The American Slave Analysis

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Slavery first began in 1619 when slaves were brought over from Africa to Jamestown, Virginia. Slaves were used for multiple purposes. They could be used for field labor or for housework or to do any duties assigned by their owner. Slavery especially boomed in the 1830s with the Industrial Revolution where the creation of the cotton gin and the John Deere plow allowed for more goods to be created. Charity Anderson was a household slave from Mobile, Alabama. She worked around the house by getting the table ready for dinner or doing laundry for the family members. On the contrast, Solomon Northup was a free black man that was forced into slavery with captors claiming he was a slave. He was beaten and tortured in efforts to force him to admit that …show more content…

Anderson speaks of her times at the plantation as “dem good ol’ days”. She never spoke of Mr. Johnson abusing her or attempting to hurt her, she even states that she never had to do field labor until after she was released as a slave. “My old Master was a good man, he treated all his slaves kind, and took care of dem, he wanted to leave dem hisn chillun” (The American Slave). Anderson conveys her master as a kind man and that he treated them like his “chillun”. On the reverse, Northup did not have a smooth path like Anderson. Northup’s captor struck Northup with a hardwood board time after time when Northup would assert that he was a free man and would torture him in a dark room where Northup was isolated. “With the paddle, Burch commenced beating me. Blow after blow was inflicted upon my naked body...I was left in darkness as before” (Northup). Northup was whacked with a paddle repeatedly and whipped until his flesh was falling off his bones. He was fastened in chains to the floor and left in isolation with no aid from anyone. Even though Anderson was treated so great without experiencing discomfort, Solomon endured the agony of of the other side of

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