Fitzhugh's Sociology For The South Or The Failure Of Free Society

This shows how each slave lives in constant fear of brutal punishments for slowing down the production of cotton and other good. As shown here, Nightjohn, is historically accurate due to its accurate knowledge of the horrid punishments which were proven in the Mingo White’s Narrative and Solomon Northup’s, Twelve Years a

Throughout the argument, James Henry Hammond is very vague and states many half-truths that allow him to lie through omission. These half-truths are hidden and are the basis of Hammond’s statement, hence the bias in his argument. Furthermore, the actual relationship between slave owner and slave can be examined through accounts that demonstrate the more likely situation of a slave: that of being constantly mistreated. It is possible that there were slaveholders who treated their slaves with kindness like Hammond claims, but it is clear that the majority of slaves suffered mistreatment from their owners. Fanny Kemble’s journal is a prime example that illustrates the situation of many slaves in the nineteenth century.

But there can be no efficient protection without enslavement of some sort” ( Fitzhugh L. l1-13). The author is getting his point across by persuasion and manipulation towards his audience, to become pro slavery. Fitzhugh is persuading the audience by explaining the needs for slavery because the african americans need the protection to live. If the slaves were on their own they would not be sheltered or secured. But by letting people

Out of extreme desperation, a Virginia indentured servant, Richard Frethorne writes home to his family whom still resided in England, with the hopes of getting food, supplies, or money to redeem his contract to get out of the terrible situation he found himself in. Many thought the move to the colonies, to Virginia, would bring about a better way of life, farming in the Tabaco fields, and they would only owe a given amount of years till their new freedom, their new lives would begin. Well, it turned out it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns like they dreamt and thought. In fact, it was the opposite servants during this time were often treated in a despicable, less than human like manor. Therefore, death, disease, starvation, beatings, poor living

Their beliefs show how slaves should be joyful about how their owners show their concern about them. Fitzhugh quotes, “...yet have all the comforts and necessities of life provided for them (Doc 1).” This quote implies how Fitzhugh explains how slaves should be cheerful about their life as a slave. He explained that slaves have a balance of their time and that they also have their holidays off. He also mentions, “White Slave Trade [Northern free labor] is more exacting and fraudulent (in fact, though not in intention) than Black Slavery; (Doc 2)...”

In this manner, the slave is depicted in its rightful place as a servant to slave masters and in fact enjoys more freedom than most people. Fitzhugh is not alone in his unusual justification of slavery.

Worse than Slavery, by David Oshinsky, is a novel about post-Civil War America, and the life it gave free African Americans in Mississippi and other parts of the South. Oshinsky writes about the strict laws and corrupt criminal justice system blacks faced after they were freed, and while the contents of the book are not typically read about in history textbooks, it is important to understand what life was like for the freedman. Anyone interested in reading his book would profit from it. With the end of the Civil War came the destruction of the old system of slavery. Many white Southerner’s were outraged, but were forced to accept the newly freed blacks.

This concludes that people should change what they think about slavery since many have been in pain during

By using this reference, it illustrated the severity of the alienation of blacks in the Southern United States. In 1619, a Dutch ship “introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would ultimately divide the nation”. The Africans were not treated humanely, but were treated as workers with no rights. Originally, they were to work for poor white families for seven years and receive land and freedom in return. As the colonies prospered, the colonists did not want to give up their workers and in 1641, slavery was legalized.

Douglass uses paradox to demonstrate that slavery degragrates the slaverholder. When Douglass under Mr. Sever’s care he described that: “He was less cruel, less profane… He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. ”(Douglass 24). Most slaveholders are characterized to be cruel and inhuman because of the whipping and the way they treated the slaves.

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the dehumanization of slaves often occurs, as plantation owners view slaves as undeserving of humane treatment in order to uphold power and warrant unjust practices. Limiting knowledge for African

First Douglass writes about his relatives who were still being held by his old master. He begs Thomas Auld to tell him how they are doing and set them free. However, this is not enough so he asks his master how he would "look upon me, were I, some dark night, in company with a band of hardened villains, to enter the precincts of your elegant dwelling, and seize the person of your own lovely daughter, Amanda, and carry her … make her … compel her … place her … disregard her … feed her … and so on" (105). This is an important rebuttal which asks not only his master, but oppressors in general to imagine the reverse, where they are the ones being treated like that. It allows them to think about what it would be like were they in the same position as Frederick Douglass and his fellows.

From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.

In the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it.

It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceases to be a man,” (p. 64-65). Douglass notes how a slave must become complacent and darken their “personal vision.” That darkened vision is critical in understanding how the institution of slavery entraps a human in a way to goes beyond physical captivity: it aims to make a slave feel