Lucas Douglass Slavery

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When asked to answer the question, What Characterizes American history and Culture through Lucas Douglass’ Perspective, I immediately think slavery and how horribly these poor people were treated. The treatment of slaves in the United States varied widely depending on conditions, times and places. During the time of Lucas Douglass in the 1840s, the treatment of slaves was generally characterized by its violence, degradation, and ruthlessness. Whippings, rapes and executions were definitely a commonplace during this time period.
Depending on the slave owner’s rules, many slaves were denied any type of freedom. This even included the right of the slaves to learn to read and write. Many slave owners would deny their slaves these rights in order to make sure that they did not develop desires that could lead to an escape or rebellion. Most slaveholders were very afraid when it came to the thought of a rebellion because the slaves were very important to their economy and their families’ wellbeing. Many of them attempted to reduce the risk of rebellion by reducing the amount of exposure of their slaves to the world outside their plantations. By keeping their slaves from exposure to the outside world, they could eliminate many of the possible dreams and/or desires that might come from the knowledge of the world outside the slave owners plantation or farm.
Slavery in the United States included frequent rape and sexual abuse of slave women. Because of this, many slaves tried to fight back against sexual attacks, and many of them died resisting, while others were left with both mental and physical scars from the attacks. According to Boundless.com’s article,” Treatment of Slaves in the U.S.,” “from 1662 and the adoption of ‘partus sequitu...

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...ry inhuman and corrupt time of American history, although, slavery did play a very large role in establishing our country’s economy. Yes, it was a very terrible time for the slaves and they were treated very inhumanly. Yes, the fact that the slaves were being beaten, raped, and tortured was very immoral, but without them the United States wouldn’t be what it is today. Slavery may have “ended” though President Abraham Lincolns’ signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, but we all know that isn’t true. African-Americans may have been considered free, but were still looked down upon as if they were not good enough simply because of the pigment of their skin. Even today living in the 21st century we still have to deal with issues of racism. When all is said and done, slavery was definitely one of the most important pieces of shaping the American culture today.

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