The fear of slave rebellion distracted both the Southern slaveholder and the Northern invader. The Confederate government never used them as soldiers, but it did make them go into labor brigades to build fortifications, dig latrines, and haul supplies. As the war went on, Southern manpower shortages became more of a problem. Slaves quickly took advantage of the situation, slowing down their pace of labor and not following orders, The South imposed a Cotton embargo and many Southerners believed they could persuade European intervention in the war by refusing to grow or give
This led to their being numerous different beliefs and cultures (languages) which resulted in a lot of disagreement between slaves. It lowered likeliness for them all to organize a mass revolt together as, they couldn’t communicate effectively with each other. Ultimately, this division in religion and culture shows that violence was not always needed. The slave groups were weaker and smaller and therefore they were less of a threat to their master as they could be dealt with
Primary Source Analysis: Biography of a Runaway Slave One of the most significant complications experienced when attempting to ascertain a historically accurate visual of an illiterate societal class is the scarcity of primary sources originating from within the aforementioned class, as is demonstrated in the cultural history of the Caribbean and its newfound inhabitants resulting from the African diaspora. Despite the interest in the tremulous proceedings of socioeconomic reform in the Caribbean from the late 18th to late 19th centuries maintained by many, an in-depth study of life under enslavement is always subject to bias, even blatant inaccuracy, when personally invested primary sources are used. This is perfectly understandable, due to anyone having experienced enslavement and therefore existing as a credible primary source inherently being an inevitably biased storyteller. Miguel Barnet’s Biography of a Runaway Slave is no different. Through an arduous, repetitive system of Q&A and interviews, an anthropologist/writer interested in Afro-Cuban religions interviewed a 103 year old illiterate former slave, known as Esteban Montejo, in 1963 in Cuba.
They were always hungry because of the little amount of food and the large amount of slaves. Disease spread throughout the ship causing many slaves to die. They would also die of hunger and getting beaten so much by the white crew onboard. Equiano had to survive in these conditions for long periods of time. Equiano was from Africa in a peaceful village were the British kidnapped him into the slave trade.
Assess the view that divided leadership was the most important factor in preventing the advancement of African-American civil rights between 1865-1914 After the end of the civil war, there was much optimism amongst African-Americans that they would finally have civil rights after decades of slavery in the South. However, there were many problems facing the advancement of civil rights for blacks. Firstly, people in the south were still very hostile towards them as they still saw them as slaves. Also, segregation was a key issue because it highlighted the fact that there was no equality between blacks and whites. The failure of a common goal between African-American leaders did not help solve these issues, but it was not the main problem facing blacks and was not the most important factor preventing advancement of civil rights.
It had gotten so bad to the point when the saltwater slaves had defining characteristics, which widen the gap between slaves born in New World versus the slave travelling to the New World. The slaves travelling to the New World had limited access and options in the new society. They were denied of the simplest human rights but also alienated from any kinship or community to the point where it was defined as “social annihilation” (Smallwood 60-61). Not only was there a disconnection among the two societies, but also psychological impact f the Middle Passage. The journey of cargo of slaves for transatlantic journey and cramming as many human beings into one small space brought about alienation.
If the African Americans didn’t obey or perform to the expectations of the slave owners they were viciously beaten. The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, an American Slave was a brief story on what it was like to be a slave. It explains the demanding labor to the vigorous beatings with little food or rest the slave were put through. It was like the slave owners thought of them as working machines. They made them get up at the crack of dawn and work till sundown.
But how could they feel safe, without feeling free? In Mencken’s seventy-six years of age he assumed that he finally figured out what the average human longs for in life. In his opinion, it wasn’t freedom that was desired, but safety. However, the society that is lived in today is not one where a person could feel safe in an environment that they are not free in. During times of slavery, slaves did not sing songs to assist them in getting through the day or dream of a tomorrow where they would no longer be in captivity for the desire of safety.
Slaves they said weren’t a real citizen, they have no rights or freedom, they said they weren’t equals to them. So how could they say they treated them like they were family. One method of protest that a slave would use to survive was to just say “yes master” I will do that, but when the would do what they were told they would do it really slow. The slave owners couldn’t
Childhood for a slave child was especially challenging. Childhood was often filled with hard labor, long work hours, and frequent splitting of families. Many children got seriously injured or died from carrying heavy workloads, beatings, or from lack of water/food. Because life was so hard for slave they created kinship networks. They would all act as family to one another.