George Avery

 From Bondage to Freedom in the Mountains of WNC

I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until
  there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal
                                                                                     - Abraham Lincoln

My Research Journey

History has always been one of my favorite subjects. I became first interested with the history of slavery when I took my college American History course. Nonetheless, the main motivation behind this project has been the documentary, The Abolitionists. I was struck by how different my life would have been if I lived in the South during antebellum slavery.  As a result, I decided to focus my research on  slavery in WNC. I got in touch with Smith-McDowell House and interestingly, I got the opportunity to learn about one of their slaves, George Avery. It was challenging to write a research paper on him because there is little known about him. Nonetheless, I solved this problem by contrasting the little I knew of his slave and later freedman experience with the experiences of the majority of slaves and later freedmen across the Antebellum South.