The Truth About Slavery in the South

In the past I had never been able to paint such a detailed picture of how horrible slavery really was. Teachers in the past have sugar coated it, not bluntly stating and showing how horribly they were treated. They made you believe that they didn't really mind being there and this has contributed to how we view them today. From class I have discovered that they were treated much much worse than I had thought. I have learned how cruel slavery in America really was. They would capture the slaves from Africa and bring them over by ship. They would strip them from whatever clothing they had and chain them to the ground under the deck, not brought up on deck very often. As they got closer to the destination they would take them to the upper level and make them march around so they would have some muscle and they would feed them more so they wouldn't look so skimpy.  Once they got to America (but to them a foreign land, they had no idea where they were) they were oiled down to give them muscle definition. They were ready to be sold. Families were torn apart by slave owners. It was such a horrible thing but slavery had many advantages to those not sold into slavery. It is practically the only reason that the Southern economy didn't crash, but those poor people were sold and treated like property. Many children were born into slavery and knew nothing besides slavery. They were raised on plantations. The slaves were encouraged to make families. It was not unusual for a mother to be in the fields picking cotton and such just a few days after giving birth. They were also told stories like, God using Moses to free the Israelites from slavery. They would believe that God would free them like God had freed the Israelites. White men taught them obedience that God wanted them to respect and obey their elders. Eventually the north doesn't really agree with slavery leading to The Civil War.