In Anna Barbauld’s Poem “Epistle to Wilberforce”, throughout the poem and throughout history the function of race plays a major role in slavery. Barbauld’s intention of writing this was to persuade higher authorities into changing their views on slavery by shaming them with satire to take action and fix the issue rather than debating about it. Her concern for human rights was the foundation for writing the poem and using her opinions to get her point across. She used a lot of oxymorons to paint a picture of vivid imagery. Barbauld makes it pretty obvious that she is using sarcasm to show the evil that is incorporated into slavery. She is constantly describing daily life and harsh treatment of a slave to drastically influence others. The main …show more content…
Race plays a major role in how they are treated because they are seen as different from the slaves simply because of their skin color. Barbauld knew this was wrong because only one race was being mistreated, and they were not paid in currency only with food, clothing, and shelter. These slaves were forced into free labor simply for the fact that it was good business for countries trying to expand its boundaries and improve its economy. The main reason she talks frequently about the treatment of slaves in her poem is because it is inhumane and anyone of higher authority did not listen to them as they were benefiting from it in every way. She describes the pain they feel and how they are treated after, “with unruffled mien, and placid sounds, Contriving torture, and inflicting wounds” (Barbauld line 69-70). The reason she describes the treatment is because nothing was working against those in power. Every kind of technique would be used to persuade higher authority such as making up arguments and giving examples that don’t even relate. She is annoyed by “…man, proud worm, [will] contemn his fellowman” (Barbauld 44). Then she becomes worried by the actions of these men will “provoke our doom” (Barbauld 41). Some people would go as far as joking about slavery to back up the lawfulness of slavery, and …show more content…
Not just slaves fought against slavery, some white Europeans were against slavery. This shows that because of race they were viewed as slaves and not treated as human beings. By describing through vivid imagery, the harsh treatment and the daily lives of the slave she was able to persuade her readers. Barbauld uses satire to shame her readers into changing their views on slavery. Her concern for human rights led to a drastic influence of others. Barbauld uses sarcasm to show the evil incorporated into slavery. Slaves were not treated the same as everyone until Lincoln took a stand for everyone’s rights and the constitution. Barbauld was an important aspect in the changing of slave labor because she realized there was a function of race on
One of the major questions asked about the slave trade is ‘how could so Europeans enslave so many millions of Africans?” Many documents exist and show historians what the slave trade was like. We use these stories to piece together what it must have been to be a slave or a slaver. John Barbot told the story of the slave trade from the perspective of a slaver in his “A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea.” Barbot describes the life of African slaves before they entered the slave trade.
When the topic of slavery is brought up, it is usually assumed we are talking about the thirteen million Africans who were captured, transported and enslaved in the Americas but that is not necessarily true. The history of American slavery began long before this. Native American slavery has traditionally been treated as a secondary matter when compared to the African slave trade. Indians were enslaved in large numbers and forced to labor as slaves or in other forms of servitude. They would do many different tasks ranging from working on a plantation to working in mines to working like a slave in domestic settings. Native Americans were used as slaves for as long as they could but until the number of European immigrants began to rise at an alarming rate. The arrival of Europeans and their disease and tools for war caused a drastic drop in the number of Native Americans as a whole, thus creating the
Bales and Soodalter use this to their advantage very effectively by using a multitude of personal stories from people who went through slavery. They tug at your heart strings by starting with Maria, who was 12 years old when she was taken into slavery for seven months by Sandra Bearden. During that time she was reportedly “ . . . dragged into hell. Sandra Bearden used violence to squeeze work and obedience from the child.” (722). Bales and Soodalter begin by giving you an emotional connection with Maria by telling a short story of her life growing up with her two loving parents, and small details of their house and living conditions. After the backstory is established, it goes straight into the accounts of beatings and torture endured by Maria, to quote “ . . . Sandra would blast pepper spray into Maria’s eyes. A broom was broken over the girl’s back, and a few days later, a bottle against her head . . . Bearden tortured the twelve year old by jamming a garden tool up her vagina.” (722-723). The inclusion of the tortures paints an image of how horrible slavery is, and evokes a sense of dread, despair, and helplessness for Maria. Bales and Soodalter not only state the tortures but they follow the text immediately by stating “That was Maria’s workday; her “time off” was worse.”
The killings made by the slaves are saddening, too. Mutilating the whites and leaving their bodies lying is inhumane. It is such a shocking story. This book was meant to teach the reader on the inhumanity of slavery. It also gives us the image of what happened during the past years when slavery was practised.
Throughout the novel Douglass shows the damaging effects of slavery on the slaveholders. The excessive and corrupt power that the slaveowners impress on their slaves not only physically abuses the slaves, but morally abuses the slaveholders. Douglass shows this to depict that slavery is unorthodox for all involved. In America’s democratic society that we see today, no one branch of government should have unlimited power. There are checks and balances to keep this from happening. Power corrupts, the saying “absolute power corrupts absolutely” perfectly depicts what Douglass is trying to express. This absolute power is what corrupts the slaveowners. Slaveowners view their slaves as property and have absolutely zero respect for them. The slaveowners
Slavery was a staple of Southern economy and lifestyle which greatly increased after the 1820s. Slaveholders came under attack when abolitionist ideas gripped the North and threatened the Southern way of life. This resulted in Southerners trying to justify slavery, not only to the North, but to themselves. One planter and politician from South Carolina, James Henry Hammond, wrote a Proslavery Argument in 1845 to refute the accusations the abolitionists were making towards the South and the institution of slavery. He defended slave-owners when he wrote his argument and said that slaveholders were responsible to God and the law. He also said that these owners could not refuse to provide just care for their slaves or be “tyrannical or cruel.”
When looking back at the United States in the mid-1800s, it is important to look at two of the most important writers of the time: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. While their works have different audiences, intentions, and styles, they both reflect on one of the most important and distinct aspects of the time period: the conflict over what to do with slavery. In the case of Abraham Lincoln, this was a very political issue. He was president during the single most divisive conflict in the history of the United States, the Civil War, and both “The Emancipation Proclamation” and “The Gettysburg Address,” give some insight into not only what he was thinking at the time but what was happening in the highest echelons of the government. Conversely,
The effects that he claims that damage the slaveholders is they became immoral, lazy, and too dependent on slaves. Mrs. Auld is the prime example of this damaging effect. At first, Mrs. Auld was a kind lady who was willing to teach Frederick to read. In addition, she was a weaver (meaning she had a skill), and this work deterred her away from seeing the cruelty to slaves. Mr. Auld saw that his wife was trying to instruct Frederick on how to read but told her it was a bad idea because if Frederick learned to read he would not be a good slave.
“‘if this Hitler man wins this war he will bring back slavery….We will work for no pay’‘I…. .work for no pay now,’” – Celia pg.71-This shows that although they were told that life would be worse if Hitler were in power and they would be slaves again. However Levy shows us that although not labelled as slaves black people were still treated as such.
...act, whether that be out of sympathy, nationalism, or selfishness. Amongst so many abolitionists and adamant southern voices fighting to be heard in disunited America, Frederick Douglass was such an influential person in the antislavery movement because of his rhetoric. He uses captivating modes of persuasion, strategically addressing specific audiences with different arguments. Douglass makes the dehumanizing effects of slavery on slaves obvious, appealing to feelings of sympathy in the North; however, he also appeals to the agitators of slavery — slaveowners in the South — by stressing how the corrupt and irresponsible power they enjoy are detrimental to their own moral health. By showing the immorality of slaveowners and their families as a result of perpetuating slavery, Douglass contends that slavery should be abolished for the greater good of the whole society.
However, through rhetorical devices, Douglass demonstrates how slavery also had a degrading influence on slaveholders and thus shows its corrupting nature. Specifically, he contrasts the shift in Sophia Auld’s character through antithesis and metaphor after being exposed to slavery. Before Mrs. Auld’s corruption, Douglass described his master by claiming, “Her face was made of heavenly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music” (32). Through metaphor, Douglass makes her sound like an angel with “heavenly smiles.” Angels are commonly associated with pureness and therefore by making this metaphor Douglass associates Mrs. Auld as originally being pure. However, he then juxtaposes this idea when he claims she has received the “fatal poison of irresponsible power”(32) also known to him as being a slave master. He explains her new characteristics by stating, “That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made of all sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon”(32-33). Through metaphor and antithesis, Douglass shows how she shifts from being an angel to a demon. The metaphor associates Mrs. Auld with satan and the antithesis makes her list of changing features appear extensive. Through these rhetorical devices, Douglass is able to emphasize the abruptness of her change in character due to her experience around slavery. By explaining this personal experience in his narrative, Douglass shows to his audience the unexpected negatives of slavery and how it not only dehumanizes slaves, but masters as well. This most likely would have given Northern abolitionists stronger reasons to push for Douglass’s goal of
In Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, one of the major themes is how the institution of slavery has an effect on the moral health of the slaveholder. The power slaveholders have over their slaves is great, as well as corrupting. Douglass uses this theme to point out that the institution of slavery is bad for everyone involved, not just the slaves. Throughout the narrative, Douglass uses several of his former slaveholders as examples. Sophia Auld, once such a kind and caring woman, is transformed into a cruel and oppressive slave owner over the course of the narrative. Thomas Auld, also. Douglass ties this theme back to the main concern of authorial control. Although this is a personal account, it is also a tool of propaganda, and is used as such. Douglass’s intent is to convince readers that the system of slavery is horrible and damaging to all included, and thus should be abolished completely. Douglass makes it very clear in his examples how exactly the transformation occurs and how kind and moral people can become those who beat their slaves and pervert Christianity in an attempt to justify it.
Imagine how it would feel being thrown in the bottom of a boat with hundreds of other people, piled on top of each other and shipped like merchandise across the Atlantic ocean. Many Africans were a part of the triangular trade. The first stop of the triangle trade was from Europe to Africa. There, they traded small things for slaves. The next stop was from Africa to the New World. There, the slaves were sold to American colonies or the Caribbean. After the new world, they washed the ships down and loaded them with goods to ship back to Europe with things like sugar, rum and molasses. Once the slaves were sold to their new owners they were brought back to the owners workplace to start working.
Douglass's narrative is, on one surface, intended to show the barbarity and injustice of slavery. However, the underlying argument is that freedom is not simply attained through a physical escape from forced labor, but through a mental liberation from the attitude created by Southern slavery. The slaves of the South were psychologically oppressed by the slaveholders' disrespect for a slave’s family and for their education, as well as by the slaves' acceptance of their own subordination. Additionally, the slaveholders were trapped by a mentality that allowed them to justify behavior towards human beings that would normally not be acceptable. In this manner, both slaveholder and slave are corrupted by slavery.
Frederick Douglass’ landmark narrative describes the dehumanization of African-American slaves, while simultaneously humanizing them through his moving prose. Douglass shows the dehumanization of slaves through depictions of violence, deindividuation, and the broken justice system. However, Douglass’ pursuit of an education, moving rhetoric, and critique of his own masters demonstrates to the reader that African-Americans are just as intelligent as white people, thus proving their humanity.