From: Elizabeth Horan
Date: 3/27/00
Time: 8:45:27 PM
Remote Name: 209.141.75.91
Elizabeth Horan March 27, 2000
Primary Source #2
Illustrations in the American Anti-Slavery Almanac of 1840, show the torment, torture, and inhumane treatment of slaves. These pictures published by anti-slavery advocates were printed to stir up feelings of unrest. The slaves in these illustrations are portrayed as barely being human. There are pictures of slaves chained together doing fieldwork, and slaves being branded. Perhaps most disturbing are the portraits of executions. In the largest picture, there is a public hanging of slaves that may have tried to escape. There is also an image of “Cutting Up a Slave in Kentucky,” a man chased into a river by dogs, and a slave being burnt at the steak. The slaves are treated as animals in these pictures. They have no rights, and the white men gave themselves the freedom to do what they wanted to the slaves. They are portrayed as pathetic excuses for humans, as if they have no capability of thinking or doing anything for themselves. One picture portrays a white couple walking by slaves working, and they say, “Poor things, they can’t take care of themselves.” The idea of white supremacy is embedded in these portraits. The slaves in this publication seem beaten down by these white supremacists. They are shells of what they could be. Slavery seems to have captured their soul, and left them empty human beings. Many seem as if they could not maintain their spirit through the oppression and torture, although in actuality some did. I would not consider this publication propaganda. The pictures portray the truth; there is no embellishment or falsification. The anti-slavery advocates’ goal was to free the slaves and put an end to the cruelty. Although they are pictures of a series of the most heinous acts, they are true and real. Hopefully, these images made some reconsider slavery and join the anti-slavery movement.