Effects Of Slavery On African American Children

African american children were passive victims of the institution of slavery. Many of these chilodren were kidnapped from an african or born into slavery by no means of their own. They were often taught to treat fellow slaves as a family to make the inevitable separation of their family less traumatic. The children were brought to work in the fields at early ages. If they survived their infancy, which included being weaned at a younger age and being fed food of little nutritional value. Arguably, the children were able to play and sing songs despite their hardships, similar to the children of today 's time, but they had no contril over the life that they were dealt and no due to the lack of data obtained about these children, there is nothing …show more content…
Undoubtedly, children were not willing participants in slavery and they were often found to be vulnerable, particularly when the men were killed in battle. The african american children were often snatched from fields or snatched when they were playing away from their parents. Additianlly, some children were placed into slavery by their own parents to repay debt or avoid criminal action. Children were often sold when their health was poor or they were suspected of being possessed by evil spirits. (Vasconellos, n.d.) Children were treated as property, not only by the slave owners, but even their pwn parens who were willing to palce them into servitude to save …show more content…
They were kidnapped and taken to plantations, where their families were often separated. There was some reprieve as the fist couple of years of their life they were able to play with homemade toys and make up games, but that did not last before they were put to work with household chores and errands. By the age of 12, if they survived illnesses and malnutrition, they were placed in the fields with the adults doing adult jobs that often resulted in their death due to the labor being more than their bodies could handle. The children were born into slavery and often did not have the strength to leave the plantations. Their parents taught them to cope through games, an undying sense of loyalty to their slave community, and often religious means. In doing this, the children would accept their circumstance and avoid excess punishments. It was a way for parents to protect their children in a helpless situation. Some people have argued that the slave childe had similar problems with other children, but they institution of slavery left these children powerless to fix their problems. They were whipped for insubordination and other infractions and were often left without their families. Their family members died and were sold. Sometimes families were separated when the plantation owner died. Despite the need for slave families to produce offspring, the mother and children were rarely given preferential