(Douglass, 129) The slave system had mistreated the slaves in variety of ways. But the slave system affected everyone, including people who were and were not involved in it. Although slaves were victimized harshly by slavery, slaveholders and non-slaveholders were also affected by the system. The main way slaves were victimized was being stripped of their identities. They did not know when they were born, how old they were, and did not have any knowledge of their parents or family.
In past history, enslavement of another was usually the result of an unpaid debt, the spoils of a victorious war, or the consequences of a crime. Enslavement of another human life without reason, however, is a critical sign of the downfall of humanity. In American history, slavery warped from being temporary servitude of any immigrant or unemployed citizen in the hopes of helping them in the end into lifetime enslavement of Africans with no pay and very little hope of escaping the harsh conditions employed by enslavement. Not only did enslavement of the Africans occur, but the harsh racism that formed towards them only worsened their conditions, with the white society’s hate being expressed negatively towards the slaves. Since the time of slavery, many scholars and historians have studied the American enslavement of the Africans to further understand the cause.
Slavery, which was a major uproar from colonial America to the civil war, is the racial epidemic of the enslavement of people for money and cheap labor with extensive abuses. The question that could be asked is were the slaves dignified, did they still keep their dignity? The word dignity is the conducting of self-respect as a person sees himself or herself rather than, how others perceive that person. Slavery has been around for years and slaves have been treated unfairly for countless of reasons and situations. Did they still keep their self-respect?
Throughout the Narrative, Douglass shows how the use of ignorance was employed against the slaves. Using this theme, we will focus on how they kept the slaves from learning, and how Douglass felt after trying to learn. To start, at the time Douglass was writing, many people believed that slavery was a natural state of being. They believed that blacks were inferior to whites and they should be kept as workers. From birth, slave owners started the tactic of keeping slaves oblivious to the world around them by keeping basic facts like their birth date or paternity away from them.
Slave codes were soon approved – in Massachusetts in 1641 and Virginia in 1661 –and any minor liberties that might have existed for African American were taken away (Feature Indentured Servants In The U.S , n.p.). The early colonizers soon understood that they had lots of land to settle, but no one to actually do the work. This necessity for cheap labor created indentured servitude. Indentured servants were important to the colonial growth. But as demands for labor grew, so did the cost of paying indentured servants.
One of those things was slave codes. Which gave more power to the slave owners and even less power to the slaves on page 434, it says "in existence since the 1700's slave codes were written to prevent the event white southerners dreaded most-became more severe. This shows that the slaves had absolutely no access to freedom to the slave codes another way that the slaves resisted was that they faked an illness, so they can get revenge to their masters on page 437 it gives a specific explanation on how they faked their illness. It says "For the most part enslaved people resisted slavery by working slowly or pretending to be ill. Occasionally resistance took more active forms, such as setting fire to a plantation building or breaking tools.
The Atlantic Slave Trade Question: How does the absence of humanitarian concerns influence the treatment of slaves during the slave trade? Neglecting humane feelings is what influenced the terrible and horrid treatment to slaves during the slave trade. From beatings and whippings to breaking their bones, slaves were treated and considered inferior for no reason. After reading the documents, certain ones pointed out the outcomes of the absence of humanity. Document 7 reveals how these punishments were horrid and fear causing.
Précis Kolchin, Peter, American Slavery 1619-1877. New York, 1993. Chapter 5, Sections VI-VII, p. 155 – 166 The Southern States of America were manipulated by politics to be an oppression for enslaved black's. In the Early 1700's, slaves who attempted rebellion often had their efforts suppressed, with little or no threat to the whites. These threats were often met with little force and extinguished.
In Africa, as in other places around the world, the vast majority of slaves were war captives, criminals and individuals banished from their clans. Slavery in Africa followed lines similar to those in other places in the fact that once a person was bonded into slavery he had no personal rights. He had no say in the type of work he was ordered to do and had no right to personal belongings. He could be punished at anytime for any reason, or for no reason. They could be bought or sold as property in the same way one would sell beasts of burden.
INTRODUCTION “But liberty is the natural, universal right of all people; and both enslaved men and women claimed that natural right” Slavery was a harsh reality for those captured and placed on plantations in the early 18th century. The slave master had total control over the slaves’ and culture denied the slaves of basic human rights. The enslaved however, were never completely submissive. From the time of their capture in West Africa, they fiercely resisted their enslavement. The Africans had a spirit of rebellion and never stopped fighting for their deserved liberty and equality.