Race, Racism and Slavery in Violent Antebellum America Essay Example

Despite the progress our country has made since its inception, we still live in a racially categorized society. Some of us are the causes, and some are the victims of it. But what exactly does it mean to racially categorize somebody? Could it be by skin color, by dialect, by culture? Most commonly, one would not be able to give a clear answer, or the same answer as another would. The majority of our peers just go along with these ideas and they are taught generation after generation. However, there are those select few people who question the idea of racially categorizing people, and seek an understanding and a reason. Most of the time they come up empty-handed, for they find there is no logical understanding. Racial categories are simply man-made and created by society. A few thinkers during Antebellum America to have different views of society during the time of slavery were Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Herman Melville. Several of these different views were on the institution of slavery and racism. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Benito Cereno are the three corresponding texts. These three classic American texts prove that race is purely a social construct and that slavery is an institution that only results in violence and tragedy. In addition, they deploy the use of irony to voice their abolitionist arguments.
Racial classification began centuries ago when hierarchies were created and dominant groups emerged. According to scientists in today’s world, race is a social and cultural creation and not a biological concept. The idea of race began as a way to classify people of their differences in appearance and culture. When European explorers traveled to lands and saw people that looked different from them, they associated their behavior and culture with their appearance. In America centuries ago, before slavery, people did not distinguish between people because of skin color, but rather social status. Poor