Did the men or women have it worse during horrible times of slavery? I think the women had it worse. The women had it worse because being born pretty was a bad thing and that something you really can't help or try to prevent. The reason the women hoped their daughters wouldn't be pretty because the "master" would sexually abuse them over and over. I'm sure when the women resisted the "master" he would physically abuse them too. The men on the other hand were beaten almost to death. The men would get more physically beat and they would get whipped. Back then anything could make the "master" wanna beat them. If they wouldn't move fast enough or even look at the "master" wrong, he would go crazy. The women would mostly in the house or in the
In many ways, the lives of the indentured servants in Virginia and those of the African slaves working in the West Indies were very similar; they both were working for a master and had to live through harsh conditions. However, minor differences in working and living conditions provided slightly different lives for the better or for the worst.
Throughout time, in all places, there is an upper class and a lower class. During the 16th to 19th century in America people came from all over Europe. People from Europe found America as an escape from their life; a new start. Some could not afford to take a boat ride across the Atlantic with their whole family. Because of this, some people became indentured servants. Later on, the South revolutionized America by bringing in black slaves and getting rid of indentured servitude. Slaves generated the economy for the South, but was also the main cause of the civil war. Both slaves and indentured servants were treated badly, however, black slaves were much more expensive and had to work for life,
During the time prior to the twentieth century our world accepted slavery as a normal part of life. Aphra Behn and Phillis Wheatley, both female authors born about 100 years apart, had their own views of slavery and wrote poems and stories about the subject. These women were physically different, Aphra was a Caucasian, and Phillis was an African American, and their lives were rather different as well. Aphra was a spy and playwright, who lived the middle class life and Phillis, was a slave who was taken from her homeland, brought to America, sold into slavery, then later freed. I believe that both writers’ views were difficult to figure out, especially by just reading their works.
Did Gender Make a Difference within Slavery? Within slavery there were harsh conditions which Frederick Douglass tries to convey in his biography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." Within this narrative he dezribes how men and women slaves were treated differently by their masters. Women were abused by their master, physically, sexually, and mentally, while men were mostly abused physically and mentally. Many slave women suffered regular beatings.
Back in the 1800s, what individuals suffered the most? African American individuals weren 't even considered to be humans or "individuals" based on the way how they were treated. African American slaves were transported in boats across the sea, with a limited amount of space and sanitation. At the end, during their ownership of white masters, African Americans lost everything and by everything I mean morals, dignity, and "their bodies". Usually these slaves died or suffered because they were traumatized, other slaves that gained their morals, dignity and bodies survived his stage in humanity and fought for their freedom. The ones that were lucky and were taught by their white masters how to read and write, decided to write about their story and publish it. This didn’t only affect African American males and females but it also affected the morals of white men and women. At the end of the day, race and gender influenced the lives of individuals and how they were treated in society.
Ever since the colonial days the North and South had very different ideas in the way they viewed slavery.
Slavery and Its Impact on Both Blacks and Whites Slavery and Its Impact on Both Blacks and Whites The institution of slavery was something that encompassed people of all ages, classes, and races during the 1800's. Slavery was an institution that empowered whites and humiliated and weakened blacks in their struggle for freedom. In the book, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, slave Frederick Douglass gives his account of what it was like being a slave and how he was affected. Additionally, Douglass goes even further and describes in detail the major consequences the institution of slavery had on both blacks and whites during this time period. In the pages to come, I hope to convince you first of the mental/emotional and
Throughout history there have been many victors in war, and through these victors they would claim all kinds of rewards. These rewards could range from money to slaves. The slaves that were captured were usually not discriminated by race, but when the United States took on slavery it was on a different scale. The slaves were stripped of their basic human rights, taken away from their home by force, and was trained to become better slaves. America had slaves for 245 years the slaves turned out to be a big part in the day to day life, without the slaves America would not be able to get to where they are at today. Even though half of the United States agreed that owning slaves and the idea of slavery was a good thing the other half of the United States did not treat the slaves any better. With the
Sarah Grimke writes, “By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law; that is, the very being, or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband under whose wing, protection and cover she performs everything” (Grimke 1). What Grimke is explaining is that the man would take control of everything that the woman owned after marriage and they became one person, but the man had all the power to do what he wanted with what they owned, even whatever the female owned before they became married. In both senses, slaves and women were being “absorbed” by the master or husband as he took complete control over them and what they owned. Another similarity between slaves and married white women was the cruel way that they were spoken to, they were both disrespected. Slave overseers often treated the slaves with much disrespect and cruelty to scare them and keep them in order. Grimke points out that “The slaveholder does kill his slave by moderate correction, as the law allows; and many a husband, among the poor, exercises the right given him by the law, of degrading women by personal chastisement” (Grimke 3). Men felt a sense of authority over both slaves and women to talk down on them in order to feel more powerful. Lastly, Women and slaves were similar in that they both
A life of servitude sounds better than slavery one would think. Committing a petty crime in America, could yield a life of bondage in the prison system, once released for time served. Convicted felons what society calls ex-prisoners are constantly tormented with life on the inside of prison bars, while attempting to adapt to life on the outside of prison bars. Offenders, struggle emotionally, physically, from his or her experiences while incarcerated, and financially of course secondary to conviction, some or unable to gain employment. Resulting, back to a life of crime. Lawmakers continue to pass tougher laws on petty convictions, while privately funded correctional organizations are all about the capital, not the rehabilitation and or
Slaves were not usually treated with respect in the households they worked in, most of the time, slaves were treated horribly. They would be raped, beaten, teased, whipped, and were victims of many cruel and unusual punishments that are unimaginable to the human race present day. Family was the most important thing to the African culture. Brothers tried their hardest to look over their younger sisters as best as possible. Old women and men with no family members to turn to, looked to the comfort of nieces, nephews, and cousins when they fell ill, and aunts and uncles played a primary part in the family as well. Men were not the only ones that were forced to take part in daily labor and routines but also women and children. Some slaves were assigned outside work in which they would tend the crops and more commonly known work the plantations on their masters estate. Women were more commonly assigned to kitchen work such as cleaning the houses, washing clothes, cooking meals, working as servants, and tending to the masters each and every need. Most women who worked in the houses were brutally raped by their masters whether or not they were married to a man or not. Although most women worked in a home setting, there were some women who did work outside with the men and children. Work was difficult on the slaves and their masters were not empathetic towards them in
Women slaves endured far worse punishment and cruelty than men ever did. Lets begin with women’s duties. Their duties consisted of two parts. The first part was that of being a household servant. They did the cleaning, cooking, cared for the white children of their Mistress and Master, and other household duties. Secondly, slave women had to not only maintain the household, at times, they were also expected to work in the fields and slave like the men on the plantations. Things like picking cotton, cleaning outside, feeding animals, and hoeing the grounds for planting crops. Slave men were never made to perform women duties.
America, the land of the free, holds 25% of the world’s prisoners yet only has 4% of Earth’s population. Once the 13th Amendment was passed the incarceration of African Americans increased substantially. The prison population of the United States rose from about 300,000 in 1972 and now it is at 2.3 million and rising. Although slavery was abolished with the 13th amendment, discrimination took a new form as institutionalized racism began to rise in law enforcement and political advances in America.
Slavery in America started in 1619 when settlers brought over African Americans to Jamestown, Virginia. The slaves came to Jamestown to work on the tobacco plantations. The slaves were also sent to other colonies such as South Carolina to work on the cotton plantations. Slaves were people who worked for no pay. This caused the land owners to make more profit from their plantations because they didn’t have to pay their workers. Southern slave owners, specifically in South Carolina, relied on slavery as a major part of their economy.
After the Revolution, there was a large shift in what people considered economic freedom. There became a great divide between freedom and slavery; additionally, there became a large divide between the ways of income in northern and southern America. As indentured servitude came to an end, the northern economy was based on free labor, where people made money by “working for wages or owning a farm or shop” (Foner, 227). Former indentured servants, as well as some former slaves, benefitted from this transition as they were now paid for their work. The north turned to free labor in order to “produce social harmony and public gain” (Foner, 231), while the south continued to stick to their previous ways. The south remained dependent on slave labor