Page 61 - Historical Fiction.pdf

of them actually held slaves while in never saw their family again. All
The Amer i can
Hor r or St or y
Work, work and more work. Beaten,
bruised and hammered. That?s the
life of and African American slave in
America. There were so many people
that believed that slavery was the
right decision that they went and
started a whole Civil War about it.
Slavery was not right at all, it was
discriminating to the highest point, it
was promoted physical abuse.
Slavery first started in Jamestown,
Virginia in 1619. Slavery was officially
ended in 1865. It lasted 246 years.
That?s 246 years of african american
people being sold, abused, beaten,
killed and treated like the bottom of
either tortured to death, or sent
Body text War. This was a big deal, because it
The Gruesome Truth of
Slavery in America
BY KYLI E
HERALD
your shoes. That?s 246 years of hard nation?s history and it was very
labor and countless hours without important. Slavery helped build our
sleep. Even today, African Americans history, but it was also so terrible for
are not always treated the same. all the people that died, or were
Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, tortured. We can never fully take back
and Susan B. Anthony all fought for what we did to those people but we
African American Rights. You can too! can start by treating them like they
Slavery should have never are the same as us, because they are!
happened for the sake of all the The definition of slavery: a
African American people getting condition compared to that of a slave
treated the way they did. Although in respect of exhausting labor or
slavery was terrible it did shape our restricted freedom. There were many
nation and made many things in people in American history that
history happen. Without slavery, owned slaves. There were at least 12
there would be no ?Civil War?. The United States presidents that owned
Civil War was a major event in our slaves at one time or another. Eight
office. ?Thomas Jefferson? despite
once calling slavery an
?assemblage of
horrors?? owned
around 175
servants.?(Andrews).
This was a shock to
many people because
Jefferson seemed like
a man that would
never own slaves, based on his own
words. Jefferson wrote a law that did
not permit him to free his slaves, so
upon his death he had not freed his
slaves. ?Grant would later sum up
his evolving views on slavery in
1878, when he was quoted as saying
that it was ?a stain to the Union? that
people had once been ?bought and
sold like cattle.?? (Andrews). Ulysses
S. Grant only owned one slave and
let him free right before the Civil
showed people that Grant was a
?kind? person in some people?s eyes
White House or still owning them
by not bringing a slave into the
while serving. There were many
people that owned slaves that we
would not have expected or thought
that it was possible to own slaves.
This really taught people the lesson
that you can?t judge a book by it?s
cover, because if you do you might
be in for a surprise with the
contents of its character.
?Most slaves lived on large
plantations or small farms; many
masters owned fewer than 50
slaves.? (Slavery in AMerica). Slaves
were mainly used for hard labor, or
labor that white people thought they
were too good to do. Slaves were
separated from their families, most
slaves hoped for a reunion with back to their plantation where they
their were tortured with more work.
family, Slaves that did escape and were not
but knew caught, were free until someone
it was not found them and turned them in.
gonna Slaves that escaped for good, were
happen. not common at all, and those
Some people were very lucky.
slave Slavery was one of the worst
families things in American history. It was
were lucky enough to get to stay cruel, evil, and just overall a very bad
together though. Imagine if you just situation for everyone involved.
got thrown on a block like a wild
animal and auctioned off to people
that you didn?t know. The only thing
you knew was that you were about
to get tortured and put through
severe misery. Once slaves were
auctioned off and purchased, they
were of totally property to the
person that bought them. Slaves
had no right to education, health
care, or religious instruction. They
could be beaten any way their
master saw fit. This was terrible
type of people were not treated like
because it really showed that these
normal American citizens. At the
time women were not exactly
treated like normal American
citizens either but they did have
There have been many enjoyable,
some rights opposed to African intelligent, and fascinating books
Americans who had no rights at all.
about slavery. A really good one is
Slaves sometimes did try to
?The Underground Railroad? by
escape and run away from their Colson Whitehead. You travel on a
owners. Slave life was terrible, the
journey with slaves that are trying to
only reason that you would want to
escape their plantation and then
stay with a slave owner would be if escape slavery period. This is an
they were not using you for hard
amazing book and is definitely
labor, but more of a ?servant?. Some
recommended if you want to read
slaves knew that they would get about the experience of slave life
killed if they tried to run, and fear of
and attempting to escape it. That?s a
failure kept them in their place.
wrap on the topic of slavery.
Slaves that did escape from their
plantation and were caught were I