Slave Culture

He notes that, the slavery institution made them forget about their origin, and anything else that entails their past, and even when they were born. The slaves forgot everything about their families, and none knew about their family because, they were torn from them without any warning. Douglass explains how they went without food, clothing and even sleep because their masters were cruel to them. American slavery took advantage of black laborers as they were beaten mercilessly without committing any offense. They were not treated as human beings, but as property that could be manipulated in any way. The slavery institution was harsh for the Africans especially women who were regularly raped, and forced to bear their masters children and if they declined, they were maimed or killed.

Slavery is an institution that repetitively separates family members and close friends from each other, without any regard to those people. This aids in disrupting the heteronormative nuclear family relationship greatly. Frederick Douglass said that “My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant…” and that “It is a common custom…to part children from their mothers at a very early age.”(pg. 1). This showing that most children that were born into slavery would grow up having no relationship at all with their own mothers. Also, a lot of slaves were born into slavery by the fact that “children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers,” (pg. 2) and the slaveholder now holds the title of father and master. With being torn from their mother at a young age and having your own father be your master, completely takes away the chance of a child that is born into slavery from having the “normal” nuclear family relationship.

Slavery has and always will be considered an intolerable and inhumane part of our history. We all have some knowledge about slavery; some maybe more than others. I’m sure we all remember as a child learning about the Underground Railroad and Martin Luther King Jr. during Black History Month in February. When you read “Africans in America: Judgment Day–Part 4: 1831 – 1865”, it will shed light on several historical events that you might not be aware of. The information obtained in this article will take you in-depth on actual events that one might find strikingly interesting.

and plastic art for the church as he had done in Africa where religion and art

The African slaves finally found some type of way to understanding in the foreign language and the religion services conducted by Methodist and Baptist ministers.  Although these ministers educating slaves on their Christianity believes, many of the slaves wanted to go to the services to save their souls. This  religions brought forth great believes in Christianity on the African slaves. The number of African slaves that practice Christianity had double do to the numbers of slaves wanted to be saved. Tho  the rise in Africans slaves practicing religion, the owners still did not like it because it was not under their

When slaves married, if the bride was still a slave, the slave owner would retain ownership of the family’s children, who would have to follow the mother’s condition of slavery. Even though slaves would often dream of freedom, they had little hope in a future that looked so discouraging. Linda said of her master, “He had an iron will, and was determined to keep me, and to conquer me.” Then, about her lover, she said, “Even if he could have obtained permission to marry me while I was a slave, the marriage would give him no power to protect me from my master. It would have made him miserable to witness the insults I should have been subjected to. And then, if we had children, I knew they must ‘follow the condition of the mother.’ What a terrible blight that would be on the heart of a free, intelligent father!” (Brent 65). As a matter of fact, slave owners had a weapon even greater than the whip they used to inflict horrible punishments to their slaves. Such weapon was the power of destroying families by selling its members to other slave owners, in other plantations. Black families constantly feared the thread of sale, which was the cause of many children being raised by single mothers or other family members. Too often, infuriated mistresses would sell the illegitimate children that many slave girls had after enduring abuses. The mistresses didn’t want a reminder of their husbands’ deception, and selling these children into the slave trade was the easiest solution.

In the centuries where slavery was a focal point to economic interests, Africans were kidnapped and shipped to the Americas for the benefit of plantation owners of the developing colonies. Africans were sundered from their families, forced to work on plantations, and treated like cattle. They were viciously beaten when their ‘masters’ felt that they were being rebellious and black women were raped without remorse. Blacks were stripped from their freedom and culture in order to satisfy the needs of Whites. Slavery at this point was sanctioned at the governmental level. This part of history of the United States has always been a sensitive topic due to the barbaric and inhumane treatment that blacks received. As time progressed, blacks were given

Kidnapped, separated, enslaved, identities stripped, ordered, forced, labored, beaten, bones broken, dreams shattered, lost. Everyday, people are forced to work in fields, from sunrise to sunset, worked passed the breaking point, beaten for not being good enough, putting your dinner on the table, suffering, for your luxury. John Adams stated, “Negro slavery is an evil of colossal magnitude”.These innocent, defenseless, people will never get to follow their dreams, pursue their careers, or be independent. They will never know what equality really is. They will never work for their own benefits. They will never experience the power of freedom. They will continue to feel the torture and so will the many generations

It was for this reason that some single slaves chose not to seek romance until after freedom was gained. Plantation owners could arrange marriages in order for numerous childbirths, to increase the number of slaves on the plantation. This reminded me of arranged marriages practiced in the Middle East, although those marriages were not as harsh and not solely meant for childbirths.

In 1619 the first African slaves arrived into the United States to help with the production of crops that colonies like Jamestown needed assistance in gathering. With the idea of cheap labor being introduced the slavery system was created and would eventually evolve into a nightmare of constant abuse and cruelty. Slaves were thought of as just items to be owned and possessed no legal power. They were given scraps of food and small portions of water to split amongst other slaves who lived on or around the plantation. In attempts to keep the slave community under control, slave holders used dehumanizing physical tactics to break down the slave’s psych and keep them in a state of oppression. This state of oppression has been reinforced throughout generations leading into recent times where the African American community remains fractured by the same previous tactics just renamed. In Jacobs’s narrative Incidents in the life of a slave girl the typical slave family was torn apart while surviving physical and emotional punishment. Linking the African American plight to recent conditions sociologists has associated certain conclusions of U.S. slavery as having a connection to the state of the African American community today. Majority of households are run by a single parent home and the black community is still being controlled through physical punishment by a corrupt justice system. Similar to Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl we continue to see the destruction of the African

For Blacks at this time families were the only thing they could hold on to (for the most part). It gave them a sense of purpose. Owners would sometimes allow marriages and families, but others did not and would sell the family in pieces. With loving others, slaves gained a sense of bravery and resistance. Just like in Harriet Jacobs we see Linda do everything in her power to be with and eventually rescue her children. She stopped at nothing and even redraw boundaries that had not been broken before. Family mattered so much that she hid in an attic for 7 years in unlivable conditions in order to remain an earshot from her growing

Slavery was one of the most horrific and in human acts ever instilled on a race of people ever in our world's history. People were stolen from their homelands, broken apart from their families, and were thrust into a lifestyle that inhibited their every move and instilled harsh punishments on them. It is almost impossible for many of us to comprehend the mindsets that these slave owners possessed, but history paints a truly horrific and emotional picture for us all to see.

Slavery done so we do not need to remember it!” Respond to this statement drawing specific reference to the nature of slave society and how the enslaved fought against their enslavement.

Although they weren’t slaves, they were still abused mentally and physically. The African Americans in our

The language of family is a universal one. While one may not prioritize family above all else, they will still be able to see that every person deserves the chance to live in a healthy environment, including a family- one could mention life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, slave narratives from the 18th and 19th century have shown us the previously commonly held belief that African slaves were somehow less than human, and therefore could not love their families in the same way white people did, or need to exist by the same standard of decent living as white people. Descriptions of family life and living conditions given to us by slaves show just how determined white slave owners were to make their constructed stereotypes realities, and expose justifications for slavery as just that- justifications. Former slaves like Frederick Douglass, Mary Prince, Venture Smith, James Mars, and William Grimes shared their stories not only to aid in the fight to end slavery, but all of the harmful stereotypes about people of African descent that had developed along with the institution of slavery.