Was slavery as bad as we all believe?
Isn’t it possible that slaves weren’t as mistreated as we believe they were? All our lives we have been taught certain things about slavery. What if what we think of slavery is just part of it? Isn’t it possible that entertainment and society’s views have manipulated our impressions of slavery? In my experience I have learned that the true history of slavery goes far beyond the story of “ROOTS.”
In reading transcripts of interviews with actual former slaves, I learned that slavery, although horrible, wasn’t as bad as I had previously imagined. Many of the slaves led happy lives, had good families, and were well educated. Albeit many lived the exact opposite lives. The stories of the slaves were a revelation for me; it showed that not everything you are taught is the truth. You must find other views and decide for yourself what the reality is.
101-year-old Charity Anderson said “My old Marster was a good man, he treated all his slaves kind, and took care of dem, he wanted to leave dem hisn chillun.” She goes on to tell about how harshly other slaves were treated buy other people but how her “white folks” treated her and the “little cullered chillun”. So obviously not all slaves were whipped and beaten.
Health was an important factor for a slave, if you were ill you couldn’t work, but would you expect the masters of a large plantation to supply care to a sick slave? Tempe Herndon Durham says “If he was sick, Marse an’ Mistis looked after him, an’ if he needed store medicine, it was bought for him; he didn’ have to pay nothin’.” Imagine a slave owner personally taking care of a sick slave.
The Term Paper on Southern Slave Slavery Slaves Labor
Analyze the philosophical and economic reasons for the growth of slavery in the United States. Slavery has been of signal importance in American history. During the Antebellum Period, it undergirded the nation's economy, increasingly dominated its politics, and finally led to the Civil War between the north and south. After war, the legacy of slavery continued to shape much of American history, ...
“Most of the slave owners were good to their slaves,” says Clayton Holbert. While Ben Horry says “Dem time (fore freedom) most o’ people treated right by owner.” Then he continues by saying “Our master treat us right.”
It’s these statements among others that have led me to the conclusion that that the slaves were not as mistreated as I had been taught. Also that slavery, although a harsh and barbaric practice; it wasn’t as bad as I had thought.
