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Essay On Fear Of Slavery

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Slavery is a cowardly and contemptible practice that physically and mentally desensitizes its captive and captor alike. The savageness of slavery was not only in the physical beatings, but also in the way that slaves were held in absolute oppression. Slaves were denied food, clothing, sleep and proper shelter. They were separated from their family and friends, and it was not uncommon for slaves to be striped of their identity. Slave owners exploited women for pleasure and profit. However, ultimate control over slaves came in the form of denied education and knowledge. A prominent theme in slave narratives is that of the slave master gaining control of his slave, by whatever means necessary. Whether intentional or not, the writers description …show more content…

He describes what he sees when he comes upon a slave hanging in a cage, on a tree. “ I shudder when I recollect that the birds had already picked out his eyes, his check bones were bare; his arms had been attacked in several places, and his body seemed covered with a multitude of wounds”. (quote pg 322) He also wonders if it would be more humane to kill the slave than to help him, as seen in this statement, “Humanity herself would have recoiled back with horror; she would have balanced whether to lesson such reliefless distress, or mercifully with one blow to end this dreadful scene of agonizing torture” (pg 322). Crevecoeur later finds out that this despicable punishment was because the slave was said to have killed the overseer of a plantation. The slave owner displays his control when he says, “that the laws of self-preservation rendered such executions necessary” (pg 323). Here he is making it known to all, that if one of his slaves does anything he deems wrong he will take control and measures to preserve his own existence. Beyond punishment and torture, slave owners also found great use of emotional and mental torture to keep their slaves in

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