Slave Ad Essay
Slave Ad 1 After reviewing the three slave ads, the first one stuck out the most because of its subtlety and descriptive profiling. In the first slave ad it describes a runaway African-American slave that goes by the name of Will and the reward for his capture is 10 dollars. The time stamp of the article is 1774, a few years before the north American colonies declared independence from England. This ad was unique to the other ads in being more descriptive of the said slave than the second ad, as well as being less aggressive than the third ad. Analyzing the ad along with other information, the history around the time frame could suggest why the ad was written in a less aggressive manner on the slave’s capture, there was an increase in value
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England wanted to maintain control over the colonies, while the colonies wanted to have independence due to the increase in taxes. Going back on topic, the slave master would then know beforehand that the slave trade was obscure in the future because of the talk of tension between the crown country. This would make the value of slaves much greater since trade would be limited during the coming revolution. Using common sense, the slave master would put greater value in keeping his slaves alive and healthy rather than being aggressive towards them. Otherwise, if a slave would die the master would have to pay more for a replacement slave that was lower in price than before the revolution. This lead to the conclusion that this slave master was not harsh towards his slaves, which supports the passive description of the capture of this slave. Reinforcing the argument further, for example, the writer describes the slave as “a spry lively fellow” . The slave obviously did not go through much pain with this slave master, although the ad did say he had scars, “he had part of his right ear cut off, and a mark on the backside of his right hand.” , using previous information it leads to the conclusion that the slave received his scars before he was sold to this slave master. Overall, using information from the ad and history around this time frame we can come to the answer that the slave master was had value in his slaves and wanted to have higher treatment for
England wanted to maintain control over the colonies, while the colonies wanted to have independence due to the increase in taxes. Going back on topic, the slave master would then know beforehand that the slave trade was obscure in the future because of the talk of tension between the crown country. This would make the value of slaves much greater since trade would be limited during the coming revolution. Using common sense, the slave master would put greater value in keeping his slaves alive and healthy rather than being aggressive towards them. Otherwise, if a slave would die the master would have to pay more for a replacement slave that was lower in price than before the revolution. This lead to the conclusion that this slave master was not harsh towards his slaves, which supports the passive description of the capture of this slave. Reinforcing the argument further, for example, the writer describes the slave as “a spry lively fellow” . The slave obviously did not go through much pain with this slave master, although the ad did say he had scars, “he had part of his right ear cut off, and a mark on the backside of his right hand.” , using previous information it leads to the conclusion that the slave received his scars before he was sold to this slave master. Overall, using information from the ad and history around this time frame we can come to the answer that the slave master was had value in his slaves and wanted to have higher treatment for