'Memories Of A Brutal Institution'

children. A couple years later Linda returned to Boston to care for Mr. Bruce’s children after his wife died. Ellen went to boarding school and Benny lived with her uncle, William, in California while Linda worked for Mr. Bruce again. She continued working for them after Mr. Bruce remarried and had a new baby. Emily, Mr. Flint’s daughter, sent a letter to Linda to recover her once her father died. This was terrible timing for Linda, because there was a possibility she could be re-enslaved during the Fugitive Slave Act. When Emily and her husband showed up to retrieve Linda, she went into hiding once again. Mrs. Bruce, Mr. Bruce’s second wife, suggested to purchase her so she could be free, but Linda does not wish for that to be done because she did not like the idea of being bought or sold. Mrs. Bruce insists on buying her, which upset her only because she did not want to be caught up in the slave system. But, Linda was grateful anyway and continued to work for her as a free women. Although Linda never liked the fact that she was the property of someone else, she did not lose her self-respect. She longed to have a family and a home of her …show more content…
The abuse that many slaves suffered through was cruel and immoral, but not all slaves experienced this same type of physical abuse. Some encountered physical abuse such as an occasional whip, while others experienced a much more severe form of physical abuse. This extreme act of abuse included being whipped to death, having their open wounds washed with chemicals that caused further pain and harm, burning, and freezing. The woman in this source said she did not “get no beatin’ like dat” but she got whipped “plenty o’ ‘em.” When compared to Linda, she was abused, but not as much in a physical sense, like in “Memories of a Brutal Institution,” but it was more of an emotional abuse. This shows