Introduction
Slavery is an arrangement where human beings are treated as the property of other human beings. The slaves do not offer themselves as property they are only apprehended against their will from the moment they are born, incarcerated, or bought. Also, they are not supposed to leave their masters or refuse to work or ask for any form of payment, they virtually leave under the mercy of their masters. In some communities during the age of the slave trade, masters were allowed to kill their slaves for their pleasure.
Main body
The plain definition of an institution is an organization that is created and unified for a precise reason. In the institution of slavery, slaves were captured in Africa and India and then shipped to America and parts of Europe to work for free as required by their owners without any rights. The slaves were considered to be property just like an animal or an object. The owners were regarded as the property of their masters and they delegated duties to their slaves without question. By use of various accounts and stories, the study will show how the institution of slavery operated and its impacts on slaves.
There was an inhumane level of cruelty that was experienced when Africans were captured, and how they were treated. A good account of mistreatment is shown in William Byrd’s diary when he whipped Eugene for a simple mistake of wetting the bed and Jenny for concealing (Wright and Tinling 41). This has also been well portrayed in Olaudah Equiano’s account. It is a story of an Ibo prince who was kidnapped when he was at the age of eleven and was taken to Barbados before being sent to Virginia. At first, like other captured slaves, he was so terrified because he never knew why he was captured and the fate of his life was not clear.
He was so afraid of white men, people who he had never seen before and he thought he was being captured so that they can kill him. Upon his capture, Equiano states “I was thrown up so that the crewmen could see if I was sound, at this moment I realized I was with bad spirits and they were going to kill me”. He believed that the white men had some form of supernatural powers. When the slaves got new owners in form of merchants and planters as he describes them, definite acts of cruelty were exhibited as families were separated. Family members got separated showing unnecessary cruelty in new dimensions. Acts that could have been avoided were executed bringing more distress and dismay to the misery of slavery (Equiano 69).
Slavery was an accepted way of life to the extent that Christians condoned it. Colonel Byrd was a Christian according to his diary since he read the bible daily and always prayed before he slept. This is shown in every briefing that he wrote in his diary starting the day by reading the bible, giving thanks to God when his wife delivered, and praying every day before going to sleep. However, the irony comes from the way he treated his slaves, for instance, he whipped Eugene for a simple mistake of wetting the bed and Jenny for concealing (Wright and Tinling 41). Such acts show he had a little affiliation to slaves although he did acts of true Christianity like reading the bible and praying.
Unfair laws were drafted determining how slaves were supposed to be treated, and the limitation of the interaction of slaves and the white owners. During this period, certain guidelines were put in place to define the rights of slaves about their treatment, and the extent to which whites were allowed to interact with the slaves. This is revealed in Virginia’s Statutes 1660-1705. According to act 22, the masters were supposed to provide clothing, food, and a place to sleep according to the discretion of the county courts, and a Christian white servant should never be whipped naked at any time not unless authorized by a court. This was one of the acts the clearly stated how slaves should be treated about matters of food, clothing, and accommodation (Henning 40).
The level of interaction between whites and slaves was clearly stated in the 20th Act that no minister within the colony of England should ever marry a white and a Negro or Mullato man. In the event of such, the minister will be liable to a fine of ten thousand pounds. This was the level of seriousness to such acts in that era. This was a law to prevent white people from intermarrying Negros or the Mullato as they were called.
There is a unique transition of power in the American people and it is used differently in both public and private life. According to the history of the American people, it has been observed that America transformed from a land of hunter-gatherers and Native American civilization to the most dominant industrial nation in the world. It focuses on liberty how America got its freedom, equality in terms of equal opportunities for every person regardless of the color of their skin and gender, and power i.e. the actual process of how America as a country became a supreme nation. The story not only shows the effects of ideas of freedom and equality commonly linked with American history, but also the main and subsidiary groups that have affected and at times been affected by the ever-changing equilibrium of power (Murrin 60).
Conclusion
According to the study, it was noted that slavery was indeed the worst crime against humanity in that era. A lot of people suffered from mistreatment some even dying. Although it happened many years ago, the stories still haunt communities especially the black community who feel they were mistreated.
Works Cited
Equiano, Olaudah. The African Slave Trade. New York: Knapp, 1837.
Henning, William. Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virgima, from the First Session of the Legislature. 1st ed. British Press, 1823.
Murrin, John. Liberty, Equality, Power, A History of the American People: To 1877.
Boston: Cengage Learning, 2008.
Wright, Louis & Tinling, Marion. The Secret Diary of William Byrd of WeSIIiI’er. London: DietzPress.1941.