Select several of the narratives for closer analysis. Black southerners sought respect, land, and the rights of citizenship. What did freedom mean? Did the nation miss an historic opportunity to create a multiracial society? The events of Reconstruction are said to have cast a long shadow over race relations for future generations. Do you agree? Your task is to read evidence in selected slave narratives and to think critically of the black experience and American's response to the era. As you read, ask, "How 'accurate' are the slave narratives? What is their 'value'?"