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Solomon Northup's Life As A Slave Essay

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American slavery existed in 18th and 19th centuries. Slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies slaves were put to work for the wealthy, tortured and sold to people. In reality treatment of slaves ranged from mild and paternalistic to cruel and sadistic. Which brings us to a young man name Solomon Northup whom was born a freeman for more than 30 years he would enjoy his freedom and blessings of life. However he is kidnapped and forced to become a slave. Throughout his life as a slave Solomon was constantly punished in many ways he was brutally tortured, received discipline, and overcame his struggles as a slave. Solomon was a freeman until he got kidnapped and was brutally tortured when he became a slave. “As soon as these formable whips appeared, I was seized by both of them, and roughly divested of my clothing, drawing me over the bench, face downwards, Radburn placed …show more content…

He was forced to change his identity and if he wouldn't obey they would discipline him. “I asserted aloud and bodily that I was a freeman a resident of Saratoga, where I had a wife and children, who were also free, and that my name was Northup,” (22) Solomon yield. Solomon didn't agree with the fact that his identity was changed. “He denied that I was a freeman, and with an emphatic oath, declared that I came from Georgia.” Therefore Northup wouldn't obey to their demands on changing his identity and lifestyle because he strongly believed he was a freeman. He would get a whooping every time he would disobey by defending himself and his freedom. “Burch desisted, saying with an admonitory shake of his fist in my face and hissing the words through his firm-set teeth, that If ever I dared to utter again that I was entitled to my freedom, that I been kidnapped, or anything what ever of kind, he swore that he would either conquer or kill me.” Solomon had all his liberty and freedom taken away when he became a

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In my first article from Shuaijie Guo, he evaluates the story of Solomon Northup, Northup was born free in the state of New York, and was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Northup endured years of mistreatment, including beatings, whippings, and even attempted murder, all because of someone elses desires for money and profit. Guo states how "In front of money” the slave owners “have no human nature” and sadly in the eyes of “white people,” “money is more valuable than free.” (Guo 850). These slave owners looked at their slaves as prizes and needless to say less than humans.

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The fact that Solomon’s text is closely based on his real-life maltreatments perhaps has an even more lasting effect on its readers as they endure the written abuse of Patsy. In Patsy’s case, she wasn’t whipped to almost death for plain entertainment, she was whipped because of her forced sexual relations with her master that irritated her master’s mistress. This intense scene not only exhibits the power and abuse that a master has over his “property,” but it also shows a lack of compassion from both male and female slave owners. This demonstrates that the master’s wife, who does not have the rights of the men in her country and whose status is certainly below her husband, finds pleasure and no remorse in taking her frustrations out on Patsy. She views Patsy as competition and since Patsy is her husband’s property, she is allowed to decide what to do with Patsy.

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