Slavery
In the early nineteenth century a black man could be whipped for no reason, he could be beaten, stripped or tortured for the entertainment of his master. A black woman could be sexually harassed, assaulted, beaten or raped at anytime without question. The institution of slavery was the most disgraceful and inhuman institution in the history of the United States. Slavery had existed long before it had made its way to the Western Hemisphere, and had been a way of life in the South ever since Europeans had begun to work the land. Slavery by the nineteenth century had become an essential part of the southern culture as well as its economics.The Southern economy was agriculturally based, most of its profit coming from the cotton production. The wealthy southerners had almost all of their money in their land as well as their slaves. Those who were not wealthy did not own slaves and the majority of Southerners, contrary to popular belief were not slaveholders, nor were they rich (Two-thirds of white Southern families did not own slaves at all). The Southern rich slave holders were the aristocrats of the South. These planters were powerful property owners who dominated the South's political agenda. Pa
"The motto which I adopted when I started from slavery was this- Trust no man' I saw in every white man as enemy and in almost every colored man a cause for distrust. They did not prefer to be enslaved on plantations; they were forced into creating a society for themselves because of the inhuman institution that is slavery. There was more opportunity for the slaves to escape from the city that there was from the plantation where they would be gunned down for the attempt. 383) This idea that the text book is supporting, does not seem wrong, Douglas's point that city slaves were better off than the slaves who lived on the plantations. "African Americans themselves preferred to live on larger plantations, where they had more privacy and a chance to build a cultural and social world of their own" (Alan Brinkley pg. 47) If they were not up for work, the slaves were severely whipped, usually on their backs so as not to hinder their ability to work. City slaves according to Douglass were "better fed, better clothed and enjoyed privileges altogether unknown to a plantation slave". He loathed all slaveholders, especially those who justified their cruelty though religion as on of his masters had, and sought to expose the nation to how bad slavery was in the south. 23) On the plantation, slaves were up at the crack of dawn to perform long hard backbreaking work. The fact that he was literate, illegal for slaves at the time and punishable by death helped him greatly. Usually it was the old slaves, the women , and the children that were used as domestic help so as not to waste capable laborers. Slaves on the plantation aspired work in the houses where perhaps they would be fed, and work under better conditions.
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Acceptance Essays
