Monday, February 5, 2018

Slavery Biography And The Life Of Slaves

By Sandra Ward


As anyone whom has ever studied history knows, slavery is a tough topic to tackle. For, it deals with issues which are often graphic with regards to the abuse and imprisonment of people during the 17 and 1800s. As such, when it comes to providing a slavery biography, few had the opportunity to do so.

While there were some well known high profile individuals born into slavery whom have shared many of those stories, few were left behind by the original slaves. For, in many cases, none of those individuals were taught how to read or write. Rather, many spent long hours working on farms and picking cotton in the hot sun without pay.

Knowing of these atrocities and horrors being committed on a number of plantations, William Lloyd Garrison was one of the first to be successful in establishing an abolitionist movement in the South. For, according to Jim Powell, Mr. Garrison was a great publicist and writer during that time. In fact, Mr. Garrison wrote for, and published "The Liberator, " the only, and most respected abolitionist newspaper of the time.

While there have been several films, movies and miniseries related to the slave era, most have overlooked at least some aspect of that time. For example, most never talk about how slavery almost came to an end in the late 1700s. In fact, many Northern states had already started abolishing the slave trade shortly before the cotton gin was born.

The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 increased the amount of fertile ground on which cotton could be grown. As such, it was this new and fertile land which caused a rise in the number of slaves. Most reports suggest that while there were approximately five hundred thousand slaves in the 1700s, there were more like four million at the time of the American Civil War.

Later, when Garrison started fighting for the release of these individuals, there were two views with regards to a possible outcome. One being that slaves would be set free without pay and could either stay on as farm workers in exchange for room board, basically meaning nothing changed. Whereas, the other would be that, individuals once released would be sent back to Africa.

As such, not only was it Garrison's idea to eliminate slavery, it was also the method this first Abolitionist provided to create a way to do so. After which, the message eventually led to a number of slaves being set free. While, it was Mr. Garrison whom started the movement, the freeing of the slaves is attributed to the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation provided by President Abraham Lincoln that same year.

While this is the case, the many articles and other stories published in the abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator, " no doubt had an impact on the success of the movement. For, even the well known author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin, " and others of that time were happy to see an end to slavery. As such, it is more than likely that "The Liberator, " Mr. Garrison and members of congress had more to do with freeing the slaves than did President Abraham Lincoln.




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