Slavery In African America Essay
Due to the inhumane treatment of slaves, slavery in America led to the permanent destruction of the African American race. Slavery not only made a physical impact on the slaves, but also a mental; people were taken away from their families, with thoughts of never seeing them again. It has been fifty-one years since slavery has ended, and still there are everyday occurrences involving racial remarks due to the color of one's skin and how they’re are seen in the eyes of one another. The United States has changed a lot over the past 50 years, for better and for worse, the effects of slavery have shunned the African American race and their chances of ever becoming equal throughout the country. The inconceivable amount of hatred that has been brought upon the African American race, from slavery is so problematic , that it still affects the growing population today. Slaves are people, they had families and a place to call home. Until 1619, when they were taken away from their
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homes in Africa by whites, and forced to work long hard hours. The first group of slaves arrived in Georgetown on a Dutch trading ship, these people were not known as slaves but servants. At this point “slaves weren’t considered slaves, they were known as servants until they finished their servitude” (ushistory.org/us). After these slaves lived out their lives, it was on rare occasions that they would be set free. Slaves berthed by a slave, automatically became slaves once born. Therefore the more babies born, the more slaves there were to work quote. These slave families wouldn’t stay together forever, once old enough many slaves were sold through auctions based off their physical appearance: their height, weight, the bulk of their arms, and the conditions of their skin. Slave owners look for the most suitable slaves, they do not want anyone overweight and out of shape. Once gone many slaves never saw their families again, which really toar them apart mentally. The thought of never seeing their loved ones ever again, just tears one’s self down, to no extent. When someone thinks of a slave, they think of someone who picks cotton in the fields, but all slaves are not the same. The lighter-skinned, the more attractive the slave was, the higher of chance they had of working in the house, as a maid or a butler. The more light the skin of slave was, the closer they were to be considered white, and that gave many slaves more advantage of darker slaves, which sometimes resulted in physical altercations throughout the plantation.(FIX)The slaves would become real close with the family, even a little too close with the man of the house, which sometimes resulted in children of mixed skin color. Others were seen as nannies and were given different freedoms versus the other slaves who weren’t treat the same.
The other slaves, the ones who were forced to work out in the hot sun picking cotton, with little food and water; were the fit and muscular slaves. Men, women, and children (once they were able to) worked from sun up to sun down, and if they were to pass out, or fail to do their assignments they were punished. The living conditions were not great, and many of the families with different roles throughout the farm, lived together. “The cabin was not only our living-place, but was also used as the kitchen for the plantation. My mother was the plantation cook. The cabin was without glass windows; it had only openings in the side which let in the light, and also the cold, chilly air of winter” (Up from slavery). Slaves didn’t receive all the major nutritional necessities, they were given mainly fats and starches. The produce picked out in the fields was off limits to the slaves, but they were given a ration of food once every week, which would feed their little community. “Weekly food rations -- usually cornmeal, lard, some meats, molasses, peas, greens, and flour -- were distributed every Saturday” (Slavery-living conditions). School wasn’t for slaves, they worked in the fields from the beginning of the day, and to the end. There was no time for extra activities, work was number one and there were no exceptions. School was for the white children, who didn’t spend their days in the field picking cotton, it was for the children who were expected to succeed, and black children weren’t expected to do anything but work their way up in the ranks of their plantation. Once the Civil War ended, the slaves in the South were free, but many stayed on their plantations with thoughts of a better future, and the idea that leaving wouldn’t help better their lives. Many of these slaves have been at the same plantation for their whole lives, their families have all been sold or died, and their only family, are those who have been with them since the beginning. Some African American children did go to school, mostly to local schools on the plantation or in the surrounding area, but never did white and black children go to school together. In many plantations the master forbid any kind of teaching, “Concerned that literate slaves would forge passes or convince other slaves to revolt” (education). The slaves in the communities that could read were seen as being better than the average slave with no literary background, just like the whites thought they were superior to the African Americans. Booker T. Washington was born a slave, his father was a white man who he would never see, but since a young age he had always had an interest in learning. In between working he would study and learn the little materials that were available to him, “Mrs. Ruffer was known for being very strict with her servants, especially boys. But she saw something in Booker -- his maturity, intelligence and integrity...Over the two years he worked for her, she understood his desire for an education and allowed him to go to school for an hour a day during the winter months” (Booker T. Washington). Washington went on to college, and the eventually he founded his own college: Tuskegee University, he traveled all over the United States promoting his college and extending his ideas of racial equality for all. Booker T. Washington made a prime example, that African Americans can be successful. The life of a slave was extremely hard, it all consists of long hours of manual labor, and the right choices. For many slaves, their masters were very violent and had no sympathy for their property, it was all about production and finding the healthiest slaves. When one slave was done, another was their to be put in his or her place. “Mr. Simon Legree, Tom’s master, had purchased slaves at one place and another, in New Orleans, to the number of eight, and driven them, handcuffed, in couples of two and two, down to the good streamer Pirate…” (Uncle tom’s cabin 170). Slaves were being bought all over the world and brought to different plantations and farms to take the place of the last slave who had died, or been sold. The Slave owners in some cases were very violent, they would vigorously beat the living hell out of the slaves, for minor faults like lying and stealing.
“When the stakes were driven down, he ordered her to be stripped of every article of dress. Ropes were then brought, and the naked girl was laid upon her face, her wrists and feet were tied firmly to a stake. Stepping to the piazza, he took down a heavy whip, and placing it in my hands, commanded me to lash her” (12 years a slave ).
The masters were seen as terrible, devil-like people, with nothing in their mind but fear and craze, since they had the strength, and the power, they saw all their doings as the right way. “When I had struck her as much as thirty times, I stopped… hoping he was satisfied; but he ordered me to continue… Throwing down the whip, I declared I could punish her no more...He then seized it himself, and applied it with ten-fold greater force than I had” (12 years a slave). In order to get their points across, many slave owners go to an inhumane level, just an unbelievable amount of cruelty. They treat the slaves like animals, these human being that work for them are nothing, and it’s all because of the color of their skin. Physically beating someone to death, or whipping someone stays with the slaves, even after they’ve been free.
The use of physical and mental torture, degraded many of the slaves to where they couldn’t sustain themselves. The thought of ever being free slipped their minds and it was all work and no play. Many of the slaves received a form of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from their experiences from their masters, and it not only stayed with that slave for the rest of his or her life, but it has stayed with the African American race. The feeling of not being able to defend yourself, while you are being raped, if just unbearable to think about.
“The day I came in here. You said they stole your milk. I never knew what it was that messed him up. That was it, I guess. All I knew was that something broke him. Not a one of them years of Saturday, Sunday, and nighttime extra never touched him. But whatever he saw go on in that barn that day broke him like a twig” (Morrison,
81).
homes in Africa by whites, and forced to work long hard hours. The first group of slaves arrived in Georgetown on a Dutch trading ship, these people were not known as slaves but servants. At this point “slaves weren’t considered slaves, they were known as servants until they finished their servitude” (ushistory.org/us). After these slaves lived out their lives, it was on rare occasions that they would be set free. Slaves berthed by a slave, automatically became slaves once born. Therefore the more babies born, the more slaves there were to work quote. These slave families wouldn’t stay together forever, once old enough many slaves were sold through auctions based off their physical appearance: their height, weight, the bulk of their arms, and the conditions of their skin. Slave owners look for the most suitable slaves, they do not want anyone overweight and out of shape. Once gone many slaves never saw their families again, which really toar them apart mentally. The thought of never seeing their loved ones ever again, just tears one’s self down, to no extent. When someone thinks of a slave, they think of someone who picks cotton in the fields, but all slaves are not the same. The lighter-skinned, the more attractive the slave was, the higher of chance they had of working in the house, as a maid or a butler. The more light the skin of slave was, the closer they were to be considered white, and that gave many slaves more advantage of darker slaves, which sometimes resulted in physical altercations throughout the plantation.(FIX)The slaves would become real close with the family, even a little too close with the man of the house, which sometimes resulted in children of mixed skin color. Others were seen as nannies and were given different freedoms versus the other slaves who weren’t treat the same.
The other slaves, the ones who were forced to work out in the hot sun picking cotton, with little food and water; were the fit and muscular slaves. Men, women, and children (once they were able to) worked from sun up to sun down, and if they were to pass out, or fail to do their assignments they were punished. The living conditions were not great, and many of the families with different roles throughout the farm, lived together. “The cabin was not only our living-place, but was also used as the kitchen for the plantation. My mother was the plantation cook. The cabin was without glass windows; it had only openings in the side which let in the light, and also the cold, chilly air of winter” (Up from slavery). Slaves didn’t receive all the major nutritional necessities, they were given mainly fats and starches. The produce picked out in the fields was off limits to the slaves, but they were given a ration of food once every week, which would feed their little community. “Weekly food rations -- usually cornmeal, lard, some meats, molasses, peas, greens, and flour -- were distributed every Saturday” (Slavery-living conditions). School wasn’t for slaves, they worked in the fields from the beginning of the day, and to the end. There was no time for extra activities, work was number one and there were no exceptions. School was for the white children, who didn’t spend their days in the field picking cotton, it was for the children who were expected to succeed, and black children weren’t expected to do anything but work their way up in the ranks of their plantation. Once the Civil War ended, the slaves in the South were free, but many stayed on their plantations with thoughts of a better future, and the idea that leaving wouldn’t help better their lives. Many of these slaves have been at the same plantation for their whole lives, their families have all been sold or died, and their only family, are those who have been with them since the beginning. Some African American children did go to school, mostly to local schools on the plantation or in the surrounding area, but never did white and black children go to school together. In many plantations the master forbid any kind of teaching, “Concerned that literate slaves would forge passes or convince other slaves to revolt” (education). The slaves in the communities that could read were seen as being better than the average slave with no literary background, just like the whites thought they were superior to the African Americans. Booker T. Washington was born a slave, his father was a white man who he would never see, but since a young age he had always had an interest in learning. In between working he would study and learn the little materials that were available to him, “Mrs. Ruffer was known for being very strict with her servants, especially boys. But she saw something in Booker -- his maturity, intelligence and integrity...Over the two years he worked for her, she understood his desire for an education and allowed him to go to school for an hour a day during the winter months” (Booker T. Washington). Washington went on to college, and the eventually he founded his own college: Tuskegee University, he traveled all over the United States promoting his college and extending his ideas of racial equality for all. Booker T. Washington made a prime example, that African Americans can be successful. The life of a slave was extremely hard, it all consists of long hours of manual labor, and the right choices. For many slaves, their masters were very violent and had no sympathy for their property, it was all about production and finding the healthiest slaves. When one slave was done, another was their to be put in his or her place. “Mr. Simon Legree, Tom’s master, had purchased slaves at one place and another, in New Orleans, to the number of eight, and driven them, handcuffed, in couples of two and two, down to the good streamer Pirate…” (Uncle tom’s cabin 170). Slaves were being bought all over the world and brought to different plantations and farms to take the place of the last slave who had died, or been sold. The Slave owners in some cases were very violent, they would vigorously beat the living hell out of the slaves, for minor faults like lying and stealing.
“When the stakes were driven down, he ordered her to be stripped of every article of dress. Ropes were then brought, and the naked girl was laid upon her face, her wrists and feet were tied firmly to a stake. Stepping to the piazza, he took down a heavy whip, and placing it in my hands, commanded me to lash her” (12 years a slave ).
The masters were seen as terrible, devil-like people, with nothing in their mind but fear and craze, since they had the strength, and the power, they saw all their doings as the right way. “When I had struck her as much as thirty times, I stopped… hoping he was satisfied; but he ordered me to continue… Throwing down the whip, I declared I could punish her no more...He then seized it himself, and applied it with ten-fold greater force than I had” (12 years a slave). In order to get their points across, many slave owners go to an inhumane level, just an unbelievable amount of cruelty. They treat the slaves like animals, these human being that work for them are nothing, and it’s all because of the color of their skin. Physically beating someone to death, or whipping someone stays with the slaves, even after they’ve been free.
The use of physical and mental torture, degraded many of the slaves to where they couldn’t sustain themselves. The thought of ever being free slipped their minds and it was all work and no play. Many of the slaves received a form of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from their experiences from their masters, and it not only stayed with that slave for the rest of his or her life, but it has stayed with the African American race. The feeling of not being able to defend yourself, while you are being raped, if just unbearable to think about.
“The day I came in here. You said they stole your milk. I never knew what it was that messed him up. That was it, I guess. All I knew was that something broke him. Not a one of them years of Saturday, Sunday, and nighttime extra never touched him. But whatever he saw go on in that barn that day broke him like a twig” (Morrison,
81).