Public History Project - Essay Example

The paper will explore various aspects of this museum and its significance in providing to us the historical context of American Civil War in relation to abolition of slavery in America.       Freedom House Museum is situated in the state of Alexandria in United States. It is based on the building that was originally possessed by a trading firm that used to deal in slaves. It was back in 1800’s when this company came into being to fulfill the requirements of people who wanted to own slaves for money.

The slaves were basically Blacks who were deprived of any right to claim their freedom and were thus treated as slaves by birth. It was the result of the lack of realization of basic human rights in that era. The slavery had been started from 1706 with the advent of trade with Africans. The Africans were forced to the other areas where people purchased them on account of money. However, the advent of domestic slavery took place in 1860’s where natives Americans were being held captives. Not only adult men and women were enslaved but children were also being kept as slaves.

      The historians have narrated various incidents, which shed light on the type of treatment slaves had to go through. The people visiting Freedom House Museum can witness the artifacts providing an overview of the life of slaves before the start of Civil War in America. The people bought as slaves were treated worse than animals and were whipped often. There was no difference being considered among the enslavement of an adult and a child. In a book, ‘Slavery and the Making of America’, the author throws light on the pathetic life of slaves by narrating heartrending tales by slaves themselves.

The book describes the torture the Black slaves had to undergo that was based on occasional beating, chaining down with other severe punishments that were being imposed on a minor mistake committed by the slave. The slaves were forced to do any kind of work their master assigned them and were not appreciated for their work. Instead, it was considered their duty to please their master without questioning anyone about their slavery.       The slaves were used for various purposes among which using them as laborers to work in fields or other jobs was a common practice by Americans.

They were also made to construct buildings that were basically the earliest ones to be constructed. Moreover, there was a high demand of slaves for working in cotton fields which was met by the slave trading firms that provided domestic slaves on payment of money. Nearly 1000 slaves were being sold by a trading firm by Franklin and Armfield in a year. In the museum, there are numerous artifacts with pictures of the owners of slave trading firm. There are heavy iron shackles as well that were used to chain down the slaves.

The area brings to one’s mind the sad aspects of history where the value of a human being was lesser than an animal.       While going through the Freedom House Museum, one gets an insight into the history of US Civil War as well which was caused to end slavery from America. Abraham Lincoln once the president of America is credited with the abolition of slavery who initiated a campaign to end the enslavement of Blacks. A civil war came into place from 1861 to 1865 that resulted in the deaths of thousands of militants and innocent civilians.

The Northern America succeeded in civil war that was