Comparing Slavery In A Mercy And Anderson's Chains

The Revolutionary War was a time during which many Americans experienced a sudden burst of liberation and passion that they had not experienced previously. However, not all people living in the states were privileged enough to experience this freedom. In his text, Generations of Captivity, Ira Berlin argues that the Revolutionary War was an important stepping stone towards the criminalization of slavery and the freedom of enslaved peoples in the United States. However, Toni Morrison’s A Mercy, and Anderson’s Chains clearly paint a different portrait of slavery as tensions in the New World rose to the breaking point. The stark contrast between slave-master relationships as depicted in A Mercy, and relationships as depicted in Chains show an evolution of the institution of slavery moving towards violence and more oppressive behavior. As illustrated by these dramatic shifts between Chains and A Mercy, despite arguments presented in
He states in the opening of his chapter on the Revolutionary War, “...the revolutionary era offered slaves new opportunities to challenge both the institution of chattel bondage and the allied structures of white supremacy.” (Berlin, 2003) Berlin viewed the division created by the revolution as an opportunity for slaves to fight for their freedom. He also credits the war for an uprising of abolitionism in the Americas, “The invocation of universal equality-most prominently in the American Declaration of Independence… further strengthened the slave’s hand.” This argument of “if all men are made equal why aren’t black men made equal as well,” did play a prominent role in the emergence of the abolitionist movement. These points made by Berlin do hold a lot of power, and do show that the Revolutionary War was not an entirely negative experience for slaves in the New