The power of William Wells Brown"s narrative, "This Cargo of Human Flesh," is it's ability to disprove many of the claims made by the south in defense of slavery. The assertion that slavery offered a better life for blacks than what wage workers endured is absurd when examined through the eyes of a slave. The alleged care offered by slave owners is countered by Brown's numerous instances of injustice. A common wage worker, for instance, is not subjected to "ten lashes from the negro-whip" for being late to work. The point which the southern argument of benovlence seems to miss is that a slave is not free to decide what treatment to put up with. They are entirely under the care of whoever owns them. I'm certain there were slave owners who cared
