Slavery was an institution that stripped men of their human rights, their familial ties, and ultimately their own sense of humanity. During the time period, men, women, and children were beaten, starved, and killed without mercy whatsoever. Slaveholders, especially in the South, had a reputation for being ruthless and unfeeling when it came to the treatment of their slaves. Indeed, it often appeared that the slaveholders simply did not have any morals or sense of right and wrong. How could one human being treat another with such brutality?…
Child labor, seen today as frighteningly atrocious, was prevalent during the early 20th century, and the lack of empathy among the people at the time are exemplified throughout Kelley’s piece. Fueled by humankind’s innate greed for money, and thus, the recruitment of these children and it’s obvious selfish needs was illuminated by Kelley as she exposed the wrong-doings of the everyday people through her use of first person point of view. Moreover, the aforementioned lack of empathy associated with allowing child labor to take place is made painfully obvious through Kelley’s use of rhetorical devices ranging from repetition to suffocatingly concise syntax. With this means of instilling a guilt-like response from the audience, the rhetorical…
In this chapter two sub-themes, man’s inhumanity to man and greed, will be discussed as primary causes of conscience crisis that lead to the human predicament in general. The two themes are dealt widely by novelists from many perspectives. From those novelists are John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy who wrote about these themes, both of them in his own way, to convey and to touch people's real lives. “Steinbeck has read and studied deeply, dissecting and examining the various facets of human behavior, including what Wordsworth calls man’s inhumanity to man.” Henry Morgan wrote in his portrait of the single-minded, self-absorbed, “ Steinbeck has provided a portrait of a criminal mind—one moving from atrocity to atrocity, with little evidence of any regret or compassion.”…
Frederick Douglass’s Learning to Read In his essay Learning to Read, author Frederick Douglass offers a seemingly grim outlook on the power of language in the context of nineteenth-century slavery. On first glance, Douglass 's struggle and subsequent suffering brought on by acquiring literacy seem to indicate futility, however, Douglass masterfully uses this newly acquired skill to introduce antislavery rhetoric without compromising the audience 's receptivity. His arrangement provides a high-stakes example of language’s unique ability to shelter and spread powerful yet potentially controversial ideas. Douglass uses linguistic elements such as vivid diction, narrative genre and metaphor to create an appeal to pathos that prevents his subtle…
In the years leading up to the 1860’s, freedom was an American fallacy. Frederick Douglass’ slave narrative is only one testament to the poisonous oppression spread throughout the United States. Ava DuVernay uses this toxicity to her advantage by turning heads, bringing to light cringe worthy moments in recent history, and continuing the speech of angered injustice that Frederick Douglass captured so well. Though the two oppose in direct topics of injustice, one being slavery and the other being racial inequality within the prison systems, they both hold very strong correlations with each other. The first of these correlations occurs in regards to people being seen as tools and not human beings.…
Before the 13th amendment, Slave labor without a doubt transpires throughout history as one of the many attributes to receive mass attention when the idea of brutality comes to mind. Frederick Douglass, a former slave himself, goes through intentions to understand everyone’s oppression in the establishment of slave labor. Although the source of economy had to be based around cheap slave labor for a benefit of profit, the idea taken into consideration to also treat slaves terribly was sickening. Therefore, Douglass can absolutely claim that amongst many people involved with legal slave labor faced victimization through dehumanization, power imbalance, and corruption through advantages of oppression.…
The Atlantic Ocean allowed the discovery of continents possible and it is the main reason why we have diversity in the world. The food we eat, the language we learn to speak, the clothes we buy, and the education we obtain, come from all parts of the world. How and who allowed trade and communication among other continents happen? History back in 1492, Christopher Columbus and the Portuguese set sail across the Atlantic ocean. The expedition resulted in the discovery of the New World and Africa.…
Slavery in the United States tore the nation in two. Slaves started to rebel against their slave owners through acts of both nonviolent and violent rebellion, which played an enormous role in the abolitionist movement. The social, political, and economic impact of the rebellions reached far beyond the Civil War, giving black Americans a newfound identity. A day in the life of a slave was tiring.…
There are a variety of strong feelings that accompany the word “slavery”, whether it be feelings of anger, reflection, or acceptance of what has happened in the past. Historians have reviewed many sources, some from former slaves, slave masters, northerners etc. Yet there is still no picture painted clearly enough to give us a perfect view of the past. However, there are still various stories of how slavery was for all parties involved, all of which could be used to prove the institution of slavery was one of bloodshed, pain, and defiance. Former president Andrew Jackson is a prime example of a proud slave owner.…
In 1807, American congressmen ended the Atlantic slave trade, bringing America one step closer to abolishing slavery entirely. However, the Slave Trade Act of 1807 did little to slow slavery’s influence in America. The brand-new cotton gin revived the southern economy during the early 1800’s and intensified the flow of slavery into the west. As a result, slaves were regularly bought, sold, and transported throughout the Cotton Kingdom as desirable commodities, embodying and increasing the southerners’ wealth. Through the dehumanization of African-Americans, the monetary value assigned to slaves, and the mobility of the slave trade, it was evident that slavery was the business of trading people as commodities to further benefit the white…
He also thinks that slave owners are victims once the slavery reaches their souls. On the other hand, he uses women to demonstrates the progress of how a person can lose all human qualities and becomes a body without soul, mercy or compassion. He shows the readers how white women are being victims and corrupted under the institution of slavery. However, he does not want the readers to forget the real victims in this dark world. The slaves whose their guilt is that they are just being slave are the real…
This final paragraph is dedicated to the misconceptions and discrimination regarding slaves. As discussed in previous chapter, slaves were seen as property, a property to do with as a master saw fit. This paper also discussed how having the mindset of being superior over another person can warp the mind and nature of a person. This paragraph will expand on the misconceptions of slaves, which did not fit into the previous two chapters. One aspect that is critically important is the understandings that people had regarding the nature of slaves.…
He ask what kind of place is America, the home of the free, but the only ones free are the white people. He views human conditions as being confusing and wrong. He is confused and addresses the issue that slaves were told they are human beings but their masters treat them like property. He paints a picture of how slaves are treated and passed between masters. He is not very happy that slaves are treated like livestock and animal, and even states that treating slaves this way is cruel and…
The author also notes that “Instead of drinking Beer, [she] drinks the water clear… which makes me pale and wan, do all that e’er I can...” and that “When [her owner] sits at Meat, then I have none to eat…” which emphasizes the low quality of her rations (Coles, Zandy 6). “The Poor, Unhappy, Transported Felon” adopts a more narrative approach than the “Trappan’d Maiden,” relating the author, James Revel’s “...years in virtue’s path…” and his subsequent fall into “...wicked company…” which leads to his transportation to Virginia as an indentured servant (Coles, Zandy 7-9). In spite of certain differences in content, especially Revel’s sale to a master who “...used [him] so tenderly and kind…” and his eventual return to England, the two works condemn the practice of indentured servitude by providing an account of its harsh conditions from the point of view of individuals caught up in the system (Coles, Zandy 12). Condemnation of the practice, rather than direct calls to reform the whole institution dominate these works as a result of disenfranchisement enshrined in the colonial political structure, which generally allowed only white,…
Criminal activity gone unpunished, wrongful imprisonment, the conviction of an innocent man. These injustices are all present in A Tale of Two Cities. Injustice is a recurring theme in the book by Charles Dickens, and was seen all throughout the French Revolution. In A Tale of Two Cities, the novel starts with a doctor named Alexander Manette who has just been released from an eighteen-year imprisonment. A man named Charles Saint Evremonde, who has renounced his family name and taken the name “Charles Darnay”, grows close to the family after they stand witness at a trial.…