The Mistreatment of Slaves
The Mistreatment of Slaves
In no way shape or form can I agree with those that believe slavery was justified or with those that say slavery never existed. Facts have proven these hypotheses otherwise. I also cannot agree with those that believe that slaves were treated fairly. Information passed down through generations as well as concrete written evidence proves the mistreatment of slaves for many reasons. They range from the fact of slaves across the world not being considered a whole person (3/5 of a person to be exact), them being the property of their owner, some even say that slaves were uncivilized and deserved to be treated as such. The list goes on and on with reasons and ways slaves were mistreated. I will attempt to cover a great deal of them but cannot truly grasp slavery’s true form due to biases of authors and an attempt from other authors to cover up the wrong doing on slaves of African descent. The nature of the way slaves were captured as well as their journey to their slave land predicted their future treatment. From the many sources I’ve come across, they all seem to mention how slaves were captured. Whether it be Europeans or French capturers, upon landing in Africa, slaves were taken from their homeland regardless of gender or social position in their tribe. Men were captured more often women. Men could be used for more physical labor and women for physical labor but more housework. In no way am I stating that women did not work as hard as men during slavery. Children were also captured for labor. Some infants were abandoned by their slave parents. They were left to die or to be taken into a family by somebody who passed by. The parents did this because they were not able to take care of the baby. If they did keep the baby, the master’s wife would raise it. Parents did not want their children to go through the harsh conditions of slavery. It went from capturing them on the main land to mistreatment on the slave ship.
Slaves were squashed
In no way shape or form can I agree with those that believe slavery was justified or with those that say slavery never existed. Facts have proven these hypotheses otherwise. I also cannot agree with those that believe that slaves were treated fairly. Information passed down through generations as well as concrete written evidence proves the mistreatment of slaves for many reasons. They range from the fact of slaves across the world not being considered a whole person (3/5 of a person to be exact), them being the property of their owner, some even say that slaves were uncivilized and deserved to be treated as such. The list goes on and on with reasons and ways slaves were mistreated. I will attempt to cover a great deal of them but cannot truly grasp slavery’s true form due to biases of authors and an attempt from other authors to cover up the wrong doing on slaves of African descent. The nature of the way slaves were captured as well as their journey to their slave land predicted their future treatment. From the many sources I’ve come across, they all seem to mention how slaves were captured. Whether it be Europeans or French capturers, upon landing in Africa, slaves were taken from their homeland regardless of gender or social position in their tribe. Men were captured more often women. Men could be used for more physical labor and women for physical labor but more housework. In no way am I stating that women did not work as hard as men during slavery. Children were also captured for labor. Some infants were abandoned by their slave parents. They were left to die or to be taken into a family by somebody who passed by. The parents did this because they were not able to take care of the baby. If they did keep the baby, the master’s wife would raise it. Parents did not want their children to go through the harsh conditions of slavery. It went from capturing them on the main land to mistreatment on the slave ship.
Slaves were squashed
Cited: James, C. L. R. The Black Jacobins; Toussaint L 'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. New York: Vintage, 1963. Print. "The Mistreatment of Slaves." Library,thinkquest.org. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112190/slaves.htm>. "How Were Slaves Treated?" Answers.yourdictioabary.com. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://answers.yourdictionary.com/history/US-history/how-were-slaves-treated.html>. "How Were Slaves Treated During The Middle Passage?" Digital Term Papers. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.digitaltermpapers.com/b1586.htm>. Williams, Mary Wilhelmine. "Negro Slaves in the Brazilian Empire." The Journal of Negro History 15 (2002): 315-56. Print. "Sandra Baartman." The Juxtapostionape Blof. 12 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://thejuxtapositionape.blog.com/2011/02/12/sarah-baartman1789-1868-blackhistorymonth/>.