Slavery is defined as “the ownership of some people by others” (Henslin et al, p 112). The movie 12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen, begins with Solomon Northup as a free African-American man in 1841, in Saratoga, New York. He works as a musician to make money to support his two kids and wife. One day, he was given the opportunity to travel to Washington, DC, to play his violin for work. While he was there, he was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into the slave trade by the two men, Brown and Hamilton, whom had hired him. The movie focuses on the life that Solomon now lives, as a slave under the name of Platt. Solomon spends 12 years as a slave, first working on a plantation, harvesting wood under the command of Tibeats, and owned by Master …show more content…
Prejudice is an “attitude”, or a “prejudgment, usually in a negative sense” (Henslin et al, p 175). This was exemplified by Edwin Epps, a slave owner in the movie 12 Years a Slave, when he was asked by Samuel Bass, a white man, what the difference was between white men and African-Americans, “in the eyes of god” (2014); Epps replied, “you might as well ask the difference between a white man and a baboon” (12 Years a Slave, 2014). By comparing African-American men to an animal, Epps insinuated that African-Americans were subordinates to whites, and therefore had the same mental capacity as a baboon. When these negative prejudgments become “actions” of “unfair treatment” (Henslin et al, p 175), it is said to be discrimination, and when the actions are based on differences in race, it is called racism (Henslin et al, p 175). Racism and discrimination were demonstrated many times in the movie 12 Years a Slave. To illustrate, after each day of working in the cotton fields, each slave had their cotton weighed, and that number, in pounds, was recorded. The average worker was to have picked at least two hundred pounds. When Armsby, a white man who was working in the cotton fields for pay, produced only sixty-four pounds, Epps told him he needed to try harder. However, when Solomon picked one hundred and sixty pounds, Epps instructed to have him whipped (12 Years a Slave, 2014). This unjust and unequal …show more content…
First, the majority of slave owners used physical abuse in order to maintain control over their slaves. For example, when Solomon was first sold into the slave trade, a slave trafficker attempted to beat him with a paddle into admitting he was a slave from Georgia instead of a free man from New York (12 Years a Slave, 2014). If Solomon was allowed to use his own name and identity, someone could recognize who he was and the slave owners would lose the ability to make a profit from him. Therefore, they needed control Solomon in order for him to admit that he was a slave, and they achieved this through physical violence. Furthermore, when Solomon arrived at the Ford plantation, Mistress Ford told Solomon, “Master brought you here to work, any more will earn you a hundred lashes” (12 Years a Slave, 2014). Mistress Ford wanted to impress upon Solomon that he was a slave and nothing more, and the threat of physical violence acted as a reinforcer to legitimize her statement. Second, women slaves had a dual role in the world of slavery. They were to work all day, and often times raped at night by their owners. To illustrate, Mistress Shaw, an African-American woman who was the object of affection of her Master, told Patsy, the girl that Edwin Epps sexually abused, “I know what it’s like to be the object of Master’s predilections and peculiarities. A lusty visit in the night, or a
Physical abuse by plantation owners towards both their servants and slaves was common. One account by Thomas Gates in a General Court of Colonial Virginia document about Elizabeth Abbot, an indentured servant, stated that “she had been sore beaten and her body full of sores and holes very dangerously raunckled and putrified both above her wast and uppon her hips and thighs” (General Court of Colonial Virginia). In fact, such abuse towards servants and slaves was so common that the state of Virginia had to make laws for such cases. Unfortunately, colonial governments did not consider corporal punishment illegal. Thus adding to the brutality endured by persons in captivity and servitude during the colonial era. “Moderate corporal punishment inflicted
For example, Northup introduces the reader to a slave named Eliza Berry, who was forced to become her master’s lover, as well as to live with him on the condition that she and her children would be emancipated (25). This exemplifies how white men would use their status to sexually harass their female slaves, while avoiding the consequences because no one would believe them, and they were threatened with being whipped if they uttered a word. In addition, Northup introduces another female slave named Patsey, and he states, “Her back bore the scars of a thousand stripes; not because she was backward in her work, nor because she was of an unmindful and rebellious spirit, but because it had fallen to her lot to be the slave of a licentious master…” (116). Overall, this quote corroborates how severe their masters would penalize them both physically and mentally, as well as how unfair they were to
Twelve years a slave is the title of a book and a movie which was an adaptation of the life of Solomon Northup. Solomon Northup was born in New York a free man. He had a wife and three children, he unlike most other children was educated.”Besides giving us an education surpassing that ordinarily bestowed to the children in our condition” he said page 25, he had a farm and worked as a violinist. He was drugged, abducted and sold into slavery in 1841 while on a visit to Washington, sold at auction and shipped to work in cotton plantations in Louisiana. He was given a new identity and his slave name was “Platt.” he never accepted being
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
Sexual assault from the male slave owners and harassment from the female slave owners was commonplace. Many slave girls would start to be harassed and sexually assaulted around the young age of only 15, “But I had now entered my 15th year – a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl. My master began to whisper foul words into my ear” (26 Jacobs). This clearly shows that not only did female slaves have to deal with these kinds of harsh conditions; they had to begin to cope with these circumstances at a very young age. Throughout the novel Jacobs demonstrates the inner strength that these young girls had to develop to deal with their day-to-day
Women slaves were subject to unusually cruel treatment such as rape and mental abuse from their master’s, their unique experience must have been different from the experience men slaves had. While it is no secret that the horrors of the institution of slavery were terrible and unimaginable; those same horrors were no big deal for southern plantation owners. Many engaged in cruelty towards their slaves. Some slave owners took particular interest in their young female slaves. Once caught in the grips of a master’s desire it would have been next to impossible to escape. In terms of actual escape from a plantation most women slaves had no reason to travel and consequentially had no knowledge of the land. Women slaves had the most unfortunate of situations; there were no laws that would protect them against rape or any injustices. Often the slave that became the object of the master’s desires would also become a victim of the mistress of the household. Jealousy played a detrimental role in the dynamic the enslaved women were placed within. Regardless of how the slave felt she could have done little to nothing to ease her suffering.
There has been a stigma that only slaves were brutally punished for misbehaving or attempting to escape, but behind closed doors women suffered the same amount of pain or if not worse than slaves from their masters. Douglass witnessed a number of incidents and describes the abuse as, “Master would keep this lacerated young woman tied up for four hours at a time… he would tie her up and hit her for breakfast, leave her, return for dinner and whip her again” (44). Another time he witnessed his Aunt Hester abused from what he believes to be his father, “… he took her into the kitchen and stripped her down, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back entirely naked… he commences to lay on the heavy cow swing” (16). Douglass included this event in is narrative because to paint the picture for readers that men had complete control of their slaves and women at home. Whatever the man thought was best to handle certain situations from slaves disobeying orders or thinking women had no rights of their own, the men during the 1800’s would use abuse to assert their dominance and authority.
These acts of abuse were a large part of slavery during its existence. The types of abuse were present in order to keep the slave population as slaves, and not a group of people who think for themselves.
The topic of slavery in the United States has always been controversial, as many people living in the South were supportive of it and many people living in the North were against it. Even though it was abolished by the Civil War before the start of the 20th century, there are still different views on the subject today. Written in 1853, the book Twelve Years a Slave is a first person account of what it was like for Solomon Northup to be taken captive from his free life in the North and sold to a plantation as a slave in the South, and his struggle to regain his freedom. Through writing about themes of namelessness, inhumanity, suffering, distrust, defiance, and the desire for freedom, Northup was able to expose the experiences and realities of slavery.
In order to justify keeping an entire race of people enslaved, slaveholders claimed that blacks were inferior to whites, placing them on the same level as livestock and other animals. “There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being, and were all subjected to the same narrow examination” (73). The fact is, whites are not naturally superior over blacks. Therefore, slaveholders used a variety of contrived strategies to make their case that blacks were inherently inferior to whites. To...
Discrimination is the physical unjust treatment towards different people. In the film, 12 Years a Slave, discrimination is extremely prominent. For instance, in the thirtieth minute, coloured people are introduced by their clothes, family and identity being stripped away from them. For instance, Soloman, (a main slave in the film) is introduced by the stripping of his clothes, kidnapped and separated from his family and given a different name. Additionally, Soloman is then referred to as, Patsey, however, when he doesn’t respond to his new name, he is severely beaten. Furthermore, Soloman and other slaves, are then stripped of their clothes and forced to stand naked and are treated as objects as they stand for sale, in front of customers. Therefore,
The first definition that comes to mind when we hear this term, is the act of being a slave or a person who does not own their own labor. While, yes, this is a definition of slavery; it’s only one of many. For example, our textbook defines slavery as the most extreme form of forced labor (Ember). Another definition would include: the state of one bound in servitude as the property of slaveholder or household (“Definition”). All of these definitions are correct. Slavery is the act of holding/owning another person against their will; a state where one individual has complete control over another’s life, liberty, and fortune. Slavery not only occurred inside the United States, but throughout the entire world.
Slave women were also subjected to sexual abuse by their masters. The masters demanded sexual relations from the slave women they found desirable. They did this without any consideration of their own personal marital status and that of the slave. There was tension between slave husbands of abused women and their masters often resulting in fights between the two. Slave women were also subjected to jealousy and rage from mistresses whose husbands’ engaged in these illicit affairs. In conclusion, the slave could not expect to enjoy a fulfilling relationship with the master. The very essence of slavery was cruel and demeaning, making it difficult for any meaningful and mutually satisfying relationship to exist.
Slavery has been a part of human practices for centuries and dates back to the world’s ancient civilizations. In order for us to recognize modern day slavery we must take a look and understand slavery in the American south before the 1860’s, also known as antebellum slavery. Bouvier’s Law Dictionary defines a slave as, “a man who is by law deprived of his liberty for life, and becomes the property of another” (B.J.R, pg. 479). In the period of antebellum slavery, African Americans were enslaved on small farms, large plantations, in cities and towns, homes, out on fields, industries and transportation. By law, slaves were the perso...
12 Years a Slave is a very iconic movie about Solomon Northrup and his being kidnapped into slavery. Northrup was a free man, a professional violinist, and a farmer. After being drugged, he was shipped away from his family and forced to work in New Orleans. During his slavery, he was forced to pick cotton and endure many hardships for 12 years. Eventually, he was freed and returned to his family. The people who captured and enslaved him served no punishment for their crimes since blacks were not allowed to sue white people at that time. Solomon was stripped of all his rights not only as a human, but also as an American and was illegally put into slavery for 12 years.