The Effects Of Slavery

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"Perhaps worse than the physical pain was the psychological damage done to the slaves who were whipped" (Currie 47). If a person wasn't born a slave, they were forced into being one. Slaves were commonly captives from the losing side of a battle, even the defeated soldiers' families could be enslaved. People would also sell their children to pay off a large debt. Once a slave was captured, there was a journey to survive. They were transported in large cargo ships named slave ships. Here, they would travel up to months while suffering from mental and physical abuse. While on board, each slave was stripped naked and inspected by the captain or a surgeon. Men were shoved under the deck and fixed with heavily painful leg irons. At times, they were not even able to move, or stand, from being too crammed together. The women and children were kept in w different section of the ship. Occasionally, they would be let onto the deck of the ship to move around. Although, this often brought them sexual abuse from the crew. On days with good weather, slaves would be woken up in the middle of the morning to exercise on the deck. Usually, slaves were fed twice a day, but if they refused to eat they would be force fed ("Life" 2-3). Also, horrible hygienic conditions meant they were in constant risk of getting infected with diseases. A harmless disease could easily turn into a deadly one on a slave ship, and if a slave were to die, their dead body would be thrown overboard. When a slave ship was known to arrive, they were numerous posters and advertisements plastered everywhere. Slaves were then moved into pens, and cleaned to be more appealing. They were also covered in grease or even tar in order to appear healthy. After all, the healthier the sla... ... middle of paper ... ...ites. They had separate bathrooms, water fountains, even medical care and restaurants. Blacks and whites lived together, but apart. Abolitionists also played a huge part in ending slavery. These include well known people like Harriet Tubman who lead countless slaves to freedom time and time again. Other important abolitionists were William Lloyd Garrison, and Arthur and Lewis Tappan who formed the American Anti-Slavery Society. They spoke to try to convince whites that slavery was inhuman, and they created numerous petitions in the hopes of putting a final end to slavery. Slavery was definitely a learning period for the United States. Americans learned to not degrade other human beings especially ones with different races. Even though there is still some racism today, Americans as a whole have come a long way from slavery and segregation to acceptance and equality.

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