Of The Children And Other Slaves example essay topic

During the painful time of the 19th century, African men, women and children were terribly involved in slavery. They were shipped from their homeland of Africa and was brought by force to North America, to where they worked hard hours, non- stop, and for very little costs. The children greatly suffered through slavery, not knowing what was going on in this lifetime and why they was doing so. Many of the children in slavery had to grow up fast and to do chores for themselves and to learn to be strong and independent at a very young age. They were tortured and had to suffer w / seeing some of the incidents that occurred ion the plantation that children should not be seeing at that age. The life of an African child slave of the 19th century was hard starting from being captured from their homeland, being sold, work, and the brutal punishments that were brought upon such children.

The whole start of slavery was that the Europeans need cheap and good labor to help them establish Europe's colonies. The reason why blacks were chosen as slaves b / c whites could start a new life, and the Indians were resistant to diseases. Child slaves were mainly kidnapped by English white males. They were kidnapped from their homes, or kidnapped from just playing outside. Many Blacks were abducted and forced to go upon the boat to North America. Many of the children and other slaves died from starvation, diseases, suicides, and suffocation on the ships.

When they arrived to North America, they were immediately set off the ship and into the auctioning of Negroes. This is where the whites would look for the best looking slave to come and help out w / them and to tend to their fields. Depending on how the slave is looking, either healthy or sickly. the whites would pay more for them. Sometimes, the children were separated from their mothers and they never saw each other again, depending on how old the child is and if they are capable of working in the fields. Sometimes the mother and children were bought together and sold.

They were not worth more money or anything together but the English thought that they could be more help and such. Being a child in slavery times was difficult b / c of the fact that their childhood was stolen form them at a very young age. Instead of playing outside playing w / their friends or simply just going to school and getting an education, they are forced to work long, hard hours in the fields. They children were either helping their parents in the fields or doing little things such as tending to the garden of the masters. Their day was always rough, and their were no breaks or "take off days" form this. They had to hoe the fields for cotton.

Children were involved in this if the master told them to. If all slaves were to pick up less than 200 lbs. of cotton, they were all punished and if they were to pick up more than 200 lbs. of cotton, they had to pick up the same amount the very next day. They worked hard every single day of the year from sun up to sun down w / very little or no breaks depending on how bad the master is. Little bit of food was given to them. The masters provided the slaves mothers w / a trough to put their infant child in. When a thunderstorm would hit, the mothers would run to the troughs to get their child and they would find them floating in it b / c they have drowned.

The educational life of a child was very low. They had little or no kind of education w / them... Some had never been to school in their whole life. They did not know how to read. Escaping was hard on children and their families. They did not have any sense of what was going on and what kind of cruelty was occurring on the plantations.

They were often tired and hungry but nothing could been done about it but to try and escape to the North to regain freedom and to never have to go through the slavery anymore. Punishments were brutal to all slaves. No matter what they did, everything was a punishment. Slave owners of North America were the most cruel. They would brutalize the slaves and control them. In some situations, children were punished due to either being blamed for something.

The masters children would often blame the child slaves and they would often get beat up and could not do anything about it b / c they were treated like property. In the incident of picking less than 200 lbs. of cotton resulted in a brutal whipping for all the slaves. Learning how to read and write was bad for the slaves, b / c the masters did not want them to know how to. Therefore, if the master did find out they are learning how to read, it resulted in cutting off the thumbs or so many amount of slashes and salt placed upon the wounds.

Slacking on the job also got the children in trouble b / c children often gotten tired and if caught, they were slashed by the whip and no remorse was given. If a mother was to be punished for some unknown event, her and her family was given smaller portions of food, therefore leading them to starvation and other sickly diseases. Children had to stay strong in such situations. Their childhood was stolen from them, therefore leaving the children w / painful memories of being beaten and being starved. Such children should not be deprived of their childhood but they should be out playing and being a child instead of growing up so fast.

The brutal memories will be w / a child living in those situations which causes mental damage and flashbacks that a person should not have. African children do not deserve such awful thoughts in their heads like any other of the slaves. They were brought into a world that they are not aware of and from then on, their lives are forfeited into the hands of the angry white race. Resources 1. "Africans in America", web 2. "African Slave Trade", web 3.

"Child Slave Trades", web 4. Havens, Matthew", To be a Slave", web 5. "Unearthing Secret America", web.