The Black Women’s Role in the Community of Slaves
Looking at the production areas, the enslaved people were typically pressed into what can be described as the mold of breasts. They were forcefully denied or deprived of their humanity. Nevertheless, amidst all this, the community seemingly gravitating towards the domestic quarters might potentially allow retrieval of the woman and men in their fundamental humanity. Here, it is possible to make assumptions that, in a material sense, it was merely in domestic life, particularly away from the whip and the glaring eyes of the overseer, that the enslaved people could try to defend the small amount of freedom they still had. Only at this point women could be inspired or encouraged to project their many techniques and approaches of enlarging it further by leveling the few weapons they practically possessed against the slaveholding class whose unchecked drive, mainly for profit, was their only source of anguish and misery.
Concerning the African slave woman, it is worth pointing out that in the living quarters, the main responsibilities or duties “naturally” fell to her (Davis 5). During this period, the African black woman was tasked with, among other things, keeping the home neat and in order. This rule, in particular, was dictated mainly by the male supremacist ideology ably orchestrated by the white society in America. Similarly, it was woven into African patriarchal traditions (Davis 5). Regarding her biological destiny, the back woman ordinarily bore the fruits of procreation. Regarding the social dictates, the black woman was expected to cook, wash, sew, clean the house, and, more importantly, raise the children. Conventionally, the labor of females and domestic chores was intended to, among other things, complement and subsequently confirm their inferiority (Davis 6). Nevertheless, with the introduction of a black slave woman, there is a peculiar twist in affairs. This is because, in the ultimate anguish and anger of ministering to the unbalanced requirements of children and men around her that is people who were not necessarily members of immediate family, the black woman carried out the task of the slave community that the oppressors could not directly and immediately claim.
Consequently, there needed to be more compensation, particularly for work in various filed. The reason behind this is that, at the time, it served no useful purpose, especially for the enslaved people. Here, domestic work was typically the only work that made sense to the slave community. The community discounted some of the exceptional circumstances as negligible, specifically where enslaved people could stand a chance of receiving payments for their completed work.
Exactly through carrying out hard and equally monotonous routine work considered a central expression, particularly of women’s socially conditioned or predetermined inferiority, the black woman in chains could be instrumental in laying the foundation for some degree of autonomy for her men and herself. Even as the black woman suffered particularly under her extraordinary oppression, specifically as a female, the black woman was typically pushed forward by the force of different situations into the glaring center of the slave community (Davis 7). In this instance, the black woman was instrumental to the ultimate survival of the community. Fundamentally, not everyone has managed to survive enslavement. Therefore, the black woman’s survival-oriented endeavors were, in their own right, a form of resistance. Furthermore, survival was the requirement, particularly for all greater levels of struggle.
The black woman was a victim of a myth and misconception that only women with lessened capacity for physical and mental work should carry out devalued household chores or work. However, the supposed advantages or benefits of the femininity ideology never accrued to her. The woman was neither protected nor sheltered. She was similarly there in the fields with the men where they together toiled particularly under the lash from sun-up to sun-down (Davis 8). In one of the biggest ironies of slavery, it was expected that for the community to approach its strategic objective, the woman had to be set free or be released from the bondage of the myths and conceptions of femininity.
Consequently, to properly carry out her duties as an enslaved person, the black woman had to be annulled as a woman. The sheer force of things played a big part in rendering her equal to her man. Thus, excepting the role of a woman, particularly as the household’s caretaker, various structures by the male supremacist could not be deeply embedded in the community’s internal working system. Even though the ruling class was purely male and fanatically chauvinistic, the slave system could not give the black man the appearance of a better or privileged position vis-à-vis the black woman (Davis 7). Fundamentally, it was not possible, particularly for the slave man, to be superior who could not be questioned within the community or “family” because such things as “family provided” did not exist among the enslaved people. Noteworthy, the attainment of slavery’s intrinsic objective was solely dependent on the fullest usage of the productive capabilities of everyone, including women, men, and the child. In this regard, everyone was expected to “provide” for the master. As such, the black woman was completely integrated into the productive force. The bell is scheduled to ring at 4 a.m., and both men and women have approximately 30 minutes to prepare. When it all started, women were expected to work as hard as men and carry out similar tasks. (Davis 8).
Work Cited
Davis, A. (1981). Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves. The Black Scholar, 12(6), 2–15.
Economic Slavery in Southern and Northern States
Slavery was a problem for people both in the Southern and Northern States, and it mainly affected black people whom white people enslaved. The white people enslaved people for free labor, forced sexual relations, and business. In the Southern states, slavery was always economically significant compared to the Northern states. This was evidenced by enslaved people not having any power to protect their morals, physical integrity, or of their children. In the Northern states, slavery was mainly initiated after freedom for the enslaved people by denying them access to a free life. Even if they did not physically enslave them, they found other ways to make the lives of the blacks hard.
In the Southern states, the economic importance of slavery was based on taking away the enslaved people’s children and selling them off to potential buyers. In a detailed and unfortunate book by Harriet Jacobs, she explains her ordeal as a slave girl between 1853- 1858 and how it affected her family directly and other surrounding families of African-American people. Harriet, through her thoroughly detailed narrative, criticizes slavery for corrupting the morals and the families of all it affected, whether white or black, rich or poor. One enslaver in this case, James Norcom, was fifty-two years old, yet he kept trying to seduce Harriet, a thirteen-year-old girl. These rich white men owned large plantations, and the enslaved people were forced to work there regardless of age. Norcom exiled the young girl Harriet to the plantations mostly because she would not give in to his sexual demands and also so that his son John would not notice her. This shows that not only did the white enslavers benefit economically from the labor output of the enslaved people, but also endlessly tried to and sometimes managed to assault the enslaved people sexually and brutally.
Harriet states, “I tried hard to preserve my self-respect; but I was struggling alone in the powerful grasp of the demon Slavery, and the monster proved too strong for me” (Jacobs 18). Harriet’s grandmother had been sexually abused by Norcom, among other dozen or so slave women that were also raped and impregnated. She sold thttps://essaywriter.pro/samples/economic-slavery…-northern-states/hem off, and they did not have obvious family connections. Harriet had to make a difficult choice between two older stalkers, Norcom and his son John; it was better to pick John rather than Norcom, who was a rapist, but nothing could be done about it since it was too costly for any enslaved person to report him and because of his reputation of as a gentleman. Men like Norcom took advantage of their slaves and then sold them off. To make matters worse, they sold off the women and their children separately to earn money from each which is despicable and which led to permanent family separations.
Enslaved people had to work twice as hard to get just enough money to buy back their children, that were sold to other enslavers. It was not enough that the labor that the rich enslavers got from the enslaved people was free; they also sold their children. Harriet’s grandmother saved up three hundred dollars she intended to use to buy back one of her children that had been divided amongst her master’s children. Benjamin was the son she wanted to buy back, but her mistress at the time tricked Harriet’s grandmother into loaning her the money promising to pay her soon, but that was never true. At that time, the Southern laws stated that an enslaved person did not have the right to own any property; thus, the grandmother could not claim the money through the authorities if her mistress refused to pay her back. The Sothern states made all their money off the enslaved people’s forced labor. Also, they took away anything that belonged to them, so they owned the enslaved people and all they possessed, be it family, money, or even houses, for those lucky to have any.
On the other hand, the Northern states practiced slavery but were not as economically compared to the Southern states. Even after the enslaved people, black people gained their freedom. Life did not get any easier outside the plantations since the white people were still the majority population that dominated every industry in most cities. In a way, they were still slaves to the white people since they still needed them to get jobs, houses, and food, which had some black people wish that they were white since it seemed you had white skin, then you were instantly regarded as necessary. The color of the skin created inferiority, and the freedman, for a while, did not even realize that they were free from slavery since they could own property no matter how little no one could take that away from them. The freedman could have a family and stay together without being sold away, leading to family separation. For a while, the white Northerners kept teasing the freedman by asking him what price tag he now bore to determine if the freedman knew what freedom meant.
The white people had a problem with allowing black soldiers to join the army, saying they felt threatened by giving black soldiers positions in the government in a crucial department, security. According to Leon, “They often recognized among them those who had once been their servants” (Litwack 25). No matter how well the black soldiers conducted themselves, their presence violated tradition and provoked those who viewed armed blacks as a threat. All the freedmen were trying to do was start making a living and earn money to sustain themselves and their families, and the army was an excellent opportunity to earn good money. The whites perceived the armed blacks as a threat because they consciously knew how much abuse and torment they put them through, and maybe they feared that the armed black soldiers would attack them in search of revenge. They were wrong since the black soldiers were wise enough to know that revenge would not fix anything, but instead, they worked hard to earn equal treatment in society and the country.
Black soldiers faced so much scrutiny during military service under the command of white men. They were given more laborious tasks and severe treatment, mainly to make them give up and leave the white soldiers to dominate the army. Most of these black soldiers were at crossroads about what to do after leaving military service since they did not want to be under white people again. However, they still wanted to serve the country to represent their fellow black people. The whites kept detesting the blacks and took it to the extent of just shooting them without any consequence. Once the whites made it hard for the blacks to retain jobs or even decent living, they started shooting them down to eliminate them to keep the jobs, thus the money too. One white person said that he would shoot a black man just as he would shoot a dog; this shows how much white people disregarded the black mostly because they could not control them anymore by enslaving them.
In the Northern states, discrimination against black people still exists even today where racism still sores. Only this time, white people have decided to discriminate against all other races, including blacks, Asians, Indians, and Latinos, in simple terms, anyone who is not white. People of color are very underprivileged in all societal aspects, including; schools and jobs, which makes their lives very hard; even after freedom was declared years ago, white people still chose to be selfish. White folks want to have total control over their countries’ economic status for them; sharing the capital will mean giving control to equality they refuse to give. Humanity will always be more significant than any economic status. It is about time the white folks realize that other people from different races are better skilled and could benefit from working with them.
Works Cited
Jacobs, Harriet A. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Penguin Books, 1861.
Litwack, Leon F. Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery. Vintage, 1980.