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Introduction
Welcome! This page is designed to let you know a little about the
treatment of slaves through a look at slave narratives. It is
interesting to try to understand the humiliation and suffering endured by the
slaves through their own accounts or those of abolitionists. To me,
this puts a different twist on the facts that are presented.
Narratives
Not
all slaves who lived on plantations suffered a horrendous life. There
were some that were educated and allowed to remain together as a
family. For them, life was not as horrible and abhorring. In one
of the narratives of Annie Burton, she speaks of her mother. She mentions,
"the white folks are good to [her]. They give [her] work, and
[she] know(s), with God's help, [she] can get along (Burton 5)."
Some of the masters sought to educate their slaves, especially the young
children. Burton mentions in her narrative a poem that her mistress had
taught her and her siblings, for she "was always reading poems and good
stories (3)." In another case,
that of Harriet Jacobs, it was reported that she was taught how to read and
write by her mistress before she reached the age of twelve (Child 1).
Other experiences were not so
enlightening. It is unfortunate to
think that human beings can do this to one another, but that is the case. One such story is that of Charlotte
Brooks, written by Octavia V. Rogers.
This woman was taken from Virginia and sold in Louisiana; taken from
familiar surroundings (slavery nonetheless) to a completely different
environment. Taken away from her
mother and her siblings.
Brooks had been sold three times. When sold to her second master, she had a
small baby with her. She was not
allowed by the first master to take care of this baby as properly as she
could. She was not allowed to feed it
and the baby was left to cry for hours.
She was overworked to the degree that she was not capable of taking
care of her baby.
After her move to Louisiana, she found
herself among Catholics and could no longer go to church. She spent her Sundays working and this was
very alien to her. She spent her days
pining over the life she had been ripped from in Virginia. Some people endured severe punishment and
cruel behavior from the masters, while others were deprived of the necessary
pleasures of life, and this was a torture as well.
References
1. Burton, Annie L.
Memories of Childhood’s Slavery Days. Boston:
Ross
Publishing Company, 1909.
2. Rogers
Albert, Octavia V. The House of
Bondage. New York:
Hunt &&; Eaton,
1890.
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