Comparing Peter Bestes's Letter 'And Other Massachusetts Slave'

1160 Words5 Pages

Which document are you writing about? (Give the title, when possible.) What kind of document is it? (Letter, speech, code of law, etc.) (5 points) The document I am analyzing is Peter Bestes And Other Massachusetts Slaves. This document is a letter written to the local representatives by slaves, asking for them to take into consideration granting freedom to slaves due to the fact white colonists are protesting how King George III is threatening to enslave the white colonists.

2. Who wrote this document? When and where was it written and/or published? (5 points)

The letter is written by Peter Bestes and other slaves from the Massachusetts province. The other slaves who took part in writing the letter were Sambo Freeman, Felix Holbrook, …show more content…

A group of Africans from the same province realized that the white colonists are facing a similar problem just tike the slaves. The white colonists were protesting how King George’s III policies enslaved them. African slaves asked the white colonists to grant freedom to all slaves since their fighting for the same freedom from the British. This letter hints at an injustice system by how white colonists were threatened to be slaves by the British and started protesting while they owned slaves themselves. This letter shows how just unequal African slaves were seen compared to the white colonists.

4. Who was the intended audience? Are multiple audiences being addressed? Explain. (10 points)

Peter Bestes is addressing multiple audiences in his letter. His first intended audience is the local representatives of Massachusetts considering this is who the letter is being written to. He is writing to the local representatives of his province because of their stance against King George III and his threat to enslave the white colonists. It is important for Peter Bestes to write to the local representatives because he hopes that they can now see the suffrages of being enslaved and will discuss freedom of every human in their next session. Another intended audience that Peter Bestes writes to is other African Americans throughout the province of Massachusetts. He wants other Africans Americans to copy his letter and send it to their members of the general court hoping for freedom across the