New Generation

in our next selection of reading, we sees something that is rather revolutionary. This is the view on black person. In the reading, the little white girl, eva confesed that she had loved topsy, who happends to be a black young man. Through this, we can slowly see the view on black people. the view is slowly changing from detest to accepting. This could very well represent the public in general. Young people have more tolerant for black people because they grew up around them. they are used to seeing them and they get to know them better than the adults. In the previous post, i talked about how the young owner promised tom that he would go and save him as soon as he gets older. This supports my theory.

duty or greed

After reading the next section, i remembered that i've acturally saw the movie before. There is one scene that i remember vividly about. It is the scene when a slave [Tom] jumps down to save a little white girl [Eva] in the ocean. When i was watching the movie, i had no idea what the name of it is. now that i read this selection i remembered the movie. This scene is also important to the reader. it gets me to ask, "why is he doing this?" "why is he trying to save the same people that enslaved them for generation after generation?" "is it for personal gain?" "or is it out of duty?" All these questions is unable to be concluded from the context itself. we can argu all day that he is doing it out of duty because he is brought up to serve the white people. When he sees a white person in trouble, he instintively tries to help. Another argument is that he does this for personal gain. At that moment of time, Tom knows that Eva's dad is a rich white man who's looking for a slave. He could assum that if he save his daughter, he will be bought and treated nicely? This might be how the slaves cope with their life. They does stuff that's pleasing to the white people so they dont' hit them or even worse; kills them.

In our next section, we sees something really amazing going on. Just when Mr. Haley went to Sheleys house to collect tom, the young Haley promised tom that he would go and rescue Tom when he grows up. This tells us alot about how he is raised to act. If you think about a child, what's is the nature of their behavior? they behave according to how they are brought up. In this selection, He is acturally promising to free tom when he is able to. In one hand we can assum that the kid is just being a kid and doesn't know what he's talkin about; in the other hand, we can see that he has been brought up to respect the slaves. From the action of the kid, we can tell a lot about their parents. we can tell that they are respective; even to their slaves.

more than meets the eye

I've noticed something preety cool! i've noticed that there are a lot of people that acturally have the sentiment to feel bad for the helpless slaves of that time. It it far more then they are actural number that were given. In our next selection of reading, we established that the U.S had just passed a law stating that helping fugitive slaves is forbiden and will be seveerly punished if caught. Now let's think about it logically. What is the purpose of passing a law in general? it is to prevent large quantity of people from acting in a way that is thought unlawful in term of that specific government. If there wern't alot of people that were caught helping the slaves, the establishment of this law would be very low. From the context clue, we are able to conclude that there is a lot of white people that will risk their wellbeing by proving shelter to the slaves.

Together, we will succeed.

At the next section of the reading, we discovered that Eliza ran off with his only son, Harry. Surprisingly, Mr. and Mrs Sheley were glad that they escaped. This completely go against my previous statement. I had said in my last post that, "slaves are treated like slaves no matter how nice the master might be." we find this to be untrue because of how Mr. and Mrs. Sheley reacted toward the decision of Eliza. This certainly confirmed one thing, it confirmed that Mr. agreed to sell Sheley with great deal of pain. It hurts him that he have to sell his "friend" in order to not sell all his properties and to be able to keep his farm. In a way, his decision is made for the benifits of the farm. If we think about it, what would happen to all the slaves if the farm is sold? what will the slaves do? how would the masters find money to support them?

We also see that when the Buyer comes to Mr. Sheley's farm and demand for the slaves, he is out raged by what had happened. To avoid suspicion that they had helped the slaves escape, Mr. Sheley ordered his slaves to prepare a horse for the buyer so he can go back Eliza and his son back. While doing so, we can see that the other slaves tries to do all they can do prolong the action. For example, the slave altered the horse so that when ever pressure is put on the horse, the horse will experience excessive pain. This caused delays until lunch time. Sheley family had also contributed to the delay when they offered lunch to the slave hunters. Through this, we can see that the slaves are very close to each other. they are willing to risk their life for the safty of others. This is a way how they cope with their every day lives, they count on each other.

Courage Through Faith

In the next section of this book, i learned something that's relatively new. I learned that slaves will turn to god when ever a misfortune happens. for example, In the next scene, Mr. Shelby is going to cell Harry and his father Tom. I just happens that Eliza overheard the conversation between Mr. and Mrs Shelby and runs frighteningly to his husband Tom. When Tom heard the news, the encouraged Eliza run off to the north with her son Harry. However, Eliza replied with, "trust god." They are religious to the point where they are trusting their son in the hand of god. This is understandable because the only hope that the slaves have is in god. There is no authority figure that they can turn to ask for help. Also the only reading that they are allowed to do is religion related stuff. Even in our time, people tend to turn to god when nothing else is working. Even though most of us realize that god probably don't even exist, but we still pray. Why? for the same reason why the slaves of this time are counting on god. it is because there is no other comfort that we can draw upon. When all road leads to a dead end, God is the way to go.

Book 2- Uncle Tom's Cabin

This new book starts the reader off instantly with a glimpse of how the slaves are treated. The initial setting starts at a plantation where Arthur Shelby is negotiating with a slave buyer to discuss about slave trades. Arthur is described as being a gentleman who shows no haterade toward his slaves. He is reluctant to sell his slaves because he is in debt. ultimately, He decides to sell 2 of his slaves. to repay his debt.

This actually suggested several things. First, the slaves are viewed as being nothing more than property. This situation is very similar to a business owner whose business collapse and have to sell his car to keep his house. Arthur is doing the same thing beside the fact that the "item" he trades in is an actual human. Second, it explains that no matter how nice the slave owner is, he will still treat the slave as being a mere property. once again, this is similar to our modern situation. the way a nice slave owner treats his slave is similar to how a dog owner would treat his/her dog. it also portray the life of an slave. when an slave is sold, most of the time it's a member of a slave family. For the most part, slaves have to endure the lost of his/her son permanently. life of slaves are not glorious.

more understanding toward slavery.

This is the back of a former slave. This is not uncommon during this time frame. The owner would seldom beat them for even the slightest reason. For example, when they look at them in a weird way, they would get whipped. When they sneeze too loud, they would get whipped. When the owner whips the slaves, the don't need to give any explanation. it is considered their "right" to do so.














This is yet another common sight during the times of slavery. these men are hanged because their tried to escape from their masters. The owner used this as a example to show the consequences of escaping. after seeing this sight, i doubt anyone else would try escaping.

Different view

A Slaves Life
They say go and I go
They say do this and I do it
They say gather and I gather
They say sow and I sow
For I am but a common slave and
They a cruel and capricious master

Who cares nothing if I live or die
For my daughters are like sheep and goats
And my sons like camels and oxen
All my children in the fields
Are bent by this burden
And bear the rod of the taskmaster

And at night by the fires
Amid the smoke from the smoldering pots
I pray to the Lord who is my freedom
And my deliverance
Whose reach is greater than the Nile
And whose bounty flows more freely

by: Doug Tanoury (http://www.catholicplanet.com/poems/tanoury7.htm)

This is a poem written by a former slave who gained freedom after the Civil War and sought an higher education. You can clearly distinquish the tone from this writer and the tons from former slaves within the book. In the book, All former slaves seem to show signs of appreciation toward their master for providing them with shelter, food, and warmth. However, in this intricate poem, the writer shows a new prospective to slavery. She shares her feeling with her choice of words. words such as "Cruel," Capricious," and "burden." All these are very negative words that reveals how she feels about slavery. Education is important to our society. by exploring what we've done in the past, can help us avoid it in the future.

Under same roof, but not same room.

"Ma belonged to Dr. Jones, but Pappy belonged to Marse Israel Lash over yonder."

As stated previously, separation between slave families are very common. In this period of time, when their husband is sold to another owner, there is very little the slaves can do about it. Their only option is to take it silently and not make a sound. if they tries to resist even a little bit, they would get severely whipped. I can't imagine what kind of life that would be. to be able to see your wife but not being able to kiss her, and to love her.

common knowledge

In this money, most of the former slave starts their stories by "I belonged to." The word "belonged" means "v: be owned by" [dictionary.com]. It seems that they're all accepted the fact that they are nothing more than properties that their owner can discard as wish. A great example of this would be when the owner sold the sold of his slave, Ria Sorrell. This separation is very common in this era because African American are looked at as nothing more than a property. This indeed cuased the mother a great deal of pain especially to slaves who's primary job is to give birth. Many tries to escape this life, however many tragic stories had been told regarding reaway slaves. most of them are caught by the owner and ultimately whipped to death.

In our modern time, This kind of injustice would be dealt with by the law. however, back in the early 1900s this is very common throughout the county

How lucky some of us are.

"All my white folkses was good to me, and i reckon that i ain't got no cause for complaint. I aint had much clothes, and i ain't had so much to eat, and a-many a whupping, but nobody ain't never been real bad to me. "

Above is a exert from a ex-salve describing how her life used to be like. At first, She started by saying that her white folkses [owner] were good to her. than She continued by saying "i ain't had much cloth, and i ain't had so much to eat." This is weird to me because if i didn't have anything to eat or much cloth to wear, i would be freaking out. Afterward, she started to say "nobody ain't never been real bad to me." This whole statement didn't make sense to me. If you don't have much to wear nor much to eat, how can you say that no one had been bad to you? well this just comes to show how bad slaves had it back in the day.

W.T.FUDGE?

"I haven't anything to say against slavery. My old folks put my clothes on me when i was a boy. They gave me shoes and stockings and put them on me when i was a little boy. i loved them, and i can't go against them in anything. There were things i did not like about slavery on some plantations, Whupping and selling parents and children from each other, but i haven't much to say. i was treated good."

When i first read that, i was more than just amazed. I was actually speechless. I know that some slave liked their owner because they treated them nicely. but i never expect a former slave to say that he is not against slavery. remember now, these documentaries are taken after they had been freed. These lines that are published is completely out of her own thoughts. no one forced her to say such a thing. "I was treated good" once again, what's their defination of being "treated good?" is it defined by proving them with enough food and clothing to survive? is it the fact that they don't get whipped like people in other plantations? They have been in the farm for so long that they have lower expectation for themselves.

Ying and Yang

In the time of slavery, The North [anti-slavery] is often depicted as being the righteous army, and the South is often thought to be evil because they support slavery. As i said previously, Not all slave owners are bad, there are indeed some slaver owner out there that took care of their slaves. The north is anti-slavery because they have no use for the slaves, for they depend mainly on technology. While the South depends on slavery to farm the millions of arch of land.

"They busted into the smokehouse at Marster's, took the meat, meal, and other provisions. Grandmother pled with the Yankees, but it did no good. They took all they wanted" (27)

This is a primary source from a former slave. the words are clear and to the point. Even though the Nouth is fighting to free the slaves, the stuff they do to these slaves are no better than what other southerners do to them. The Yankees [Northern army] took advantage of the slaves and grabed every possession they can find and takes them to be their own. Like everything in our world. there is always this sense of Ying and Yang