The Struggle Between Slavery And Children

Ophelia Settle Egypt, informally known as Ophie, was an African American woman ahead of her time. She attained the educational status of less than one percent of the American population, was liberal and accepting of others despite the criticism around her, fought to end racism, worked independently of her husband, and believed in limiting family growth. All of Egypt’s beliefs and lifetime achievements represent a new type of woman: a woman who refuses to assimilate to her gender stereotype of weak, inferior, and domestic. Egypt dedicated her life to social work through various activities. She worked as a sociologist, researcher, teacher, director of organizations, and social worker at different times in her life. Egypt’s book, The Unwritten History of Slavery (1968), and the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Southeast Washington D.C. named after her represent Egypt’s legacy and how one person is capable of social change.

Most slaves in the antebellum South were born on plantations. The children born into slavery did chores around the quarters until they were of age to work beside their parents.

Slave children were treated horribly. “The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush…” (Douglass) When they were fed they had to eat out of trough like pigs while they would have to eat corn meal boiled into a mush. Slaves were never given enough time to finish their meal and were rushed to get back to work. They

As time progressed this was a rarity. More and more the slave owners found ways to keep their slaves their property. As mentioned above, getting a female slave pregnant was one way. The owners would consider the pregnant woman non useable. This would make her period longer. Some owners would count the whole time she was raising the child against her saying that she was unable to perform her duties fully because she was distracted by the raising of her child. At times the service of an indentured servant’s contract would be passed on to their children due to illness or death. When servants became ill, the Master would charge them for the medical bills that were incurred. And often the medical treatment was subpar to keep the servant below a hundred percent so that the master could continue to rack up time again the servant. Indentured servants had few rights. They could not vote. Without the permission of their masters, they were not allowed to marry, to leave their houses or travel, or buy or sell anything. Female indentured servants were often raped without legal retribution. As mentioned at the start most indentured servants were put to work in the tobacco fields of Virginia and some of Maryland. This was hard manual labor under the sizzling hot summer sun and extreme humidity, an elemental condition which

Slavery in America was a horrible time in history. Africans that were captured from warfare from West Africa and were being traded as slaves for goods (Vasconcellos). Slavery did not just stop at enslaving adults, but children were also enslaved. Children of slaves were born into slavery. Slave families were always on the constant threat of being separated (Williams, 2010). This meant that many enslaved children did not grow up with their parents around. In addition, parents were unable to protect their children. As stated in the article by “How Slavery Affected African American Families,” by Heather Andrea Williams, parents had a possibility of being sold away from children. This was something that parents were afraid of and children would soon become aware of (Williams, 2010). This influenced how African American families lived. This also had an influence in the upbringing of African American children. Louis Hughes mentions in his autobiography, Thirty Years a Slave, From Bondage to Freedom of the horrendous treatment of slaves (Hughes, 1897). In Hughes’s book, he seemed to be a passive victim to the cruel treatment from his owner. Stories like his leads to the idea of African American children being passive victims to the institution of slavery. By examining the way African American children played, as Steven Mintz explains in the

Slavery has been around since the start of colonial times in America. At first, it was not very popular, but after more and more people came to America, the industry increased a substantial amount. When the production of cotton increased, the amount of slaves began to increase as well. Plantation owners feared the rebellions of slaves so they whipped and beat them, or is more serious cases killing them, so they learned to not turn on their owner or run away. There were different ways of taking care of the slaves as a Plantation owner. One of the ways was giving their slaves plenty of food, clothing, and not beating the very often. On the other hand, other owners were very cruel to their slaves and beat them often while giving them very little food and one set of clothing. There were pros and cons to each method of caring for the slaves. Conditions and experiences for slaves in the south were different for every slave, whether the were a truth or a lie. There are many stories that are told about the slaves, but they do not know what it is like to be one unless they actually live the life of a slave. There are also many stories and spirituals told

The children of slaves had a difficult life. Aside from being separated from their mothers to be raised by an elderly slave on the plantation, they were often tasked with slave duties as well. Being too young to work in the fields, a young slave could have several different jobs on the plantation. Some children were tasked with duties such as cleaning inside the main house. Slaves who worked inside the house, including children, slept in the main house on a pad away from their families who slept outside in the slave shacks. Some children were made to run errands for their master, keep the yards clean, or tend to the smaller livestock on the property. Children were not immune to the abuse that the adult received either.

The history of slavery in the United States is a complex one full of many riveting characters and interesting events. Historians have spent extensive time researching slavery and its effects on the country from its institution until its end in 1865. One popular organization was the American Colonization Society. The society was founded in 1817 and had branches in all major areas of the United States from 1822 to 1913. The society found supporters in many different individuals. One of these characters is a Louisiana slave owner named John McDonogh. Contrary to the norms of the time, John McDonogh formulated a plan to free a select number of his slaves that would then be sent to colonize Liberia. I propose to look at the impact John McDonogh has on the Liberian colonization movement in Louisiana, the contributions he made to slavery as an institution in his local area, and the lasting legacy that he has established in the New Orleans area. .

As children, most of them didn't even know that they were slaves until they grew older and worked every day. Some slave children had been separated from their mothers as infants. For example, a man that lived during the time of slavery, Frederick Douglass, was separated from his mother as an

Children are sold into slavery because of poverty. The author Tim Hume, Lisa Cohen and Mira Sorvino wrote the article "The Women who sold her Daughter to sex slavery". "It was out of debt, that’s why I had to sell her" home et.a. stated. She had to sell her daughter for money to pay for their house and food their debts. It proves it by saying that poverty leads to selling your daughter to sex slavery, poverty can mean a lot of things but in this story, it describes it by selling her because they are in debt they need the money. Poverty dose not just make girls

Slavery in the American South confronts the struggle and loss slaves had to go through. They had to go through loss of family, and freedom.

When a child was born of slave parentage, most slave owners would separate the child from the mother at a young age. Many were taken when they were as young as three, others stayed until they were seven. Some parents of slave children would even take the lives of their families, in order to spare the heartache of seperation. As stated in the article “Slave Family Life” by Digital History,” As a result of the sale or death of a father or mother, over a third of all slave children grew up in households from which one or both parents were absent.” The slave children would then be placed in the care of an older women who was not fit to work in the fields, and the mother would be sent away to a nearby farm. The slave owners believed that separating

From nothing they created new familial relationships and settled into family units, raising offspring in their own homes. However basic these homes may be, they became the start of a new generation born into slavery. These families became the crucible from which slave culture has since developed. Within enslaved families children

Enslavement led to separation of the Africans from their families back at home and even the families that they started while in the United States. Some of the slaves had their families in the United States and they did not preside over their care because their owners could take their sons to work as butlers while the girls in the kitchen or act as concubines to the owners. In some cases, some of the children would be sold to other parts at a good price without consideration their

For the duration of slavery parents were prohibited from caring for their children. The institution was created and implemented to dissolve the material and non-material elements of African culture. This would include caring for children. Africans have an expected way of