Women worked similar jobs as the males within the plantations. Males were not the breadwinners of the families; therefore, the females and males both together had to provide food and shelter for their families. Gender roles were somewhat disregarded until the pregnancy of the woman came into the picture. “Gender norms in the quarters, therefore, tended to recognize black men and women as equal partners with similar abilities”. White plantation owners placed this equality amongst females and males because it allowed for a faster and greater production rate on the plantation.
When Frederick Douglass addressed the audience with his speech, it was very emotional and straight from his heart. As we all know, he was a freed slave and mainly considered his “slavery” as not being able to read and write, until his white master’s wife taught him to do so. With Douglass becoming a freed man and moved up North to pursue the life he dreamed to live, all he wanted was for the rest of the African American slave population to be free as well. Douglass believed that everybody had the right to succeed in society; he never understood how our country was founded on freedom but not everybody was free. Throughout Frederick’s speech, he repeatedly would ask the crowd uncomfortable questions and somewhat “guilt-trap” the people, example being “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.
The slaves thought night and day about ways that they could achieve just one thing: freedom. Angela Davis speaks about how women in the slave times didn’t have it as easy as people may have thought. Sure, the slave owners worked the black men the hardest but it was no walk around the block for the women. Most people think that the female black slaves had it easy because they were
WHY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH IMPORTANT When it comes to history the first thing you hear your classmates say, is”Not history again.” But what they don’t know and understand is that in order to became a better person you must not make the mistakes of the past generations, but learn from their mistakes and also do thing that have helped other people in the past to became better people. One such example is the slavery of Black African people that were brought in Africa and sold in America, were they worked on big cotton plantations under marginal living conditions. Although they were treated badly, underpaid and exploited they still stayed positive that they would one day return to Africa, the Lord of their ancestors. That day never come, instead the slaves mostly became Christians and started to live like their owners and today most African-American people you see are descendants of slaves.
Sure, they made the best out of a bad situation and lived in the lifestyle that was set for them but that doesn’t mean they enjoyed their work experiences. The system benefited some there is no doubt but in the context of just slaves there is no way. They were exploited for their labor, beaten, worked in tough conditions and were separated from their loved ones. One just needs to ask himself if he would see that lifestyle as fitting and happy. Slaves unanimously agree that they system of slavery was cruel, brutal and horrifying.
Some women went on to work in the factories. Others embraced the new job of sustaining the new no market values like love, friendship, and providing men with a shelter from the competitive market place. But ideas of gender roles had little to do with those women who worked the market place. They did the job even though they were not eligible for higher paying jobs. Not until after the civil war were they able to control their wages instead of their husbands.
The slave era can be agreed it was a terrible atrocity upon our fellow man, and it cannot be brought into a light of just, but it did give birth to some true characters who we can look up to and live alike. The characters in both Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass are ideal examples of true characters as they pushed through slavery and gained freedom but did not stop there. Jacobs’ spent her freedom getting her families’ freedom and Douglass went on to help others escape and spread knowledge on the cruelty of slavery. The last thing, and most powerful thing this book left me with is that each slave was an individual unalike any other, and these individuals were in fact an individual, individuals who lived their life for the betterment of others and accomplished an impossible
Also, once the men came home many women chose not to leave the workplace and return to their lives as housewives. They desired the financial freedom that came with earning your own pay independent of a husband. To a lesser extent the war also helped drive the Civil Rights movement that
The last character I feel is important in this story is Nanny Crawford, she is Janie’s grandmother. Mrs. Crawford raised Janie, she worked as a slave and the things she experienced made her a strong black woman. She wanted Janie to be responsible and understand everything she needed to know about money, love, and just being responsible. Janie didn’t’ like the way her grandmother tried to raise her because she independent and wanted to love who she wanted to love. She didn’t want to marry because of money but because she loved him.
Furthermore, African Americans were given the right to marry and reunite with their families. Previously, in a life of a slave, there were no real marriages, since their masters could sell off or trade the slave’s family members as they wished. This also shows that they had the same rights as white people. But, even when it was getting better for blacks, there were still a lot of problems for