12 years a slave

Chained and fettered; constantly thrashed; fed twice daily a mere serving of bacon and corn meal; laboring countless hours; forced to sleep on the ground. When you hear these conditions you instinctively think of an animal being held captive and you are partly correct. Slaves were not considered humans worthy of proper clothing, food, or shelter, but rather thought of as property or uncivilized animals. Chattel slavery was a malicious establishment, inevitably causing pure misery for all involved. The accounts of Solomon Northup in Twelve Years a Slave depict the horrid injustices that slaves routinely experienced; his narrative straightforwardly illustrates that the institution of chattel slavery caused despair for both male and female slaves, and the slave owners themselves.

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Solomon Northup had the unique experience of witnessing the brutalities of slavery after being accustomed to the liberty of a free man; his depictions of the atrocious institution of chattel slavery are vivid.

Slave owners came in many degrees of wickedness, as well as many degrees of kindness. Female slaves were stripped of their spirits and left dejected and exhausted. He labored in corn fields, cotton fields, and sugar fields; he chopped wood, built houses, and constructed miscellaneous objects upon his master’s request; he was even given a whip and instructed to lash his fellow slaves if they made a mistake. Taking another human being into confinement and forcing them to live like animals while tending to the master’s every desire was an inhumane and uncalled for practice that left slaves broken-hearted and broken-spirited. Solomon experienced all of these misfortunes first-hand and knows the depth of sorrow that slavery triggers. His only miseries associated with slavery was losing possession of a slave and risking a decrease in profits. The physical exhaustion inflicted upon slaves caused many male slaves to attempt to flee willing to face the harsh consequences for a few days of rest away from the plantation. Other men, such as Epps, viewed slaves as nothing more than property and a means to gain wealth. The grievances that the slave owners experienced depended on the personal beliefs held within them. He believed that owning slaves was vital to a successful plantation, but he understood the inhumanity of whippings and excessive degrading. Slavery weakened strong men, broke exuberant men, and caused a widespread suffering amongst them all. en and women slaves were regarded in basically the same respect, although they shared different grievances. All of these tasks were performed under the watchful eye of a spiteful white man who acquired immense pleasure out of whipping a slave and hearing his cries of agony.

Common topics in this essay:
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Approximate Word count = 599
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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