The Horrible Treatment Of Slavery

In his narrative, Douglass expresses incredulity at the fact that onlookers could hear anything but the deepest sadness in these slave songs. Writes Douglass, “I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake.” As suggested

The South, on the other hand, was highly dependent upon the institution of slavery. It was still primarily an agricultural society that needed as many laborers as possible in order for the plantation owners to make ends meet. According to historian Douglas Harper, “In 1793 came the cotton gin, which brought a 50-fold increase in the average daily output of short-staple cotton, promoted the rapid expansion of a ‘cotton kingdom’ across the Deep South, and made large-scale slavery profitable.” Because of this, the slave became an essential tool to the farmers of the south; more money became invested in slavery rather than in industrial improvements. Based upon the 1860 U.S. Census, there were almost a whopping total of four million slaves in the South alone. In fact, the more slaves an owner had, the more prestige. “Most slave owners owned fewer than five slaves, and only 12 percent of Southerners had twenty or more slaves. Many whites who had no slaves looked with envy upon the wealthy, and to a degree admired them.” This hierarchy had a clearly defined social structure which created distinctions between rich and poor whites as well as racial segregation. This agricultural society and its strict hierarchy only increased the social and racial disparities found in the southern region of the United States.

Quote: “I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy.” (Douglass, 30)

Slavery during this time was the most terrible thing this country has ever allowed to happen, and Douglass agreed. The children were fed “mush” and treated “like so many pigs”, they didn’t deserve that, no one deserves to be treated like that (Douglass 43). Why should someone have to be treated like that? They were humans too, you know. He was always getting a “whipping” for something as small as his “awkwardness” which is horrible (Douglass72). Why did slaveholders find it necessary to always abuse them? They worked for them everyday against their will and they always whipped them for nothing. This time period was absolutely terrible.

No one issue can be claimed as the dominate issue that produced The Civil War. The war was caused by many disputes such as sectionalism, expansion of slavery, and abolitionist. Although there were many issues some were consider to be much more influential than the others. These include sectionalism and the expansion of slavery. The North and South could not seem to stop arguing over the expansion of slavery to the west as well as their many differences in other areas.

The institution of slavery dates back before written records. The term slave was originally a derivative from the historical French and Latin medieval word for Slavic people of central and Eastern Europe. [ (wikipedia, 2010) ] In North America, the class system is systematically at the root of every socioeconomic and political issue resulting in Super companies, multibillionaires and the formation of lobbyists and special interest groups; there always has and always will be the have and have-nots. Unfortunately, for African Americans who have historically been the have-nots, that does not seem to have changed as evidenced by recent events like the Jenna 6. African Americans have a history uniquely

Back when there was Slavery it was unfair to some people, at least to the African Americans. By unfair I mean the whites, like most of us would torture the Africans. Some of the things the owners did was made the slaves work in fields without pay and they had no control over their own self, their owner did. But, if they were not doing, that the owners would do something bad like whip them with a whip with metal on the end.

In this short -yet well written- autobiography, Fredrick Douglas exposes the dehumanization and the brutality of slavery, while sharing his own story of defiance and escape. His great use of repetition is powerful and effective in conveying the underlying themes and meanings of the novel. Fredrick Douglas was a voice and an inspiration for all that suffered through slavery. He has impacte and influenced Fredrick Douglass’ own accounts as a slave, and deep insight reminds us of the cruelty and inhumane nature of slavery. He saw slavery as an evil force, creating havoc amongst the slaves and slaves holders.

In the beginning, Europeans were the ones who were viewed as the servants, slaves, and essentially a cheap labor force for the U.S colonies. Soon after, the drought and shortage of slaves worried and caused the people to turn to another source which could supply them with slaves. In result, African American slaves were brought to the U.S to facilitate life and work together with the European workforce. These African Americans came from a multitude of places including Africa and the Caribbean. From this day forth the lives of all African Americans changed, having an everlasting effect on their lives. After this, African Americans were viewed as slaves and it was the norm back then, which was a harsh, cruel reality. This is how life was and to change it would be revolutionary. People, the Nation, productivity, economy, and much more revolved around the work and importance of the slave. As time went on, some people realized that these people were human too, not only just property, and many outbreaks and revolts started to arise. From these small scale matters arose much greater matters, and it finally would end up to be revolutionary. While the Nation grew, so did the interests of individuals and industries. The South, otherwise known as Confederacy was a place where the economy was based solely off agriculture, which required the work of the slaves. Rather in the North, there was a blast of industrialization and the work of slaves was no longer really required. With many other

There is no denying that the period of time where slavery was legal in America was a dark time that all wish was expunged from the nation’s history. Ever since the end of WWII came around and Japanese and victims of the Holocaust started to receive reparations for the ordeals then endeavored. This launched a proposal that the descendants of the enslaved people in the United States would be given some type of compensation. The form of compensation varies from individual monetary payments to land-based payment. Although the American enslavement of African Americans was unjust, the American has undergone new government and the new one should not be held responsible for the actions of the previous. Although reparations to some might seem like

American society has a several ethnic group mixed together in one country. Many People immigrate from their country into America to achieve things aren 't exist their country, Like better life, job opportunities education, and freedom. One of these ethnic groups is Nigerian who is living in America. they had come to U.S long time ago by different ways. First, they brought America as slaves. and second they immigrate into U.S to change their life from bad to better.

Douglass corrects white reader’s misconceptions about the slave’s assumed happiness by illustrating the song’s true meaning through his personal experience “within the circle.” Douglass is astounded that northerners believed they were singing songs out of happiness; he says, “I have often been astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake” (26). Douglass explains that the songs create a common experience among all slaves. Therefore, those outside the circle are ignorant to believe that their songs are out of happiness or contempt. In actuality, “slaves sing most when they are the most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears” (26). Douglass makes it clear that slaves are actually evident on a sub-conscious level of deep unhappiness. The singing is a coping mechanism, per say, to the aching hearts. The songs are not a pastime

Talking about southern expansionism would not be complete without the mention of the interstate slave trade. This is most applicable when we talk about one aspect of the slave trade that often gets overlooked, the Atlantic Slave Trade. When mentioning the Atlantic Slave Trade, it is the fact that southerners considered reopening the trade after its dissolution in the beginning of the nineteenth century. Interestingly enough, there were movements by southerners to reopen the Atlantic Slave Trade that were in the name of southern expansion. One such individual was a man by the name of Leonidas Spratt, a young South Carolinian editor who bought the Charleston Southern Standard and turned it into a mouthpiece for promoting the issue of reopening the Atlantic Slave Trade (Deyle 78-79). One of the many arguments individuals like Spratt used was that reopening the trade would enhance the political power of the south by adding more population, thus adding more slave states. This is central to the idea of this essay, as the growth of cotton was not entirely responsible for instigating expansion. Likewise, Spratt also argued that reopening the trade “strengthen[ed] the southern economy by lowering the costs of production and increasing the profits” (Deyle 79). While not explicitly mentioning cotton, the same idea of expansion stands in its place. Individuals like Spratt were eventually unsuccessful in reopening the trade due to a minimal amount of support, but it goes to show how even

There are other stories in the narrative, about white women being sold into slavery, and their relatives having to go to court and prove their relation in order to get them free. White children were also sold into slavery, by their own parents. In other story, a white man and an African American woman, lived together, and because interracial marriage was illegal and they could not live together without ruining the white man’s reputation. However, when he dies they are sold into slavery, and become the property of a man claiming to be his cousin. The family is torn apart and they have to escape to New York, but not before the mother kills herself, because she is now another man’s property, (Craft, 55).

What the average person does not know about slavery is all of the inhumane behavior that was tolerated. To describe these acts as cruel would be an understatement, Douglass does not hold back on the tragedies he witnessed and he does not hold back on sharing them with the world. For so many years slave owners comforted themselves in the thought of the romantic image of slavery, claiming it was God’s will to let these people suffer, claiming that it was not an extreme environment. The only