Slaves had it hard throughout their lifetime. In the book Chains it gives brief examples of what it was like to be a slave and what some had to go through. In the book it explained a slave's life in plantation, small farm, and the city. Slaves working in plantation were in the rural areas of the country. When the slaves had to work it was a lot harder because of the sun. Out here it was a lot easier to escape but it was harder to be able to survive on their own. The owners of the plantation were very brutal to the slaves, verbally and physically. One example from the book Chains, it states, “He grabbed my arm and pulled me roughly to my feet. “I told you to move,” Mr Robert snarled at me. “Apologies, sir,” I said wincing with pain”(6-7). This shows how harsh the owners were and the slaves couldn’t do anything about it. If they tried to do something back they would most …show more content…
The owners did not own any farms due to the lack of space they had. The owners of the slaves were usually rich businessmen, officials, or military figures. In the city life the slaves usually worked inside the house and they were still abused. In this area it was almost impossible to escape, you would have to trick someone or time it just right. The book claims, “I was lost. I knew that we were in the cellar of the house on Wall Street owned by Locktons, in the city of New York”(49). This quotes was said by Isabel and it shows how different and big the city is compared to the others. Especially the small farm. Working in the small farms was very hard. The owners mostly relied on smaller land to generate money. There weren't as many slave’s working in the small farms. The slave’s had to do the same amount of work as the slave’s in plantation, if not then more. In the book it asserts, “You are a slave, not a person”(41). This demonstrates how the owners looked at the slaves. They treated them very badly and acted as if they were any different then
Many colored individuals were forced into slavery and each and everyone of the slaves had a different experience with their master. The slaves were treated as if they were nothing, a piece of property that the white people owned. They were not allowed to learn how to read or write; only needed to know how to do their chores and understand what their master was saying. They were just an extra hand in the house that had no say or existed in the white people world. The slaves’ job was to obey their master or mistress at all times, do their chores and take the beating if given one.
When the slaves would go to bed they would sleep on straws or old rags which didn’t provide any warmth (4). The plantation owners provide the clothes for the slaves when they got to the plantation. Unfortunately, the clothes were really bad material and didn’t fit properly (4). Slaves were expected to work morning to night in the cotton fields. During harvest season, most of the slaves would work a 18 hour day (10).
Slaves in the deep South had is worse because at this time, more than ever, they were seen as solely liquid assets. They were not seen as people in the slightest, rather animals who were bringing them cash. Because of this, masters were cruel and harsh to their slaves, doing providing for their slaves what would help them to produce as much cotton as possible. As slavery went on, African-Americans began to become even more impatient and tiresome of their conditions. They wanted nothing more than to gain their freedom.
It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass. It was a most terrible spectacle.” Overseers submitted slaves to beatings and atrocities and were often inconsistent in their enforcement (Douglass 47-50,
As the whip lashed on yet another victim of slavery, a distinguished Christian man who attained a high standing in the church supported the scourging of the screaming slave by quoting verses from the Bible. Frederick Douglass spoke about his encounter with Christian slaveholders in antebellum America in his autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Douglass gave all of the following generations an idea of how the slaves lived under several types of masters. In this narrative, Frederick Douglass communicated the hypocrisy of Christian slaveholders; he found Christian men were harsh to the slaves through their power and with their rationalization of their sins. Frederick Douglass observed that Christian
How did Reconstruction change life for African Americans? Before Reconstruction, every African’s life was different. Some Africans worked on plantations, which meant they worked from sunrise to sunset, six days a week. They would even get food that wasn’t capable of being eaten. The plantation slaves lived in small shakes that had a dirt floor and little to no furniture.
Many of them were beaten and tortured. Because of the slave trading, their family members are sold to different owners. Most of them did not have enough to eat, warm clothes or a good place to live. Almost everyone scared to be sold to the south, because the way of treating to the slaves in south was so harder than other places. Based on these facts their mind automatically generated the word “escape or run away”.
In chapter four of Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen has many details that show how cruel slavery was. In the beginning of the chapter we learn about Alice who was whipped because of how she went to the master white house. After that Sarny remembers two men who wanted to run from the plantation. This includes Jim who was older and wanted freedom, he ran but was caught, when he was hanging from a tree he was mauled by the dogs and died hanging from the tree, The second person was Pawlee who had a girlfriend from another plantation and so he fell asleep and as he woke up and started walking toward the plantation and Waller found him and let the dogs hurt him and then he was whipped to death by Waller.
Slave live difficult life under the power of the elite Americans. One of the major issues Africans slaves had was that they were consider property and did
The treatment of slaves between the North and the South was drastically different. Slaves in the North typically lived in the same house as their master and worked by themselves, or in small groups (pg. 94). Slaves in the South tended to live in large plantations in which they were housed in plantation outbuildings (pg. 104). The difference between the North and the South in housing and working environment had a direct effect on the integration of African Americans into their new American society. When they were housed in the North with their masters and had limited exposure to other slaves, they tended to adopt the ways of their masters.
This demonstrates how their power had no limits on how far they could go on treating someone badly, especially their slaves. They both take advantage of their power to get what they want, and to make someone’s life
Who is Frederick Douglass? Frederick Douglass was a man who was raised during the institution of slavery and believed that everyone involved was victimized. Looking back in history, Frederick gave an inside to how and why this statement is true. Slaves were obviously abused physically and were brainwashed about their culture. Slave-owners or slaveholders were corrupted mentally which turned them into evil human beings.
In the story “Kindred” by Octavia Butler the slaves hardly fought back. The book showed that the slave owners as a whole weren't the entire problem, society was. No matter how much the slaves fought against it in their personal lives it was still widely accepted and enforced. The slaves had virtually no rights and were seen as sub human even when they were freed. Every part of society was against them and fighting back did much more harm than good.
In most history classes, it is taught to view just the lives of the slaves as victims, and not considering any other point of view. Douglass wrote, My Bondage and My Freedom, to get the point across that slaves were not the only victims. Slaves, slave owners and white working people were all victims of the system. Fedrick Douglass wrote about the things he saw growing up as a slave. He saw each point of view loud and clear.
Living conditions for slaves were dreadful, with long work hours and low wages. Slave masters separated families and sold off children from their parents, or vice versa. Slaves were prone to severe punishment for even trivial offenses. Whippings and beatings were prevalent. Running away allowed them to get away from all the hostility, if only for a while.