Slavery Dbq

Although slavery was an important component of the growing Americas, many African Americans were emotionally, spiritually, and physically abused by the dehumanizing slavery. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, slavery was widely practiced in the American colonies. The production of the cotton gin in the early 1800s made slavery a very important aspect of Southern agriculture. Many slaves worked in harsh conditions to help maintain the fields, “sunup to sundown”. Although there were many arguments for and against slavery over the years, most of the information did not come directly from the African American slaves themselves. Through different anecdotes, stories, and songs, we learn how different slaves viewed slavery in America. What did

slaves themselves think? How did they express their feelings about the peculiar institution of slavery? (180) This paper will address the following themes: religion as a coping mechanism, freedom, and the dehumanization of slaves.
As the Second Great Awakening passed through the Americas, it spiked religious fervor for the different colonies.

Many masters believed that their slaves shouldn’t have contact with any aspect of religion. “I guess we believed that for awhile ‘cause we didn’t have no way finding out different. We didn’t see no Bibles” (190.) This is where both religion and education go hand in hand. These slaves were not able to freely practice religion because they could not read and interpret the scriptures for themselves. Many white masters felt that African Americas should not be taught how to read and write. Not only were the slaves not able to intellectually interpret the Bible, they would be punished if they were caught praying or worshipping. “He didn’t like for us niggers to pray, either….But some the old niggers tell us we got to pray to God, that he don’t think different of us blacks” (190.) The gives a great example of how the slaves viewed religion in slavery. Although many slaves could have been punished, whipped, and even killed, they continued to go against their master’s wishes and still practice religion. Many African Americans felt comfort, faith, and courage in practicing religion, despite endless work, punishment, and

pain.
To succumb yourself to the idea of lifelong servitude had to have been the most daunting aspect of life for a slave.

While some white masters prohibited their slaves from learning God’s word, many masters made their slaves feel like they had no way out. The meaning of freedom became very different between white and black Americans. Many white masters felt that African American slaves purpose was to work and serve them. Little did they know, slavery would become one of the most unethical issues in history. “I was now about twelve years old, and the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart” (195.) This exert from the reading proves that many slaves wished to be freed in America. While some slave owners were more harsh and unethical than others, I feel that the majority of slaves wished and prayed for slavery to someday be completely abolished. “They’d pray, “Lord, deliver us from under bondage” (188.) This evidence confirms that slaves wanted to be freed and that they turned to God for help. Many masters were sadistic and chose to harshly dehumanize their

slaves.
Everyone views slavery as moral sin, simply because of the act of human cruelty, even during this historical period many opposed it but were too scared to share a voice in abolition. Trying to fathom what slaves felt and how they viewed slavery is a whole other question due to the lack of historical evidence. However, this article shows us that even slaves saw the acts of dehumanization taking place to allow these “benevolent” masters to justifiably own another person. This can be seen from the moment they are conceived, “by far the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant”. (193) As we see here the process of dehumanization is beginning by simply not giving a child born into slavery a date of birth to associate himself with. The next stage in the dehumanization process in which slaves accounted was the breaking of families, “I seen children sold off and mammy not sold, and sometimes the mammy sold and the little baby kept on the place and give to another woman to raise”(190). By stripping the child of his family whites were stripping the child of his foundation, his family. The last significant process that the majority of slaves could see was the lifelong forbidden of knowledge. Masters viewed that acquiring knowledge, specifically reading and writing, would not only allow slaves to see the abolitionist movements in the north, but more so set their sights on freedom through scripture and slave discussions. "None of us 'lowed to see a book or try to learn. They say we git smarter than they was if we learn anything" (190.)
Upon reading ``The Peculiar Institution``: Slaves Tell Their Own Story, slaves viewed slavery as acts of human cruelty through the process of dehumanization, and used religion to manage the rollercoaster ride; entrenched in the idea of seemingly lifelong servitude with periodic hopes of freedom. I am awfully sympathetic of what these slaves went through, even though this piece just skims the surface of all the experiences and feelings slaves had toward the slave trade. It left me with a harsh feeling, although happy that some eventually escaped the slave trade. I am thankful that a few African Americans were able to that escape and become literate, enabling stories to be put on paper. I can only imagine the horrific stories that were never told.