Slavery By Another Name By Douglas Blackmon

More literature written about slaves by non-slaves exist than those written by slaves themselves; this general trend also applies to the Brazilian literary canon. Historians seek out these slave texts because the literature provides a unique perspective on slave societies and slavocracies. One such historian, Robert Krueger, has collected many Brazilian slave texts during his research in order to create a corpus of such literature similar to that found in the United States. Krueger argues that “nothing compares to the power and meaning of these slaves’ testimonies” because they contain the slaves’ self-portrayal and self-expression, qualities that are missing in other texts (p 170). In the article Brazilian Slaves Represented in their Own Words, Robert Krueger goes over some of the authentic slave texts in his current collection that not only highlight the slaves’ strength and beauty, but also demonstrates the power of writing and language.

Slavery was abolished after the Civil War, but the Negro race still was not accepted as equals into American society. To attain a better understanding of the events and struggles faced during this period, one must take a look at its' literature. James Weldon Johnson does an excellent job of vividly depicting an accurate portrait of the adversities faced before the Civil Rights Movement by the black community in his novel “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.” One does not only read this book, but instead one takes a journey alongside a burdened mulatto man as he struggles to claim one race as his own.

During the 1840s, America saw increasingly attractive settlements forming between the North and the South. The government tried to keep the industrial north and the agricultural south happy, but eventually the issue of slavery became too big to handle, no matter how many treaties or compromises were formed. Slavery was a huge issue that unraveled throughout many years of American history and was one of the biggest contributors leading up to the Civil War (notes, Fall 2015). Many books have been written over the years about slavery and the brutality of the life that many people endured. In “A Slave No More”, David Blight tells the story about two men, John M. Washington (1838-1918) and Wallace Turnage (1846-1916), struggling during American slavery. Their escape to freedom happened during America’s bloodiest war among many political conflicts, which had been splitting the country apart for many decades. As Blight (2007) describes, “Throughout the Civil War, in thousands of different circumstances, under changing policies and redefinitions of their status, and in the face of social chaos…four million slaves helped to decide what time it would be in American History” (p. 5). Whether it was freedom from a master or overseer, freedom from living as both property and the object of another person’s will, or even freedom to make their own decisions and control their own life, slaves wanted a sense of independence. According to Blight (2007), “The war and the presence of Union armies

Douglas Blackmon’s Slavery by Another Name opened my eyes to see what many people fails to see. In junior high, I was taught that slavery ended long ago during the mid 1800’s under President Abraham Lincoln; however, after reading this book, it is apparent that in a figurative sense slavery did actually end at that time. In the more literal sense, the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment was supposed to terminate slavery once and for all, but those who couldn’t accept that still managed to create the Black Codes to continue slavery in different forms and to hinder the growth of African Americans. The author indicated that Neoslavery was a new form of slavery, practiced by those who couldn’t bear the end of slavery.

Professor David Oshinsky paints an excellent picture by elaborating on how the United States dealt with freed slaves post-civil war. Putting into context the treatment of the now “African Americans” back in the year of 1866 and the following years after helps to give a clear idea of what could possibly be “worse than slavery”.

While the formal abolition of slavery, on the 6th of December 1865 freed black Americans from their slave labour, they were still unequal to and discriminated by white Americans for the next century. This ‘freedom’, meant that black Americans ‘felt like a bird out of a cage’ , but this freedom from slavery did not equate to their complete liberty, rather they were kept in destitute through their economic, social, and political state.

While some believe that slavery was completely disadvantageous, many believe that it was beneficial and strengthened the economy. Fitzhugh argues that slavery was never demonized and looked down upon until slaves from the West Indies became affected and he shows this by contrasting examples of how slaves in Europe and Asia were never seen with such attention and liberation. Fitzhugh explains that the call for abolition initially began and is only targeted for negro slavery and how prejudiced it was that slaves in Asia or Eastern Europe never had a “philanthropic crusade attempting to set them free”(Fitzhugh 296). Fitzhugh uses contrast to show how it was hypocritical that slaves in the West Indies received added consideration, while those

During a certain phase of this history, the Civil War began and created a slight change in the “otherness” that African-American slaves felt, however, the “Emancipation Proclamation seemed but to broaden and intensify the difficulties” (Du Bois, 9). The Civil War gave slaves some sort of status for they “were a source of strength to the Confederacy, and were being used as laborers and producers. ‘They constitute a military resource’” (Du Bois, 10) and therefore could not be overturned to the enemy. Soon after, the slaves were able to enlist and “thus the barriers were leveled and the deed was done”. (Du Bois, 10). At this same time, double consciousness lapsed, for everyday “masses of Negroes stood idle, or if they worked spasmodically, were never sure of pay; and if perchance they received pay,

I stared blankly at the screen as the credits rolled in, the black screen appeared indicating that the documentary was over. Pure anger boiled through my blood. I was angry that I’ve been lied too, That I spent years in school believing the lies that were told. The history book tells us that Thomas Edison invented the first light bulb, but in reality it was a black man by the name of Lewis Latimer that made that light bulb flick on. Just like a handful of Africans were brought here to America by those slave ships, I had lost my identity. Slavery is the only past were given. Hidden colors was the documentary that completely transformed me. It brought out my passion for African American History. I never realize how much of an impact a documentary

Douglas A. Blackmon was an award-winning novelist and was very known by his book, “Slavery by Another Name”. This book takes you through a dark time in our past and shows you the lifestyle of an average American. Many of people did not know that slavery was not completely abolished until 1945. Many believed that slavery had stopped after the Civil War. Douglas A. Blackmon gave a clear presentation of the American lives, and the hardship many African-Americans had to live through. Many African-Americans were used under forced labor until every state in the confederation abolished the 13Th amendment. In today’s society, if anyone was seen auctioning off another type of race whether it be a child or an adult, he or she would be arrested for

Life is turning for the worst in Africa, my mom was shot dead. I was then kidnapped and put in chains. We marched a grueling slow pace, as I grew hungrier by the day. We get very little food, and are held as captives against our will. They attached me to three other slaves during the march, and I had shackles around my hands and feet. I no not when or where I will see my father as I mourn about my loss. They placed these circles with pointy metal sticks sticking out around our necks so that if we escaped in the jungle, we wouldn’t get far. The march took months for us to reach the coast because the people attached our left legs to another's right leg. People that couldn’t move on were just left to

The slave system was kept in existence for many years since the early 1600’s. A never ending cycle of pain, and harsh conditions From being in 12 years of slavery, Solomon Northup recounts the time when he had once been a free man to be kidnapped of that freedom back in 1841. The relationships that Northup encountered were neither positive or negative . From friends he gained or his slave masters, the relationships were shaped by slavery and helped intact the slave system. In those relationships, how the supervisors of the slaves treated them impacted the slaves work ethic and the friendships that were made during this harsh time, thus supporting the slave system.

It is hard to put into words how I felt reading Slavery by Another Name. I felt ashamed, but I wasn’t truly shocked. A question is posed at the beginning of the book which would help understand my feelings better, namely “What would be revealed if American corporations were examined through the same sharp lens of historical confrontation as the one then being trained on German corporations that relied on Jewish slave labor during World War II and the Swiss banks that robbed victims of the Holocaust of their fortunes?” Given the legacy of racism and discrimination towards blacks in the south I couldn’t help but feel that there must have been more than what meets the eye. It wouldn’t surprise most I think, given the know atrocities of Nazi Germany, if an investigation was undertaken that revealed even more atrocities that they had committed towards the Jewish people. This is essentially my feeling in reading Slavery by Another Name. In no way am I trying to

One reason I like the book is because it’s adventurous. Jesse is willing to get caught while helping a runaway slave get to Baltimore. The story takes place during the civil war. The book is mostly about slaves and how helping them is wrong and outlawed. The setting takes during the civil war, And helping runaway slaves is outlawed. Jesse is around the age of 12-13, Perry is around 5 years old. Boys Jesse's age would have nearly the same responsibility as a grown man would. In that time period it was hard for women to survive giving birth because the did not have the medical equipment needed.

Benjamin Banneker states, “I presume to prescribe methods by which they may be relieved, otherwise than by recommending to you and all others to wean yourselves from those narrow prejudices which you have imbibed with respect to them” (Banneker 4). Benjamin Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson and George Washington trying to alter their views on slavery in the United States. Banneker brings a substantial amount of notice upon the unjustness of slavery in the United States. He also expresses that those with freedom are taking it for granted, when at one point in time they did not have the freedom, they believed they rightfully deserved. This brings sheds light upon the fact that slavery in the United States should not be present due to the fact that it is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Banneker is arguing for the freedom, equality, and happiness of all African Americans that are being plagued by slavery. In Benjamin Banneker’s “Letter to Thomas Jefferson and George Washington” he utilizes clever loaded words and allusion to express and bring notice upon the unjustness of slavery in the United States.