Rhetorical Analysis Of 12 Years A Slave

The act of violence also contributes to the dehumanization and the “breaking down” of the slaves. Slaves were beaten, and whipped daily, subjected to cruel torture. Northup describes these acts of violence in his narrative very vividly.

The fact that both Northup and Douglass physically fought against their masters was an achievement in terms of rebelling against the oppressive system of slavery. The punishment for raising a hand against their own master was a death penalty to the slave. However, both Northup and Douglass, in full acknowledgement of the consequences that may follow, still decided to fight against their masters. Angered by the unjustified whipping that was going to befall him by the hands of Mr. Tibeats, Northup wrote: “My fear changed to anger, and before he reached me I had made up my mind fully not to be whipped, let the result be

This is hypocritical in that the white men make these values and traditions a staple of their lives, yet when it comes to slaves, they seem to go away. He also believes that, though he will use “the severest language”(Douglass) he can, he firmly believes that “not one word shall escape me that any man whose… not blinded by prejudice, or… a slave-holder, shall not confess to be right and just”(Douglass). So he sincerely believes that the average human being also knows that the treatment of slaves is unjust and unethical, but they choose not to act on these thoughts. His view, coming from the eyes and thoughts of slaves across America, show how hypocritical the nation actually is in both one sided values and not acting upon their knowledge that what is going on is wrong.

Slavery has been around for a very long time. However, it is not always how it seems or put out to be. Like the Barbarians, a Greek slave, for example. Their inability to speak Greek indicated their slave status because it kept them from talking back to their masters. This has lead the Greeks to consider otherness a characteristic of slaves. And in the 18th century, slave trade is just another trade for merchants and people involved, like the fact Europeans actually obtained African slaves by trading for them in exchange for goods; usually like guns or metal tools; and for those Africans, slaves were a form of property and a very valuable one.

In the Narrative, Douglass shows slaveholding to be damaging not only to the slaves themselves, but to slave owners as well. The corrupt and irresponsible power that slave owners enjoy over their slaves has a detrimental effect on the slave owners’ own moral health. With this theme, Douglass completes his overarching depiction of slavery as unnatural for all involved. Douglass shows how white slaveholders perpetuate slavery by keeping their slaves ignorant. At the time Douglass was writing, many people believed that slavery was a natural state of being. They believed that blacks were inherently incapable of participating in civil society and thus should be kept as workers for whites. This leads to cultural hegemony which is the way that society is ruled by people in power. The beliefs, values, and expectations are said to be true, and made to keep the people in power powerful. This is what caused blacks to feel bad about themselves and for whites to feel like they were better than other races. The Narrative explains the strategies and procedures by which whites gain and keep power over blacks from their birth onward. Slave owners keep slaves ignorant of basic facts about themselves, such as their

Separation is a paramount theme, entwined for Northup — who had a free family awaiting his return, rather than a slave family he might have had to leave behind — with strategies of survival and plans for escape. Not only Northup's own story, but those of the slaves he met and lived with are included in his narrative,. especially in the first half, which details how Northup was transported from Washington to Richmond and finally to Louisiana, where he was sold to a planter in the Bayou Boeuf area, William Ford.

Through Solomon Northup’s story, viewers learn that socioeconomic status is no exception from racial realities. Solomon Northup was an educated, refined free black in the 1840s. His only mistake was thinking that being born free meant he was safe from the demonstration of white supremacy in America. Especially during this time, it didn't matter that he was educated, musically talented, and a family man, a person of color was threatened in a white, capitalist society and through the heartbreaking story of Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave shows this sad time in American

After reading Solomon Northup's Twelve Years A Slave, I was overwhelmed with his experience. He was born a free man in New York in 1808. In 1841 he was tricked, captured, and sold into slavery in Washington, D.C. Throughout his book, Solomon goes into details describing his life as a slave, which validates our critique of slavery. As abolitionists, it is our duty to do something about slavery. Although, as abolitionists, we have a history of disagreements among us, it time to put a stop to our arguments and start fighting for something we all believe in - to abolish slavery. While the growing cotton economy has made slavery more attractive than ever before to most southern people, slavery has to be abolished based on these reasons:

In the book 12 Years A Slave written from a primary source by Solomon Northup based on a true story describes the triumphant journey Solomon Northup goes through as he never lost hope of regaining his freedom and resisted the dehumanization of enslavement in many ways. Solomon was born a free black man in New York in 1808 while his father, Mintus was born a slave and gained his freedom as their master passed away also inheriting their masters last name "Northup". Growing Solomon worked on a farm with his dad and soon after his dad died in 1829 he soon married a women named Anne Hampton in which they soon moved to Saratoga Springs, New York and had three children of their own. They were living like any other free person was and soon Solomon was working in many industries and Anne established herself as a cook and in the 1830 's Solomon had a reputation of being a well played violinist. In 1841 Solomon had became unemployed and was looking for an occupation, he ran into Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton in who then offers him a job in a circus playing the violin. As they arrive in Washington D.C. which is slave territory, he begins to become sick and passes out which was planned by Merrill and Abram to poison and kidnap him in the slave territory and sell him in which he soon wakes up in chains in a slave pen. Solomon 's first master was James H. Burch who he was sold by the two men who had

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:

In his true-life narrative "Twelve Years a Slave," Solomon Northup is a free man who is deceived into a situation that brings about his capture and ultimate misfortune to become a slave in the south. Solomon is a husband and father. Northup writes:

Whites have long argued that slavery was good for slaves because it civilized them and that slaves were content to be held in bondage. But such is not the case, at least not according to those who were actually held in bondage. The accounts of slavery are greatly known by emancipated or run away slaves. One recorded account of slavery is by Solomon B. Northup’s autobiography, Twelve Years a Slave which was published in 1853.

During a time of cruel punishment and harsh conditions of life as a slave in the 19th century South, there was a book that shed a light on the life of a slave unparalleled in past as well as in modern literature. That book was entitled Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. Northup was born a freeman that was obtained from his father after being freed by the Northup family due to loyal service. Growing up in the free state of New York, Solomon was allowed an education that was rare because of the sad disposition of the majority of his race. Solomon gained much knowledge of industry and hard work from his father. As a free man of color, he enjoyed various jobs and hobbies from timber raft building to playing

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.

Out of all Northup's masters, Master Epps' has to be the worse. He's a cruel, rude, selfish man who cares for no one but himself. Although others may say the contrary, I believe making good first expressions is always important, and Edwin Epps made a horrible first impression. The second Northup arrived, Master Epps' already had him performing difficult tasks around the plantation. These jobs can range from picking cotton on a blistering hot day to carrying heavy metals back and from the house. Edwin Epps, in my eyes, is a very abusive master, although beating slaves is the correct thing to do, he tends to take it to an extreme level. He beats them and strangles them for whatever reason, although they may not be doing anything wrong. If I were a slave and if I worked for Edwin Epps, himself, I'm pretty sure I'll be dead. Not for doing the work incorrectly, but for talking back when I knew I couldn't. Instead of leaving the slaves to perish, he would use his own hands to beat them, to feel the presumptuous thrill running through their bare flesh. It seems like hell to an outsider, but I'm sure it gets better once you're experiencing it or does it? There was one thing Northup enjoyed that lifted his spirits, and that was looking at Miss Patsey. The way he described her, made the readers think that he wanted to devour her in just one look. To me personally; seems as if Northup was describing a dog instead of Patsey. Using foul language such as, "faithful, loyal, and