Slavery
Slavery
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"Slavery is the next thing to hell." -Harriet Tubman
"Slavery is the next thing to hell." -Harriet Tubman
Approximately 12 million people were kidnapped in the Atlantic slave trade. They were originally brought to America for "indentured servitude", but as Native Americans began dying in large numbers from disease their role transformed into that of slavery. The reputation of slavery will be so infamous that 1,000's of blacks being brought to the Americas will jump overboard. They would rather die than suffer the horrors of slavery. “Slave owners had the power to sell, exploit, attack, rape, and even kill enslaved men, women, and children with impunity.” (Quote from museum display)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_slave_trade
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery/pictures/slave-trade/point-of-no-return-monument-on-the-route-des-esclaves
The enslaved people were bought and sold at auctions. Their biggest fears were family separations and the stories of abuse that might become their reality. “Slave owners had the power to sell, exploit, attack, rape, and even kill enslaved men, women, and children with impunity” (Quote from museum display). Sexual exploitation will even become a "defining feature of slavery". With the increased demand for labor in the south, the slave labor force will shift from that of an international market to a domestic market. This integration of domestic slave trade will only further ingrain a sense of the colored people being "racial inferior". Racial inferiority lasted long beyond slavery and was justified through legal, political, religious, and scientific institutions.
“Affe Jane--about 13, likely intelligent, raised to the field, promising girl, smart enough to learn anything, good child’s nurse” (Quote from a list of slave descriptions at the museum)
“Affe Jane--about 13, likely intelligent, raised to the field, promising girl, smart enough to learn anything, good child’s nurse” (Quote from a list of slave descriptions at the museum)
“Negroman named George. Said negro is five feet ten inches high of dark complexion. He plays well on the violin and several other instruments...Above reward is $1,000 will be promptly paid. -John Means” (Quote from a reward poster of a slave at the museum)
“Negroman named George. Said negro is five feet ten inches high of dark complexion. He plays well on the violin and several other instruments...Above reward is $1,000 will be promptly paid. -John Means” (Quote from a reward poster of a slave at the museum)
With slave trade becoming domesticated, slave lineage began to form, creating a permanent hereditary status. Slave labor consisted mostly of agricultural work but also of building railroads, carpentry, textiles, and more. With agricultural production booming, the economic rewards to white Southern plantation owners became perverse and the idea of abolition extremely "unattractive". This will lead to many slaves trying to resist, escape, and revolt. Lydia Maria Child gives light to a black's romantic experience while in slavery in Slavery's Pleasant Homes. (American Literature pg. 585-589)
“As a Christian people, it is the duty of the south to keep them in their present position at any cost and at every peril.” -William McWillie (Gov. MS)
“As a Christian people, it is the duty of the south to keep them in their present position at any cost and at every peril.” -William McWillie (Gov. MS)
The Civil War will be in motion around this time and many slaves will try to flee to the north towards freedom from enslavement. These slaves were called "contrabands" and fled plantations whenever Union troops were near. They would, if they managed to escape, join The Underground Railroad, a network of fleeing slaves.
Later on, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 14th Amendment would come about and give full citizenship and rights to the enslaved. However, it was not enforced which leads to what is known as the "second slavery".
Samuel Sewall's The Selling of Joseph, was the first anti-slavery tract published in New England. In it he argues against African slavery and trade in North America and the justifications that had been made for them. Sewall will cite scripture as practical arguments for his case. (Massachusetts Historical Society) How do you think he would feel about this step in history? As you continue moving forward through history towards the present, consider how people like Sewall would feel about events at the time.
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