Slavery

Running head: SLAVERY 1

Slavery

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Slavery

This paper in its entirety discusses about slavery and the treatment of the black Americans in the United States of America in connection to their liberation and revolution from slavery, an act which on one hand is seen to be fought and eliminated and on the other hand seen to be embraced by oppressors. It is seen to have been planted in the United States by their colonial masters, The Britons.

The statement is accurate in relation to Zwick's depiction of African-American soldiers of the 54^th division. In Edward Zwick's movie, Glory (1991), for the short moments that Douglass (seen as the national recruiter for Shaw's 54^th) appears on the screen he gives a promise that pride and dignity was to be offered and not black degradation as he termed it. This therefore, implied that the survival of the African-Americans on the screen was actually because things had started in relation to the perception that existed in relation to blacks and slavery and that the process of abolishing it had been plotted and was under execution, (T Cripps, 1995)

Frederick Douglass (2002), in his book "Narrative of the life," shows the kind of treatment that was given to the slaves by their master, Colonel Lloyd who owned a big plantation and where Douglass himself was brought. The master had so many slaves to an extent that there were hundreds of slaves who were unknown to him. The slaves had to remain silent and he ordered punishment on them without any complain. The colonel's servants (overseers) mistreated the slaves and could even kill them and nobody questioned. The main objective that Douglass portrays in the narrative is that slavery causes both mental and physical dehumanization to mankind. He mentions the merciless killing of slaves by Mr Gore, an overseer and no step was taken against him.

Douglass was at one point invited to address a congregation on the fourth of July oration and in his speech he addresses several matters but stressed on the brutality that the freedom fighters underwent before their efforts of liberating the United states of America. He sheds light on the tortures that slaves are put through and insists that despite that it is said that slavery was abolished, it is still there and embraced by a group of people who accumulate wealth through human traffic. He further explains that the price of slaves is higher than it was during the era of the colonial masters, (Douglass, 1852)

In his speech, Douglass reminds the people he was addressing that racial discrimination is still in place because even at the present time, the blacks are asked to trace back their habitats, a sign that clearly depicts that racism is still held tight and embraced by the whites in the United States. In the utterances he makes in the address he say that there are 72 crimes in the state of Virginia which when committed by a black man he is subjected to death but only two of them subject the white to the same punishment.

There is no animosity in any of these historical or practical interpretations of the Civil War. It is evident that the North fought for Union purposes and abolition of slavery but Confederate soldiers also acquired respect for their bravery, their devotion, and their struggle against long odds, (Ayers, 1998)

In summary, despite that it is said that Slavery and Racism was abolished, it is evident that it is still in existence as seen in the behaviours exhibited by people in some states in the United States.

References

Cripps, Thomas. "Frederick Douglass: The Absent Presence in" Glory"." The Massachusetts Review 36, no. 1 (1995): 154-163.

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?." The Heath Anthology of American Literature 1 (1852): 1818-1836.

Ayers, Edward L. "Worrying about the Civil War." (1998): 145.

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. IndyPublish.com, 2002.