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Pro Slavery vs. Abolition
The United States will forever have a bad rep for what happened to those who were once enslaved in this country. The two sides of this controversy, being Pro Slavery and the Abolitionists, set one of the main splits in this country that was supposedly a place for anyone to have “freedom”. What started this affair was the overall reality that African Americans were represented as unusually different, there were many reasons for the white man to justify slavery, and what became the practice of being racial prejudice. The ideas behind what the Pro Slavery activists believed versus the Abolitionists, each to their own, have an attitude towards what they thought was right and wrong for the well being of their country, but
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People believed that the black man was unintellectual and was incapable of thought just because the lack of communication there was between a slave and a slave-owner. George Fitzhugh advocates slavery in his “Universal Law of Slavery” trying to sway the govern that African Americans were more freed were slaves for the white man, rather than being back in Africa where some of their practiced rituals seemed more cruel than what any man could do to a slave like “idolatry and cannibalism” (Fitzhugh). Even though the activists against slavery knew that was …show more content…
He stood up to abolish slavery by telling the president and others the story of how America earned her freedom. He mentions how the Americans were, “ treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. Yet they persevered. They were not the men to look back”(Douglass). The Americans wanted change just like the African Americans wanted fairness as well. Without this rebellion, the slaves could not get to be emancipated and stop being treated like animals. Civil societies for the white man versus the black man were opposites, which was surprising since the religious values of the common white man was Christianity. They did not follow the law of the Lord; do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Being a slave meant doing whatever, whenever the master said so or else “whipping the devil out of them” (Cartwright) was put into effect. From a proponent’s perspective, if the slave owner “treated [them] kindly, well fed and clothed, with little fuel”(Cartwright) then they were good slave owners and they would not try to run away. Overall, this notion developed into now what we call being racial prejudice.
Setting someone apart for the color of his or her skin is bigotry. The slave owners did not take an attempt to consider the damage they were doing to the African Americans of this time, with the physical,
David Walker describes the fact that slaves are humans just as much as their White American masters are. He states the pressing matter is that “You [colored people] have to prove to the Americans and the world, that we are MEN and not brutes, as we have been represented and by millions treated.” (Page 33) He asks the question “How can those enemies but say that we and our children are not of the HUMAN FAMILY, but were made by our Creator to be an inheritance?” Although nowadays many people agree that black people have the same anatomy as whites do, but back then many people did not view blacks as equals to themselves.
The institution of slavery affected both blacks as well as whites. The white and black children could not understand why they could not be friends with each other. Douglass spoke well of the white boys that he became acquainted with because they were not as knowledgeable as the adults so he was able to create a relationship with them. No one is born prejudiced. A person must be taught those ways, so Do...
During Douglass lifetime one of his most important significances is about the 13th amendment, which still is very relevant in today’s society. The 13th amendment made it illegal to own slaves, and it was taken in to effect in 1865. (Fletcher, George P. pg. 52) The 13th amendment wasn’t an easy amendment to get through since slavery was such a big part of the society, especially in the south where many people owned multiple slaves. However, due to the fact that Douglass was a high ranked politician, and had great oral skills he was able to influence both the people in the society, congress, and House of Representatives. Though, it wasn’t only because he was a high ranked politician he was able to influence people and make them understand how horrific the slavery actually was. Twenty years before the 13th amendment was passed in congress, Douglass released an autobiography book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” In his autobiography book he explained about how it was to be a slave, what he had to do and how terrible it was. Additionally, he also explained about his escape from slavery and how he got in to politics, and different Anti-Slavery organizations. It’s very important to have Frederick Douglass in mind when talking about the 13th amendment because without him the 13th amendment most likely wouldn’t have passed
Slave owners believed black people were inferior to whites. They emphasized the fact that black people were incapable of innovation and dexterity and all they could do is plant. Some slaves didn 't remain silent and tried to fight back. One of these fighters was Fredrick Douglass. He was born in Talbot
By this time, the mindset of people who owned slaves, thought of ex-slaves as if they were still objects and property to be owned. The inequality and treatment of ex-slaves were ridiculous. Even some objects were more valuable than the life of an ex-slave, or any colored person. Leary, Hammond, and Davis stated in the “Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome” article, “Being reminded that our ancestors were treated as property and only as humans when it was profitable to their owners stirred our emotions… The author details how blacks were counted as 3/5 of a person… American slaves had no legal rights as property, but interestingly enough, slaves outside of the United States did have rights and could even buy themselves out of slavery under certain conditions” (Leary, Hammond, and Davis, “Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome”). This played a major role into Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome making a lasting effect throughout generations and generations to come. There were people who believed in the great plan of equality and fairness, but those people were very few. Even when President Lincoln passed the emancipation proclamation, people still did not want slaves to be free or even wanted to acknowledge them as people. This started to cause the Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome because there was no closure on the situation and the pain that came out of it. To this day,
In his speech he tries to make white people consider the behavior of black people. Specially their feelings towards a national occasion such as Independence Day. At the time of Douglass’s speech America were actually two different nations, white and black. Two separated nations one had great benefits
Pro-slavery and anti-slavery were groups of advocates who both had a different perspective about slavery. The group of people that believed in slavery were mainly from the South and they were usually businessmen, traders, farmers, and slave traders. They argued that slavery was right; slavery caused a growth in the nation’s economy, it was accepted in the bible, and the slaves were better taken care of in the hands of a master. On the other hand, the Northerners thought otherwise. On their behalf, they argued that the slaves were treated poorly by their masters, it was a sin to be involved in slavery, and the Africans were unhappy because they were forced to move from their homeland. The pro-slavery authors of the articles gave support to their
Slaves were subject to harsh working conditions, malicious owners, and illegal matters including rape and murder. In many instances, slaves were born into slavery, raised their families in slavery, and died within the captivity of that same slavery. These individuals were not allowed to learn how to read, write, and therefore think for themselves. This is where the true irony begins to come into light. While we have been told our entire lives that education and knowledge is the greatest power available to everyone under the sun, there was a point in time where this concept was used to keep certain people under others. By not allowing the slaves to learn how to read, then they were inevitably not allowing the slaves to form free thoughts. One of my favorite quotes is that of Haruki Murakami, “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, then you can only think what everyone else is thing.” This applied in magnitudes to those who didn’t get to read at all. Not only were these individuals subject to the inability to think outside the box, but for most of these their boxes were based upon the information the slaves owners allowed them to
He also inspired them to escape from the bondage of slavery. The text, ‘The Abolitionists : Frederick Douglass,’ quotes, “Douglass, would come into conflict with women’s rights groups...which allowed black men to vote..”. Douglass wanted change for women. He worked hard to for colored men, mostly slaves to be able to vote. It took years upon years before black free or not were able to vote.
Slavery is the idea and practice that one person is inferior to another. What made the institution of slavery in America significantly different from previous institutions was that “slavery developed as an institution based upon race.” Slavery based upon race is what made slavery an issue within the United States, in fact, it was a race issue. In addition, “to know whether certain men possessed natural rights one had only to inquire whether they were human beings.” Slaves were not even viewed as human beings; instead, they were dehumanized and were viewed as property or animals. During this era of slavery in the New World, many African slaves would prefer to die than live a life of forced servitude to the white man. Moreover, the problem of slavery was that an African born in the United States never knew what freedom was. According to Winthrop D. Jordan, “the concept of Negro slavery there was neither borrowed from foreigners, nor extracted from books, nor invented out of whole cloth, nor extrapolated from servitude, nor generated by English reaction to Negroes as such, nor necessitated by the exigencies of the New World. Not any one of these made the Negro a slave, but all.” American colonists fought a long and bloody war for independence that both white men and black men fought together, but it only seemed to serve the white man’s independence to continue their complete dominance over the African slave. The white man must carry a heavy
Frederick Douglass tells about his first six months as a slave in this story, so being a slave influenced him to write this story because he wants to tell others how wrong slavery is. If he had not been a slave, he would not have had this topic to write about and been able to make it so personal. There were many social constraints and a lot of political unrest in the United States at this time because of the slavery and the way colored people were treated. They had a lack of opportunity because most white people thought that colored people were not equal like
1.) Fredrick Douglass’s purpose in this speech was to explain the wrongfulness of slavery in America. Fredrick Douglass states in his speech “Are the great principles of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” and “The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me.” These prove that the freedom and independence Americans have aren’t shared with the Africans when it should be that Africans have those rights as well. Frederick Douglass then talked about how badly whites treat blacks and how wrong it is. “There are 72 crimes in Virginia which, if committed by a black man, subject him to a punishment of death, while
Slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation of the United States. Alexis de Tocqueville stated,"Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.... The subjection of individuals will increase amongst democratic nations, not only in the same proportion as their equality, but in the same proportion as their ignorance." The slaves where taken off the ships separated into groups of male and females and children. Mothers and children cried because the white man would separate them and sell them to different owners. Fredrick Douglas stated,"I have often sung to drown my sorrow, but seldom to express my happiness. Crying for joy, and singing for joy, were alike uncommon to me while in the jaws of slavery. The singing of a man cast away upon a desolate island might be as appropriately considered as evidence of contentment and happiness, as the singing of a slave; the songs of the one and of the other are prompted by the same emotion." This moment was a very tragic moment for many Africans. They would never see there mothers, brothers, sisters, or fathers ever again. There new lives on plantations would soon begin. He'll for the rest of there
In the Autobiography, “Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglas: An American Slave,” Fredrick Douglas writes to show what the life of a slave is like, because from personal experience, he knows. Fredrick Douglas not only shows how his life has been as a slave but shows what it is like to be on the bottom and be mistreated. Douglas shows that freedom isn’t free, and he took the initiative to become a free man. Not many African-Americans had the opportunity to make themselves free and were forced to live a life of disparity and torture. Through his experience Douglas shows us the psychological effects of slavery. Through Douglas’s memory we are able to relive the moments that continued to haunt his life. Douglas’s book showed the true
In fact, there were some Northerners who wanted slavery to stay in the south and not spread west because they wanted to keep the west pure of blacks and now have to worry about them. Samuel A. Cartwright talks about all the differences between whites and blacks anatomy he talks about how we are different and that blacks are not natural and so don't have the same rights. "Our Declaration of Independence, which was drawn up at a time when Negroes were scarcely considered as human beings, "that all men are by nature and equal," and only intended to white men, is often quoted in support of false dogma that all mankind the same mental, physiological and anatomical organization…" This argument is hard because it is based on racism and so all of the scientific findings are wrong and hard to hold any ground. "Ironically, the opponents of slavery had few scientific arguments of their own, and thus in convincing outsides, the scientific arguments may have been the strongest in the South's intellectual arsenal. But many of the most prominent Southerners refused to use these arguments because they were in conflict with Scripture." (p.