Book Report on "Slave by Soloman Northup Slavery From"

Book Report 4 pages (1399 words) Sources: 2

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Slave by Soloman Northup [...] slavery from Northup's perspective compare with the perspective of two other former slaves. Northup's perspective is unique because he was a free man who was kidnapped and forced into slavery as an adult.

Slavery looks like a harsh environment and it can be violent and cruel according to Northup's accounts. His first master, Mr. Ford, is kind to his slaves, and does not punish them with violence. Northup writes, "It is a fact I have more than once observed, that those who treated their slaves most leniently, were rewarded by the greatest amount of labor. I know it from my own experience" (Northup 98). However, his second master is cruel and vindictive, and he fears for his life after he threatens him not to whip him for a supposed mistake. He writes, "I beheld Tibeats, accompanied by two horsemen, coming down the bayou. They rode into the yard, jumped from their horses, and approached me with large whips, one of them also carrying a coil of rope" (Northup 113). His life is spared, and eventually this cruel owner sells him to a cotton planter, where he works even harder than he has for his other masters. Life is difficult for slaves because they work constantly, they often are torn apart from their family and friends, and they can be punished for everything.

He talks of how heartbreaking it is to see families torn apart. He writes, "But it was of no avail; the man could not afford it. The bargain was agreed upon, and Randall must go alone. Then Eliza ran to him; embraced him passionately; kissed him again and again; told him to remember her - all the while her tears falling in the boy's face like rain" (Northup 81-82). It is hard to read about these everyday cruelties, and know that they happened so often, and it is hard to read about his experiences, especially knowing he is a married man and his family has no idea what happened to him.

Some of his masters were kind and understanding, while others were cruel and vindictive. Some treated their slaves like animals, while others gave them decent food and living quarters. He and his fellow slaves work from dawn to dusk and beyond. He writes, "This done, the labor of the day is not yet ended, by any means. Each one must then attend to his respective chores. One feeds the mules, another the swine -- another cuts the wood, and so forth; besides, the packing is all done by candle light" (Northup 168). He says of the master who owned him for ten years, "Yet to speak truthfully of Edwin Epps would be to say -- he is a man in whose heart the quality of kindness or of justice is not found" (Northup 183). He describes other owners in the area as "brutes," and describes how they consistently beat and whip their slaves. Clearly, it is a terrible life.

Many of the slaves he knows are young and full of energy, but many of the older ones are weak and feeble. On plantations with kind masters, they are treated well, but in other locations, many of them suffer because of their age and debility. He says, "When a slave, purchased, or kidnapped in the North, is transported to a cabin on Bayou Boeuf he is furnished with neither knife, nor fork, nor dish, nor kettle, nor any other thing in the shape of crockery, or furniture of any nature or description" (Northup 194-195). They have to earn money for these things, and the only day they can earn money is on Saturday. He and his fellow slaves have to hire themselves out to earn enough for even the most basic supplies, which shows how hard their lives are and how tenacious they are.

The women are hard workers who are often abused. He writes of one woman he works with, "She had a genial and pleasant temper, and was faithful and obedient. Naturally, she was a joyous creature, a laughing, light-hearted girl, rejoicing in the mere sense of existence. Yet Patsey wept oftener, and suffered more, than any of… READ MORE

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