Oh but it can help, ChickenFreak, when you merge the guess with eighty years of experience and quite a bit of traveling. That's why you often hear of wise old men but never of wise kids. Understanding can't be taught, and sometimes doesn't even come with experience. There are also one hell of a lot of stupid octogenarians. Hey! Am I arguing against myself. My God. Reminds me of Catch22 where if you know you're crazy, you can't be. If you think you're sane, you're probably crazy and should be committed. He-he-haw-goop-catchmeifyoucan.
So thank you @halisme and @hvysmker for an interesting read on slavery! My story is not exactly a debate on the rights and wrongs of slavery overall, it's a small, isolated town. Their world is their town so it would be impossible to argue any of that on a grand scale in the context the novel. What they know is what they live in a sense and people develop their own feelings about it all individually. Some people, slaves included, accept it as a way of life and conform; some people rebel or at least question the idea. If you guys have any other input that may not revolve around the aspect of slavery feel free to include.
Jeeze, but I'm half drunk and can't stop myself. I'm reminded of states like Missouri and Kansas during that war. You could research their attitude during the war. Their states were neutral but the population had definite view about the war. Some communities fought serious battles about slavery. It might give you information for your story. The same could be said of a couple of Negro towns that met bad ends by trying to remain separate. Sorry, but I can't recall the names. Some entire states, such as Texas were split on the issue, resulting in actual battles. As I've said before, it was a very complex issue that didn't go away after that war. For instance, some isolated southern towns didn't give up on the issue for many years. I have one story based on a family in the wilds of West Virginia that never gave it up. Charlie - hvysmker.
History is...history. You telling us what history should have been doesn't change what it was, no matter how old you are. History and fiction and wishful thinking are simply not the same things.
I've seen people build 'worlds' like this before [on the forum.] I always hoped if I 'built a world,' it might evolve as I actually penned words to the page, and the excitement of this emergence of all these pictures in my mind would infect my prose with energy, an electric vibrancy for under-pinning my developing world vision, and a delicious entertainment for my million readers. Although farming can be grim, eh. But I'm prepared to accept there's many ways to build an egg, also. I do tend to think planning every field is agony and the prose will be stilted, and a dreadful torture to read like going to work on a farm every day. And an excuse, polishing the bicycle, rather than jumping on the saddle, but hey. However, whilst smoking your nice intro I was reminded of this dusty old place I stumbled across yesterday - which might help with imaginings/imagination. From a different perspective, it in Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucla,_Western_Australia ... And why argue about slavery? He can have one man and ten thousand naked slaves if he likes - it's a fantasy story, as long as he treats them fairly
I haven't read through the rest of the thread, so if I repeat something someone else has said, I apologize. Since the OP has specified a Colonial American Town, I am assuming that we are dealing with a historical setting. If it's Colonial, we are by definition talking about 1620-1776. No colony existed without the benefit of some kind of trade. Early settlements were all along or near waterways - if not the east coast, then inland rivers. All settlements traded - with merchants who procured goods from abroad, and then with local natives, trading manufactured goods for food or native currency. Although currency in the European sense was in extremely short supply, wampum, which the natives made from sea shells and wove together into belts, was often used. Native Americans bartered among themselves, and wampum was intended for tribute and gifts, but when a European trader kidnapped a sachem in the early 1620s and held him for ransom, the ransom was paid in belts of wampum. From then on, European traders bartered manufactured goods for wampum and wampum for pelts, mostly beaver, which were in high demand in Europe. Unable to procure enough European currency, settlers adopted wampum as the currency for local business, whether it involved the natives or not. The "professions" ("trades would be a more accurate term) you mention could not have functioned anywhere on the North American continent without supplies from Europe. Printers needed ink, blacksmith needed iron, tailors needed finished cloth (and actually, most clothing was made at home except in the cities), and weavers needed cotton and wool. Cotton was supplied early on from Europe, later from the Southern colonies.
Actually, when I owned a small critique site (Damn it has been about eighteen years ago) a member designed his own world with the idea of himself and others picking up on it by writing stories based on his written background. I helped him out by writing several short stories. Then he began having problems keeping the background updated, taking a lot of time. See, many changes came with each story. For instance he drew a map of that world, showing deserts, mountains, lakes, and the like. Also the details of several intelligent races. My first story included a journey across a large desert. All along the way I invented animals and details of the land my travelers crossed. Much of that had to be written into the original blueprint. The same with every story in order to keep from confusing other writers. If I said a certain intelligent race averaged ten feet tall, the next writer couldn’t say they were midgets. After a few more stories he had to give up. It seemed that every new writer was really required to read the entire series before writing his or her own chapter. That could be unwieldy after a while. Later I tried the same, telling others they should read existing stories first and keep in step. Again, I wrote three stories involving that world but since nobody else tried it I finally quit and went on to other projects. I think that was a good idea and hoped it would catch on. I did join such a project on another site, though. It was a western where members could invent their own character and jump in occasionally. Mine was a con-woman down on her luck that accepted a job in a town saloon. I found the trick was to take my time and not try to take over the story, only jumping in once in a while. It was an ongoing story that was easy to add to. One of the rules was that anyone could borrow any character as long as they kept it in character. Much later I did use my bargirl in a western story where a Pinkerton detective chased her across the old west. The advantage in such a project is that it’s easy to write to, about the same as a Fanstory. For example, Star Trek, where everyone is expected to know details of the Enterprise and how a Phaser works. You can skip a good many background details. Charlie – hvysmker.
I'm not clear on whether you are writing historical fiction, or a fantasy set in a world that mirrors Colonial America. You asked (in pertinent part): I've endeavored to answer your question. I hope it helps.
Sounds like your version of communism. Is your idea to explore how this could possibly work, to show that somehow it does work, or is it simply a story about a fictional colonial town with a few twists? History has shown that communism doesn't work for the people but does greatly benefit the leaders. Just my first thoughts on the setting. Does the story delve deeply into human character to explore the slavery and commune aspects of colonial life?
Similar to Communism, it is impossibly idealistic. It functions at the expense of a lot of people. The town is young at the time of the story, but I know for certain such a way of "government" as presented in the town would not be able to go on. I suppose if you read into it enough and I am able to achieve the quality I hope to, then it could be a commentary on the problems in a Communist regime, but that is not my intention. It is a fictional Colonial town. I'm mostly interested in conveying how the characters feel about the world they live in. People are made to be put into situations and handle them. Sometimes a person's story is not them overcoming a tyrannical rule and disestablishing it... it could be about how they made the best of things under a tyrannical rule. Again, if I am able to achieve the quality that I hope to, absolutely. I hope to represent how a character feels on a topic, not necessarily how I feel. I enjoyed your question very much! If you have anything else to ask please do. Sometimes the best responses are questions that force me to think.
The first thing that came to mind is sharecroppers. There is no money just a portion of the crop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharecropping
