Lynsey Atkinson: 457-81-3059, Section 54 Jason Atkinson: 627-14-8861, Section 42 Josh Schenk: 463-87-7569, Section 34 African American Voices: The Life Cycle of Slavery, is an extremely detailed book about the trials and tribulations of many slaves. Slavery can be dated back as early as the fourteenth century. Slavery in ancient times was much like slavery in the New World. The biggest difference between old and new slavery, was that slavery in ancient times was not based on racial distinction. The Atlantic Slave Trade, trading between European slave traders and the Americas over the Atlantic Ocean, began taking place in 1502. Almost two million slaves died on this journey from Europe to the Americas. Disease and death came one with another on the seven-week journey. This book portrays many different stories about the lives of slaves and informs society about the many evils and injustices of slaves traders and slave owners.
The slaves were treated as if they were animals ready to be sent out to perform hard and enduring labor. “?.each of the others, which have passed as good, is marked on the breast , with a red-hot iron, imprinting the mark of the French, English, or Dutch companies”(Barbot,33).
Slaves were callously branded as if they were the cattle of someone else fixing to be sent off to work and then sent to the slaughter house when the slave owners were through with them.
However, the chances were not so high of a slave surviving the trip over to America. “Its cargo consisted of 505 African men and woman. Another 55 had been tossed overboard during the 17days at sea”(Mintz,47).
The Essay on Slavery In Latin America
Slavery in Latin America America was probably the first continent were slavery began its origins, and definitely was the last one to abolish this evil practice. The Latin American region was the first one to be populated in from the North and South American continent. The first slaves, who were brought to the America, were brought by the European settlers. Today, their descendants form significant ...
The journey was brutal and harsh on the slaves because of the many things that they had to do to endure. Crowding the ships to their full capacity, the slave holders packed the ship with as many slaves as the ship could hold without, basically, sinking. Many slaves sat with one on top of the other and covered every inch of the ship as possible. This closeness resulted in many of the slaves and crew members getting sick from diseases such as ameobic dysentery, small pox, and the measles. Some slaves felt that they would rather die than to go through the pain and suffering that they faced and would continue to face for the rest of their lives. Feeling desperate and afraid, some of the slaves committed suicide. Slaves were forced to work vigorously, fearing the whip or whatever the horrible punishment may be, for nothing in return but what is necessary to keep them barely alive. Slaves would have to wake before sunrise, get a fifteen-minute break for lunch, and work again till the sun went down and darkness filled the sky. “They do not stop??.until the order to halt is given by the driver”(Northrup,71).
Outside of the cotton fields, many of the slaves had other chores and responsibilities that they had to take care of as well.
During the slave days, many families were split up and sent all over the country. It was not uncommon to have a child on a plantation that did not know where mother or father was, or who their mother and father was. Slave owners did this in order to provide the owners with a sense of power that the parents of children could not overcome. “When I found that father and mother could not save me from punishment, as they themselves had to submit to the same treatment”(Stroyer,89).
In the next chapter entitled “Nobody Knows de Trouble I See” it involves stories about the slave’s families. Slaves were often married and separated when they are sold to different owners. “Southern law did not recognize or protect slave marriages or slave family ties” (Mintz, 111).
The Essay on Everyday Use Dee Family Mother
Often times after a person reads a piece of literature, he or she will form opinions about the motivations of the characters, the effects of the setting, the overall theme or underlying message being conveyed, and the other elements that helped to shape the whole story. After contemplating about their particular beliefs about a work, individuals will find their ideas to be different from others ...
Slave families had a great closeness. Even the slaves on a plantation treated each other as family. There is a bond between the slaves that cannot be experienced in any other situation. “Nothing aroused the slave community than the sexual abuse of slave women” (Mintz, 114).
In one story by Josiah Henson called ” The Overseer?Sent my Mother Away?To a Retired Place” a boy recalls his father coming to the rescue of his mother who was being assaulted by the overseer. The penalty of striking a white man was “one hundred lashes on the bare back, and to have the right ear nailed to the whipping-post, and then severed from the body” (Henson, 115).
This man was eventually sold to a slave owner in Alabama.
Many slaves brought the religious cultures from Africa. He compares his religion, Ibo, to Judaism and Christianity. “They have many offerings . . . ” just like Christianity (Equiano, 122).
Equiano also states that “though we had no place of public worship, we had priests and magicians, or wise men” (122).
In one instance, Peter Randolph illustrates that with all of their problems the slaves would forget them and remember that one day they would be in Heaven with their peers and family. They would say, “Thank God, I shall not live here always!” (Randolph, 126).
They would walk away singing in praise and blessing one another. Many slaves, who could read, also desired to read the Bible on their free time. Punishment was a very predominant thing among the slaves and their owners. Owners would use the whip to instill fear into slaves, or to simply show that they can control them at any time. “Though slave owners tried to disguise it, most relied on physical punishment to force slaves to toil for long hours and meager rewards” (Mintz, 131).
Even on the kindest plantations, slaves were punished, “. . .slave management was based on fear” (Mintz, 131).
Frederick Douglass, a former slave and established writer, stated that “a mere look, word, or motion, -a mistake, accident, or want of power, -are all matters for which a slave may be whipped at any time” (133).
The Essay on Slaves In Their Own Homes
Sirens blared, voices screamed and shouted, wood cracked and windows shattered, children bawled, dogs barked and footsteps pounded(7). This scene is from the autobiography Kaffir Boy written by Mark Mathabane. That is one of the scenes he had to live through every morning in apartheid South Africa. Apartheid is a policy of segregation and economic discrimination against non-whites. Apartheid ...
In one instance, Josh Brown describes how his master tried to prevent him from running. This was a common punishment among slave owners. The master affixed bells and horns on his head to ensure that he would be heard in the act of running away. Another similar type of punishment was to tie the slave down so he could not run. Different instruments of torture were used to punish the slaves. One very odd instrument described was that of a machine used for the packing and pressing of cotton. Iron bars were clasped to his feet weighing twenty pounds each, and he was stretched in this machine. “At this time he hung me up for a quarter of an hour . . . . I stayed with him for several months, and did my work very well. . . .” (Roper, 137).
After this, he escaped again, and was caught. ” . . . The first thing he did was to pour some tar upon my head, then rubbed it all over my face, . . . and set it on fire” (Roper, 137).
He then was punished again for running away, and his master cut off his fingernails and had his toes crushed. The next chapter is entitled “Resistance”. It deals with the insurrections against slavery held by the slaves. Many riots were formed where slaves would revolt against their masters and whites in general. In Frederick Douglass’ essay, “Cowardice Departed, Bold Defiance Took its Place” he describes a very memorable time in his life. Douglass became severely exhausted and sick. He illustrates that “he [overseer] then gave me a savage kick in the side, and told me to get up” (142).
Repeatedly afterwards the overseer beat him. The next few days Douglass managed to hide from him with the aid of another slave, but the overseer eventually caught up with him. There was a fierce battle between the two of them, and curiously, but Douglass came out on top. There after, Douglass was not beaten again. He stated that “you have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man” (141).
Another revolt that took place was that of Nat Turner’s. He stated to a lawyer that he ” . . . had a vision – and [he] saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle . . . .” (147).
The Report on The Narrative of the Life of an American Slave by Frederick Douglass
The Narrative of the Life of An American Slave by Frederick Douglass is about a man born into slavery and is forced to work his whole life. He suffers multiple beatings, being separated from his mother, and treated like a worthless swine from his masters. Frederick Douglass lived an extremely rough life. Almost every African American was being treated this way, some were used for different jobs ...
He led what should be called a killing spree on many slave owners. He went to the houses, killing all. He killed anywhere from fifty to sixty people, and then took cover in the woods. Eventually he was captured and sent to jail.
“The number of slaves who escaped from slavery is unknown; it appears that the number was about a thousand a year” (Mintz, 151).
Margaret Ward, a slave of Maryland, was a young and strong girl. “She therefore told him [the overseer] that she would not be whipped, she would rather die . . . .” (Ward 153).
She noticed after a while that her baby was being malnutritioned, so she took it and tried to escape. She succeeded in her attempt with the aid of an old farm Mastiff named Watch. She was befriended by people in the North, and became an accomplished nurse.
Frederick Douglass describes his “flight” as “a new world burst upon my agitated vision” (156).
He escaped by means of the trains and ferries with the free papers of another. He had the aid of friends and he made it successfully to the North. “My discontent grew upon me, and I was on the lookout for means of escape” (Douglass, 157).
He went to New York and wrote his master to tell of the means of which he escaped.
Harriet Tubman is one of the most famous escapees from Maryland to ever prevail in this attempt. She earned the name of Moses the Deliverer. During her slave experiences, she was lent out to other slave owners often. She said that she “. . .prayed to God to make [her] strong and able to fight and that’s what [she’s] allers prayed for ever since. . . .” (Tubman, 159).
Because of her injuries it was hard for her to be sold and therefore, she escaped in fear that she would be taken away. When she escaped she resided in Philadelphia. She soon returned for her husband. He had been unfaithful, and therefore, she left him alone. She acquired the name Moses because she was known as a messenger to other slaves. She returned during the night to help them to free states. This cost her time and money, but she felt much gratitude for this. She felt God’s presence with her all of the way.
The Essay on Down: Personal Life and Time
In college it is easy to stray away from the main purpose, which is having a higher education. College years are supposed to include fun but not too much fun. There are many ideals to consider when trying achieving success in school. They way students manage their time and consume energy has an effect on the outcome of their success. Relaxation also plays a significant role in the turn out of ...
As the slaves gradually reached freedom, new ways to escape were used. Henry “box” Brown got his nickname by escaping in a box. “Satisfied that it would be far better to peril his life for freedom in this way than to remain under the galling yoke of Slavery, he entered his box” (Brown, 162).
He had a small supply of food and water, and he managed to breathe. When he arrived in Delaware, he popped out to others’ surprise. He stated that “I awaited patiently for the Lord, and He heard my prayer” (163).
Emancipation and the Civil War had finally come. Although “the slave population did not respond to the Civil War with a single voice” (Mintz, 167) it completely affected their lives henceforth. Emancipation was like a new life to many slaves. Some went North in seek of jobs, and others started new lives with their families.
Even after the Civil war slaves were not recognized with rights. “Wherever I go – the street, the shop, the horse, or the steamboat – I hear people talk in such a way as to indicate that they are yet unable to conceive of the Negro as possessing any rights at all” (Thomas, 174).
This time was celebrated with joy by slaves all over, free now. But on the other hand, they still did not feel truly free in the eyes of whites. Although slavery was abolished, some blacks continued to work on plantations, but this time for money. “We have laid the heavy hand of the constitution upon the matchless meanness of caste, as well as upon the hell-black crime of slavery . . . .” (Douglass, 179).
The ones who were once slaves were now free, and this was a major turn of the times. As can be seen, African American Voices: The Life Cycle of Slavery, was a great portrait of the life and hardships of slaves owners and their slaves. It showed to the smallest detail what a real slave in the New World went thrue. It is good to see that in the present day that society lives in, that there is no need for slavery. Slavery is something that no one should ever have to experience. Even though slavery tore America apart, at the same time it has brought most of society today closer together, black and white.
