Runaway Slave Source Analysis

Many slaves attempted to run away and many were successful while others weren’t so lucky. Typically when a slave was caught, they would would either induce severe abuse, like stated earlier, or get killed. If an overseer on a horse saw a slave running, they would either shoot them down or grab them and kill them in front of the other slaves so the others can see it as a lesson. A women by the name of Harriet Tubman created

After the slaves surrendered, the remaining members of the slaves that rebelled were hung for their crimes. These slaves were made an example to all other slaves, making them not even want to attempt to rebel in the future. This rebellion led to much harsher slave codes that were enforced in the colony. It also restricted the slaves so much that it meant that they could not go anywhere without their owners permission at any time. “The Negro Act of 1740 was passed which prohibited enslaved people from growing their own food, assembling in groups, earning money they, rather than their owners, could retain or learning to read.” (The Black Past.org)

Phillips' book is an attempt to provide an overview of the practice and institutions of slavery in the Americas from its beginnings to the 19th century. Writing in 1918, Phillips hoped to provide an account of slavery based upon historical evidence and modern methods of research, rather than ideological motivations. He drew his evidence from the plantation records and letters of slave owners; contemporary travel accounts; court records and legal documents; newspaper articles; and in some instances, the recordings of slaves themselves, rather than what he viewed as more biased sources such as abolitionist writings. While this approach was not systematic and led him to base many

The African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade by Anna C. Bailey takes a rather interesting approach into the history of the Atlantic slave trade. Bailey took a personal journey, and was determined to break the silence. Of course with that being said it would prove to be a difficult quest since so many of these people are shamed about slavery, and the discussion of slavery is a taboo topic in its own ways. It was time to break the silence. Through out the book she explores diverse groups, of distinct people who all share the prevalent history of slavery. Her central theme in unveiling the past is through oral stories. Bailey makes it known in the first chapter that most texts written about the slave trade primarily focus on the Europeans perspective, which is what sets her book apart. Bailey herself residing in Jamaica takes an intimate standpoint to slavery, herself being of African slave descent, and knowing very limited details about her extensive family history. “What is clear from my family history is that more is known about the relatively recent past than is known about the period when my family members were undoubtedly slaves) . Through the obstacles and difficulties Bailey was able to succeed, and gave those affected a voice. Her approach will be examined, and the strengths and weaknesses in her approach will be brought to light.

The second part of The Slave Next Door, is a lot different than the first part. The second part is more about the ways in which human trafficking can come to an end or ways to prevent it from occurring. One of the main things that the second part talks about is on the need for more drastic state and federal laws to discontinue human trafficking and to hold the government accountable for the persecution of perpetrators and the assistance for victims. Besides the need of more state and federal laws, the authors motivate the readers to act towards this issue.

Owners or bounty hunters that tore up their papers gave the people no proof. Therefore they were able to go to Free states and bring back a free African American and claim them as slaves.

As children growing up in the United States, educated through our public schools, we learned about the institution of slavery, which was an integral part of life in our country for nearly 300 years. We do not usually question the historical facts we learned about slavery or ask how we know so much about the history of these people (the enslaved Africans in America) who left behind so little written record. In the classroom, archeologists do not receive much credit, but it is largely through their work and research that we have been able to learn about “America’s diverse ethnic heritage” (Singleton 155). In the 1960’s, excavations of slave cabins

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 was implemented to enforce and approve slavery. This law states that slave runaways can be denied the ability to have a jury trial and can sometimes be denied the opportunity to provide evidence. Judges in these trials could give an escaped slave to their representative or their master. This law also prohibited free black people of their protection they should have had through the Bill of Rights. The Fugitive Slave Laws contradicted ideas in an earlier decade where they were making a movement towards treating blacks and whites equally. A black man named Benjamin Benneker was a well-known writer that once wrote about Jefferson and his views on slavery. He had opposing

Note to the wise: Look at the content of the documents, the place at which the document originated, and the time at which the document was written. Also consider who wrote the document and how that individual feels about the institution of slavery.

In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law was made. This law stated that free slaves could be captured in the North and returned to slavery. Law enforcement officials in the North were forced to help in the capture of slaves, regardless of their personal opinions. In response to the law, Harriet re-routed

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave written by himself, the author asserts that justice for slaves and all men of color is different from justice for whites. Douglass supports his claim through examples by demonstrating how white men get away with killing slaves. Douglass’s purpose is to incite anger and compassion in the hearts of the people in order to abolish slavery and grant slaves the justice they deserve. Based on his provocative use of diction, Douglass is writing to the country’s leaders who have the power to pass legislation that will end slavery. Frederick Douglass, a former slave, received no justice and was denied the basic right to hold a trial and testify before court for the violent crimes he witnessed.

Most of the slaves that ran away were fighting for freedom and power over their slaveholders. Many slaves feared running away because of the uncertainty that came with it, and the slaves that did run away were extremely brave. Slaveholders did not have sympathy for their slaves and did not care where they were sold to, but women and children generally did not run away to avoid sale because if they got caught, they knew that they would be separated. Harriet Tubman is a slave that escaped in 1849 and fled to Philadelphia. Although she had the possibility of living in comfort, without the horrors of the slave system, she

In sharp contrast to what most people think, “only about 6 percent of the slaves imported in Africa ended up in what is now the United States.” Most of those taken from Africa ended up, if they survived the long sea voyage, in the West

Later on Gray discusses the life of a female slave by mentioning influential turning points in her lifetime. Some of the major point in her life include her childhood, marriage, motherhood, and old age as well. One of the most interesting parts of a slave’s life was between her teenage years. This was when she would become fertile and began the journey of looking for a husband. Gray also mentions that mothers of the pregnant teenage slaves would attempt to slow the journey by keeping facts about pregnancy and the way their bodies functioned. Gray supported this when she said on page 91 “although each stage in a person’s life may be very different from that which preceded it, an individual is not always aware that one period of his or her life has ended and a new one has begun” thus, meaning a females teenage years evolving into motherhood.

Slave Narratives were written by the slaves themselves or narrated by them and written by a friend or a relative and some were even passed on orally. These narratives depicted the difficult lives of the hardworking slaves; description of cruel masters, whippings, difficulties encountered in learning to read and write, slave auctions and their successful attempts to escape as well as foiled escape attempts. One of the defining characteristics of the slave narrative is the testimonial or letter of authenticity generally written by a white editor or abolitionist friend of the narrator. In order to be published, black authors had to be endorsed by whites who could testify to their credibility and the authenticity of their stories. One of the defining