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Slave Owners Perspectives In America During 1850-1877

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When Slavery Sold This essay will cover slavery from the slave owners' perspectives in America during 1850-1877. Slave owners benefited economically from the labor of enslaved people, as their work contributed to their wealth and prosperity. Examining slavery from a slave owner's perspective requires acknowledging the historical context and the mindset during the era when slavery was legal and widespread. It is important to note that this perspective does not justify or excuse the institution of slavery, but rather aims to understand how individuals rationalized and perpetuated it. What does a slave mean? “Someone captured, sold, or born into chattel slavery. Slaves. could be bought, sold, moved about, inherited, given away, insured, and …show more content…

Slaves are considered valuable assets, and nothing more than property. Many slaves worked on plantations; the slave owners would usually treat them poorly. They were given little to eat, worked to the bone, and beaten. Slaves could be beaten just because their master had a difficult day, wanted entertainment, or for no reason at all. For slave owners, slaves were a lesser race. Holt stated in his book “The African race is a race of barbarians, and civilization to that race would be an artificial state of existence. The vestiges of barbarism characterize the African in his normal state” (Holt, 1860). Most slave owners shared Holt’s perspective, believing that due to African’s cultures and religions, Africans were uncivilized. Slaves were bought at auctions; these would happen at marketplaces and usually on a wooden stage (see below). Slave owners saw these auctions as equal to buying live-stock. Even though slaves cost a lot of money, slave owners would mistreat them by seeing them as a replaceable piece of property. Davis, 1861 - …show more content…

Laws and customs supported the institution of slavery, making it a socially accepted practice. Slave owners who questioned or challenged this system risked social ostracism and economic repercussions. However, when some would argue for freedom for the slaves, by Constitution rights. Many slave owners by saying things such as the Constitution does not apply to slaves. Slave owners would believe that “We think they [negroes] are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word “citizens” in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which [it]... secures to the citizens of the United States” (Cobbs, 2016, p 376). In conclusion, examining slavery from the perspective of slave owners during the tumultuous period from 1850 to 1877 reveals the complex interplay of economic interests, racial prejudices, and social structures that perpetuated this morally reprehensible institution. Slave owners benefited economically from the labor of enslaved individuals, viewing them as valuable assets to be bought, sold, and mistreated at will. Dehumanized and treated as mere property, slaves endured unimaginable hardships, were subjected to brutal physical punishment and denied even the most basic human

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