This book is important because so much of black history centers on the experience of being a slave, rather than the experience of living together with others slaves and the development of culture and tradition. This book shows how black American culture really originated, and that the lives of slaves were incredibly hard, but enriching in their own right. The author's exhaustive research gives the reader a real glimpse into the everyday life of slaves, and indicates that they had a rich culture, appreciated their families, hoped desperately for freedom, and lived desperately hard lives. Even though their lives were difficult, they held on to hope and faith, which gave them the courage to continue. His research brings the slaves to life and makes the reader appreciate just how strong they had to be to survive. This is a very interesting and adsorbing book. Reading a slave's autobiography is one thing, but reading the results of such extensive research gives a larger picture of the...
It is interesting to read how they lived, how they were mistreated, and how they managed to thrive anyway. The author writes of their homes, "Not only were the slave cabins uncomfortable, they were often crowded. Most of the cabins contained at least two families" (Blassingame, 1977, p. 159). Rich details like these help keep the book interesting and give a vivid picture of life on the plantation. Later he writes, "The plantation was a battlefield where slaves fought masters for physical and psychological survival" (Blassingame, 1977, p. 184). This book is an invaluable research tool for understanding plantation life, and it is not too scholarly, so most readers could understand and appreciate it and the information it contains. I would recommend this work to anyone researching the lives of slaves, or anyone interested in southern history.
American History: Slave Power ConspiracySlave power conspiracy refers to the power the Southern United States was trying to gain over the Federal government and make slavery legal and universal all over the country from the 1840s to 1850s (Neklason, 2020). This is why the civil war was on the rise since the South had created an image of slavery over the entire country and the government in terms of glorification.
Slave Narrative and Black Autobiography - Richard Wright's "Black Boy" and James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography The slave narrative maintains a unique station in modern literature. Unlike any other body of literature, it provides us with a first-hand account of institutional racially-motivated human bondage in an ostensibly democratic society. As a reflection on the author, these narratives were the first expression of humanity by a group of people in a society where
Slave Culture The trans-Atlantic slave trade shackled together persons from disparate cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Forced contact and communion, pervasive physical and psychological abuse, and systematic disenfranchisement became the soil in which a unique subculture would be born. Slave subcultures in the United States were also diverse, depending on geography, the nature of the plantation work, the prevailing political and social landscape of the slave owner culture, and factors like gender
Imprisonment on Individuals, Families, and Communities Incarceration and its Impacts "Research has shown that the American prison system -- and the "get tough" approach to crime that has helped increase the incarceration rates -- impacts just the entire society, especially poor communities…" (Shelden, 2004, p. 6). Incarceration certainly has an impact -- mostly negative -- on the individual that is incarcerated. But what about the family of the incarcerated person? And what
Woman / Plantation Mistress / Fires of Jubilee The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion. By Stephen B. Oates. (New York: HarperPerennial, 1990). 208 pages. Stephen B. Oates was a professor African-American and U.S. history at the University of Massachusetts for most of his academic career. His most notable works chronicle the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras of American history. He is particularly well-known for his biographies of the period
Still it is not completely unheard of for a name to be derived from a longer epitaph of Nat, property of man, Mr. Turner. This is how many people's last names resulted in ending with "man." Nat Turner was born a slave in Virginia in 1800 and grew to become a slave preacher. He did not use tobacco or liquor and maintained a clean, disciplined life. He was very religious
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