At the end of a long wide street, a large amount of merchants set up stalls to sell items, materials, and even … slaves. A infant - with eyes that resembles a dragon's and small horns that can’t be seen by the naked eye - that can’t even be two months old is crying while being shackled down by chains, similar to his fellow slaves that surround him. A man - around two meters tall - with a pitch-black cloak - that seem to blend with the shadows - is yelling the prices for the different slaves. A woman - so beautiful that with just a glance she could enchant even the most cold-hearted men - walks up to the slave dealer and says [Here is two large gold coins for the Infant with the dragon like eyes] with a sweet calming voice. [Alright, come …show more content…
[To do the transfer of ownership it will take some blood to...] The Slave Dealer starts to say but was shortly interrupted. [I know how the process works so can we just start] the beatiful woman said with a slightly annoyed expression. A small needle pricked the woman’s finger and a single drop of blood formed and fell onto the slave collar of the Infant’s neck. The magic circle start to glow brightly while giving out a dark and gloomy atmosphere, and so the Transfer of Ownership has been completed. [My child your new name shall be … Aries!!!] the woman said with a bright and motherly voice. [I have to warn the reason why the In… Aries was a tenth of the price, it was not because he was an infant but because he is cursed with misfortune.] the Slave Dealer said with a cautious tone. The woman - with Aries in her arms - walks out of the tent and gets engulfed by the crowded …show more content…
Inside an eight year old girl rushes down the stairs to welcome her Mother home. [Mother, Mother, I’ve finished reading… Mother, who is this baby?] The young girl said with excitement. [Stella, How many times have I told you not to run down the stairs?... Ah, I almost forgot, Stella meet your new baby brother Aries] Cecilia said in calming voice. [What?! … you do realize that he has a slave collar on his neck, he will be bullied when he starts school] Stella said with a concerned voice. [It is alright he has such a reliable big sister that will protect him, right?] Cecilia said with a sarcastic tone. [Wait? … I’m a bit curious what is his race? He is part dragonian, right? ] Stella said full of curiosity. [I’m not sure, he does has a dragonian’s eye, but the rest it seems to be human] Cecilia says as she starts to pet Aries. [Stella, shouldn’t you be at school?] Cecilia asked with an icy voice. [No, since today was just the speech actual class starts tomorrow.] Stella says as she becomes frightened. [Mama?] Aries cries to Cecilia. Cecilia soon forgets about Stella for a moment, and soon Cecilia and Stella start playing with
brother: however, her brother is on a trip and should be back anytime now. She hopes
[ A moment of silence passed as John realizes what Elizabeth meant. Impatient, Elizabeth softly grabbed John cheeks]
In “Slaves and the ‘Commerce’ of the Slave Trade,” Walter Johnson describes the main form of antebellum, or pre-Civil War, slavery in the South being in the slave market through domestic, or internal, slave trade. The slave trade involves the chattel principle, which said that slaves are comparable to chattels, personal property that is movable and can be bought or sold. Johnson identified the chattel principle as being central to the emergence and expansion of slavery, as it meant that slaves were considered inferior to everyone else. As a result, Johnson argued that slaves weren’t seen as human beings and were continually being mistreated by their owners. Additionally, thanks to the chattel principle, black inferiority was inscribed
In Douglass’ book, he narrates his earliest accounts of being a slave. At a young age, he acknowledges that it was a masters’ prerequisite to “keep their slaves thus ignorant”, reporting he had no true account of his age, and was groomed to believe, “a want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood” (25). This mindset was inbreeded in slaves to use ignorance as control and power. As a child, Douglass is separated from his mother. Thus, he comprehends this is implemented in slavery to disengage any mental, physical, and emotional bond within families and to benefit slave owners concern of uprooting slaves for trade. He illustrates the “norm” action and response of a slave to the master. To describe the typical dialogue, he states, “To all these complaints, no matter how unjust, the slave must answer never a word”, and in response “a slave must stand, listen, and tremble” (38). In the course of his narrative, he describes several excruciating acts of abuse on slaves. His first memory of this exploitation, the lashing of his Aunt Hester, he depicts as, “the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery” (29). Also, he gives accounts of owners’ self-deception tactics, injustices, and in effect, shaping characteristics of prejudice, jealousy, and dishonesty of slaves towards slaves. Likewise, connecting to the reader, slave...
Through historical documents and transcriptions of personal accounts, he attempts to create a glimpse into the more economically driven side of slavery. Johnson uses excerpts from these documents to paint a picture of what it was like to be involved with the slave trade in New Orleans. Most importantly, he attempts to tell the story from several different perspectives—that of the slave owner, the slave trader, and even the slaves themselves. The picture Johnson paints is not the one we are used to of slaves on plantations and in “big houses,” working in the fields and serving their masters, nor is it the darker idea of the punishments those slaves received for taking even a tiny step out of line. Instead, Johnson shows us an even darker, bleaker side of slavery—the reduction of human beings to the same level as farm animals, to be bought and sold and traded in the brutal economy of the slave trade. In this trade, people were reduced to commodities, their value determined down to the dollar based on physical attributes. Johnson quotes one trader, David Wise, on the value of a human eye: "Being asked if the girl had a filter on her eye if it would impair her value, he says it would impair its value from $25 to
The image of American slave traders popularized and ingrained upon the national consciousness is based predominantly upon the character of Mr. Haley in Uncle Tom's Cabin. It is one of brash and opportunistic men of dubious background, character and principles, inherently racist and brutish in nature, motivated solely by profit. Ironically this largely echoed the view depicted publicly in the pro-slavery oratory and writings, which typically minimized the importance of the trade and portrayed the traders as social outcasts from the genteel antebellum culture of the South, thus reinforcing this fictitious version of history. Close scrutiny by many prominent historians has unquestionably shown this image is not historically accurate however. Far from being social outcasts with no community ties, many traders were in fact prominent citizens holding important positions in government and business. The most enterprising and successful of their number took full advantage of the latest innovations in modern transportation and employed effective market and advertising strategies thus introducing a spirit of commercialism which was so prevalent in the North to the South's agrarian culture. While it can not be disputed the most of these men held strongly racist views and many committed appalling acts in the course of the business, most saw themselves as men of vision who were simply pursuing their own American dream of happiness and prosperity. In their estimation their business practices were no more unethical than those of Northern entrepreneurs and served a viable need to the public at large.
The primary source for this assignment is a handwritten, May 2, 1863 cash receipt for the purchase of two enslaved people from Crawford, Frazer & Co. The bill of sale, located at the Atlanta History Center , details the objects of this sale as, Harry, said to be “about age 34,” and Hannah, “30 yrs of age.” Both people are pledged as slaves and warranted to be “… sound in body and mind …” and they have been made available for sale through grant of “… right and title…” Written to Mr. John P. Hulst, the receipt confers ownership of “… the above named slave(s) …” to Mr. Hulst, his “… heirs and assigns …” and protects his purchase “… against the claims of all persons whomsoever.” The receipt is s sworn and witnessed legal document, signed by I. H. Andrews for Crawford, Frazer & Co., and duly acknowledges payment in full for Harry and Hannah in the amount of $3,600.00.
In his influential autobiography, Frederick Douglass helps pave the way for the early abolitionist movement using his own life story to bring forth the evils of slavery. He illustrates the hardships of slavery during antebellum America, focusing not only on the historical and economic issues of slavery, but mainly on the innate morality of human beings. Although many readers during this period were skeptic of the works authenticity, it brought the proper awareness to an issue in which corrupted America for many years. Frederick Douglass’s account against slavery exploits the brutal nature of slavery in way that shocked those who had looked past its harsh nature. By putting the reader in first perspective on the everyday life of a child born into slavery, he successfully uses the transitions of his life to open the people’s eyes to the crime that is slavery.
With the use of character development, Douglass retains an important component in his argument by illustrating the alteration of Sophia Auld whose “kindest heart turned…into that of a demon”(39). He states that a human being having control of another has a soul-killing effect on his moral righteousness and results in the loss of innocence. At first Douglass writes, “The meanest slave was put fully at ease in her presence, and none left without feeling better for not having seen her. Her face was made of heavenly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music”(39). Douglass’s initial description fixes his argument that the slaveholder is not necessarily evil. His choice of words reveals his complete astonishment of her gentleness that he had never experienced before. However, Douglass’s tone appears to be disturbed of her behavior for she is “unlike any oth...
Many economic systems are revealed in A Respectable Trade: Slavery, Feudalism, Self-Employment, and Capitalism. England in 1788 was entering a period of economic transition. Viewing this finite period in A Respectable Trade allows us, as economists, to dissect the different market systems prevalent during that time.
Imagine being ripped apart from your mother as a child. Imagine watching family and friends receiving the stinging blow of a whip. Imagine religious men telling you that this is the will of god as they work you as close to death as they can. While difficult to imagine, this occurred to some of those who were enslaved in the early United States of America. One of the most heart wrenching of these accounts comes from a man born as a slave, Frederick Douglass. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an example of how some early Americans dehumanized slaves and how Fredrick Douglass’ viewed this atrocity. Despite this, Douglass found mental and physical means to fight this treatment.
The modern reader knows that a the life of a slave was of no doubt, a difficult one. However, what the modern reader does not know, is what made it so difficult and dehumanizing for them, other than hard work and whippings, the normal cliches thought of when the term “slave” is brought up. Throughout the narrative the reader may realize how the slaves were torn apart(dehumanized) so frequently, whether it be whippings, racial slurs, or the separation of families. A specific point in which this practice of dehumanization is prominent is in the birth of a slave. From the dawn of a slaves birth, the cruel practice commences with the newborn being separated from his mother, and being taken to a new plantation, miles or sometimes even states away.
I remember the day she born. I was nervous for the simple fact that my life would never be the same. Soon no longer would I be known as just Ayanna, I would take on a new title. A title that I would share with so many woman, and after eight long hours of labor, I would now be known to the world as mommy.
From the tiny and cramped spaces of the slaves boats that traveled the seas, where the descendants of king and queens, but soon as these slaves made it to the new world they were devalued and dehumanize because of the rich melanin that was embedded in them. This new land that the boat people deemed as home, was strange and unfamiliar to the slaves, which forced the slaves to adopt and adapt to the ways of the new world. Forced into slavery, these slaves had no chose, since the day they stepped foot of the boat they were looked at as a commodity and not a human being. Furthermore, the slave was nothing but a laborer and all they knew for centuries was work, for generations they had no sense of freedom and was used day in and day out to help supply and build the world we know today. Today we live in the world that our ancestors built and for no longer will the story of the slave be silenced; their stories deserved to be told full out through anal and fabric of history itself.
At the time, my wife Jeanne was pregnant with our soon-to-be daughter Tahlyn. We had waited eight long months for her to arrive, and finally her due date was getting closer and closer. The excitement grew stronger as the days went by.