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... instruments of torture were used to punish the slaves. One very odd instrument described was that of a machine used for the packing and pressing of cotton. Iron bars were clasped to his feet weighing twenty pounds each, and he was stretched in this machine. "At this time he hung me up for a quarter of an hour...
I stayed with him for several months, and did my work very well... " (Roper, 137). After this, he escaped again, and was caught. .".. The first thing he did was to pour some tar upon my head, then rubbed it all over my face, ... and set it on fire" (Roper, 137). He then was punished again for running away, and his master cut off his fingernails and had his toes crushed. The next chapter is entitled "Resistance." It deals with the insurrections against slavery held by the slaves.
Many riots were formed where slaves would revolt against their masters and whites in general. In Frederick Douglass' essay, "Cowardice Departed, Bold Defiance Took its Place" he describes a very memorable time in his life. Douglass became severely exhausted and sick. He illustrates that "he [overseer] then gave me a savage kick in the side, and told me to get up" (142). Repeatedly afterwards the overseer beat him. The next few days Douglass managed to hide from him with the aid of another slave, but the overseer eventually caught up with him.
There was a fierce battle between the two of them, and curiously, but Douglass came out on top. There after, Douglass was not beaten again. He stated that "you have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man" (141). Another revolt that took place was that of Nat Turner's.
He stated to a lawyer that he .".. had a vision - and [he] saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle... " (147). He led what should be called a killing spree on many slave owners. He went to the houses, killing all. He killed anywhere from fifty to sixty people, and then took cover in the woods.
Eventually he was captured and sent to jail. "The number of slaves who escaped from slavery is unknown; it appears that the number was about a thousand a year" (Mintz, 151). Margaret Ward, a slave of Maryland, was a young and strong girl. "She therefore told him [the overseer] that she would not be whipped, she would rather die... " (Ward 153). She noticed after a while that her baby was being malnutrition, so she took it and tried to escape. She succeeded in her attempt with the aid of an old farm Mastiff named Watch. She was befriended by people in the North, and became an accomplished nurse.
Frederick Douglass describes his "flight" as "a new world burst upon my agitated vision" (156). He escaped by means of the trains and ferries with the free papers of another. He had the aid of friends and he made it successfully to the North. "My discontent grew upon me, and I was on the lookout for means of escape" (Douglass, 157). He went to New York and wrote his master to tell of the means of which he escaped. Harriet Tubman is one of the most famous escapees from Maryland to ever prevail in this attempt. She earned the name of Moses the Deliverer.
During her slave experiences, she was lent out to other slave owners often. She said that she .".. prayed to God to make [her] strong and able to fight and that's what [she's] aller's prayed for ever since... " (Tubman, 159). Because of her injuries it was hard for her to be sold and therefore, she escaped in fear that she would be taken away. When she escaped she resided in Philadelphia. She soon returned for her husband.
He had been unfaithful, and therefore, she left him alone. She acquired the name Moses because she was known as a messenger to other slaves. She returned during the night to help them to free states. This cost her time and money, but she felt much gratitude for this. She felt God's presence with her all of the way. As the slaves gradually reached freedom, new ways to escape were used.
Henry "box" Brown got his nickname by escaping in a box. "Satisfied that it would be far better to peril his life for freedom in this way than to remain under the galling yoke of Slavery, he entered his box" (Brown, 162). He had a small supply of food and water, and he managed to breathe. When he arrived in Delaware, he popped out to others's uprise. He stated that "I awaited patiently for the Lord, and He heard my prayer" (163). Emancipation and the Civil War had finally come. Although "the slave population did not respond to the Civil War with a single voice" (Mintz, 167) it completely affected their lives henceforth.
Emancipation was like a new life to many slaves. Some went North in seek of jobs, and others started new lives with their families. Even after the Civil war slaves were not recognized with rights. "Wherever I go - the street, the shop, the horse, or the steamboat - I hear people talk in such a way as to indicate that they are yet unable to conceive of the Negro as possessing any rights at all" (Thomas, 174). This time was celebrated with joy by slaves all over, free now. But on the other hand, they still did not feel truly free in the eyes of whites. Although slavery was abolished, some blacks continued to work on plantations, but this time for money. "We have laid the heavy hand of the constitution upon the matchless meanness of caste, as well as upon the hell-black crime of slavery... " (Douglass, 179).
The ones who were once slaves were now free, and this was a major turn of the times. As can be seen, African American Voices: The Life Cycle of Slavery, was a great portrait of the life and hardships of slaves owners and their slaves. It showed to the smallest detail what a real slave in the New World went the. It is good to see that in the present day that society lives in, that there is no need for slavery.
Slavery is something that no one should ever have to experience. Even though slavery tore America apart, at the same time it has brought most of society today closer together, black and white. Bibliography:
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