Sociology Paper on '12 Years a Slave'

My Interpretation of Enslaved Individual's Experiences

There are many paintings and documents from people and their experiences during the time of slavery. In the documents provided to me, there have been several experiences told by enslaved individuals who are housemaids, and field workers, as well as a free man who was captured in New York and then sold into slavery. In the following, I am going to analyze and interpret how these enslaved individuals depicted in the documents viewed whites and how the whites depicted in the documents viewed the enslaved. I will also talk about different circumstances, concerns, and challenges faced by these enslaved individuals and how they overcame them.

Within many of these documents, the feeling of constant fear seemed mutual among all the enslaved individuals. In Recalling Work Punishment, Mary Reynolds referred to her slave owner as the “nigger driver” after recalling a woman telling her and other children in the field “For the love of Gawd, you better learn it right, or Solomon will beat the breath out your body (Document 10.9, Mary Reynolds, “Recalling Work, Punishment, and Faith c. 1850s,” Hewitt and Lawson, Exploring American Histories, 2nd ed., 345).” For a woman to say such a warning to children shows that not only does she know what this man is capable of, but that he will inflict that pain on children shows that he is a man that she fears greatly. Enslaved individuals also seemed to think that the white wives of their male owners would show more mercy towards them, even if forced into sexual acts out of their own free will. However, as said in A Girl Threatened by Sexual Exploitation, Harriet Jacob says “The mistress, who ought to protect the helpless victim, has no other feelings towards her but those of jealousy and rage(Document 10.6, Harriet Jacobs, “A Girl Threatened by Sexual Exploitation,” Hewitt and Lawson, Exploring American Histories, 2nd ed., 343).” They look to them as merciful but find out that they too are fearful as well as spiteful. Solomon Northup, a slave in southern Louisiana, clearly states his fear in a statement made at the end of his excerpt, “An hour before day light the horn is blown…. Then the fears and labors of another day begin (Document 10.7, Solomon Northup, “Endless Labor and Constant Fear,” Hewitt and Lawson, Exploring American Histories, 2nd ed., 343).” In some instances, enslaved individuals would see the whites as disgusting human beings. Harriet Jacobs, a housemaid, was constantly raped by her white owner who, in his mind, felt as though he treated her better than anyone could and would. She viewed her owner as repulsive and even insisted that 'I would rather be sold to anybody than to lead such a life as I did (Harriet Jacobs, “Harriet Jacobs on Rape and Slavery, 1860,” in “The Cotton Revolution Reader.” Locke and Wright, eds., The American Yawp Reader, http://www.americanyawpreader.com/reader/the-cotton-revolution/harriet-jacobs-on-rape-and-slavery/.).” She felt as though being anywhere, even on the field, would be better placed than having to endure the sexual assault from her master. To say she would rather be anywhere besides a housemaid speaks volumes of how repulsed she was by him.

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Slave owners would house their slaves in the worse of living situations, such as cabins with beds made of straw or wood. In Endless Labor and Constant Fear, Solomon Northup described their daily lives as endless labor with a constant fear of owners if they did not bring in the right amount of cotton at the end of a day’s work. All they were allowed was corn and bacon that was given out every Sunday morning. Solomon says “My pillow was a stick of wood. The bedding was a coarse blanket, and not a rag or shred beside (Document 10.7, Northup, 343).” This shows that the white viewed them as unworthy. They were thought of as not worthy enough for bedding, nutrition, the proper amount of sleep for the vigorous amount of work produced, suitable shelter, and appropriate space being forced to sleep in the same quarters as many of the others. Also, the image, Fredrich Shulz, The Slave Market (Document 10.8, Fredrich Shulz, “The Slave Market,” Hewitt and Lawson, Exploring American Histories, 2nd ed., 344), as well as “Solomon Northup Describes a Slave Market,” shows/describes a slave auction with the enslaved in a way dressed to impress. In my opinion, this would describe that the owners view the slaves as show dogs. They dress them up nicely, tell them to be on their best behavior, and show off their best attributes (may it be their hands, their talents, their endurance, etc.) all to get as much money as they can off them. Though, if the offer was thought to be too much, they would blatantly say that the price was too high and such a slave was not worth that high of a price. Solomon states during the slave market in which he was in, “The little fellow was made to jump and run across the floor, and perform many other feats, exhibiting his activity and conditioning (Solomon Northup, “Solomon Northup Describes a Slave Market, 1841,” in “The Cotton Revolution Reader.” Locke and Wright, eds., The American Yawp Reader, http://www.americanyelp.com/reader/the-cotton-revolution/solomon-northup-describes-a-slave-market-1841/).” Slaves weren't viewed as what we would think today, a great addition to their workforce, yet they were simply viewed as tools, property, and profit.

There were many circumstances, concerns, and challenges faced by enslaved individuals including such as being separated from families and being forced to live in an insufficient shelter, and being overworked with no reward. One of those instances of challenges faced was by a woman known to Edward Strutt Abdy when he says, “Robey had got possession of a woman, whose term of slavery was limited to six years. It was expected that she would be sold before the expiration of that period, and sent away to a distance, where the assertion of her claim would subject her to ill-usage. Cases of this kind are very common (Document 10.1, Edward Strutt Abdy, “Description of Washington, D.C., Slave Pen, 1833,” Hewitt and Lawson, Exploring American Histories, 2nd ed., 318).” Slaves who had hope in their eyes for freedom and approached their expiration date faced the challenges of being resold and not freed as they should have been. They faced finding the will to keep going when it is not set in stone that their expiration of slavery will be honored. Some challenges faced by the enslaved were either hearing or seeing their family members being punished for being late to work, falling short on their expected amount of work, or disobedience. In Williams Wells Browns' case, he had to listen to his mother being lashed with a whip for being 15 minutes late to the field. He shares his experience while she was being whipped by the overseer “Though the field was some distance from the house, I could hear every crack of the whip, and every groan and cry of my poor mother….The cold chills ran over me, and I wept aloud (Document 10.5, Williams Wells Brown, “Memories of Childhood,” Hewitt and Lawson, Exploring American Histories, 2nd ed., 342).” Followed by her returning to her bed with no form of comfort except in her tears. She was alone with no one to console her, hearing her mother in pain with absolutely nothing that she could do.

Though not all challenges, concerns, and circumstances are able to be overcome, some find cheer and a way to bring light into their darkness. Mary Reynolds in “Recalling Work, Punishment, and Faith” tells us how the enslaved person's hands would get so cold, sore, and even crack while picking cotton that they would have to run to a small fire to warm them up a little bit. They weren’t allowed to pray but they did in secret inside their cabin. As a reward, their master would give them some free time on Saturdays to do laundry. They would overcome their hardship and days of hard work in the field by coming together. She says, “Brung fiddles and guitars and come out and play. The others clap their hands and stomp their feet and we young’uns cut a step round. I was plenty biggity and like to cut a step (Document 10.9, Reynolds, 345).” Though they were later chased by their master who did not like them frolicking, they still found a way to overcome their cruel days. They managed to get away and when they did, they said it was the power of God that they got away; which too was a way they overcame their circumstances, concerns, and challenges.

Work Cited

1. Hewitt, Nancy A, and Steven F. Lawson., Exploring American Histories: A Survey with Sources. 2nd ed. Bedford St. Martin’s, 2017.
2. “The Cotton Revolution Reader.”, In The American Yawp Reader: A Documentary Companionship to the American Yawp, edited by Joseph Locke and Ben Wright, http://www.americanyawp.com/reader.html.