, Byrd spent most of his time looking after his sick. Different slaves had different jobs to do. Some would unload supplies from Byrd's sloop which was a boat, cook the food, clean the chambers, plant trees such as peach trees, put up curtains and fed the animals because he had cattle. Slaves endured cruelty from William Byrd. He whipped some of them and branded one of his slaves because he pretended to be sick when asked to unload his ship. William Byrd recorded some of his sexual transgressions, for instance the Colonel Carter's wife daughter and Mrs. Russell, and his wife who would sometimes go to...

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Comparing to the American Dream. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:39, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/12333.html