Power Structure During The Era Of Slavery Essay

Slavery has long inspired controversy among historians. Many have different views on slavery whether it was slaves lived under kind masters, or slavery was a brutal system that drove slaves into constant rebellion, but neither viewpoint is accurate although both contain some truth in it. Many masters wanted to earn profit off of slaves no matter what because some masters were kind causing the slaves to develop genuine affection for their owners. Although slaves had affection for owners they did not even question themselves when deciding to desert to Union lines when northern troops descended on the plantations during the Civil War. The experience of slaves working on cotton plantations in the 1830s and 1700s differed because of reasons unrelated to the kindness or brutality of masters. More of reasons like the plantation system, the work and discipline, the slave family, and the longevity, health, and diet of slaves.

Throughout history, a common theme that can be seen is the stronger, acquisitive society preying on the weaker society for their own gain of land, people, materials, and more. The Atlantic Slave Trade had a profound effect on the way states were constructed and transformed in West Africa. Some societies became very powerful, militarized centralized societies, like Dahomey and Kongo, and others were decentralized societies, like Balanta and Igbo. Many scholars argue that the centralized societies targeted these decentralized societies and kidnapped people for the slave trade or for their own lineages, but this issue of strong and controlled preying on weak and dispersed is not as “black or white” as it may seem.

rights as white men. Blacks did enjoy more freedom, leaving the Southern plantations in hopes

(document 7). In addition to continuous labor, the fear of being separated from family was constant source of despair. (document 4). Because slaves were thought of as property, there was little concern about any deep familial bonds that were created through marriage and children and the threat of families being torn apart was a perpetual fear. An advertisement for the sale of an estate read, “Slaves will be sold separate, or in lots, as best suits the purchaser.” (Foner p 430). Every aspect of a slave’s life was controlled by the master, from the choice of a spouse, how they spent their time, and how they could gather. Southern representatives and slaveholders justified the institution by claiming that a black person was inferior to a white person and that the “defects of his character alone justify enslaving him.” (document 12) There were claims that slavery in America actually freed people by sparing them from the chaos of free competition and the dangers of cannibalism and savagery of other slave owning nations. (document 12) There were claims that American slaves were the happiest and the freest because the women and elderly don’t do hard work and

The development of slavery in the Americas, Caribbean, and Africa had profound effects and influenced the economy as well as the social structures of each geographic location.

In the 1800s slavery wasn’t a new concept in America. The sad truth was that this way of life in the “Old South” was normal. Many challenged it, some thought it was the only way, that slavery was natural way of living and blacks were only seen as property. In the era of slavery, most people often wonder if it could’ve ever have been prevented. Another aspect is that slavery was inevitable and that in a twisted way it made us better. With all these questions, and twisting of views one thing is for certain, it’s a part of our history, we are taught about it and it happened. It’s up to us to make sure we never get back to this “way of life” or the idea of slavery as normal.

Autobiographical narrative that has been written by african-american female from North Carolina by the name Harriet A Jacob, who depicts horrors of normal life of a slave, beginning her story with description of her childhood memories of her family and people who were their owners. Harriet adopts a pseudonym of Linda Brent, and assigns different from reality names to anyone important in her narrative, in order to be able to share the story of her life and probably save important to the author people since the time of publication meant, certain investigations or unwanted interest from the opposing side of the civil war. In the preface of the narrative, the author, importantly explains significance of her ability to share her story to the people of free states, in order for them to decide their future, but more interestingly she was able to set up a tone with a beginning quote, a tone of understanding the reality of the situation as a whole, a certain type of disrespect to the authorities who execute what is needed in order for the system of slavery to function. Since she begins with description of her family starting with her father who seems to be caring and responsible person, even trying to buy freedom for his children. The story of her grandmother is tragic as well, but through it we can judge the importance of family ties that Harriet was able to absorb from her relatives, especially her opportunity to live among her grandmother and

In this chapter, we learned about slavery. After the war of 1812, Isaac Hopper, Robert Vaux, and Benjamin Lundy was in a religious group’s that pressing for legal abolition nationwide using the strategy of moral suasion (page 21). They try to shame the slave owner to manumitting the slave, and convince the northern people to abolition with the god for America. They wanted to pass gradual emancipation laws in the south. In addition, they wanted to be educated in preparation before freedom be emancipated (page 21). The big consider was how to accomplished gradualism. One option was, they could pass state laws at a later date, for example, foreign slave trade clause in the united constitution. The second option, slave children who were born after a certain

Soul by Soul by Walter Johnson centers on the internal slave business in New Orleans as well as the slave market as a place of portrayal and oblique connotations built around the commoditization of the physique of slaves .A significant interest in Soul by Soul relates to the slave pen, where slave bodies as commodities determined the identities of black and white persons. Slave transactions were typically about show and filled with meaning-making, which was itself characterized by cost and worth. The paternalism ideology employed the black persons’ physique and slave transactions to imply that white persons were assisting powerless black people in the slave markets. In essence, the ideology suggests that, contrary to common perceptions, white persons were not separating slave families .The slave market history discussed in Soul by Soul relates to that of the antebellum in the South where slave trade was basically about purchases and sales. Those who owned slaves were consumers in the marketplace. Consumer way of life had structured individual identities. Slave bodies were regarded as items to be rated and assessed and were usually the subject of discussions. Every slave was given a made-up and decorated past. The market culture of slavery in that era was based on fantasy just like the ideology of paternalism. Succinctly, the slave market stimulated the self-definition of white persons from the South.

Once people started to realize there was a lot of work to be done in America, they purchased the African people to use

In order to grow and retain the institution of slavery in North America, slave owners dehumanized

The uncertain status blacks led to the subjugation of African slaves due to the creation of a system of permanent bonding. The advent of African slaves in North America was substantial in order to meet the large labor demand. Significantly, “Their helplessness made

The establishment of racial slavery was highly effective because, unlike indentured servitude, the slaves are permanent and are unable to escape the system. Racial slavery ensured land owners, property owners, and the colonial elite the continuation of the system for decades due to its cyclical manner. Slavery is a hereditary series, therefore, transmits from parent to offspring, causing the preservation of slavery from one generation to the next. The unchangeable characteristic of a slave (skin color) dictated their fate. Skin color made it nearly unfeasible for slaves to escape the merciless system of slavery; In contrast, to the indentured servants, it was not easy for blacks to blend in with the white population. It also made it easier to spot runaway slaves because of their difference in color.

In American history, every event and person plays a part in the future. For example, rich plantation owners helped America advance their economy. However, that would not have been at all possible without the help of their slaves. The time and institution of slavery is a time of historical remembrance. It played a primary role during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The treatment, labor conditions, and personal stories of these slaves’ treatment and labor conditions are all widely discussed around the world to this day.

     Slavery in America stems well back to when the new world was first discovered and was led by the country to start the African Slave Trade-Portugal. The African Slave Trade was first exploited for plantations