Essay Sample on Enslaved Families in 19th Century: Heartbreaking Lives and Resilience

Introduction

During the early 19th century, the majority of the enslaved individuals were of the black race, commonly known as the African Americans. These enslaved families mainly worked in the vast agricultural plantations belonging to the whites. There, they either worked as helpers or as field hands. Lives of the enslaved families were heartbreaking as they were occasionally subjected to persecution, constraints, cruel disciplines, and exact racial policing measures. However, enslaved families resorted to adopting several mechanisms to help them endure and persevere with the sad realities of slavery life. Many of the enslaved men and women demonstrated resistance in their day to day activities while planning bigger and organized revolts. It is important to note their enduring personality, for they managed to establish a unique and distinct religious culture, which was a blend of Christianity as well as the West African traditions and spiritual convictions. This paper analyzes the aspects of lives surrounding the families of enslaved people (African Americans) in the 19th century, ranging from their ways of living to their identity as well as cultures, and possible challenges they faced during their lives of slavery.

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The article on African Americans in Slavery captures the life of enslaved families while on the white-owned plantations. It shows how many of the enslaved men and women indulged in agricultural work. However, some engaged in works such as blacksmithing and carpentry. Most of the plantations were located on the South of US, for instance, South Carolina, and so working in these plantations more often forced the enslaved families to establish settlement closer to the farm-areas (The National Humanities Center, 2013). With such large plantations, there was a need for house servants who were designated duties which include cooking, cleaning, and driving. Besides, the house servants were also in charge of nursing the children of the whites as seen in the images (picture of black nursemaid holding a white's son). Some of the enslaved blacks were also meant to serve as field hands, as they cleared land, planted seeds, harvested crops from plantations. From the images, it can be depicted as to how the division of labor was embraced in gender-based criteria. Women were left to manage tasks such as sewing and supervising the children, whereas men were mainly in the fields to handle the affairs of the plantations.

On the other hand, information from the second article, Last Seen, hints on the brutality and resistance faced by enslaved families. Members were occasionally separated from their families, without mercy from their bosses who only cared for the possible financial gains (Jones, 2019). Despite the separation of families, enslaved men and women were regularly subjected to harsh punishments with prohibitions of one defending his or herself when being punished. Legal entities did not grant them justice against their masters as they were biased. A lot was stolen from the blacks, ranging from property to justice. Contracts were breached to suit the whites, implying that blacks stood no chance to own even a single piece of property.

From the Voices Remembering Slavery, we get to understand the harsh lifestyle subjected to the colored folks. The recordings reveal the challenges and tantrums the enslaved families had to face, all in the name of survival. To explain the situation; Fountain Hughes from the recording went ahead to state that a dog is treated way much better than he and fellow black slaves were during the cycle of slavery (Library Congress, 2019). Whites regarded the slaves as their property, and for the enslaved families, they had no option but act right (doing what pleases their masters regardless). Punishments for doing a wrong were severe as it included whipping, branding, mutilation, and in some cases death was used as punishment. The enslaved people were always being watched over by police to ensure that slave codes are adhered as well as prevent them from revolting.

Nonetheless, the voice recordings of the enslaved folks illustrate the patience and perseverance that enslaved men and women underwent to the point of gaining their freedom. It was never a walk in the park for any of them, and this proved that hard work pays. Resistance to slavery was not merely showed in well-structured plots; instead, the constant resistance manifested it. One of the black men's recording explains some of the tactics employed to illustrate their resistance. These include breaking farm tools, stealing food and even destroying crops on purpose. For some, it was humiliating enough as they took their lives or injured themselves. The brave managed to flee the plantations as they headed North of US for greener pastures. Even after the American Civil War which helped curb slavery, the enslaved families and generations feel indebted by the whites for what was stolen from them.

Conclusion

The sources analyzed have captured the story behind enslaved families in the mid-19th century in a unique way. The use of images, short phrases of famous quotes from researchers and genealogist, and the voice recordings explained the identity of the African Americans, their culture and lifestyle, not forgetting the challenges they faced during such a brutal era. The culture and identity are captured through the images as pictures of enslaved families are displayed to show the kind of lives they led while living within the plantations. The harsh punishments, separation from families, long hours of work and mistreat illustrates the inhumane nature of the white masters; this is all captured from the recordings documented by some of the blacks who had horrible experiences of the slavery.

References

Library Congress (2019). Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories. The new press. Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/collections/voices-remembering-slavery/articles-and-essays/faces-and-voices-from-the-presentation/

Jones, C. A. (2019). Last Seen: Finding Family after Slavery. Retrieved from http://informationwanted.org/

The National Humanities Center (2013). African Americans in Slavery, 32(1), 1-12. Retrieved from http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/enslavement/text1/photosenslaved.pdf