The History of American Slave - Essay Example

American Slave Introduction In America, slavery and slave labor existed as an that was legal as from the colonial period. All slaves were black and of African descent. They only got owned by whites. Children that got born by female slaves also became slaves. The only way by which a slave could have gotten freedom is by running away, a thing that was exceedingly difficult to accomplish. Slaves became used for hard and forced labor in white’s plantations. As the demand for labor was high, their demand also became high. They worked on large farms or plantations where the climate and the soil were of exceptional quality and cash crops were lucrative. Slavery White slave owners perpetuated slavery through the ignorance of their slaves. Many people always believed that slave ownership and slavery was in nature a state being. This mentality was with the whites. They resented the blacks and believed that, they did not have the potential to participate in community civics, and as a result, they became kept by whites as workers or slaves. The narrative by Douglass shows the procedures and strategies that slave owners used to gain power over the blacks and keep it from the time of birth onwards (Fredrick 1). The story begins by informing the reader that Douglas is unsure of his date of birth. Loss of identity is the first impression that highlights slavery. The majority of slaves in America had no time concept. All slaves got filled with ignorance to the facts and happenings of the real world. In many cases, there was prevention of slaves from knowing their year of their birth. This prevented them from gaining the knowledge about the true age of their captive (Fredrick 1). Usually, people consider a birthday as something through which they can identify themselves with. Mostly, people practice it as part of their culture, especially among the youth. Therefore, Douglas as one of the slaves considers himself as a human being who lacks what can be considered to be normal childhood mainly through the significance of dates. People can only identify themselves through the use of dates that surround their current events. Part of people’s events can be formed from the use of dates, and this was a privilege that slaves never got. Adding to the loss of identity was the importance of parental figures. Children remained uninformed about the existence of their parents. This imposed ignorance usually robbed children their understanding of nature of personal identity (Fredrick 2). Most parents of the American slaves were either dead or separated at childhood. This gave them an improper childhood. Lack of parental figures meant that, slaves were not aware of parents as well as their families. Therefore, they got treated harshly by their masters who had less regard for human rights for which every slave never got. As a result, Douglas became highly motivated towards the achievement of his goal (Fredrick 4). Education Most slave owners had one great fear that of slaves learning how to write and read. The owners knew that, the less the slaves knew the better they would be. Having the potential to write and read meant that, slaves would realize that they are equal to their masters. This would lead to them questioning slave owners about their treatment towards their fellow men. Douglas started reading and writing. As he kept on reading more it became easy to look at things extraordinarily differently. His attitude changed altogether. He started seeing things, not as a slave but a citizen. As a result of his gain in knowledge, he started to envy illiterate slaves, who did not understand the horrible living conditions. Therefore, he could not at all bear the thought of being captive as a slave (Fredrick 33). Any slave who got noticed by his master to be a quick learner or trying to read and write, he or she would be stopped and discouraged from learning. This is because slave owners never wanted their slaves to become aware of the news about slavery. Slave owners never wanted their slaves to know anything related to being free or freedom. In spite of the harsh rules against teaching of slaves, they always found a way to gain knowledge of how to read or write. All this happened by Douglas holding classes on Sundays where slaves from other farms and plantation who sneaked and risked their lives, came over to learn (Fredrick 34). Cruelty   At the time, when Douglas is extremely young, he witnesses a slave getting whipped for the first time. The slave was his Aunt Hester. Fredrick, a young boy then, got exceedingly frightened, and hid inside a closet, fearing that he could be next. After this incident, extreme cruelty of the slave owners was now evident for Douglas. Despite of age, gender and sex, slave owners, treated the slaves with outrageous cruelty like animals. The worst tragedy happened years later when his grandmother died. In spite of her dedicated services to her master, her grandmother gets cast off to die alone. These kinds of ungrateful treatment inspired feelings of hatred, contempt and despise (Fredrick 5). Life as a slave was extremely brutal. Slaves got overworked and exhausted. A normal working day in the field for slaves was from sun rise to sun set. Slaves got treated extremely badly by their own masters as though they were machinery or farm animals. They received little food, no beds and few articles of clothing in spite of all the work they put in. Whether slaves broke the rules or not, the whipping and beating were often and sometimes they got shot by their overseers of the plantation (Fredrick 27). Douglas was ever a strong man whom no one could break. But when he goes to work for Mr. Covey, he experiences the darkest time of his life. Mr. Covey got reputed for being a slave breaker. For the first six months, a week rarely passed without Douglas being whipped. Slaves were extremely submissive to their master no matter the circumstances. Those who proved to be tough got seriously beaten until they could yield. The unexpected happened when Douglas stood up to defend himself after one serious whipping. It was a serious mistake for a slave to stand and confront his or her master, Douglas did it. And as a result, he defeated his master (Fredrick 57). The American slaves were of African American origin. This meant that they were black while their owners were whites. Therefore, slave owners treated them in a way that showed they never accepted them to be truly human but rather savages and animals. On the other hand, the environment in which the slaves lived dictated the way in which they got treated by their masters. For instance, those slaves who were in urban areas wore decent clothes and ate delightful meals than those who stayed in the countryside or rural plantation areas. Consequently, slave owners in the city were more conscious of being neglectful or cruel towards their own slaves. This was due to the neighborhood that had no slaves. Those who never owned slaves were kind to slaves but, never tolerated the idea of educating their slaves. They believed that, the more the slaves got educated the more unmanageable they become (Fredrick 34). Slavery and slaveholding had its own damaging effects, both to the owner and the slaves themselves. Slave owners enjoyed an irresponsible and corrupt power that had a detrimental effect towards the moral health of slave owners. The temptation of raping and committing of adultery between slave owners and their female slaves was unusually high. This led to them fathering babies with their own female slaves. Due to the threats that this acts posed to the slave owner’s family, the father had to either perpetually punish or sell his own baby. The whites had a law that ensured children of mixed race become slaves just like their mothers. As a result, slave holders profited from their rape practices and cases of adultery, as it increased the quantity of slaves that they owned. Consequently, the master’s wife becomes cruel and resentful. The presence of the female and child slave could irritate her. Therefore, she could treat them harshly and with a lot of contempt or even chase them away from her farm (Fredrick 17). Slave owners counted or regarded slaves as part of their property in spite of them being human beings. This occurred when slaves got passed among slave owners regardless of the existence of the slaves’ families. All slaves were of value to their owners only by the extent to which they could conduct labor that is productive; they often treated slaves as if they were livestock or mere animals (Fredrick 23). Despite all the work that the slaves did, their monthly allowances were so meager. They only received fish or pork and corn meal. They only got given one set of linen clothing for a year. In addition, adult slaves were only given blankets, but no bed. The floor in which they used to sleep on was extremely uncomfortable; they were always too exhausted to hardly notice it (Fredrick 52). On the other hand, slaves were always susceptible to inhumane treatment from their masters. This can be shown in several accounts whereby slaves get shot intentionally and killed by their owners while the murders go unpunished. This is a clear indication that slaves had no freedom to any rights. Their lives were disposable without question, just like animals. Slavery causes dehumanization on the physicality and mentality of men. As a result, slave holding encouraged a lot of violence from slave holders whereby they administered inconsistent punishment to their slaves. This can be shown by how slave owners whip their slaves when they deserve it least, but they neglect to whip them when they deserve it most. For instance, the slave found speaking ill of Colonel Lloyd does not get punished by him until several weeks later. The slaves developed a mentality that no matter the mistake they did, punishment was a must (Fredrick 15). Those slaves who lived in the city had a privilege over those who lived in the countryside as they were closer to prosperity, enlightenment, and a degree of social freedom. For instance, Douglas connects and meets different groups of people and exchange intellectual ideas. By far, those slaves who resided in the countryside or rural areas were extremely limited of freedom. This is because, there was less mobility of slaves in rural areas and the slaves were always under constant and closer scrutiny by their owners (Fredrick 34). Slaveholding cannot be a natural way to live. Someone who was not born to own slaves cannot handle slaves unless he learns and masters the techniques of handling slaves and being their master. This resulted to actions that were cruel and inconsistency (Fredrick 78). Religion Slaves lived in ignorance of religion. Instead of explaining the core values of the teaching of Christianity and the teachings of Christ, slaveholders taught their own hypocritical perversions. They only taught slaves the values that could conceal their evil nature and corruption. Instead of the church standing and opposing slavery and oppression of slaves, it supported it (Fredrick 47). Friendship Slave owners had a fake assumption that slaves will never make friends with each other. This assumption was exceedingly untrue. It is the friendship that existed between slaves that made life easy and slavery not only tolerable, but also palatable. Slaves supported each other in all aspects to the extent that they were even ready to die for everyone. In addition, the love that existed between slaves towards each other was evident, and they usually had to consult from each other in all things. In any case of an escape attempt, they swore not to leave anybody behind and took a pledge for their fortunes and lives. Friendship was extremely vital to slaves. This is because, as they had got separated from their families, they had nobody to rely on or turn to for physical, mental and emotional support (Fredrick 67). Conclusion Slavery and slave ownership institutionalized oppression. This oppression, not only affected slaves, but also their masters. Usually, slavery cripples the moral intellect of a person and the reasoning capacity. It dehumanizes people by limiting their freedom of rights. Freedom from slavery was possible through the elimination of ignorance. The elimination of ignorance was achievable through learning how to read and write.    Works Cited Stepto, Frederick Douglass and Robert B. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. Massachusetts: Harvard Unniversity Press, 2009. Read More