The Historical Accuracy of Gone with the Wind

The Historical Accuracy of Gone with the Wind

Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind in the 1930’s, a novel that is based on the Civil War era. The novel is about a young woman named Scarlett O’Hara. Scarlett is madly in love with Ashley Wilkes and will do anything for him, even taking care of his wife Melanie while he is fighting in the war. When the war ends Scarlett and her family is broke, and she’ll do anything she can to get some money and help her family. Although the book is fiction it is actually very historically accurate.
They novel opens in 1861 on the porch of Tara, a large cotton plantation. In the Civil War days, rich Southerners lived on plantations that grew cotton and tobacco with the use of slave labor. Based on historical documents, a slave would work in the fields and in the house on a plantation from down until dusk; this is exactly how the slaves on Tara would work. On Tara the slaves wake-up early in the morning to cook the O’Har...