Introduction
The research conducted in terms of the following paper has shown that the runaway patterns, frequent in times of slavery, were predominantly caused by the family connections of the enslaved American residents. The 21st century’s version of the United States of America has been modified to such an extent that many people seem to obliterate the history behind the state they live in today. The US history is replete with unprecedented instances of human rights discrimination based on racial, gender, and sex prejudice thriving within colonialism policy. However, the darkest chapter of the state’s history is, by all means, the period of slavery that made millions of African Americans’ lives contemned to humiliation and dehumanization. According to the researchers, even though the ancestors did not focus exclusively on enslaving African Americans, it is they who became the reason for the state’s industrial revolution. One of the prime examples of slavery’s impact on the lives of human beings is the slavery patterns in Virginia in the 18th and 19th centuries.
During this timeframe, constant oppression and discrimination made the enslaved run away from their owners to feel the slightest allusion to the freedom they had not experienced in a long time. Moreover, how they were treated sometimes left them with no choice but to escape from a living nightmare. According to the researchers, the major reasons for slaves to run away were as follows:
- Physical and/or sexual abuse;
- Desire to take a break from exhaustive physical labor;
- Desire to see friends and relatives from whom they were separated.
In the minds of the masters, separation from the family was a smart decision to weaken the slaves’ will and sense of belonging to a community instead of the one who bought their lives. However, while the idea was quite reasonable, owners significantly undermined the scope of their connection to the family. Hence, as a result, the newspaper advertisements at the time were replete with information about the missing slaves who ran away from their masters. Therefore, in terms of the following research paper, empirical data from the aforementioned ads will be utilized to justify the fact that the family connection was one of the major reasons for the slaves to keep fighting for freedom.
Runaways in Colonial Virginia
When observing today’s socially accepted patterns of behavior, it might be noticed how much attention is paid to the notion of African Americans’ history in terms of the state’s timeline. However, if to take a closer look at everything that happened to these people over the centuries, it becomes clear that even a month dedicated to drawing attention to the issue is not enough to recollect and understand everything they have gone through.
During slavery times in colonial Virginia, both white and black people managed to run away to find the desired freedom. The major difference between these two groups was that the latter did not have the second chance once caught. Hence, the dilemma lay in the fact that even when escaping from the oppression, African Americans had nowhere to go. There was no such place where they could feel like they belonged to the area, as they were perceived as no one but outcasts. The only motivation they had that was strong enough to put their lives at stake was the desire to reunite with their families.
To live a meaningful life, people should have something they feel attached to so they are not scared to make new steps in their life. For some people, it is an ethnic affiliation or homeland, while others find their home in people they love. Thus, while feeling like no place was home, African Americans had nothing more precious than family. Scholars who examine the historical patterns of the African Americans’ development claim that they generally had two attitudes towards the notion of family. Those people who were raised under the conditions of slavery did not have such a sense of affiliation, as they were treated as commodities rather than human beings since their very childhood. African Americans who were forcefully separated from their families were driven by the urge to reunite with them. Hence, they escaped bearing hope that they would have the chance to feel like being at home once again before they had to be one’s labor tool.
Advertisement Analysis
To realize to which extent family mattered to the enslaved African Americans, one might examine how many runaway ads in the Virginia papers were allegedly related to the cause of family reunion. One of the most widespread printed newspapers in the area at the time was the Virginia Gazette, which included a variety of notes mentioning escaped slaves and servants. One of such advertisements was published on March 27, 1746. It was mentioned in the ad that an African American man who was approximately 35 years old escaped from James-Town in the direction of Richmond County, where the man supposedly has a wife.
At the time, Richmond County was one of the most well-known and one of the largest slave-trading markets in the state and South America in general. Hence, an African American man who ran away from the master was not interested in obtaining freedom, as he knew it was impossible. His only desire was to be closer to his loved ones so that they could have more courage to go through it together. Hence, the following ad could serve as a foundation for further investigations on the subject of family relationships in times of slavery.
If to take a closer look at the modern patterns of the African American community development, one might notice the extent to which family members are attached, and the extent to which they are willing to protect their close ones. Such behavior became conventional for the community due to the historical precedents of the family being the only reason to survive and stand up for one’s rights as a human.
Taking everything into consideration, it might be concluded that while family or any other kind of emotional attachment is crucial for all human beings in the world, the African American community has survived because of the family. During the terrifying episodes of their history – enslavement, – they managed to stick to each other despite the risk of being punished or executed. As a result, this connection helped them fight for their freedom and end in a place they find themselves today.
Bibliography
Costa, Tom. Runaway slaves and servants in colonial Virginia. Encyclopedia Virginia, 2020, Web.
Shuster, Kate, Hasan Kwame Jeffries, and David W. Blight. Teaching hard history: American slavery. (2018).
Virginia Gazette (Parks), Williamsburg, 1746. The Geography of Slavery, 2020, Web.
Williams, Heather Andrea. How slavery affected African American families. National Humanities Center, 2020. Web.