The Nature of Difference Between Northup and Other Slaves - Assignment Example

Twelve Years a Slave. Northup was different from the other slaves As mistress Epps believed Northup did not have the manner or bearings of a slave.Unlike other slaves Northup was educated and could read and write while the other slaves were generally literate. He had also been a freeman for thirty years and knew the joys and pleasures of having a family and education. He had known freedom but wisely did not disclose it because he knew it meant that he would be hidden in the very depths of slavery . His only hope lay in the possibility of rescue from his current predicament and had patiently waited for fifteen years until a he was finally rescued. The nature of difference between Northup and other slaves? How are his aspirations different from that of other slaves: While Northup was born a freeman had only one hope to be restored back to liberty and re- reunited with his wife and family. Most Southerners believed that a slave has no concept of freedom but they were wrong in this regard. Slaves understood the privileges and benefits that belonged to freedom. That it would bestow upon the fruits of their own labor and they would get a chance at domestic happiness. Northup takes the example of Patsey who believed that the North was a utopia and a land of freedom where there were no masters and no slaves. It was a blissful dream for Patsey where a black man toiled his own soil and lived in his own cabin. (pp260) The Work, Family and Social Relationships Work: Slaves were required to be on field at dawn and were permitted no idle until it was too dark see. They were given only a moment to eat their share of cold bacon .Until the order to halt is given by the driver they don’t dare stop even if its dinner time or the time to return to their quarters (pp167). Then they have t o carry the cotton to be weighed, every slave used to dread the weighing as they were whipped if they brought less cotton. After storing the cotton, in the cotton house. The slaves were required to complete their other chores which included feeding their mares collecting extra wood, and the packing which had to complete by candle light. Family: Often female slaves were separated from their children, when their slave masters decided to sell off a parent separating them from their babies. As in the case of Eliza, who bore a child called Emily from Mater Berry, who was sold to a slave trader called Burch. Though Eliza was very devoted to her children she was sold off to Master Freeman without Emily and the separation broke her heart. Leisure and Social relationships. Slaves looked forward to Christmas as they were allowed a three day holiday and were allowed to meet old friends and have some respite from hard labor. Mistress McCoy also allowed them a feast and social gatherings where the slaves celebrated Christmas with songs and dances. Gender relations between slaves Marriage is contracted among slaves with the permission of the respective owner. Either party can have as many husbands and wives as they want and discard each other at their pleasure. The law relating to bigamy and divorce was not applicable to slaves. According to the law on slaves, if the couple lived separately in different plantations they only allowed to meet each other on Saturdays. (pp221) Oppression of female slaves Female slaves were discarded when they grew old and were too weak to work in the cotton fields. Northup takes the example of elisha berry when who was bartered for a trifle to some man in the vicinity of peter comptons who lashed and abused her despite her age and weakness, (pp159).They had to contend with the lewd intentions of their masters i.e. Patsey was being tormented by Epps (228) How did they cope with cruelty both physical and psychological? The life led by slaves was a hard one, they were subjected to untold sufferings, they were subjected to hard labor had an attitude of resignation to whippings and punishment. (pp 241). The hard labor was such that many of the slaves, when too sick or worn out to work would escape into the swamps and willingly bear punishment, for a day or two of rest. Sometimes the flaying were so traumatic as in the case of Patsey that though the slave population sympathized with her they could not lift a finger to protect her. Her manner changed after the public flogging, she was not the bright and spritely girl that she used to be, and often cried for mercy in her sleep. The slaves were too scared to runaway. In New York, Northup had met with slaves who accompanied their southern masters who looked well dressed and well taken care of (pp 26). It was the fear of punishment if they were recaptured that deterred them from taking a chance at freedom. As in the case of Wiley who was flogged most brutally after his attempt to runaway (pp 240) in Northup’s words “No man who has been in such a situation can comprehend the thousand obstacles thrown in the way of a flying slave .Every white man’s hand is raised against him , the patroller’s are searching for him , the hounds are ready to follow on his track and the nature of the country is such it is rendered impossible to pass through it safely.” Unity and division amongst the slave population (pp247) The slave population of Bayou Boeuf often considered the idea of fighting their way to Mexico and to freedom however there were those slaves who sought to curry favor from their slave masters. A slave called Lew Cheney who believed that the flight to freedom would not work sacrificed his companions and confessed to his master about the rebellion and lied that the slaves intended to kill every white man in Bayou. Of course the repercussions were severe; many slaves were slaughtered in Alexandria. It was only after they realized that Northup had been rescued and was going back home to his family that the slave community that e lived in forgot all their sorrows and stood by him in his moment of victory. How did southerner s justify slavery? Southerners, as children were brought to not only accept the institution of slavery but to glory in it. To southerners a slave was nothing more than an animal, which had the gift of speech and a piece of property. The believed that it was the destiny of a slave to be whipped and kicked and scourged through life ; with hat in hand and a position of servility while addressing a white man .(pp 261) As Epps told Avery, he believed that black men and women were nothing more than chattel as he had bought and paid for them and believed that because it was permitted by law to hold slaves He had Epps had every right to treat them as he wanted.(Pp 267) Was there such a thing as a good master? According to Northup, William ford and Madam McCoy were good masters and in his own words describes Ford as “He was a model master, walking uprightly, according to the light of his understanding and fortunate was the slave who came into his possession.”(pp 90). William ford treated his slaves as humans and often spend time with them reading aloud to them from the Holy Scriptures. Master Ford was a good man he not only rescued Northup from Tibeats but also made sure that he was healed. What prompted Northup to condemn the institution but not the southerners? Northup says that It is not the fault of the slave master that he is cruel, but the fault of the slavery system under which he lives, They were well fed, well clothed and happy slaves if the slave master was humane but he goes on to assert that any institution that tolerates and inhumanity is a cruel and barbaric system (Pp206). Southerners also wanted Northup to be free again Northerners were against the idea of slavery and the traffic in human lives went against the very grain of their belief in religious and moral values The Southerners did not wish to anger the United States government as it would lead to the complete abolishment of slavery in the southern states. According to the statute of May 13 1840 (pp290), that required the rescue of free citizens from slavery. It provided that the Governor upon receipt of satisfactory information about a free citizen forced into slavery in any other state of United States, was required to take steps for the liberty of a citizen as deemed was necessary and had to appoint an agent who took appropriate measures on behalf of the governor. It must also be noted that Northup’s disposition and hard work often made him a favorite with his masters especially with Thomas Ford and his wife, who were glad to see him as a free man. It was due to the fact that it had been proved Northup was a free-man of New York and fearing the repercussions of enslaving a freeman, they provided assistance to the agent of the Governor. Read More