Slave Experience Essay

The Slaves in Chapter One

The slaves in chapter one of the book barely remember their birth dates because they were too busy trying to comprehend the seasons for farming. Since the slave was denied many privileges as a child, it was a constant cause of worry. The White child, in contrast to the slaves, was able to properly remember his birthdays as well as appreciate and honor them along with other anniversaries. "...By far the majority of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters to keep their slaves thus ignorant," the author writes in the book. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday." (p.1)

Deprivation of Parental Guidance and Love

In chapter one page two, a slave is deprived of the parental guidance and love. Once the child is born, and the mother has regained herself, the child is taken away and put under the care of an old granny who might be too old to work in the field as a slave worker. In most cases, the author notes that some slaves may not even know who their fathers are. The women work with rumors on who the father could be. Douglas recalls that he was not allowed to even ask the master if indeed he was his biological father, for such inquiries could be deemed to be a sign of a restless spirit "...I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life; and each of these times was very short in duration, and at night." (p.3)

Deprivation of Mourning Loved Ones

In chapter one, the author narrates that the slaves have even been deprived of the opportunity to mourn their loved ones. The slaves are not only denied the chance to grow in a proper family but also to visit the sick and to attend the burial services for their loved ones when they pass on. It is a somber situation for a person to find himself more so when it happens to a child. Douglas had to bear it in the sense that it was a total stranger who had passed on "I was not allowed to be present during her illness, at her death, or burial." (p. 3)

Beatings and Cruelty

In chapter one page 6, the slaves could be beaten mercilessly by the masters not considering their condition and circumstances that surround it. Douglas witnessed such a case when the aunt was stripped naked between the shoulder and waist and whipped. The genesis of this problem was that she was not only forbidden to go out at night but was also seen with a person she was not supposed to get seen with. Douglas wrote, "He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush, and not until overcome by fatigue...I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition." (p.6)

The Anticipation of the End of Slave Trade

In chapter one page 5, there is an anticipation that one time in the future slave trade will end in the United States of America. The surety of this prophecy coming to pass may not be adequately determined, however, there is a springing of a new viewpoint especially from the south. For instance, Douglas wrote "It was doubtless in consequence of a knowledge of this fact that one great statesman of the south predicted the downfall of slavery by the inevitable laws of population."(p.5)

Spirituality and Worship

In chapter two, the slaves were very spiritual people, and God-fearing. He was their only shelter in the time of such storms. They always take their time to pray and also fellowship. They always had an opportunity to worship and take their meditation to the Lord to whom they pour their complaints. They could sing songs of sorrow, crying for God to visit them. He writes in his narrative that "Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains." (p. 15)

Slaves Have No Rights

In chapter four, the slaves got deemed to have no rights, to the extent that the killing of a slave was not a crime in Talbot County. One Mr. Thomas Lanman from St. Michael's lynched two slaves, one of them he notably used a hatchet, by knocking his brains out. The particular man in question was sometimes captured talking proudly of the act and not feeling sorry for the actions. He equally wished that the people of color should get excommunicated from the United States of America.

Deprivation of Basic Needs

In chapter five, the slaves got deprived of the basic needs food, shelter, and clothing. Douglas was in a very unsatisfactory state of want regarding clothing; he was almost naked with no stocking and trousers. A corn oil bag was his bed; the meals, prepared of boiled coarse cornmeal. The children were like pigs; it was survival of the fittest. "In the hottest summer and coldest winter, I was kept almost naked -- no shoes, no stockings, no jacket, no trousers, nothing on but a coarse tow linen shirt, reaching only to my knees." (p.30)

Religion as a Cover for Slavery

In chapter ten, the religious activities in the South were particularly used as a means of covering the horrible crimes to the slaves. Being a slave to religion is one of the worst calamities for any slave. The religious slaveholders were the worst, most cowardly, and cruel among all the slaveholders. One of the slaves of a Methodist Church origin worked with one policy, irrespective of the behavior exhibited by the occasional slave, whipping was necessary. It is one of the barbaric premises owing to the faith that such a person professes to stand by and the values that are expected to be seen in such a person. Douglas wrote, "I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, and a dark shelter under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection." (p. 78-79)

Efforts to Abolish Slave Trade

In chapter seven, the states from the North were for the idea that slavery should get abolished altogether. Others equally considered praying for the abolition of slavery. Once Douglas failed to fully understand the meaning of the term abolishment, considering the dictionary definition of doing away with the slave trade completely and what was happening in the south, they were completely different. It was a requirement that the slave trade got abolished, but it was interpreted to mean that once a slave wrongs the master, then the slave must face the consequences of his actions to the end. The efforts by the North to abolish the slave trade also got commended by supporters of equality and freedom fighters. He considered moving to the North in particular for the white people of Irish origin whom he assisted. "...They both advised me to run away to the north; that I should find friends there, and that I should be free. I pretended not to be interested in what they said and treated them as if I did not understand them; for I feared they might be treacherous." (p. 45)

Conclusion

In conclusion, the southern philosophy of supporting the slave trade is an agenda that the people of the south needed to reconsider, it is barbaric and very inhuman to the slaves. The only difference is the race or origin and the color of the skin of the so-called slave. A slave has all the attributes that accrue to all other citizens irrespective of the race, color, or orientation. The philosophy of the North to abolish the slave trade is a positive change, more so in relation to the change and progress of any given society and country. Prophecy, specifically on the eradication of the slave trade came to pass. Slave trade, at last, got abolished in the United States of America. The injustices that had been witnessed for years got done away with, and America became accommodative of all.

Word Count: 1327