Slavery: An Inhuman Institution

The “Public Sale of Negroes, by Richard Clagett, depicts a typical auction in 1883. Although, it is important to note that “typical” in the 1800’s is very far from the typical of today. What is interesting or peculiar about this auction and many others in this time is that they were auctioning and selling people. The “Institution of Slavery” or chattel slavery, or even simply slavery, was the mistreatment of people as personal property and objects, where they were bought and sold and forced to perform work and labor. This “institution” was entirely legal, recognized at the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and ended by legal abolishment December 1865,

Slavery as a Cruel Institution Cruelty can be defined as an inhumane action done to an individual or group of people that causes either physical or mental harm. Slavery, at its very core, was a cruel and inhumane institution. From the idea behind it to the way that it was enforced, it degraded the lives of human beings and forbade the basic liberties that every man deserves under the Constitution of the United States. Three major areas where cruelty was especially prevalent were in the slaves working conditions, living conditions, and loss of fundamental freedoms. Working conditions for slaves were about as bad as can possibly be imagined. Slaves worked from dawn till dusk and sometimes even longer. Solomon Northrup describes his

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey (later known as Frederick Douglass) was born a slave in Talbot County, Maryland around the year 1818. He was an African American reformer, writer, and orator. Douglass was one of the few noteworthy heroes who arose from the evils of slavery and impacted the United States and the world in significant ways. After escaping from slavery, he became known for his astounding oratory skills and remarkable antislavery writing. He became an important leader of the abolitionist movement. Northerners found it hard to believe that such an incredible orator had once been a slave. To verify this, Douglass described the events of his life as a slave and his ambition to be a free man in Narrative of the Life of

Ophelia Settle Egypt, informally known as Ophie, was an African American woman ahead of her time. She attained the educational status of less than one percent of the American population, was liberal and accepting of others despite the criticism around her, fought to end racism, worked independently of her husband, and believed in limiting family growth. All of Egypt’s beliefs and lifetime achievements represent a new type of woman: a woman who refuses to assimilate to her gender stereotype of weak, inferior, and domestic. Egypt dedicated her life to social work through various activities. She worked as a sociologist, researcher, teacher, director of organizations, and social worker at different times in her life. Egypt’s book, The Unwritten History of Slavery (1968), and the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Southeast Washington D.C. named after her represent Egypt’s legacy and how one person is capable of social change.

What is slavery? Slavery is forced labor and this forced labor is what built America and made them become more developed. “Africans peoples were captured and transported to the Americas to work. Most European colonial economies in the Americas from the 16th century through the 19th were dependant on enslaved African labor for their survival.” Many claim that enslavement was very necessary in order for America to thrive and not die off for it is now one of the best countries in the world. However, slavery was not necessary in the Americas it was just a mechanism that just stripped Africans of their human rights, giving the slave masters the “right” to abuse them. Slavery was not necessary in the Americas because without slavery America would

Virgina has differences and similarities when it comes to slave narratives. To explain further, this is why the details and experiences that these ex-slaves gave in describing the institution of slavery and the practice of slavery are tremendously important because Virginia became a royal colony, the first in English history. However, the English kings were occupied with affairs at home, the Virginia house of burgesses was able to continue its functions and won formal recognition in the late 1630s. Thus, representative government under royal domain was assured. By 1641, when Sir William Berkeley became governor, the colony was well established and extended on both sides of the James up to its falls.

Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey on Maryland's Eastern Shore in 1818, he was the son of a slave woman and, her white master. Upon his escape from slavery at age 20, he adopted the name of the hero of Sir Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake. Douglass immortalized his years as a slave in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845). This and two other autobiographies, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) and The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881), mark his greatest contributions to American culture. Written as antislavery propaganda and personal revelation, they are regarded as the finest examples of the slave narrative tradition and as classics of American autobiography.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in February 1818 on the eastern shore of Maryland whose parent were a white man and slave woman by the name of Harriet Bailey. He was name after his mother, Harriet Bailey, but he only saw her a couple of times. At the age eight or nine he was sent to live with family of his slave owner’s in Baltimore, Maryland. By the age of fifteen, Frederick was literate. Around this same time, he went back to his owner to work as a field hand. Disguised as a sailor with a friend’s passport on September 3, 1838, three years after his return to the eastern shore, he got on train from Baltimore and went to New York City where he said I a free man. To avoid being recaptured he changed his name to Frederick Douglass. He went to Massachusetts and spoke about his experiences with slavery and how the country needs to get rid of it. He was soon traveling across the north speaking against slavery. To prove that he was a real fugitive slave he wrote his first autobiography The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass (1845). In the autobiography, he revealed his original name, his owner’s name, and where he was born, which put Douglass in danger of being returned back into slavery. So he had to flee again and this time he went overseas where he continued to speak against slavery. The British supporters were captivated with his story and they purchased his freedom. Two years after having his freedom purchased, Douglas came back to

Slavery of the "Peculiar Institution" was a way of how life was in the South. African Americans were treated poorly in slavery, and they were brutally beaten. In slavery, their lives involved resistance and survival.

The movement to eliminate slavery in the United States during the antebellum years was difficult and did not go unchallenged as there were many people who were pro-slavery while others were anti-slavery. Before the Civil War there was debate over the issue of slavery. Slaves were considered property, and were property because they were black. Many people in the South were strong advocates of slavery, while people in the North were opposed to it. In the South, slavery was a social and powerful economic institution. During this period in the south Pro-Slavery activists did not empathize with the system and conditions the

Since very few slaves knew how to read much less write, there are only a few telling’s of slavery from the slave’s point of view. Frederick Douglass added to this by writing about his life in his memoir. This was able to happen because Mrs. Auld did not think it was a crime to teach a young slave boy to read and when Mr. Auld tried to put a stop to it, Douglass just gained a bigger thirst for knowledge- wanting to learn how to write. With the help of some local young white children, Douglass learned how to write and was able to write down his life in slavery. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass wrote about the violence he endured and saw happen, how he was able to get an education and what it did for him, the

“The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. The Greeks were quite right there. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible.” - OSCAR WILDE, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

Slavery is terrible institution that was across America because slaves were traded like livestock, families were broken, and there was inhumane treatment. First slaves were like livestock referred to as a “new lot” . The slaves were stripped of their identity and demoralized having “no wife, no children, no country, and no home. He can own nothing, possess nothing, acquire nothing, but what must belong to another.” Often the women were raped by the owner themselves and their purpose was to reproduce and the owners would then sell the kids. Along with this, the separation of families. The children were separated from their fathers and loved ones never got to even meet their parents. Also slavery is bad because there was many inhumane treatments.

Even though the slavery was introduced in the early 1600s, it had no doubt that the abolitionist inaugurated the movements about the slavery actively from early 1850s. The slavery became the essential part of industry in the South more than in the North because of the large plantations and slave trades. So in the Southerners’ perspective, the slave flourished the businesses with their inexpensive labor forces in order to profit; they argued slaves were by and large a culturally inferior, child-like people who were treated well by whites and thus content with their status in life. However, Uncle Tom’s Cabin described the slavery as an evil institution that must be abolished accurately from the historians today.

Slavery is defined as a person being owned by someone, a state of bondage, servitude, or work performed under harsh conditions for little or no pay. Both continental African slavery and external commercial slavery deprived people of freedom. Continental slavery focused on adding people to a group to be productive members of the society and for other reasons beside monetary