Violence In Slavery Research Paper
Slavery was an institution that lasted in the America for over 200 years. To keep people in slavery the slave owners and slave trades used many methods to keep people in slavery and some of those methods were the use of violence and religion. The use of violence and religion and violence were important methods that were sometimes used together or separately to keep people in slavery. Slave masters and traders used religion to keep the slaves thinking that their situation was ordained, that slavery was something that not only God approved of but if they work hard and were obedient that they would be reward in heaven. And they used violence to punish and scare the slave into submission. 12 Years a Slave is book for the perspective for someone,
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Slaves masters would use violence to not only keep the slaves in line but to motive them to work harder. Violence did not only effect the slaves physically it affected them psychologically. Slave masters would use all sort of methods to break slaves to make them more submissive. Slaves would have to witness others slaves get beaten to frighten other slaves for committing the same offence as the slave being beaten. Slaves would have watched as their family member and/or other slaves’ family member be separated like in the book where Eliza was torn away from her children. In the book Solomon mentions that after Eliza’s children were taken away from her how she became “shell of a woman she once was”. Some slaves if they were female had to live in fear of being raped by the slave master. We see this in the beginning of the book with Eliza’s daughter who was not sold with her mother because Theophilus Freeman want to keep her until she was presumably of child bearing age and to sell her to the highest bidder where she would likely be raped. In the book, we also see where Patsy is repeatedly raped by Master Epps and not only did she suffer from the rapes. Not only did Patsy had to endure though Master Ford raping her she also had to deal with the jealousy of the Epps’s wife. Having living in that sort of environment, would have the slaves too terrified to disobey. Even though violence kept slaves to afraid to go against their slave master, slave masters us religion as well to keep slaves in
Slaves masters would use violence to not only keep the slaves in line but to motive them to work harder. Violence did not only effect the slaves physically it affected them psychologically. Slave masters would use all sort of methods to break slaves to make them more submissive. Slaves would have to witness others slaves get beaten to frighten other slaves for committing the same offence as the slave being beaten. Slaves would have watched as their family member and/or other slaves’ family member be separated like in the book where Eliza was torn away from her children. In the book Solomon mentions that after Eliza’s children were taken away from her how she became “shell of a woman she once was”. Some slaves if they were female had to live in fear of being raped by the slave master. We see this in the beginning of the book with Eliza’s daughter who was not sold with her mother because Theophilus Freeman want to keep her until she was presumably of child bearing age and to sell her to the highest bidder where she would likely be raped. In the book, we also see where Patsy is repeatedly raped by Master Epps and not only did she suffer from the rapes. Not only did Patsy had to endure though Master Ford raping her she also had to deal with the jealousy of the Epps’s wife. Having living in that sort of environment, would have the slaves too terrified to disobey. Even though violence kept slaves to afraid to go against their slave master, slave masters us religion as well to keep slaves in