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Dissemblance In Uncle Tom's Cabin

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Rebellion has appeared numerous times in the dark history of slavery. One of the few successful ways slaves resisted their slave owners was in a non violent way known as dissemblance. Dissemblance is to disguise or conceal ones true nature or appearance and was perfectly explained by this statement from an ex slave, “Got one mind for the white folk, nother I know that is me”. Historians throughout time had argued dissemblance was used as self preservation. It can be argued there is a difference between dissemblance and being submissive. The relationship between a slave owner and slave has always been misconstrued as slave owners would lie to themselves saying they were helping slaves. Obviously slavery was detrimental to Africans that were caught in the slave trade. …show more content…

An “Uncle Tom” is an epithet that stemmed from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel titled “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. In this novel, slaves that were considered to be subservient to the oppressors were called Uncle Toms. Even though this term Uncle Tom stems from a novel, the novel itself was inspired by a very true story of Josiah Henson. Henson who was an ex slave who was sold back into slavery, instead of rebelling in violence, Henson rather decided to work with his oppressors. Eventually he escaped back north to Canada, where he would write his autobiography about his life. Slave owners were full of themselves, they valued their slaves as domestic

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1.) The life of slaves in the 1700 could be easy, or hard, depending on their “master.” Some slaves worked on farms and performed extremely hard feats of work, but others would do house work for their master that was not as hard but more time consuming. Now these slaves were like servants, but they are considered property, unlike a servant that is a free person. Since slaves were considered property their master could do anything they to them, like branding them just for not doing as told.

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Throughout the argument, James Henry Hammond is very vague and states many half-truths that allow him to lie through omission. These half-truths are hidden and are the basis of Hammond’s statement, hence the bias in his argument. Furthermore, the actual relationship between slave owner and slave can be examined through accounts that demonstrate the more likely situation of a slave: that of being constantly mistreated. It is possible that there were slaveholders who treated their slaves with kindness like Hammond claims, but it is clear that the majority of slaves suffered mistreatment from their owners. Fanny Kemble’s journal is a prime example that illustrates the situation of many slaves in the nineteenth century.

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Slaves were the foundation of the Southern regions economy, therefore slaves would resist in subtle ways to avoid punishment and to fight against their economic exploitation. To minimize production slave would fake illnesses and brake tools. In other cases, blacks would runaway to other plantations to see loved ones, but would come back.it wasn’t until 1831 Nat Turner devised the most violent rebellion, a vision he had “of a battle between ‘white spirits and black spirits’ that would commence when the ‘sun darkened’” (Keene). Whites portrayed his rebellion to the public as “unsympathetically” and that their goal was to “attack defenseless woman and children, however Turner promoted his vision claiming he was given a “divine sign that the time for

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In the novel, uncle Tom has a total of three masters, namely Shelby, St. Clare and Legree. Although they are the masters of Tom, but they have different personalities, and the same point. His first master, Shelby, was portrayed as a "benevolent" slave owner and a traditional southern gentleman. Although he and his wife treated their slaves are very friendly, but when Shelby faces a debt and lose its field plight, he decided to name a few slaves to the slave traders to raise much-needed funds. He can not give up the privileged life for a slave he preferred, in his world of thought good slave and his personal accessories, is his personal trading items, it is difficult to change the class nature.

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The brutality of American slavery prior to the abolishment of slavery after the American civil war of 1861 to 1865 varied depending on the conditions offered by slave masters and particular historical events along with the states which slaves were in (Source A). Evidence suggests that the treatment of slaves especially in the southern region of America (which includes the states South Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Georgia) was horrendous as it included various punishments which scared slaves not only physically but also mentally. The treatment a slave received was also based on the how long the slave or slaves actually worked for a particular owner (Source B). Many testimonials from former African American slaves go on further to show

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Douglass also emphasizes how owning slaves does not only hurt the slave but the slave owner. He says that owning

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There is a very general similarity in this however; in both sides, slaves were not free and they had to obey their masters and work. Document 9 outlines observations by Hans Sloan concerning punishment of slaves on the island of Barbados. The punishments were very cruel, ranging from whippings for the smallest offenses to burning alive for

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Douglass explains that the slaves do not say anything bad about their slaveholders. Furthermore, there are fights between slaves who disagree which of their masters is better. Through their masters’ attempts to promote slavery, the slaves have been taught to think that “the greatness of their masters [is] transferrable to themselves”(31). The disloyalty was brought about by not being able to talk bad about their masters. Douglass also discloses that slaves “suppress the truth rather than take the consequences of telling it,” in the pursuit of self preservation, which can cause them to betray their fellow slaves (30).

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Although slaveholders would beg to differ, you should keep in mind the cruelty slaves experienced by slaves. One should consider the moral , social, and religious ways. First, Douglass says the slaveholders believed what they were doing was right; however, morally they were changed by slaveholding. Douglass supports this by explains how his mistress was majorly affected. “ She has bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach.

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In the 1800’s, there was a huge power dynamic between slaves and their “owners”. There is a lot of social inequality during ths time of slavery, thus creating unequal dynamics. A huge concept of the conflict theory is how the elite control the poor and weak, and for Frederick Douglass, who was hardly even considered a person during these times, is a prime example of how conflict theory within sociology. According to Alfred Gray, a sociologist, conflict theory is a result of constant struggle throughout society to determine who has authority, and how far it goes (Gray, 10). In the narrative, Douglass discusses how he was supposed to be treated unequally, and when he got a new mistress, quoted, “It was at least necessary for her to have some training in the exercise of irresponsible power, to make her equal to the task of treating me as though I were a brute” (Douglass, Chapter VII).

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The Stono rebellion was a very popular point of conversation in 1739 following the uprising. This is because many people were shocked at the violence that took place in South Carolina and many were afraid it may happen again. As a result, news of the rebellion was spreading rapidly, and many people of all ethnicities were made aware of the rebellion that took place. When white slave holding families heard of the stories surrounding the rebellion they began to fear new uprisings. However, when African Americans heard of the events that took place during the rebellion they were encouraged by the event and the things it accomplished.

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With freedom coming, some slaves were still loyal to their masters. Yet, the slave masters still consider slaves to be the bottom rail of society. The bottom rail was considered the “lowest level of America’s social and economic scale” (Davidson & Lytle, p. 179). The slaves were portrayed to be dumb or stupid because state governments discouraged slaves

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From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.

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An example of this According to, to Federick Douglass, -” Sunday was my only leisure day”.” Slaves were given no time for themselves and worked 12-14 hrs a day depending on their master’s “Kindness”. Slaves owners' only days were Sundays when they would go to church and were nice to slaves it depended on the kindness of the owners. Frederick Douglass writes, “murdered because she was not awake to take care of the baby” She went three nights without sleep, and the slaves would get beaten if they didn't live up to their owner’s standards.

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Slavery can easily be determined as one of the most blatant acts of dehumanization. In the narrative titled “Narrative Of The Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass is easily able to portray this by quoting, “I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceases to be a man”, Chapter 10 page 45. The quote overall does illustrate to the reader the narrator’s reflection to slavery as a whole as he states they were deprived of not only their basic

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