“Relatively few people called for its immediate abolition, but many, including some slave owners, expressed real concern over its morality as its utility.” (Kolchin 65) The people questioning slavery inquired about the morality of using slaves for their labor purposes. They, like many, based a lot of their arguments off
Much of the plantation and slave owner’s power came from the slave’s dependence on the owner for survival. Education was seen as a way to establish an independence; thus weakening the slave owner’s control. Several laws were passed in the Deep South, which forbid slaves to learn to read and write as well as making it illegal for any persons, white or black, to educate slaves. In 1740,
The reaction of free blacks to slave codes largely depended on where they lived. According to the Library of Congress, many free blacks in the South could do little in the way of opposing the slave codes because they were barred from traveling or assembling peacefully. In Northern cities, free blacks opposed the slave codes through voting, writings and buying slaves who were friends or family members. Question 3: What did abolitionists do in response to the slave codes? Well, the abolitionists started Antislavery organizations and societies.
Some people defended the slave trade. Savery de Bruslons echoed Mellier’s defense of the slave trade when he published his Dictionnaire Universel de Commerce. He wrote that the slaves were giving up their freedom in exchange for their lives in a path to salvation. He believed they owed their lives to the slave traders, and that by capturing the slaves they can be taken to a place where they can be baptized and instructed in the Catholic religion. In addition, the slave traders believed the overpopulated make-belief region of Africa called Nigritie would only be salvaged by taking some of the inhabitants and diminishing the
Slavery was common practice at the time of the writer’s captivity; however, Equiano was a spirited voice against such savagery. Later in life, he was given an official post to resettle poor blacks in Sierra Leone, Africa; but, he made accusations of misdeeds against some officials and thereby lost his post in trying to do his work honestly. Also, Equiano found fault in the inequality under Christian religion. Further, he recalled the golden rule of Christian conduct, “do unto all men as you would men should do unto you” (Equiano 769) which seemed sorely lacking in the slave trade. These matters of contention went against his enduring African values and prevented him from being fully assimilated by Western society.
One story that goes in depth about these things is about a slave who worked his way up towards a house-slave. These slaves got to stay in the house, and more often than not, these slaves would be REALLY hated by the other slaves. Anyway, this slave, even though a house slave didn't just betray his fellow slaves to the master. This slave self-taught himself to read so that whenever the master and another helper were talking, he could understand them. You see, whenever the master and someone else were speaking, and they didn't want the house slave to know, they would spell out whatever they're trying to say.
SLAVERY The historical diaries on slaves and how they were treated are not right. You can learn so many things from these diaries not just about slaves but the headmasters and abolitionists and what they went through with the slaves. You also learn that masters were abusing slaves and slaves did whatever their masters told them to do and the abolitionists where there to help them as much as they could such as freedom. Most slaves were probably more passive than active because they did not want to die all they wanted was freedom so why would they do something that has more consequences than from just slowing down on their work and getting whipped. The slave girl was really suffering in her story about what happened to her.
By 1855 Douglass had his own newspaper, The North Star and wrote his second biography, My Bondage and My Freedom. Douglass spent the rest of his life working a as a political leader to end slavery. Douglass was an individualist because he first tried to perfect himself then wanted to help others. Douglass educated himself because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to function in society if he didn’t know how to read and write. He had to maintain independence because he was a slave and knew that he could be moved around to the ownership of another slave master.
Slave owners purposely tried to keep their slaves from learning these skills. Keeping slaves “ignorant”, so to speak, was a key part of the institution of slavery. A slave who could not read or write was without the “knowledge” of the wrong doings of the white salve owners (Goehring, 2012). Learning to read and eventually write was the most important thing for Douglass. This would open doors to his “Path to Freedom”.
Texas was considered a “slave state” at this time and was very dependent on the slave population to help maintain and cultivate the highly populated cotton fields and bustling plantations. The consideration of emancipating slaves and allowing their freedom was not something many Texans were in favor of and fought diligently against the concept. The Gettysburg Address is a manuscript requesting reform for a nation, for our nation. Its words strive for equality amongst its people, a union of all states to join together and be united towards one cause, a United States of America. Lincoln strategically uses words such as freedom, equality and liberty to establish his dedication to what he believes is the main focus of his fight towards a free nation, under God.