Slavery was introduced to Colonial America in 1619 by the Dutch. It wasn 't until 1865 that slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment. The House of Burgess officially established slavery in Colonial America in 1670, even though it had been going on for way longer than that. Two hundred and fifty plus years of brutal, animalistic, behavior used for personal vendetta and appetite for wealth. Profit was one of the highest priorities of land and slave owners. Africans were cheaper to buy and enslave than hiring freemen and paying them a salary. In Fredrick Douglass’ “A Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave”, Douglass summarizes the basic life an American Slave would have. Touching on key characteristics ranging from
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Granted the time period viewed slavery different than we do today, but you would think that any person with a heart would see something wrong with the idea. Instead of enslaving human beings, hire workers to work for money and you will grow and prosper. Yes it isn 't as cheap as slave owning but is there really a cost on freedom and compassion? The real cost was the lives of millions. Economically, plantations using slavery were more productive than any other system. were captured off the West African Coast and shipped across the Atlantic to North and South America. The slave trade journey through the Middle Passage was extremely hazardous. Up to twenty million Africans were transported through this passage under the most inhume conditions. Normally the captured slaves were fed twice daily. Scurvy, gangrene, dehydration and contaminated water are just a few components that led to the deaths of thousands of Africans aboard the Middle Passage ships. Slaves were treated like nothing, like animals when in reality they were humans just like me and you. It horrific to see what our species is capable of according to our …show more content…
By this time America had broken away from the English monarchy. The United States of America has come a long way since then, however; it is still hard to picture how humans could commit such evil acts. Unfortunately we can not rewrite history, but I would like to think that things would have been done way differently if we could. Douglas depicts the evil he witnessed in life through his book .the first chapter of “A Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave” institutes that basically every slaves life was the same and entailed the same horror. Seeing a lashing a couple times a week was expected. Death and depreciation of loved ones was foreseen and the will to survive was hardly possessed. America has come a long way and a notorious light is shown on those dark years that human kind could commit such acts. History cant be rewrote, however it can help us to prevent ourselves form making the same mistakes as we did. We have grown as a country since those days
Granted the time period viewed slavery different than we do today, but you would think that any person with a heart would see something wrong with the idea. Instead of enslaving human beings, hire workers to work for money and you will grow and prosper. Yes it isn 't as cheap as slave owning but is there really a cost on freedom and compassion? The real cost was the lives of millions. Economically, plantations using slavery were more productive than any other system. were captured off the West African Coast and shipped across the Atlantic to North and South America. The slave trade journey through the Middle Passage was extremely hazardous. Up to twenty million Africans were transported through this passage under the most inhume conditions. Normally the captured slaves were fed twice daily. Scurvy, gangrene, dehydration and contaminated water are just a few components that led to the deaths of thousands of Africans aboard the Middle Passage ships. Slaves were treated like nothing, like animals when in reality they were humans just like me and you. It horrific to see what our species is capable of according to our …show more content…
By this time America had broken away from the English monarchy. The United States of America has come a long way since then, however; it is still hard to picture how humans could commit such evil acts. Unfortunately we can not rewrite history, but I would like to think that things would have been done way differently if we could. Douglas depicts the evil he witnessed in life through his book .the first chapter of “A Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave” institutes that basically every slaves life was the same and entailed the same horror. Seeing a lashing a couple times a week was expected. Death and depreciation of loved ones was foreseen and the will to survive was hardly possessed. America has come a long way and a notorious light is shown on those dark years that human kind could commit such acts. History cant be rewrote, however it can help us to prevent ourselves form making the same mistakes as we did. We have grown as a country since those days