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completely  color-coded  in  Maryland,  the mass  media tend to perpetuate  simplistic  messages.     Historical  capsules,  some  only  a few  seconds  long,  concentrated mostly in the month of February  are hardly  sufficient to  challenge  many  of the  stereotypes  and overgeneralizations  that exist about slavery and its  legacy in Maryland.
[Excerpt from Written  Submission of Dr.  Judith O'Brien,  Education Director of Sotterley  Plantation,  Hollywood,  and  St.  Mary's
County,  MD]
There  are  several  wild  myths,  misconceptions,  and  erroneous  ideas that students and teachers alike bring with them when they visit Sotterley. I will articulate some of them here:
•  The  Emancipation Proclamation  freed the  Maryland  slaves.
•  Slavery was "invented"  in America by the Founding Fathers.
• All male slaves were beaten and all female slaves were raped, as opposed to  often living under fear or threat of such abuses.
•  Only whites owned slaves.
• All slaves worked in the (cotton) fields.
•   Slave  cultures  were the  same, regardless  of geographic,  economic, and  social  milieu.