Slavery And Sethe's Essay: The Middle Passage

Slavery was created in pre-revolutionary America at the start of the seventeenth century. By the time of the Revolution, slavery had undergone drastic changes and was nothing at all what it was like when it was started. In fact the beginning of slavery did not even start with the enslavement of African Americans. Not only did the people who were enslaved change, but the treatment of slaves and the culture that each generation lived in, changed as well.

Although, Slavery had existed for centuries as a lowest social status in different parts of the world like Africa, Roman Empire, Middle East and etc., in English colonies slavery gained an importance, because of increasing demand for labor force and becoming relationship legitimated by law. Therefore, Englishmen were the reason of slavery in the colonies and its consequences.

Prior to the publication of any slave narrative, African Americans had been represented by early historians’ interpretations of their race, culture, and situation along with contemporary authors’ fictionalized depictions. Their persona was often “characterized as infantile, incompetent, and...incapable of achievement” (Hunter-Willis 11) while the actions of slaveholders were justified with the arguments that slavery would maintain a cheap labor force and a guarantee that their suffering did not differ to the toils of the rest of the “struggling world” (Hunter-Willis 12). The emergence of the slave narratives created a new voice that discredited all former allegations of inferiority and produced a new perception of resilience and ingenuity.

Slavery was the main resource used in the Chesapeake tobacco plantations. The conditions in the Chesapeake region were difficult, which lead to malnutrition, disease, and even death. Slaves were a cheap and an abundant resource, which could be easily replaced at any time. The Chesapeake region’s tobacco industries grew and flourished on the intolerable acts of slavery.

The first mention of slavery in the Bible is found in Noah's declaration, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers" (Gen. 9:25). He said this after waking up from a naked, drunken stupor and learning that his son Ham had mocked him. Although Ham was the guilty party, Noah's statement was directed at Ham's youngest son Canaan. If he was involved with his father in this act of disrespect, the statement can be taken as the pronouncement of a curse, "Cursed be Canaan." It is possible, however, that Canaan did not join his father in making fun of Noah. If so, the statement would be in the form of a prophecy: "Cursed will be Canaan." Exodus 20:5 and Ezekiel 18:4 clearly declare that God punishes

 Water represents Sethe's transition from slavery to freedom. Sethe left Sweet Home pregnant with Denver, "and ran off with no one's help" (p.224). She ran scared and fearful of the trackers following her trail.  Sethe met Amy Denver, a white women, on her way to Ohio.  Amy helped Sethe find the Ohio River.  The river was "one mile of dark water...[and] it looked like home to her and the baby"(p.83).  When Amy left, Sethe traveled downstream and met Stamp Paid.  He helped her and Denver cross the river to freedom.  Stamp took Sethe upstream, "and just when she thought he was taking her back to Kentucky, he [Stamp Paid] turned the flatbed and crossed the Ohio like a shot" (p.91).  The river locked away the memories of Sweet Home and began her life with Denver at 124.   Water represents the transition of Sethe's slave life to her life of freedom.  Again, water has cleansed the soul of the sin of slavery. The river is now a barrier.  It separates Sethe's life of slavery, to her new life of freedom.

Slavery was always a controversial issue in America. Many people saw slavery as an essential part of life in every aspect, while others saw it as immoral and an injustice to humanity. In the 1840s when Manifest Destiny started to thrive, things began to heat up. New territories meant a possibility for a new slave or free state in America. Because the new territories were allowed the right of popular sovereignty to determine whether they would have slaves or not, abolitionists and non-abolitionists were at a constant battle to gain a new state.

The Bible is the best-selling book of all time, and with good reason. For the stories written in it have changed the way many think and even believe when it comes to the power greater than this world. The Bible holds very specific opinions on things such as slavery, who humans should treat each other, and ultimately social justice. It has been one of the most important foundations for allowing social reform to occur in modern day history as well as the history of the whole world. However, it is forgotten in history class how prominent the ancient texts have changed the people. When looking at the history, it is discovered to be the strength of great people who have used its wisdom to bring about a change for those who could not do it on

So many people wanted slaves, especially in the South. They had more farms than they could handle on their own. Northern owners wanted them because they would have to do less work. Very few owners treated their slaves nicely and paid them to do work around the house. They would not be treated like family but would get treated a whole lot better than your “typical slave.” Those kinds of circumstances occurred more in the Northern states than the Southern states.

Legal treatment of the slaves changed marginally from colony to colony, as indicated by the territory’s economic structure. For instance, the northern colonies had less slaves an inevitably banned slavery. In spite of the fact that slavery was abolished in 1804, they were stilled financially reliant on the institution. A considerable lot of the northerners vested in guaranteeing that slavery in the south kept on developing because they relied on the export of fish, liquor and dairy products

In “Domestic Slavery,” Francis Wayland makes the case for the theological prohibition, and so general abolition, of racial slavery. His particular thesis is most apparent in his conclusion, where he claims that “the Christian religion not only forbids slavery, but that it also provides the only method in which, after it has been established, it may be abolished, and that with the entire safety and benefit to both parties” (197). Wayland’s argument therefore has two burdens: first, to show how Christianity establishes a prohibition against slavery; and second, to show how Christianity provides the peaceful means of abolishing the already existing and entrenched system of racial slavery. The innovation of Wayland’s argument is how the first claim is linked to the second.

Slavery in the United States was a form of unfree labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865. Most slaves were black and were held by whites, although some Native Americans and free blacks also held slaves; there were a small number of white slaves as well.

In the American colonies, Virginians switched from indentured servants to slaves for their labor needs for many reasons. A major reason was the shift in the relative supply of indentured servants and slaves. While the colonial demand for labor was increasing, a sharp decrease occurred in the number of English migrants arriving in America under indenture. Slaves were permanent property and female slaves passed their status on to their children. Slaves also seemed to be a better investment than indentured servants. Slaves also offered masters a reduced level of successful flight.

Slavery developed in the Americas because of exploration and need or labor. Europeans captured Africans and transported them across the deadly Middle Passage, to the Americas, where they would be forced to poor under harsh conditions. Slavery had many lasting effects. Africa was depopulated, and Africans in America lost their cultures and identity while Europeans made money from the resources being exported in the Americas at the expense of Africans’ lives and culture.

“Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man”. Two men may follow the same religion but their beliefs and values will differentiate them from being a relentless man or a compassionate man. Although a man’s religious principles may follow what they believe their God wants, it doesn’t justify any crimes or villainous acts. In Thomas Paine’s essay African Slavery in America, he builds several strong arguments in order to convey the message that slavery is unjust and to persuade the Americans that we should not continue the horrid practice. Paine uses his knowledge of religion, humanity and law to strengthen his claim that slavery is immoral.