Genovese and Northup
Essay written by Joe Masters Slavery as a global institution tends to have an unreal aura surrounding it. Modern perspectives cannot be empathetic because it is not an institution even partially realized in the last century of American life. This is why even through reading Eugene Genovese's Roll, Jordan, Roll and examining most of the aspects of slave life, slavery still remains a mystery in the personal sense. Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave, in addition to being one of Genovese's own resources, fills this void with its brutally honest personal story of a slave's life. Northup's account enlightens and strengthens Genovese's arguments, specifically those concerning labor, the master-slave relationship, and rebellion, by putting global descriptions in a personal perspective. One of the main advantages of 12 Years a Slave is that Northup is a slave himself, and in that respect does not have to be an apologist for slavery and slaveholders. It is not that Genovese himself is an apologist, but as a modern Caucasian, he must approach the subject of casting any light that might be perceived as positive on slaveholders with trepidation. Although Genovese
" Northup goes on to explain about Patsey who picked around five hundred pounds a day, and if she didn't pick at least four hundred pounds she "would surely have been beaten. 173-174 ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**. This is one part of Northup's account that draws a contrast from Genovese's argument. The inability to escape or how confidence in escape is a direct result of the fear. When Genovese discusses labor, he seems to focus mainly on the southern idea that slaves are lazy. It is the highlighter on the page that emphasizes that what Genovese writes is not just a peculiar institution to be studied; it actually happened to humans who were little different from those who enslaved them. But Northup has personal experience, and his picture extends what Genovese has to say about the motivation of the whip tenfold. This is clearly not even remotely similar of his behavior toward the slaves. While they are not cattle, they are not "men" either, as he makes clear in his debate with Bass7. He hires out Northup's violin playing for money and entertains his wife and friends with his slaves. they often times labor till the middle of the night.
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