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What is peculiar about the chorus of this song? Two different, alternating choruses. Why does it have two different choruses? Two characters alternate verses. |
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You could call this a conversation in song. Who is talking? Husband and wife. What is the conversation about? Migrating from New England to Kentucky. What are their points of view? Do they agree? |
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Choose a couple of lines that summarize his opinion. Choose lines that summarize her position. In your own words, explain what the disagreement is about. Why does the husband want to move? Why doesn't the wife want to go? |
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How realistic are the husband’s expectations of Kentucky? How realistic are her concerns? Give examples of how both of them use exaggeration to make their points. |
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What happens in the last two verses? Why does the husband change his mind? |
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The wife convinces her husband not to migrate after she brings up the “danger” of “Indians” in Kentucky. What Native American nations lived in the region? When did white settlers begin moving there? Were they welcome? Why or why not? |
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What are some reasons a family might decide to uproot themselves and start over again in a different place? What are some reasons they might decide against migration? How do you think families made the decision to migrate to another part of the country in the late 1700s? How do they do it now? |
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Why do you think many people chose to move to Kentucky following the passage of abolition laws and anti-slavery court rulings in states north of the Mason-Dixon line? |