Analysis Of Teenie, Tidbit, And Amari's Copper Sun

Furthermore, activists argue that the slaves never agreed to become slaves, therefore they should not be slaves as that is not permitted through the guaranteed

This is so because non-slave owning whites are flung into competition with slaves. Slave holders appeal to the pride of the non-slaveholders, and convince them that they are working for the slave system as men, not as slaves. As Douglass stated in his book, the white slave holders tend “to place the white working man, on an equality with negros, and, by this means, they succeed in drawing off the minds of the poor whites from the real fact, that by the rich slave-master, they are already regarded as but a single remove from equality with the slave” (Douglass 226-227). Therefore, the only thing that is keeping the non-slaveholders from falling to the level, or rank, of the slaves is

The white southerners have grown up with the idea that enslaving black men and tearing them down is alright since they have the idea that African American people are not real humans. Without the African Americans stating how they view slavery as unjust and cruel, it is doubtful those ideas would ever change. As stated at the end of previous chapter, Douglass began to teach other slaves how to read the Bible, and that, later on, led to the plans of escaping to freedom. “The week before our intended start, I wrote several protections, one for each of us.” (95) When people see African Americans reading or writing in public away from any plantation, most people assume they are free slaves, since it is common knowledge that teaching a slave how to read is illegal. When Douglass finally took the chance to escape after the first attempt was revealed and he was sent to a different plantation, he fled to New York and New Bedford and almost immediately joined a conference about black equality. He was the only fugitive slave out of all of the other men in the room, so his input and memories were crucial to the

The conditions were worse for the slaves, and they decided to resist in order to free themselves from the slavery institution. African slaves used various strategies of resistance to slavery. According to Hine, Hine, and Harrold (66), “such

The slaves’ desire for freedom and liberty became a meaningful part of African American culture. When in religious meetings, they prayed for liberty and freedom which later evolved to small forms of rebellion. The most common types of rebellion were not large scale movements but rather small forms of resistance known as either “silent sabotage” or “day-to-day resistance”. These acts of rebellion consisted of modest deeds like doing a bad job, pretending to be sick, and breaking tools. However, not all forms of resistance were this insignificant. Some uncommon, dangerous acts included arson and poisoning their owners. These acts of rebellion helped to create an identity slaves and became an instrumental part of African American culture. Their resistance also came from when slaves were either not allowed to marry or because family members were being sold, mixing the importance of natural rights, liberties, and family.

The irony of this is that slave owners saw no wrong in what they were doing, regardless of how they treated their respective slaves. Slavery, as an institution, was from the perspective of the slave owners, justified. Kolchin describes that, in response, slaves were overtly resistive to their predicament at times, while others provided less obvious resistance in the form of slow work, feigning illness, and even sabotage.

Although most of the characters in the novel are fictional, many of the places they go to are real. Towards the end of the story, Amari, Polly, and Tidbit escape the Derby’s and head for Fort Mose, a place in Florida where slaves can be freed, which in fact, is true. In an article by PBS, called Fort Mose, Fort Mose was a society of laborers and growers who integrated approaching fugitives, slaves, and Indians from nearby places into an involved family chain. Fort Mose was located two miles north of St. Augustine, and was controlled by the Spanish at the time (PBS). Another major setting in Copper Sun is the Derby Plantation. Though the plantation is not a real place, it resembles what a plantation was like back then. For instance, the hut Polly and Amari lived in was a single room with little outside light and made of rough wooden planks. Like the other huts, the floor was dirt, but other huts around them were made of mud and clay (Draper). SciWay supports Draper’s portrayal of the huts in their article, The Lives of African-American Slaves in Carolina During the

Amari never thought that her perfect life will be stolen from her, in any type of way. But Amari quickly discovered that she was absolutely wrong, when “pale skinned” Atlantic slave traders attacked her village and brutally murdered her whole family. Amari not only lost her family and loved ones, but she also lost her freedom. Nothing, in Amari’s life was going to be like it was before, Amari knew this for sure. While on the way to the Carolinas, Amari was beaten and raped, she also witnessed many horrifying actions. In the novel, Copper Sun, Draper uses a significant amount of imagery to describe Amari’s experience on the ship headed to America. This is very clear and noticeable when Draper uses 3rd tone point of view to describe Amari’s experience aboard the ship, “One by one the women were unchained and dragged, screaming and kicking, to a distant area of the ship or a corner of the deck. Amari heard them plead for mercy, for understanding, but no one listened” (Draper 50) and “Amari was taken to a filthy corner of the of the ship by a dark-headed, skinny sailor who used her, hurt her, and tossed her back on the deck, bruised and bleeding, all of her dreams finally and forever destroyed” (Draper

fears that the people had through images of white people being threatened and killed by slaves

Imagine if you couldn’t control your own fate? Ever since you were little, your fate has already been decided for you. Any dream that you had, consider it gone. Going to school, finding a job, creating a family, take those lifetime goals and throw them out the window. You are forced to work for the rest of your life as a slave. That’s what life was like as an African American prior to Civil War. If you were African American, or even “one-drop” black, you were qualified to be part of the slave trade. Slaves didn’t know when their next meal was going to be or if they were even going to get one. Slaves, especially those in the field, worked from the time the sun would rise until sunset. Hours were long; men, woman, and children were worked to the bone and were expected to perform hard but not be given the proper food or sleep needed to refuel themselves. That’s what made the slave trade so horrible, African Americans weren’t looked at as human beings in society, and they were looked at as property. Even small children and the elderly were not exempt from these long work hours; there were no excuses for anyone who was African American. In class we talked about the United States Constitution and it’s significant to our nations history. It talks about the proper rights given to the people and the rules set forth for everyone to

After all, they frequently state in their petitions to state legislatures that manumitting the slaves would contribute to more murders, rapes, and other crimes because “a vast Multitude of unprincipled, unpropertied, revengeful, and remorseless Banditti (Bandits) are capable of perpetrating” (Documents E & F) such chaos. Of course, this fear hinges on the racist assumption that the blacks are barbaric criminals that would ruin American civilization, but unfortunately, most southerners believed it at the time. It is also worth noting that the slave owners argued that freeing the slaves would lead to “Neglect, Famine and Death to the black Infant and superannuated Parent” (Documents E & F), which is based on the belief that blacks are unable to take care of themselves. Both of these assumptions fueled the idea that more free slaves would bring more death and destruction, and this paranoia convinced slave owners that manumission should no longer be

Why would it matter if your master was rich or poor, you all are slaves their is no difference in the way that you are treated. You both are deemed as cattle, meaning that you are considered being less than a human being! “it was worth a half- cent to kill a "nigger," and a half-cent to bury one.” This quote evoked a lot of emotion,because if you sit and ponder on it they(slave masters) pay hundreds of dollars for them(slaves) and in return the slaves make hundred or thousands of dollars for their master(s). Even though, they pay money for them and go through a lot to retrieve the slaves they can be quickly replaced because of how quickly slaves are brought over from their home to the united states which makes the death of a slave equal nothing. "there is no flesh in his obdurate heart." This quote really gives you somewhat of an insight on how the slaves felt about a particular overseer who was merciless on the slaves, he was deemed as the worse overseer they had ever encountered many said that he was every where around every corner and under every tree. Everywhere they looked he was their waiting and watching

Fredrick Douglass’s last point was this,”Slaves do the drudgery of the rebel army, and to shoot down Government troops.” This is repelling! They were forced to shoot the people who are standing up to the cruelties of their own lives. They were forced to kill, those whom seek to free them from their everyday horrific pain. It’s disgusting.

During this time period the slaves were allowed to leave the plantations or homes but only to run errands for the masters. While in public the slaves were expected to behave, move out of the way of whites, and never strike a white person. This was present in the book The Inventions of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd because charlotte was a slave who was allowed to go the city for goods, she one day would not move out of the way and then struck a white women, this then lead to her being taken to the work house and being punished. (Kidd. The Invention of Wings, 2014) So not only were they not allowed to react in self-defense but they were also not allowed to be taught how to read or write. If a slave were to break any of these rules then depending on the offense and where it occurred was what determined the punishment. The punishments during this time could have been getting sent to the work house which is where they whip, and force slaves to work until they have served their time or they are at the mercy of their masters. (Kidd. The Invention of Wings, 2014)The masters can do whatever type of punishment they see fit for their slaves, and there was no laws protecting them. The only thing that protected these slaves was their value to the master’s wealth. Although in reality a lot of the slave owners were actually not hostile or

Rebellion is like a person with a favorite old pair of shoes. A person may be afraid to throw away their favorite worn out shoes, but after awhile it is time for change when the shoes no longer do their job. This is a great example of what happened when the black society was tired of being treated like objects. They protested and went against the old pair of shoes, which in this case