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Summary Of The Price For Their Pound Of Flesh By Daina Ramey Berry

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In Daina Ramey Berry’s “The Price for their Pound of Flesh,” the commodifications of enslaved people have affected how their bodies are valued and undervalued in ways that benefit the American economy. The moral implications of assigning monetary value to human life devalues the inherent worth and dignity of enslaved individuals, reducing them to objects of commodification. These practices described in the book have shaped contemporary racial and economic qualities that were rooted in the institution of slavery where enslaved individuals were treated as property and their labor was exploited for economic gain. Enslaved people would actively fight and resist in acts of rebellion in the forms of escaping and becoming a free slave or even attempting …show more content…

As Berry mentions in her book, she shares a few stories of how many slaves had tried to save up a lot of money in order to buy their loved ones to be reunited with them once again. “[M]any enslaved people did all they could to negotiate their sales. Their interference is evidence of their attempt to control their fate and expression of their soul value” (92). Despite being treated as property and their lives being controlled, many enslaved people actively resisted their circumstances by negotiating the terms of their sale, showcasing their agency and determination to shape their own destiny. This resistance is seen as a testament to their inherent worth and their refusal to be reduced to mere commodities. It also shows that they recognized their own value as human beings with souls, even in a system that sought to deny them that recognition. The profits that were generated off of slave labor helped build infrastructure, finance businesses, and support the growth of other industries through trade. This economic prosperity was built on the exploitation and dehumanization of enslaved individuals which perpetuate deep-rooted racial inequalities that still …show more content…

As enslaved children grew up and learned how to distinguish between the multiple values placed within their bodies. They also learned how to differentiate their souls and bodies, their souls becoming priceless, referring to the sign of spiritual freedom. Especially during puberty, for many young boys and girls, the girls dreaded the fact that they were about to begin menstruating because it meant that they would begin to produce and “breed”. In the first decade of enslaved childrens’ lives, they were not yet aware of their social status. Their perception of being a part of a personal property began to gradually expand as they experienced either their first time being sold or witnessing other slaves being sold. Some ways mentioned in the book that describe how enslaved children came to understand their enslavement ___. At an early age, they begin to realize that they are different from white slave holders’ children, in terms of their attitudes changing to their white

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