12 Years A Slave Freedom

In the city they didn’t have crops nor animals so they had no need for doing outside work. The slaves were almost like maids and housekeepers because they served food and beverages to the master or the master’s visitors. They had to clean and tidy the house for the master. They

Most slaves lived in slave cabins with dirt floors. Slaves usually got real cheap clothing that was plain and dirty. Some slaves sewed different patches of cloth on their clothes to show their true colors. Some slaves were allowed to plant their own gardens and raise their own chickens to make their own food.

Freedom was not a new concept among the slaves. From the beginning, slaves were running away from plantations to be free. Harriet Tubman made a run for her freedom and even risked it to make 20 trips between Maryland and Philadelphia to lead relatives and others to their freedom. There was also the Underground Railroad, slave revolts and uprising and even Nat Turner’s rebellion which

Those who were forced into Slavery in America had many jobs and tasks to accomplish throughout the years. According to Heather Williams in her book American Slavery, in the beginning stages of American development slaves “built the roads, cleared land, cut down trees to produce lumber for buildings and wood for fires, and they burned the lime used in outhouses for burial”. On top of already being overworked, slaves had to maintain livestock including producing dairy products, grow crops so the people in their colony could have food to eat, and take care of issues inside their owner’s home such as cooking, knitting and cleaning. Depending on what environment they lived in, slaves were also forced to fish, or work in a printing press. Those who worked in

Once slaves were taken to the plantations the slaves were expected to be in good physical health and be ready to work. They had to complete any task whatsoever their master told them to do even if they did not want to. In the case that a slave did not co what their mast told them to do they would be beaten by him or someone that worked for him. There were various types of slaves on the southern plantations. On type of slave was the field slave which was the ones that done the planting and tending to the crops on the plantations.

Solomon Northup is a prime example of the cruel treatment black people received. He was deceived into thinking he was joining two fellow performers to work in Washington at a circus, but instead was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. He tries to plead his case and fight for his freedom but all he gets in return are blows to his back until he accepts his new role as a Georgia runaway slave. This is not only an example of how black people were physically abused, but also how they were psychologically abused. As soon as he is kidnapped, he is stripped away from everything he once was and everything he once knew. He is given a new name and identity and if he dared to proclaim otherwise, it would cost him his life. It is unfortunate that black men and women in the North were never actually safe, even if they were born free, they risked getting abducted and sold to slave owners in the South, just like Solomon was. Kidnapping was not the only cruel act in which black people were targeted, they were also humiliated and treated as less than a white person.

The film 12 Years a Slave, an adaptation of the 1853 autobiography by a slave named Solomon Northup, depicts his everyday life after his rights and freedoms are ripped away. Through the unpleasant slave auction scenes to the sickening slave punishments, 12 Years a Slave is a heartbreaking story that unfortunately conveys the harsh truth on the issues surrounding slavery. Consequently, during the film there are many themes and events that trigger different thoughts and reactions varying between viewers, and importantly a better understanding of Solomon Northup’s story and slavery itself.

12 Years a Slave was an outstanding representation of the lives of a slave. It was accurate, heartfelt, and detailed. It portrays the feelings of Solomon and the other slaves perfectly. The film really makes you think about the people and the situation back in the 1840’s. It is an exceptional historical film that teaches you the slavery times and the life of Solomon Northup. A freeman turned to a slave and put through a terrible life experience that no one should ever have to go

Slaves had no rights at all in the south. Many worked as servants and farm laborers. Some practiced skill trade as shoemaking and others worked on cotton plantations as field hands. Men and women did harsh backbreaking labor in the fields. They cleared new land, planted seeds, and harvested crops in all weather. Teenagers worked alongside the adults pulling weeds, picking insects off the crops and carrying water to the other workers. Some slaves became skilled workers such as blacksmiths and carpenters. Some slaves worked in cities but their earnings belonged to their owners. Planters often hired these skilled workers to work on their plantations. Older slaves like women worked as servants in the planter’s house. They cooked, cleaned and did other chores under the supervision of the planter’s wife.

Slaves were not usually treated with respect in the households they worked in, most of the time, slaves were treated horribly. They would be raped, beaten, teased, whipped, and were victims of many cruel and unusual punishments that are unimaginable to the human race present day. Family was the most important thing to the African culture. Brothers tried their hardest to look over their younger sisters as best as possible. Old women and men with no family members to turn to, looked to the comfort of nieces, nephews, and cousins when they fell ill, and aunts and uncles played a primary part in the family as well. Men were not the only ones that were forced to take part in daily labor and routines but also women and children. Some slaves were assigned outside work in which they would tend the crops and more commonly known work the plantations on their masters estate. Women were more commonly assigned to kitchen work such as cleaning the houses, washing clothes, cooking meals, working as servants, and tending to the masters each and every need. Most women who worked in the houses were brutally raped by their masters whether or not they were married to a man or not. Although most women worked in a home setting, there were some women who did work outside with the men and children. Work was difficult on the slaves and their masters were not empathetic towards them in

The slaves prepared their own food and carried it out into the field in buckets. Slaves were housed in slave cabins. Small, rudely built of logs with clapboard sidings, with clay chinking. The Floors were packed with dirt, and they were leaky and drafty. The combination of wet, dirt, and cold made them diseased infested environments.

The majority of the slaves were employed in agricultural areas in the South. By the mid-19th century, a large number of slaves worked in urban areas as well, and about 5% worked in more industrial occupations. The hours of the slave workers were long. The average life expectancy of African slaves was at least 12% lower than whit Americans in 1850 and the infant mortality rate was 25% higher for slaves. Oftentimes slave marriages and families dissolved due to separation. This concept is horrible when you take under consideration that family was the entire basis of African culture.

Northup sets out to convince readers that his account of slavery is the truth. The detailed accounts that Solomon took to recreate his slave experience proves to be effective. Solomons story takes the aspect of being a free man, to enslavement in the South. Northup uses great parallelism in his narrative, often

During their few hours of gratuitous time, most slaves did their own personal study. The diet supplied by slaveholders was generally short, and slaves often supplemented it by tending small plots of land or fishing. Many slave owners did not provide enough clothing, and slave mothers often worked to clothe their families at night later on long days of toil. One visitor to colonial North Carolina wrote that slaveholders rarely gave their slaves meat or fish, and that he witnessed many slaves wearing only rags. Although there were exceptions, the prevailing attitude among slave owners was to allot their slaves the bare minimum of food and clothing; anything beyond that was up to the slaves to gain during their very limited time off from employment.

The women had to carry out the same tasks as the male field slaves, even if they were elderly or pregnant. The overseer monitored the slaves to ensure their work was up to part and if the slaves weren’t working hard enough they would be chained and whipped. The field slaves were given only one outfit for the winter and another for the summer, so they had to take care of those thin garments so they would last throughout the year. Slave owners fed their slaves twice a day, once in the morning and once