Slavery began in the early 1600s and was not abolished until 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment was included as part of the United States Constitution. Slavery can be defined as when people are taken from their homes against their will and sold as property. Those who are enslaved must follow the orders of their owners and follow any other rules that they impose upon them. Some of the rules at that time included that the slaves were not allowed to speak in their native language, own any items that were not used for their work, or practice their own religion.
The slaves had to face many horrors but one that specifically stood out to me is that slaves were separated from their families. Children were taken away from their parents and siblings which is incredibly traumatizing. However, after they were shipped miles away from home they were expected to get right to their laborious days of work. They spent hours on the field planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops.
An image from an 1837 publication of a newspaper in Boston shows two little girls holding hands and the caption reads “Skins may differ, but affection dwells in white and black the same…” [1]. The intended purpose of this article was to speak out against slavery. This was published at the beginning of the Abolitionist Movement which was an organized attempt to end slavery in the United States. This movement was done in hopes that the Atlantic Slave Trade would end, and slavery would ultimately be eliminated forever. In my opinion, this publication was geared towards slave owners because it might be difficult for them, as people in power, to perceive the effects of their actions and how their behaviors affected other people. To help put it into perspective more the author says to think of the black mother that fears losing her children every day when you kiss your children good night or drop them off at soccer practice [1]. In the early 1800s, people of color constantly lived in fear that they would lose their loved ones at any moment because of how common slave trading was. People were captured from their homes and sold to owners miles and miles away and this was not seen as unlawful during that time period. This article attempts to show that regardless of skin color, all people have feelings, and it pushes people to think beyond the realm of their own lives and look at the people’s lives they are ruining by continuing the practice of slavery.
According to an article written by Vanessa Holden, there was a young girl named Harriet Mason who had a life-changing experience when she was separated from her family in the 1850s to be sold as a slave [2]. She experienced heartache and depression from being taken away from her family. She had suicidal thoughts at a very young age she expressed that she wished she died when she was little [2]. I cannot even begin to imagine how alone she must have felt after she was taken away from her family. At a young age, children are reliant on their parents and need them for support so to be taken away from them must have caused her lots of trauma.
The slave trade was run by mainly upper-class white men. John Henry Lance was involved in the slave trade because it was profitable [3]. However, an article that was published states that Lance was emotionally invested when it comes to slavery [3].
The image above pictures John Henry Lance who was a British barrister who was appointed to be a judge in the ‘Mixed Court’ [4]. He was there to oversee a treaty between the Netherlands and England in 1818 to prohibit the slave trade in Dutch colonies [4]. During his visits to the Dutch colonies, he observed the work of the slaves on the plantations and accepted their work [4]. He even went on to tell others to invest in slavery because it was profitable and for those who were on the fence about it, he states that the slaves were just as happy as any other people [4]. Which is known to be untrue, most slaves are abused, overworked, and have no enjoyment in their lives.
I wonder how Lance was an accomplice of the slave trade but also invested emotionally because in my opinion those two views contradicted each other [3]. If he cared about the lives of the people that were captured from their homes and sold to live a horrid lifestyle, he would try to put an end to it [3]. This was disheartening to hear that people became so invested in the slave trade simply because it benefitted them, but it put others in situations where they would be mistreated and abused.
[1] Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. “Two little sisters” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47da-7587-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
[2] Holden, Vanessa M. “Slavery and America’s Legacy of Family Separation.” AAIHS, 31 July 2018, https://www.aaihs.org/slavery-and-americas-legacy-of-family-separation/.
[3] Slavery & Abolition. Mar2022, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p205-228. 24p.
[4] Ossenbach, Carlos. The Orchids of John Henry Lance (1793-1878) – Redalyc.org. https://www.redalyc.org/journal/443/44369099008/html/.