If the plantation owner did not come, the government would sell the land.
A white plantation owner said to her that black people had "no need for education".
Over the last two days I spoke with the plantation owners of this region.
Plantation owners could pay the government and have laborers work for them instead.
Referring to the plantation owner, she said, "He cannot tell me what to do about my children."
There is a scene after the war where the plantation owner calls his slaves together to tell them they are free.
Mary was just 16 years old at the time, and the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner.
Access to schools and political participation was shut down by plantation owners.
He looked like the smartest plantation owner in the South.
They took over plantations and killed the white plantation owners.