Literature on Slavery and Freedom - Paper Example

David Walker was a visionary African Americans leader and activist. Walker publicly demanded the end of slavery in the newly formed nation of the United States. Walker had a long-lasting influence on the struggle for equal rights and racial justice in the United States. In his tenure, he pushed the abolitionists to be courageous and radical in their thoughts and actions. Over the years, his ideas have had a substantial role in influencing the black leaders. Walker once asserted that the whites had divorced the black people from humanity to show the extent of slavery and disenfranchisement of the blacks in society, an idea replicated by Jacobs, Douglass, and Northup. Therefore, this paper explains Jacobs, Douglass, and Northup’s replications of David Walker’s assertions on slavery and freedom.

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Harriet Jacobs was one of the famous African-American slaves during the Civil War. She wrote her experiences as a slave in a book. Jacobs joined the abolitionist movement, just like David Walker, to fight against slavery and the importance for people to stand up and fight for their rights. Jacobs asserted that slavery was bad for men but terrible for women as well. One of her primary concerns was that enslaved women were subjected to sexual exploitation. Due to the lack of an option, most women ended up having sexual affairs and even siring children for their masters (Larson 740). Through her numerous writings and autobiography, Jacobs showed her determination to fight to the death for her freedom.

Harrier Jacobs was enslaved as a child and purchased by Dr. Norcum. As a house worker, she enjoyed some of the indulgences bestowed by his master’s children. However, the comforts she enjoyed disappeared as she grew older when she was an object of her master’s sexual desire and exploitation. Not acknowledging that Jacobs is almost the same age as the children, Dr. Norcum continued with the sexual advancements that were frequently rejected. Similarly, after dismissing the master’s proposal, Jacobs sired children with her lover, Sawyer. However, she could not raise her children the way she would prefer, so she sent them to her grandmother. Jacobs was living and working at the plantation belonging to Norcum’s son, where the Norcum asked her to live her life as his mistress, and she and her children would be safe and free (Larson 740). Such demand and condition showed that black lives did not matter to most white masters at the time. Therefore, the plight that Harriet Jacobs faced, as written in her autobiography, replicates the statement by David Walker, which states that black people are divorced from humanity by the whites.

Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became an activist, public speaker, and author. Douglass was born by a woman from the Native American descent and a father from the African-European ancestry (Ballard 52). Due to the extent of slavery practices in the United States, Frederick was separated from his biological parents when he was an infant (Ballard 52). His parents were recruited as slaves to work for white landowners. The fact that Frederick did not enjoy the warmth and care of his biological parents is one of the ways that Frederick replicates Walker’s statement. When his age mates would attend school and get an education, Frederick was among the recruiters who worked for the Wye House plantation in Maryland at six (Ballard 52). Unlike the whites of his age, Frederick taught himself how to read and write, and in a bid to lead other enslaved persons, his master, Covey, frequently whipped him (Ballard 53). All these frustrations prompted Frederick’s escape from slavery. From Frederick’s story, it is clear that blacks were alienated from humanity and were treated similarly to animals by being denied the right to freedom and education, which was granted to the whites only.

Solomon Northup is another African-American whose experience as a slave proves that the whites had divorced the blacks from humanity. Northup was a farmer and laborer who was kidnapped and sold to slavery (Bush 396). Northup’s father was a freed slave who escaped from slavery after the death of his master. Northup was born as a free man who learned how to read and write while working on his family’s farm. He was married and sired three children with his wife (Bush 396). The family sold their farmland and moved to New York, where Northup established himself as a fiddler (Bush 396). However, two men recruited him to join them as circus performers. The men were slave recruiters and drugged Northup. After regaining consciousness, Northup found himself locked in a cell and later sold to a slave market. Northup worked as a slave for twelve years (Bush 396). From Northup’s experience, one can see that black people were treated with extreme inhumanity. Northup was tricked into believing that he was being recruited as a circus performer, but the primary objective was to be kidnapped and sold as a slave. Notably, Solomon Northup had to spend 12 years as a slave and away from his children and wife (Bush 396).

In conclusion, slavery was an inhumane act and practice in the United States of America, where most people were forced to work for whites. The life experiences of Solomon Northup, Harriet Jacobs, and Frederick Douglass replicate the statement by David Walker that asserted that the whites had divorced the black people from humanity. Jacobs worked as a slave and was subjected to sexual exploitation from her master. She was asked to be the master’s mistress in exchange for her freedom. Jacobs had to escape from slavery rather than forego her morals. Douglass was separated from her parents when he was an infant and recruited to work for a plantation by the time he was six. Lastly, Northup was recruited into slavery against his wishes after being tricked into having been selected as one of the newly chosen persons to join a circus performance team.

Works Cited

Ballard, Barbara J. “Frederick Douglass and the ideology of resistance.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, vol. 7, no. 4, Jan. 2004, pp. 51–75, doi: 10.1080/1369823042000300036.

Bush, Elizabeth. “Stolen into slavery: The true story of Solomon Northup, Free black man (Review).” Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, vol. 65, no. 8, 2012, pp. 396–396, doi: 10.1353/bcc.2012.0314.

Larson, Jennifer. “Converting passive womanhood to active sisterhood: agency, power, and subversion in Harriet Jacobs’s incidents in the life of a slave girl.” Women’s Studies, vol. 35, no. 8, Dec. 2006, pp. 739–756, doi: 10.1080/00497870600945618.