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Slavery in 19th century America
Dehumanization of american slaves
Slavery in 19th century America
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as John Anderson explained: "I did not want to marry a girl belonging to my own place because I knew I could not bear to see her ill-treated." Moses Grandy agreed he wrote: "no colored man wishes to live at the house where his wife lives, for he has to endure the continual misery of seeing her flogged and abused without daring to say a word in her defense." As Henry Bibb pointed out: "If my wife must be exposed to the insults and licentious passions of wicked slave-drivers and overseers. Heaven forbids that I should be compelled to witness the sight." A study of slave records by the Freedmen's Bureau of 2,888 slave marriages in Mississippi (1,225), Tennessee (1,123) and Louisiana (540), revealed that over 32 percent of marriages were dissolved
In the autobiographical writings Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs’ reflects on the times that her master Dr. Flint consistently tried to molest her sexually. In spite of her fears of horrible repercussions such as beatings or torture if she refuses to submit to him, Harriet always manages to evade his proposals to become his mistress by out-smarting him. She defends herself from his numerous attempts to seduce her, by the power of her mental strength and intelligence, and her Christian morality. While she fears him each time he secretly approaches her with his sexual propositions when he caught her alone, she could always think of ways to protect herself. For example she protects herself from the dangers of his sexual advances by removing herself from the master’s presence any opportunity she gets. She sometimes stays with her grandmother or aunt at night to protect herself from him. They are both Dr. Flint’s former slaves too who live on the plantation where she lives. Even though he threatens to kill her if she tells anyone, she tells his wife about his sexual advances, and Mrs. Flint invites Harriet to sl...
Bound in Wedlock is one of the first books written about African American marriage in the nineteenth century. In her book she uses actual legal documents, plantation records, and pension files as her sources in this book. Hunter goes into detail about the hardships of being black and married during the times of slavery. She explains how even the free slaves’ had a difficult time with being
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
Former slave, Jourdon Anderson, was given a second chance in life whereas so many slaves did not see the day emancipation became legal. Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, Anderson’s former master, like most masters would be, did not agree with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. When Colonel Anderson found the whereabouts of his former slave and his family, who had worked on his land for over twenty years, he wrote a letter to Anderson begging him to come back. In this letter to Colonel Anderson, Jourdon Anderson was able to express his concerns and issues in a confident, yet sarcastic way about his past of more than thirty years of living under Colonel Anderson. Anderson was not shy when it came to voicing his opinions and what he “wanted” if he were to come back to Big Springs, although knowing he would never return to that horrific place (Anderson, 473-474). The most
the pre-Civil War era, only about 5 percent of white Southern women actually lived on plantations and about half the Southern households owned no slaves at all. Still, slavery defined everything about life in the South, including the status of white women. Southern culture orbited around the strong father figure, simultaneously ruling and caring for his dependents - Mary Hamilton Campbell was struck when her servant Eliza refererred to Campbell's husband as "our master". Black and white women never seemed to develop any sense of common cause, but every Southern female from the plantation wife to the field slave was assinged a role that involved powerlessness and the need of a white man's constant guidance. A Southern slave owner named George Balcombe advised a friend to "Let women and Negroes alone. Leave them in their humility, their grateful affection, ther self-renouncing loyalty, their subordination of the heart, and let it be your study to become worthy to be the object of their sentiments."
Women involved in slavery had several struggles dealing with physical and mental abuse. In one of Douglass's narratives it states "an old aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back til she was literally covered with blood". The women would be beaten brutally, and treated as if they were not human beings. They also had no chance of fighting back against the abuse, which is shown from this quote. While in the quote from Jacob's narrative states "She sits on the cold cabin floor, watching the children who may all be torn
A common theme of the pro-slavery advocates in the 1800’s was the continuation of slavery for the wellbeing of the enslaved and country. During this time in American history, it was believed African-Americans were inferior to whites and without bondage, they would reduce themselves to animalistic acts and barbarism. George Fitzhugh, an American social theorist who wrote “The Universal Law of Slavery” said, “He the [African-American] is but a grown up child, and must be governed as a child, not as a lunatic or criminal,” (Fitzhugh). Interpretation of Fitzhugh’s writings reveals his stand on slavery and his belief that through bondage, African Americans have become more civilized and protected from worst fates. To further persuade his position he introduced the quality of life and happiness slaves in the southern states experience. Fitzhugh illustrates that the children and elderly are excluded from work and the women are guarded by overzealous husbands through their master’s protection. He also...
Marriage is the foundation of modern society and has historically been present in most civilizations. Marriage is associated with many positive health outcomes and is encouraged across most racial/ethnic groups. According to Sbarra, Law, and Portley (2011), the social institution of marriage has changed much since the 19th century especially in the way it can be terminated. Married African American or Black men are happier, make more money, are less likely to face poverty, and choose healthier behaviors than their counterparts that are divorced (Bachman, Clayton, Glenn, Malone-Colon, & Roberts, 2005). The converse is true for Black women who seem to be the only sub-group not to achieve the universal health and other benefits gained from marriage (Bachman, et al., 2005). This paradox in marital benefits have many implications including lower martial satisfaction and divorce.
In another passage, colonel is discussing with Grandison if he feels better off than the free negroes that don’t have “ no kind master to look after them and no mistress to give them medicine.” Grandison replies with an answer that reflecting his accomadation to colonel.
While on the plantation in Maryland the slave’s had an overseer named Mr. Plumber. Mr. Plumber had told Aunt Hester not to go see a young man that she fancied who lived near the plantation, but she disobeyed and went to meet him. Mr. Plumber discovered Aunt Hester’s defiance and saw it consequence to whip her. He tied her hands crossed with rope and hung her to a hook while she stood on a stool and slashed her repeatedly with the whip. As blood came from the slashing, Douglass later commented, “I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was quite a child, but I well remember it. I never shall forget it whilst I remember anything. It was the first of a long series of such outrages, of which I was doomed to be a witness and a participant. It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery.
Slave marriages among other slaves and slave owners have always placed a social burden on the plantations and the government of the United States. What were the social issues that occurred as slaves had relations with other slaves or their masters? Government scandals, black salve owners, and law changes have all came about as part of the social discrepancies that came along with slave relations. Biographies of William Ellison, the first African American slave owner, will be scrutinized to see the social implications of a slave master owning slaves of the same ethnicity. Personal Journals written about the Thomas Jefferson and Sally Heming's case will be analyzed to see the government scandal placed on Jefferson’s slave relations. These social issues helped play out the course of slavery in the United States of America.
“Line of Color, Sex, and Service: Sexual Coercion in the Early Republic” is a publication that discusses two women, Rachel Davis and Harriet Jacobs. This story explains the lives of both Rachel and Harriet and their relationship between their masters. Rachel, a young white girl around the age of fourteen was an indentured servant who belonged to William and Becky Cress. Harriet, on the other hand, was born an enslaved African American and became the slave of James and Mary Norcom. This publication gives various accounts of their masters mistreating them and how it was dealt with.
Saulny, S. Black and White and Married in the Deep South: A Shifting Image. 2011. Class
Frederick Douglass believed that “the warm defender of the sacredness of the family relation is the same that scatters whole families,— sundering husbands and wives, parents and children, sisters and brothers,—leaving the hut vacant, and the hearth desolate.” The families of slave owners were torn apart while using their power to divide the slaves. Slavery had a detrimental impact on each relationship within families, affecting not only slaves but slaveholders as well. The degrading effects of slavery on the slave and slave owners were destructive to family structure for the child, mother, and father.
In Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author subjects the reader to a dystopian slave narrative based on a true story of a woman’s struggle for self-identity, self-preservation and freedom. This non-fictional personal account chronicles the journey of Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) life of servitude and degradation in the state of North Carolina to the shackle-free promise land of liberty in the North. The reoccurring theme throughout that I strive to exploit is how the women’s sphere, known as the Cult of True Womanhood (Domesticity), is a corrupt concept that is full of white bias and privilege that has been compromised by the harsh oppression of slavery’s racial barrier. Women and the female race are falling for man’s