The Master-Slave Ideology

In 1865, slavery was abolished, by the Thirteenth amendment. This Amendment brought humongous changes and a large number of problems. (Lecture 1) After the destruction of slavery, it left nearly four million African American with no property, little training, and few rights; which made the definition of freedom for African Americans the central question on the nation’s agenda. The big question of the time period was, “what was freedom for African Americans?” (Give me liberty! An American 550)

Many Scholars now use the term chattel slavery or also known as traditional slavery to refer to a type of slavery where a person belonged to another person. Slavery is a system that allows individuals to sell, buy, capture, and own other individuals as their own personal property. Slaves freedom to do what they wanted were taken from them, their control over their bodies were taken from them because they were considered a person’s “Property” to whoever owned them. They were forced to work and do as they are told or they would have to suffer severe and sometimes even fatal consequences and that impacted many types of relationships. ”Slavery is theft—theft of a life, theft of work, theft of any property or produce, theft even of the children a slave might have borne”(Kevin Bales, Understanding of Global Slavery). Slavery with all of its demeaning, oppressing of the black masses was a complicated force and a powerful presence when it came to numerous relationships. For example, masters and slaves, slaves and their families, masters wives and black women slaves, slaves and other slaves, and blacks and whites.

Certainly, freedom was supposed to be “freer”” for those slaves that had fought for their rights after years of submissionn, but, unfortunately, many white Southern people continued to ignore the law by not showing any respect for Africans-Americans. Because of the radical reconstruction in the south, the African-Americans were a step closer from the same political

Blackmon provides many stories in his book about what the slaves to forced laborers went through and how they felt about the new so called “freedom” they gained. The Black Americans prior to the Emancipation Proclamation have never seen the slightest clue to what freedom could even feel like. “Some of the old slaves said they too weren’t sure what “freedom” really was”

In 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation declares “that all persons held as slaves with the confederate states are, and henceforward shall be free”. It was not until 1865 when the Civil War ended and the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery. As a replacement of slavery, whites created Whites in the southern states enacted the Black Codes. Black Codes were thought to uphold a social caste system, reflecting the racial hierarchy of slavery. Slavery was abolished, however it still serves as a form of punishment for those found guilty of a crime. In the Thirteenth Amendment (1865) lies a description of the policy: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to the jurisdiction.” A major contributor to blacks becoming criminalized and, in turn, enslaved again were laws that penalized the homeless and unemployed. When black people traveled without proper documents that verified their employment or a home address, they would often be charged with trespassing (Browne-Marshall 2007). As newly freed people, most had no income to pay the consequential fines, thus, they would become prisoners and their enslavement would be legally justified.

Former slaveowners would still demand to be addressed as “master” or “missus” instead of “boss”. General hatred of freedmen was detrimental to African-American’s safety, which was unfortunately very common. (Document C) Henry Adams witnessed this abuse and recorded the prejudice, writing “they were going to kill me and every other Negro who told them that they did not belong to anyone”, even though this was now illegal. Town, city, and state governments went so far as to produce the black codes, which severely limited African-American’s rights to live outside of their white ownership. (Document B) Violence during this time was prevalent, as white Southerners threatened to “kill everyone they found leaving their masters” (Document C) and breach their basic rights in the

Douglass’ speech supported the abolitionist movement of the 1850s, which lasted until after slavery ended nationally in 1865. The location and timing of this speech are extremely vital in the components within it; had it been given on a different day the outcome may not have been the same. Frederick Douglass gave this speech on the day after America’s celebrated national Independence Day. This day is relative to slavery as it elaborately exposes the injustice and unequal treatment of fellow humans. This is one topic that Douglass expressed passionately as the white man was celebrating his independence as the black man was still in chains. “He characterized the Fourth of July as a hypocritical sham from the point of view of the millions living in the country who were still enslaved” and had not ever lived a day of a free white man (Bibby). Douglass said, “Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us,” which shows that during this time period there was a wide gap in treatment of individuals solely based on the color of their skin (Douglass 1236). Through Frederick Douglass’ speech it is evident that there was strong racial divide even without knowledge of the context. Slavery was ongoing while this speech was given, and Douglass made several claims throughout validating abolitionists views; that slavery was brutal and morally wrong.

“For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold…that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men…we are called upon to prove that we are men!” (Douglass) During his speech, Douglass elaborated on the different aspects of why blacks have a natural right to freedom as any other human being He argued it is wrong to turn a man into a “brute” and proceeded to argue that slavery is not divine in its origin. Douglass’s speech was a calling for equality, for change. He accomplished his goal and proved the fourth of July was a revolting reminder to him and those like him of the continual inhumane cruelty American attempted to conceal through its mockery.

After years of abuse and oppression, black men were supposedly now subject to the same constitutional rights as their white counterparts, extending the gift of equality to all men, regardless of their skin color or economic status. Emancipation for African-American slaves provided freedoms that had, never before in their lifetime, been obtainable. Intent on preventing former slave owners from restricting any efforts to achieve the slaves' freedom, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which “defined an American citizen as anyone born in the United States...thereby automatically making African Americans citizens.” For the first time in American history, black men had the ability to vote, hold office, acquire land and receive a proper education. Most importantly, freedom meant that their labor would be for their own benefit, and not for their master’s.

African Americans were no longer the property of anyone, they belonged to themselves. This new found freedom did not sit well with white Americans who were so accustomed to seeing blacks as property; now had to see them as equal. Following the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13h amendment, freedmen worked to find families members that had been taken from them due to slavery and wanted equal civil and political rights (Foner). A Northern reporter in 1865, wrote about a former slave he encounter who had traveled over 600 miles to relocated his wife and children, whom he had lost during slavery (Costly). Many white Southerners Americans did not know what to do with themselves coming home and seeing their property destroyed and losing their slaves simultaneously. Also, former slaves themselves struggled with the transition from being slaves to now freedmen which resulted in the creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau that tried to make sure they received fair pay and had the choice to choose who they wanted to work for (Costly) . It was not realistic at the time to believe that all former slaves could be held by the Bureau and many of them felt as if they had no help and nowhere to go. Further, many white Americans did not approve of the Freedman Bureau and referred to it as the “Free Nigger’s Christ”

Tragically, Equiano can't completely escape from the staggering force and rationale of the universal slave exchange. Indeed, even after he's liberated, he partakes in the slave exchange himself: as he gains a living and builds up his own particular individual fortune, he goes around the world over on ships conveying slaves to estates, similarly as he used to be conducted himself. He composes his autobiography with the explicit reason for consummation the slave exchange, however he just seldom recognizes the mystery of his own association in it.

Even though freedom has been our nation’s identity for its entire existence, our nation has suffered “dark ages” when the freedoms of African Americans were repressed. During the period of slavery, African Americans were forced to labor under often cruel and gruesome conditions, for their white masters. Solomon Northup, a free man forcefully made a slave, describes his thoughts on slavery in his 12 Years a Slave:

Analyzes the development of expert slave relationship in South Carolina. Effect of social contrasts on expert slave association; Qualification of the force amongst slaves and ace; Parallelism of the contention over religious self-governance with alternate regions of slave life; Difficulties in slave administration.

systems left their mark on all aspects of the culture of America including family, gender, leisure

The slave mortality presented by Nietzsche in his Genealogy of Morals is prevalent within modern literature. The dark effects of this morality have crept far beyond the general view of the elite class and into our writing. This is not much of a surprise since literature reflects the world and our view of the world within it. Unfortunately, its impact on our society is shown by its prevalence within modern writing. This morality allows the author to focus on the “evil enemy” (Nietzsche 39) instead of the good within humanity. This obsession with the negativity within the world has become a theme within humanities writing. Every good story must have some conflict some evil that is tearing at the good and often innocent. And it is true, that