In Solomon Northup’s narrative, 12 years a slave, he shares a story of the horrors of his past that was a lifelong reality to many African Americans throughout American history. Northup, being a free man of Saratoga, New York, was stripped of his freedom and sold ‘down the river’ to the Bayou Boeuf of Louisiana and was bound to slavery for twelve years. Along with recounting the gruesome hardships and labor that he had to endure, Northup also gives detailed accounts of the lives of fellow slaves that he comes across, primarily, women. Northup’s narrative allows readers to see that the hardships that slave women experienced by far surpassed anything that a slave man could endure. Stripped of their families, beaten relentlessly and forever victims …show more content…
Female slaves were faced with the horror of being permanently separated from their families and more specifically, their children. The slave woman’s agony stemming from the disintegration of her family can be seen very early on in Northup’s narrative when he recalls the account of Eliza Berry: a black captive among the others in Burch’s D.C. slave pen. In an instant, Eliza was forcibly removed from her two children, Randall and Emily. At the time when Randall’s trade was taking place, Eliza was crying for mercy and pleading with the buyer that if he would purchase her son, to also purchase her as well as her daughter. “Eliza burst into a paroxysm of grief, weepingly and plaintively. Freeman turned round to her, savagely …ordering her to stop her noise or her would flog her. (Freeman) damned her, calling her a blubbering, bawling wench and ordered her to behave herself,” (Northup, 51). The reader gets a first hand view into Eliza’s desperation to go with her son, as she begged an pleaded to be the most loyal slave if she were to be sold with her child but her efforts were to no avail. Randall was sold separately from his mother, bid his farewells and never saw her face …show more content…
Later on in Northup’s tale, readers are introduced to Patsey, the queen of the field. Patsey’s misfortunes not only stemmed from the fact that she was slave, but that she was also her slave master, Epps’ prized possession. Patsey had a pleasant temper and she was a joyous, light-hearted girl, yet she wept oftener and suffered more than any of her companions. Although Patsey was deemed to be the most faithful and efficient slave—notorious for bringing in almost double the amount of cotton from her counterparts—it is safe to say, that she experienced the most brutality out of all of the slave women on Epps’ plantation. The reason for this was not because she fell short in her work or had a rebellious spirit, but because she fell victim to a licentious slave master and his jealous mistress. For most of her days on the plantation, Patsey found herself trapped in-between her slave master’s lewd acts and her mistress’s fury. Northup describes to his readers that Patsey walked beaneath a dark cloud.
In all, Tademy does a great job in transporting her readers back to the 1800s in rural Louisiana. This book is a profound alternative to just another slave narrative. Instead of history it offers ‘herstory’. This story offers insight to the issues of slavery through a women’s perspective, something that not so many books offer. Not only does it give readers just one account or perspective of slavery but it gives readers a take on slavery through generation after generation. From the early days of slavery through the Civil War, a narrative of familial strength, pride, and culture are captured in these lines.
Slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries consisted of brutal and completely unjust treatment of African-Americans. Africans were pulled from their families and forced to work for cruel masters under horrendous conditions, oceans away from their homes. While it cannot be denied that slavery everywhere was horrible, the conditions varied greatly and some slaves lived a much more tolerable life than others. Examples of these life styles are vividly depicted in the personal narratives of Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince. The diversity of slave treatment and conditions was dependent on many different factors that affected a slave’s future. Mary Prince and Olaudah Equiano both faced similar challenges, but their conditions and life styles
A recurring theme in, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is Harriet Jacobs's reflections on what slavery meant to her as well as all women in bondage. Continuously, Jacobs expresses her deep hatred of slavery, and all of its implications. She dreads such an institution so much that she sometimes regards death as a better alternative than a life in bondage. For Harriet, slavery was different than many African Americans. She did not spend her life harvesting cotton on a large plantation. She was not flogged and beaten regularly like many slaves. She was not actively kept from illiteracy. Actually, Harriet always was treated relatively well. She performed most of her work inside and was rarely ever punished, at the request of her licentious master. Furthermore, she was taught to read and sew, and to perform other tasks associated with a ?ladies? work. Outwardly, it appeared that Harriet had it pretty good, in light of what many slaves had succumbed to. However, Ironically Harriet believes these fortunes were actually her curse. The fact that she was well kept and light skinned as well as being attractive lead to her victimization as a sexual object. Consequently, Harriet became a prospective concubine for Dr. Norcom. She points out that life under slavery was as bad as any slave could hope for. Harriet talks about her life as slave by saying, ?You never knew what it is to be a slave; to be entirely unprotected by law or custom; to have the laws reduce you to the condition of chattel, entirely subject to the will of another.? (Jacobs p. 55).
Epps is a cruel master he whip his slaves all the time Northup describe his life with Epps in this statement, “It was rarely that a day passed by without one or more whippings. This occurred at this time the cotton was weighed. The delinquent, whose weight had fallen short, was taken out, stripped, made to lie upon the ground, face downwards, when he received a punishment proportioned to his offence. It is the literal, unvarnished truth, that the crack of the lash, and the shrieking of the slaves, can be heard from dark till bed time, on Epps’ plantation, any day almost during the entire period of the cotton-picking season.” (179) relating stories of abuse, humiliation, and dispossession among all the slaves. A slave girl named Patsey gets the worst treatments from Epps Patsey has been raped and whipped a lot of time because of his jealous wife. Patsey went to visits her friend to get a bar soap because Epps wife won’t allow her to have any, when she returns Epps thought she were having an affair, therefore; Epps forced Northup to whip Patsey while she’s naked and screaming for mercy. Years are passed by and Northup almost lost his hope to see his family again and having a free black man life. Northup met a carpenter named Bass abolitionist from Canada. Northup start telling his story from the beginning until where he’s now to Bass and after Bass heard his story he decided to help him, by sending letter to Northup friends in the North asking them to rescue slaves in the
To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...
As the United States grew, the institution of slavery became a way of life in the southern states, while northern states began to abolish it. While the majority of free blacks lived in poverty, some were able to establish successful businesses that helped the Black community. Racial discrimination often meant that Blacks were not welcome or would be mistreated in White businesses and other establishments. A comparison of the narratives of Douglass and Jacobs demonstrates the full range of demands and situations that slaves experienced, and the mistreatment that they experienced as well. Jacobs experienced the ongoing sexual harassment from James Norcom, just like numerous slave women experienced sexual abuse or harassment during the slave era. Another issue that faced blacks was the incompetence of the white slave owners and people. In ...
In his true-life narrative "Twelve Years a Slave," Solomon Northup is a free man who is deceived into a situation that brings about his capture and ultimate misfortune to become a slave in the south. Solomon is a husband and father. Northup writes:
. Slavery was ongoing for many years, which ruined many people’s lives. White people believed that African-Americans were inferior. The slaves were forced into labor, punished, and treated poorly. Slaves involvement took away the most important thing in human life, freedom. During this time there were many influential slaves. Solomon Northup, an African-American slave who was kidnapped and sold into slavery was one of them. He is one of the world’s most important historical figures. Northup is known world wide for the movie and book based on his biography, 12 years a slave. By publishing the unbearable aspects of his life in captivity as a slave, Northup brought to light the sadism of American slavery. He raised awareness in audiences, and brought national attention to the injustices.
... described his wife Anne, “It is difficult to tell whether the red, white, or black predominates” (4). While in the Deep South, Northup offered greater insight into common interaction between slaves and local tribes. Acquainted through Northup’s work on Indian Creek, a cordial relationship between Northup and a “remnant of the Chickasaws or Chickopees” (46), was soon established. Often after a day of work, Sam, a fellow slave, and Northup would watch Native American dances and feasts. Although the natives were not spoken of in high esteem and were described as living a “wild mode of life” (46), united by the Louisiana rivers, the events Northup described gave credence to the existence of harmonious native and black relations. As result of their close locality to Indian and Mexican territories, Deep South slaves established unique cultural and political perceptions.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth-century, notions of freedom for Black slaves and White women were distinctively different than they are now. Slavery was a form of exploitation of black slaves, whom through enslavement, lost their humanity and freedom, and were subjected to dehumanizing conditions. African women and men were often mistreated through similar ways, especially when induced to labor, they would eventually become a genderless individual in the sight of the master. Despite being considered “genderless” for labor, female slaves suddenly became women who endured sexual violence. Although a white woman was superior to the slaves, she had little power over the household, and was restricted to perform additional actions without the consent of their husbands. The enslaved women’s notion to conceive freedom was different, yet similar to the way enslaved men and white women conceived freedom. Black women during slavery fought to resist oppression in order to gain their freedom by running away, rebel against the slaveholders, or by slowing down work. Although that didn’t guarantee them absolute freedom from slavery, it helped them preserve the autonomy and a bare minimum of their human rights that otherwise, would’ve been taken away from them. Black
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.
Northup, Solomon, Sue L. Eakin, and Joseph Logsdon. Twelve years a slave. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Print.
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
In fact, women had to carry with the pain of having their children wrenched from them. Women were forced to be “breeders” they were meant to bear children to add to their master’s “stock”, but they were denied the right to care for them. It was not something unusual to happen to these women it was considered normal. The master didn’t believe the female slaves had feelings, or the right to ruin their merchandise. It was also not unusual for the plantation master to satisfy his sexual lust with his female slaves and force them to have his children. Children that were born from these unions were often sold to protect the honor and dignity of the slave owner’s wife, who would be forced to face the undeniable proof of her husband’s lust for “black women.”
The film, “12 Years A Slave” tells an eye opening, very illustrative story of how slavery in the states was a cruel and sickening part of American history. The story follows a once free black man named Solomon Northup, a successful violinist with a family living in the north who gets abducted and forced into the slave trade then sold at an auction. The events that happen throughout the movie elaborate the brutality of slavery on blacks, it shows the effects of slavery on them and also the slave owners, and lastly it depicts how women both black and white were subject to authoritative treatment.