Essay on Slavery - a Cruel Institution - 2057 Words

Slavery as a Cruel Institution Cruelty can be defined as an inhumane action done to an individual or group of people that causes either physical or mental harm. Slavery, at its very core, was a cruel and inhumane institution. From the idea behind it to the way that it was enforced, it degraded the lives of human beings and forbade the basic liberties that every man deserves under the Constitution of the United States. Three major areas where cruelty was especially prevalent were in the slaves working conditions, living conditions, and loss of fundamental freedoms. Working conditions for slaves were about as bad as can possibly be imagined. Slaves worked from dawn till dusk and sometimes even longer. Solomon Northrup describes his†¦show more content†¦My aunt was quite an old woman, and had been sick several years; in rains I have seen her moving from one part of the house to the other, and rolling her bedclothes about to try to keep dry- - everything would be dirty and muddy . I lived in the house with my aunt. My bed and bedstead consisted of a board wide enough to sleep on- - one end on a stool, the other placed near the fire. My pillow consisted of my jacket- - my covering was whatever I could get. My bedtick was the board itself. And this was the way the single men slept- - but we were comfortable in this way of sleeping, being used to it. I only remember having but one blanket from my owners up to the age of nineteen, when I ran away (Drew 45). These living conditions caused many to resort to immoral methods of survival, as Henderson relates: Our allowance was given weekly- - a peck of sifted corn meal, a dozen and a half herrings, two and a half pounds of pork. Some of the boys would eat this up in three days- - then they had to steal, or they could not perform their daily tasks. They would visit the hog- pen, sheep- pen, and granaries. I do not remember one slave but who stole some things- - they were driven to it as a matter of necessity. I myse lf did this- (Drew 48). Mealtime was far from a joyous occasion. In regard to cooking, sometimes many had to cook at one fire, and quot;before all could get to the fireÂ…the overseers horn would sound: then they must go at anyShow MoreRelatedJohn Douglass s Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Essay1164 Words   |  5 Pages2016 Moral Vacuity Slavery was an extremely common practice in American society throughout the Nineteenth century (I wanna put a quote here but idk). Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist and former slave, writes of the dehumanization and cruelty toward slaves in his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. 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