The year is 1865, and you, your mom, and your siblings live near Richmond, Virginia. You live in the Confederate States of America, or Southern states. There was more than three years of war between the South and the North, or the Union.
Many people you know have died. But even though you live in the South, you didn’t want the South to win, because your ancestors were brought there from Africa. Everyone in your family has spent their lives working on a plantation. You are all enslaved people.
Two years ago, you heard that Abraham Lincoln, the president of the United States in the North, had issued an “Emancipation Proclamation.” It was supposed to set you free, but nothing changed where you live. The war continued to rage.
Last week, you heard good news—the North had won! But then today you heard that President Lincoln had been killed. What will happen now?
