Oak Alley and Whitney plantation provide a closer, more first hand experience on slavery. Although there are slave exhibits in museums, these two plantations allow viewers to understand the circumstances that slaves experienced more clearly. The struggles and abuse slaves went through becomes more visible from these plantation museums. Both plantations have their differences, but many more similarities. For instance, both plantations contain a “big house” that is situated in the center of the property. These colonial style homes were common in the 18^th and 19^th century. Both houses on Oak Alley and Whitney contain a long walkway from the streets to the house that appears rather picturesque. On both sides are large trees that hangover the walkway, creating a tunnel. Moreover, the architecture of both houses contains floor to ceiling columns and a grand porch. Being a plantation and slave owner required a significant amount of money. These wealthy people often liked to boast about their money, and thus, build the most elegant houses in the south. Furthermore, another similarity between these two plantations is the poor conditions of the salve quarters. While slave owners lived in their luxurious homes, slaves were packed into small wooden cabins with barely any food or water. Most of the items were made of wood within the homes, so the materials cheap and in poor condition.

 

On the other hand, a significant difference between Oak Alley and Whitney is that Oak Alley appears to be more in favor of making money than displaying the truth of how slaves were treated. Based on the photos from Oak Alley, it appears as if the slaves were not treated harshly at all. The photos of the salve quarters do not appear realistic because everything looks clean and organized. In reality, the slaves lived in the poorest conditions. Furthermore, the plantation house appears newly renovated and all the furniture and items within the home do not seem like they are from the correct time period.

 

I would consider Whitney as a museum and Oak Alley as partially a museum. The definition of a museum is a building or place where objects of historical, scientific, or cultural interests are stored and exhibited. Both these plantations contain objects, such as slave houses and tools that are on display for visitors to learn about the history slavery. Everything on the plantation is on display to educate and inform the public. However, I do not believe that Oak Alley is an authentic museum because the items on display do not represent the time period accurately. It appears that Oak Alley is focused more on tourism than the actual history behind the plantation. Thus, the limitations of classifying Oak Alley as a museum are that the exhibits and artifacts are not historically truthful. Classifying Oak Alley as a museum would give the impression that the plantation properly represents slavery. However, since Oak Alley does not fully represent slavery, many may not consider it as a museum.