Term Paper on "Pre-Civil War Slave History"

Term Paper 5 pages (1550 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Harriet Jacobs & Peter Cartwright float

The Abolition of Slavery: Perspectives from a black woman slave (Harriet Jacobs) and white man preacher (Peter Cartwright)

Nineteenth century proved to be challenging times for the American society, wherein the issue of black slavery had elicited and created two opposing factions: one group opposing the practice of black slavery, and the other, supporting it. However, extant literature on the opposition against black slavery presented other facets that provided different viewpoints about the issue. In the issue of the abolition of black slavery, narratives from Harriet Jacobs and Peter Cartwright brought into fore how abolition of black slavery can be viewed from two perspectives: that of a black woman slave and a white man preacher.

Differences in gender, race, and social role in the American society created the differing viewpoints of Jacobs and Cartwright in opposing black slavery. In her autobiography, "Incidents in the life of a slave girl," Jacobs delved into her own account of what black slavery had been for black women like her. Thus, her opposition was rooted from the fact that she had experienced what life was like for a black and a woman like her. Peter Cartwright, in "Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, Backwoods Preacher," had shown his opposition against black slavery through the eyes of a white American male. For Cartwright, his opposition was based from his moral belief that the 'moral diseases' (pregnancy of black women slaves out of wedlock and proliferation of adultery committed by males against black women slaves) that were associated with slavery continued to plague American society; it was thus his resolution to abolish slavery in order to curb the proliferation of these moral diseases.

This paper posits that Jacobs and Cartwright's narratives about their opposition and experiences of black slavery reflect that despite their agreement on the detriments of this practice, both have different opinions about the 'wrongness' of black slavery. That is, for Jacobs, black slavery was a detriment to her life because she experienced sexual vulnerability and abuse, while Cartwright considered the practice immoral because of the moral degeneration that occurred with the proliferation f adultery and unexpected pregnancies among black women slaves by white American males.

In "Incidents," Jacobs narrated her account of slavery based on her experience as a slave of a family in South Carolina. For her, slavery did not only mean physical suffering and compulsory labor, but also battling the 'evils' associated with it -- being repressed as a woman, constantly threatened by white American females and sexually abused by their male owners.

Early on in her narrative, Jacobs had already shown how women slaves were constantly plagued with physical, emotional and moral abuse by their owners. One of the earliest illustrations of women slave abuse during her time was the inevitable emotional turmoil that slaves experience during New Year's Day -- an event that signifies happiness and a new hope and beginning for society. For the slaves, however, a new year marked the beginning of having new owners, especially as children slaves were sold out to their respective new owners, and the mother left alone to face suffering once again without her loved ones. As Jacobs had lamented in her narrative, "...to the slave mother New Year's day comes laden with peculiar sorrows...She may be an ignorant creature, degraded by the system that has brutalized her from her childhood; but she has a mother's instincts, and is capable of feeling a mother's agonies" (26).

Apart from emotional suffering, Jacobs also illustrated for her readers the threatening situation she felt herself in as she tried to struggle against her female owner's jealousy as her husband began centering his attention on establishing sexual relations with Jacobs. Her narrative truthfully revealed the suffering women slaves had to endure, with no one else to turn to and help them out with their ordeal (51,55):

had entered my sixteenth year, and every day it became more apparent that my presence was intolerable to Mrs. Flint. Angry words frequently passed between her and her husband. He had never punished me himself, and he would not allow any body else to punish me. In that respect, she was never satisfied; but, in her angry moods, no terms were too vile for her to bestow upon me. Yet I, whom she detested so bitterly, had far more pity for her than he had, whose duty it was to make her life happy. I never wronged her, or wished to wrong her; and one word of kindness from her would have brought me to her feet...The secrets of slavery are concealed like those of the Inquisition. My master was, to my knowledge, the father of eleven slaves. But did the mothers dare to tell who was the father of their children? Did the other slaves dare to allude to it, except in whispers among themselves? No, indeed! They knew too well the terrible consequences.

This passage presented a greater sacrifice from women slaves: not only were they threatened physically and emotionally, they also face the possibility of death by divulging the affairs and sexual abuses they had experienced from their owners. Moreover, as Jacobs revealed, separation from their children was another way in which owners continued to control older women slaves, and this strategy worked as these atrocities were continually repeated, validating the commitment of sexual abuse among black women slaves.

A more painful dilemma that Jacobs had experienced was not only the isolation she felt from her society, but also the vulnerability of her family relations, wherein the very black community she belonged to became victims of hearsay and rumors about her purported affair with Dr. Flint, her master. The admonishment of her grandmother upon knowing of her scheme to prevent Dr. Flint's sexual advances elicited disapproval and embarrassment for her family: "But she had ordered me to go, and never to come there again. After a few minutes, I mustered strength, and started to obey her. With what feelings did I now close that little gate, which I used to open with such an eager hand in my childhood! It closed upon me with a sound I never heard before" (88). For the author, slavery did not only cause detriment to her morale as an individual, but had also resulted to strains in her relationship with her community and family.

A similar scenario was presented by Cartwright in "Autobiography," wherein he expressed his disagreement to the practice of black slavery because it only created degeneration of morality among the white American society. In his attempt to illustrate for the leader the state of society during the prevalence of slavery, Cartwright had this to say:

Slavery had long been agitated in the Methodist Episcopal Church...they believed it to be their duty to bear their testimony against slavery as a moral evil, and this is the reason why the General Conference, from time to time, passed rules and regulations to govern preachers and members of the Church in regard to this great evil. The great object of the General Conference was to keep the ministry clear of it, and there can be no doubt that the course pursued by early Methodist preachers was the cause of the emancipation of thousands of this degraded race of human beings...Slavery is certainly a domestic, political, and moral evil.

By stating that slavery was a political, domestic, and moral evil, Cartwright claimed that it was the primary cause of the moral illnesses that pervaded society. He enumerated the "growing out of the want of fidelity of their husbands," "thousands of mixed blood," and "domestic disquietude" as results of the negative opportunities that slavery presented to women slaves and their male masters. This was a reality supported by Jacobs, who had experienced first-hand what it was like to witness the… READ MORE

How to Reference "Pre-Civil War Slave History" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Civil War the Period Surrounding the U Research Proposal

Civil War

The period surrounding the U.S. Civil war is often seen through the eyes of the generalists in history textbooks. Yet, this is not demonstrative of the fact that… read more

Research Proposal 11 pages (4015 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA Topic: World History

---

Causes of the American Civil War Term Paper

Civil War

The Causes of the American Civil War

The American Civil War was the bloodiest conflict to that point in the nation's history. Dividing the United States into two… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (1970 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA Topic: American History / United States

---

American Civil War - Causes. Historians Customarily Term Paper

American Civil War - Causes.

Historians customarily write about past events as if each one occurred in isolation, neatly encapsulated in a sealed container, or chapter." (Potter 1977, 177.) So… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (2506 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Government / Politics

---

American Civil War Reconstruction Term Paper

Reconstruction Period

Reconstruction (1865-1877) was the period in American history which can be called a failure because it was marked by extreme racial segregation and futility of all acts concerning… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (1774 words) Sources: 8 Topic: American History / United States

---

Philosophies and Events Such as the Free Term Paper

philosophies and events such as the Free Soil Party Platform; the Doctrine of Nullification; Manifest Destiny, and the Fugitive Slave Law that contributed in moving the country towards the American… read more

Term Paper 3 pages (1109 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: American History / United States

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>