From: Anonymous Four
Date: 3/29/00
Time: 11:58:35 PM
Remote Name: 152.163.206.212
The photos that I have just looked at seem to be a little disturbing to me. But the fact is, it is reality. These photos show how slaves and slaveholders were portrayed, and how slavery effected both parties. The slaves which I will call the "enslaved" because I feel no one is a slave, and the fact is that these people were forced into this way of life unwillingly. The enslaved, which are made up of women, men, and children are portrayed as being less than human. They were like animals who obeyed their masters or serious consequences could and most of the time would occur. They were a people who very unhappy, because of being in chains all day and always in pain(mentally and physically) not understanding what they have done to deserve such horrible treatment. They are perceived as being loyal, loyal meaning they obey the orders they get or suffer. But most of the time it seems in these pictures that they would suffer even if they had not done anything wrong. The enslaved suffered whippings, brandings, rapes, hagings, and cut ups. So how did the enslaved handle slavery, well I think they handled it the best way the knew how, which was to keep a strong faith in God and know that this too shall pass. The slaveholders are portrayed as being the head. He is the boss, and the enslaved were his property. Therefore he may do what he likes with his property, as long as he is not the one suffering. They took pride in beating and morally destroying the enslaved. They often sat around and had picnics while a body was swinging from a tree. They loved the institution of slavery because work was in very high demand and needed to be done, these holders had money to make. So the idea of enslaving a human being was wonderful to them. They had no respect or care for these people. They treated the enslaved as animals and pretty much abused them in every sense of the word. They handled slavery just fine, as long as they could benefit from it, it was just fine. Understanding that we all have suffered in some form or another, some worst than others, made me realize that there is no respect for life. We all live this life and live in the same world, and until we learn to respect life no forward movement can be made.