Slavery

Through my ten years of school, I have been taught a lot of the basics about slavery. Every year I hear the same things over and over again. I always hear about how Africans were brought over to the Americas and forced to work. They were shipped through the Middle Passage in which they endured horrible conditions. I hear about slaves being tortured in many ways in order to force them to cooperate. I know slaves were sold and separated from their families. I know slaves were forced to live in small slaves quarters and given little food or clothes. They were punished for not doing enough work, even though the large amount of work they were forced to do was long and hard. I know slave codes were laws that took rights away from slaves and punished the slaves if they were not followed. This is just repetitive information that is "taught" to me every year. Being in a college level class has taken this information and provided a more in-depth view of slavery. This class has taught me that that slaves would be forced to exercise aboard ships along the Middle Passage to look fit and strong so they would look better to those who would buy them. Female slaves were encouraged (sometimes forced) to have babies in order to have more slaves for free. 228 Mothers would be forced to work even days before giving birth. Some women even gave birth while working. I have learned that slaves were not only treated bad, but treated as property. Their opinions did not matter. They had no rights. They were forced to work long hours in fields tending to crops. The in-depth view of slavery has allowed me to almost see slavery from a slaves view.