The first hand accounts giving in the readings of Brent and Cartwright both provided great insight on how life was like during times of slavery. Brent's story provided an in-depth personal account on how it was for a slave girl to grow up. Brent life story took all sides of slavery into account. She considered factors like the effects that slavery was having on everyone whether they were white, black, female, or male. Cartwright provided details of his life in his writing, and he gave his account of how bad of an institution he thought slavery was. Cartwright greatly opposed slavery, but he did not really consider himself to be an abolitionist because he believes that their views on slavery were somewhat one-sided. He believed that the abolitionist felt so strongly that they distanced themselves from slave holders and destroyed any chances for either parties to sit down and discuss the issues. What Cartwright did not realize was that his arguments about slavery were also one sided because he was just representing the white male who did not own slaves, and also did not know much about slave conditions. Cartwright was mainly representing the outside world looking in at slavery. Cartwright realized that slavery was a bad thing, but because he was not a slave himself or a slave holder he could not give an informative account of slavery. So though Cartwright strongly opposed slavery, he did not fully understand the evils and the effects of slavery as Brent did.
One way that Cartwright did not understand the effects of slavery was that his only concerns over slavery revolved around the ill effects that slavery had on the whites. It did not seem as if he was really concerned about how slaves were being treated by their slave masters, though he did see slavery as a moral evil. To Cartwright, slavery was a moral evil because he believed that it made whites slave holders lazy. He felt that since slave holders had their slaves doing all of the housework, then they believed having to do so themselves would be like lowering their status. In other words the rich slave holders had lost the value of work to the point that if they had to do so themselves would be like lowing themselves to the same level as slaves.
In the former, out of 54 who was thought to be part of the insurgency and brought to Southampton’s court (Greenberg, pg. 57-58) one Black enslaved woman, Lucy Barrow was arrested and hanged (Greenberg, pg. 13), and she didn’t kill or hurt any White during the insurgency but simply prevented one from escaping, but was helped by another enslaved Black (Greenberg, pg. 98). Though admittedly guilty, we can see how demanding of blood the Whites were, during this critical moment that anything that could’ve hurt their brothers and sisters were punished by either hanging or transportation back to Africa. Meanwhile, in the latter’s pamphlet, he took time to mention the significant role of an enslaved Black woman in the recapturing of slaves in Kentucky, who fought back against their captors. A rare opportunity wasted by the unnecessary kindness of the enslaved woman. She was heavily criticized by Walker saying that “the actions… really unsupportable” (Wilentz, pg. 24). He also mentioned how heartless White Christian Americans were and they deserve no support nor protection from the Black people. Though, it should also be noted that the man helped by the Black woman was a Negro driver, and therefore, she may have felt a bit kinship or brother/sisterhood for their skin colour. It also possible that her mother instinct kicked in and
The author Kevin Bales ,and co-writer Ron Soodalter, discuss the issues pertaining to forced labor in “Slavery in The Land of The Free”. Free The Slaves is a non-profit organization in Washington that Bales founded to help end slavery not only in the United States, but around the world. The Abraham Lincoln Institute has the honor to have the established historian, Soodalter, serve on it’s board.The two authors also wrote a book by the name of “The Slave Next Door: Human trafficking and Slavery in America Today” (2009). One of the issues that Bales and Soodalter effectively touch on is how widespread the issue of human trafficking and slavery is in
The narratives were written by African Americans, but read overwhelmingly by white audiences and in these narratives there is evidence that show Bibb, Northup, and Jacobs had their white audience in their mind while creating their stories. In Henry Bibb 's passage he states that "Both parties are caught in the act by a white person, the slave is punished with the lash, while the white man is often punished with both lynched and common law," (209). "The slave holders are generally rich, artistic, overbearing; and they look with utter contempt upon a poor laboring man, who earns his bread by the "sweat of his brow," whether he be moral or immoral, honest or dishonest," (209). In these sentences Bibb 's had his mind on the white audience due to the way he was describing the slaveholders and how a white person was not punished with lashes. Solomon Northup "He fears he will be caught lagging through the day; he fears to approach the gin-house with his basket-load of cotton at night; he fears, when he lies down, that he will oversleep himself in the morning," (215). Northup wanted to describe to the white audience how slaves and himself were scared for there lives everyday being a slave while working for their masters, and how much pain the master 's caused slaves. In Harriet Jacobs passaged she says "O, what days and nights of fear and sorrow that man caused me! Reader, it is not to awaken sympathy for myself that I am telling you truthfully what I suffered in slavery. I do
Following the success of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas in the early16th century, the Spaniards, French and Europeans alike made it their number one priority to sail the open seas of the Atlantic with hopes of catching a glimpse of the new territory. Once there, they immediately fell in love the land, the Americas would be the one place in the world where a poor man would be able to come and create a wealthy living for himself despite his upbringing. Its rich grounds were perfect for farming popular crops such as tobacco, sugarcane, and cotton. However, there was only one problem; it would require an abundant amount of manpower to work these vast lands but the funding for these farming projects was very scarce in fact it was just about nonexistent. In order to combat this issue commoners back in Europe developed a system of trade, the Triangle Trade, a trade route that began in Europe and ended in the Americas. Ships leaving Europe first stopped in West Africa where they traded weapons, metal, liquor, and cloth in exchange for captives that were imprisoned as a result of war. The ships then traveled to America, where the slaves themselves were exchanged for goods such as, sugar, rum and salt. The ships returned home loaded with products popular with the European people, and ready to begin their journey again.
It is well known that slavery was a horrible event in the history of the United States. However, what isn't as well known is the actual severity of slavery. The experiences of slave women presented by Angela Davis and the theories of black women presented by Patricia Hill Collins are evident in the life of Harriet Jacobs and show the severity of slavery for black women.
The Growing Opposition to Slavery 1776-1852 Many Americans’ eyes were opened in 1776, when members of the Continental Congress drafted, signed, and published the famous document “The Declaration of Independence” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By declaring their independence, many of the colonists believed that slaves should have the same rights as the whites had. Abolition groups were formed, and the fight to end slavery began. In 1776, Delaware became the first state to prohibit the importation of African slaves. One year later, in 1777, Vermont became the first colony to abolish slavery (within Vermont’s boundaries) by state constitution.
The author made a point to explain what slaves had better than others.... ... middle of paper ... ... He touched on parts of the slaves' lives and what they really went through, but I don't think we even have a true idea of what it would have been like in their shoes.
The book follows Dana who is thrown back in time to live in a plantation during the height of slavery. The story in part explores slavery through the eye of an observer. Dana and even Kevin may have been living in the past, but they were not active members. Initially, they were just strangers who seemed to have just landed in to an ongoing play. As Dana puts it, they "were observers watching a show. We were watching history happen around us. And we were actors." (Page 98). The author creates a scenario where a woman from modern times finds herself thrust into slavery by account of her being in a period where blacks could never be anything else but slaves. The author draws a picture of two parallel times. From this parallel setting based on what Dana goes through as a slave and her experiences in the present times, readers can be able to make comparison between the two times. The reader can be able to trace how far perceptions towards women, blacks and family relations have come. The book therefore shows that even as time goes by, mankind still faces the same challenges, but takes on a reflection based on the prevailing period.
Their discussions are quite different due to the fact that they zoom in on topics that peek their own interest. For Zinn, he described why the development of race-based slavery in America began. He mentioned that the settlers did not know basic survival skills, like obtaining food. Therefore, they need laborers to grow and cultivate food for them specifically corn and these laborers would have to be people who were not costly to them. They used slaves from Africa because well they were easier to ‘control’ than the whites and indentured servants. Zinn focused more on the fact that these people were torn from their culture and brought here against their will, to engage in unfavorable conditions. The degree of cruelty these people faced made this
Slavery was the main resource used in the Chesapeake tobacco plantations. The conditions in the Chesapeake region were difficult, which lead to malnutrition, disease, and even death. Slaves were a cheap and an abundant resource, which could be easily replaced at any time. The Chesapeake region’s tobacco industries grew and flourished on the intolerable and inhumane acts of slavery.
Farming, sewing, and taking care of livestock were just a few responsibilities that were left to slaves during the 1600's. White families received all of the benefits from the work done, yet they rarely had to lift a finger, unless it was to correct a slave. Today's generation reads about slavery and regards it as morally wrong. While I agree that slavery was one of America's greatest wrongdoings, it paved the way for America as we know it today.
The illumination of the brutal treatment of the slaves, both physically and mentally, are also apparent in the works of Stowe and Jacobs. Stowe, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, uses the stories of Eliza, Harry, Uncle Tom and Cassy to show how slavery, with both cruel and kind masters, affects different members of the slave community. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs focuses her work on the how the institution is “terrible for men; but is far more terrible for women” (B:933), adding sexual abuse to the atrocities of slavery. Douglass’ Madison gives the reader a masculine perspective on the
Slavery is a term that can create a whirlwind of emotions for everyone. During the hardships faced by the African Americans, hundreds of accounts were documented. Harriet Jacobs, Charles Ball and Kate Drumgoold each shared their perspectives of being caught up in the world of slavery. There were reoccurring themes throughout the books as well as varying angles that each author either left out or never experienced. Taking two women’s views as well as a man’s, we can begin to delve deeper into what their everyday lives would have been like.
The first topic found in these books is the difference in the roles of women and men slaves. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl gives us the women 's point of view, their lifestyle and their slave duties and roles. On the other hand, The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows us the male side of slavery; the duties and role of men slaves and their way of living their situation. Both books state clearly the roles of both men and women slaves. We can easily observe the fact that slaves’ roles were based on their gender, and the different duties they had based on these roles. This gender role idea was based on American society’s idea of assigning roles based only on gender. Slave men’s role was most of the time simple. Their purpose was mainly physical work. In
For this very reason Jacobs uses the pseudonym Linda Brent to narrate her first-person experience, which I intend to use interchangeably throughout the essay, since I am referencing the same person. All throughout the narrative, Jacobs explores the struggles and sexual abuse that female slaves faced on plantations as well as their efforts to practice motherhood and protect their children from the horrors of the slave trade. Jacobs’ literary efforts are addressed to white women in the North who do not fully comprehend the evils of slavery. She makes direct appeals to their humanity to expand their knowledge and influence their thoughts about slavery as an institution, holding strong to the credo that the pen is mightier than the sword and is colorful enough to make a difference and change the the stereotypes of the black and white