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Howard Zinn's 'Slavery Without Submission'

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Slavery is a system where an individual can buy or own another person as property. The slave is at the mercy of their master and is free to be bought, sold, or traded by their master. The United States first adopted a policy of slavery in the middle of the 17th century. Before American slavery became solely race-based, there were indentured servants. These people worked on farms or government projects until they had paid off their debts.

Eventually this practice evolved into the race-based slavery that is familiar today. African slaves imported from Africa were cheaper than indentured servants, and they had little to no voice in their treatment. Hence the first part of the title of Howard Zinn’s book “Slavery Without Submission”. The African people sent to America might have been slaves, but they never lost hope in their eventual freedom. Hymns, protests, and spirituals, kept the freedom fervor alive in the …show more content…

Although she had been born a slave, she decided to assist her fellow slaves escape. Several forms of slave resistance were created to combat their masters. Ulrich Phillips, a major historian of the South, described numerous ways as to which slaves might protest. These included “truancy, protests, and to simply not work as hard”. Men such as David Walker and Frederick Douglass felt that slaves were entitled to their freedom and should in turn fight for their rights.

During the Civil War, the frequency and audacity of African slave revolts increased. For instance, in 1841 a slave ship was overpowered by its slave cargo and then “sailed to the British West Indies.” As the war progressed, Africans became willing to take part in more aggressive protests. Slave spirituals and songs began to carry bolder messages. Such as the song “O Canaan, sweet Canaan, I am bound for the land of Canaan”. With the free Northern states being their

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