Slavery in the United States
Evan Cuccia
September 29,
2014
Reaction
Paper #1
For over a century, authors,
scholars, and historians alike, have attempted to explain the institution of
slavery. Hundreds of sources have surfaced surrounding the topic, each from a
different vantage point and each painting a unique picture. It is through a
close examination of the course material up to this point, that one can
identify the common themes that connect these varying narratives. While Saltwater Slavery, Major Problems in African-American History,
and American Slavery all
serve a specific purpose, they overlap in terms of overarching ideas. Together,
these three pieces reveal the true brutality of slavery through a discussion
centered around the commodification of mankind at the hands of the slave trade,
and the subsequent loss of humanity endured by the Africans.
Stephanie Smallwood’s Saltwater Slavery: A
Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora functions as a detailed outline of the evolution of
slavery. She begins by tracing slavery back to Africa’s Gold Coast region, and
proceeds to highlight the development of the slave trade and the impact it had
on those involved. Smallwood explains that while the Gold Coast was originally
known for its precious resource supply, it eventually became a hub for human
trade. She writes that by the late seventeenth century, “people were considered
a standard component of exports” in the region.[1] With this,
Smallwood marks a significant moment in history. It is here, that one can see
the process by which humans are turned into products start to take shape.
Smallwood goes on to discuss what this meant for the men, women, and children
who fell victim to the slave trade. As traders realized the monetary value of a
body, people quickly went from being seen as humans to being counted as items.
In Chapter Three, Smallwood makes the following statement in regards to this:
“Slaves became, for the purpose of
transatlantic shipment, mere physical units that could be arranged and molded at will-whether folded together spoonlike in
rows or flattened side by side in a
plane. Because human beings were treated as inanimate objects the number of bodies stowed aboard a ship was
limited only by the physical dimensions and configuration
of those bodies.”[2]
This thought
is especially striking because it conveys the extent of the commodification
that took place along the Gold Coast. Smallwood pushes her audience to
recognize that when the Africans stepped onto the slave ships, their human interest
was no longer. She argues that as an export, the people were reduced to lines
in a ledger.[3]
As they made the trip across the Atlantic, captains and ship crews concerned
themselves with quantity over quality, focusing in on potential profits and
thus paying no mind to the general well-being of the enslaved.[4]
In Chapter five, Smallwood explains that life on the slave ships was an
everyday struggle to “sustain [one’s] humanity in the uniquely inhumane spatial
and temporal setting of the slave ship at sea.”[5] With no
knowledge of where they were or what the future held, the slaves were living in
a constant state of disorientation. On the open sea, many lost touch with their
sense of time and self. As their homelands drifted out of sight, as did their
personal identities. Surrounded by disease and depression, the journey
“suspended [the slaves] in a purgatory in between tenuous life and dishonorable
death.”[6]
Smallwood says that even those who died on the ship remained “enslaved and
commodified,” raising the question as to whether one can ever truly escape the
bonds of slavery.[7]
Through her writing, Smallwood forces readers to consider the far-reaching
implications of the slave trade. As a whole, Saltwater Slavery brings commodification and and
issue of humanity to the forefront, in an effort to uncover the harsh, dehumanizing
nature of the institution.
While Major Problems in African-American History is a different type of source, it
touches on the same themes as Smallwood’s piece. The book, edited by Thomas Holt
and Elsa Brown, features a series of documents and essays that lend themselves
to the larger discussion concerning the commodification of man and the slaves’ attempts
to hold onto their humanity. Many chapters include first-hand accounts, which
provide a glimpse into the historical past and help readers to better
understand the sentiments of those who directly experienced slavery. For
instance, in document four of Chapter two, a Dutch trader recalls negotiating
for slaves. He explains the process of choosing a slave and talks of examining
the lot before buying one, in search of the most fit individual.[8]
He goes on to state that after being purchased, the slaves were marked with a
brand representing the company to which they belonged.[9] The
trader’s writing serves as proof of commodification. His account illustrates
the fact that slaves were not seen as humans, but as objects to be owned and
manipulated for a profit. Later, in Chapter five document five, one can see how
that commodification affected the basic human rights of the Africans. The
document features a letter from a free African man who is appealing to the
court of South Carolina, on behalf several men, requesting to be acknowledged
for his military service. In closing, the man writes that he does not “presume
to hope that they shall be put on an equal footing with the Free white citizens
of the State.”[10]
By including this piece, the editors demonstrate the lasting effects of
slavery. While this man was free and loyal to the State, he saw that he was less
than in comparison to the white men and knew that he was not recognized because
of it. It is clear that even the freed slave grapples with his role as a basic
commodity rather than a man. Through documents such as these, Major Problems emphasizes the daily struggle of
the enslaved to remain human in the face of slavery.
In American Slavery 1619-1877, author Peter Kolchin tackles
similar themes. Like the other sources, Kolchin explores commodification, but
it is his angle that sets his piece apart. Focusing in on the post-Middle
Passage period, he describes the role of slaves in American society and the
ways slave holders justified their treatment of the Africans. Kolchin explains
that the slaves headed to America, were stripped of “everything they knew -
possessions, home, [and] loved ones.”[11] Having
left behind all that made them human, the Africans could be sold as
commodities. Before long, slaves became a basic tool for agricultural
production in colonial America and a source of economic growth.[12]
To southern slave owners in particular, Africans were not “fit for freedom” and
thus, meant to exist at their disposable and to provide labor when commanded.[13]
By depriving the slaves of their basic rights and deeming them undeserving,
slave owners opened the door for what would become the most horrific
institution in American history.
While each of these sources
approached the topic of slavery differently, they all relate to the central
themes of commodification and humanity. Whether it’s through Smallwood’s
account of the growth of the slave trade, in the primary documents assigned in Major Problems, or via Kolchin’s writings on
the arrival of slavery in the colonies, one can conclude that the process of
turning man into an object to be exploited and dehumanized lies at the heart of
slavery.
[1]
Stephanie E. Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery a Middle Passage from Africa to American
Diaspora. (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2008), 18.
[3] Charles McKinney, “Slavery on the Gold Coast,” (Lecture, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee, September 2, 2014).
[8]
Thomas C. Holt and Elsa B. Brown, Major Problems in African American History, (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000), 43.
[12]
Charles McKinney, “Slavery in the Revolutionary Age,” (lecture,
Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, September 23, 2014).
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