Term Paper on Impacts of Slavery
The
institution of slavery and existence of racial discrimination has been a part of
colonial and pot-civil war American society. One of the main factors leading to
the civil war between the northern and the southern states was the issue of
slavery. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were about 893,602
slaves in the United States and according to 1860 census; about 3,953,760 slaves
were in the southern states. These slaves were deprived of their basic rights to
vote, private property and ownership of children. Slavery destroyed the
institution of family of the slaves but on other hand the families of the slaves
were a motivation for them to struggle for a better life.
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The colored or the black people had been exploited by the white for centuries.
The institution of slavery has proved fatal to the very existence of the slaves
as human beings. They were treated in a way worst than animals. Throughout
centuries they were suppressed to such extreme that had robbed them of their
will and self-esteem. Numerous writers, most of them blacks including ex-slaves
plus a number of others have penned the stories of plight of black slaves and
its effects on the individuals’ personality, family psychology and entire
generations and social set up of the slaves. These writings have led to a debate
raising many issues regarding the effects of slavery on the slave families.
First they say that slavery destroys the slave family and secondly, it is argued
that slave family provides a “survival mechanism” for the slaves. Both the
points are correct as on one hand, the social set up in which slaves live is not
at all provides an opportunity for a normal and healthy family life. On the
other hand, the so-called slave family i.e., the children born to the slaves, is
a source of inspiration and an ultimate “survival mechanism” for them to live
and continue struggle for freedom or a better life. The works on the issue of
slavery supports both arguments.
The family life of the slaves had been subject to continuous humiliation of
their white masters. They did not enjoy a family living like their owners. Some
writers held that the slaves never had a family. The slave women were a supposed
to be temporary companions for their masters and provided them pleasures they
wanted. The children of such relationships were also considered as slaves
despite of their fathers’ status and position. The white masters always fathered
the children of numerous female slaves. These wretched offspring were also the
lawful slaves of their father, and worked in his house and plantations. These
children had no right to their fathers’ property and instead served their white
half-brothers and sisters. Their masters often sold them to the slave-traders.
Blacks either full or half were considered slaves since the day of their birth.
They enjoyed no fundamental rights and were not allowed to follow the Christian
religion and read Bible. Education was also prohibited for the slaves. The life
of slave women was even more miserable than men. A black slave girl was born to
be a mistress of a white. Even if she got married to a man of her own class, she
was not allowed to live a normal family life. Slave women were always vulnerable
to sexual assaults by their masters. The children were born with the fate of
their mothers. The children were also slaves and followed the mother if perhaps
the father should have another master, which could easily be the case. The owner
had complete freedom and absolute rights over the slave women and their
children. The slave marriages and families were provided no legal protection.
Husbands were separated from wives and children from their mothers at the will
and wish of their masters. The slave mothers were not allowed to spend more time
with their infants. Their children were born-slaves and victims of fate. The
innocent babies were punished but for the fault of nature that born them to
slave mothers. The mothers were not allowed to nurse their children more than
four times a day. In some states, children were taken away from their mothers at
a very young age and were send to live on far off plantations. Children were
often used as a tool to control their mothers’ behavior and to exploit and
suppress them.
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The slaves were allowed to marry each other but law did not recognize their
marriages. The masters encouraged their marriages, as these were means to
produce slave children. This increased the number of slaves on the estates, as
the southern economy was solely dependant on the black labor force. Jacobs
describes a similar event in her biography. She narrates that seven children of
a women were sold in presence of the mother and her agony was hard to be
mentioned.
"She begged the trader to tell her where he intended to take them; this he
refused to do. How could he, when he knew he would sell them, one by one,
wherever he could command the highest price? I met that mother in the street,
and her wild, haggard face lives to day in my mind. She wrung her hands in
anguish, and exclaimed, "Gone! All gone! Why don't God kill me?" I had no words
wherewith to comfort her. Instances of this kind are of daily, yea, of hourly
occurrence.” (docsouth.unc.edu)
In many cases, the mothers escaped the plantation to follow their children after
they were sold to the traders. Jacobs herself did the same when her children
were sold out by their white father. The slaves often worked hard to collect
money to buy their children back as mentioned by Jacobs:
“My heart was exceedingly full. I remembered how my poor father had tried to buy
me, when I was a small child, and how he had been disappointed. I hoped his
spirit was rejoicing over me now. I remembered how my good old grandmother had
laid up her earnings to purchase me in later years, and how often her plans had
been frustrated. How that faithful, loving old heart would leap for joy, if she
could look on me and my children now that we were free!”(docsouth.unc.edu)
Despite of all these adverse conditions, the slaves were greatly attached to
their families. However, they did not show their sentiments from the fear of the
masters. It was always for the sake of their children that women escaped the
plantations and went through great hardships to unite with their children and
provide them a better and free life. The families of the slaves, although
existed in an irregular fashion but they were a source of inspiration and
motivation for them.
References
Jacobs, Harriet Ann. Edited by L. Maria Child. Incidents in the Life of a Slave
Girl, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Electronic edition, 1998,
last update September 24, 2002,
http://docsouth.unc.edu/jacobs/jacobs.html
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