The PowerPoint on runaway slaves was very insightful into the common way of thinking in that time period as well as a description of a story about a slave escaping from the former slave’s perspective. I found the personal slave narrative to be informative because it described the conditions that slaves lived in and the way that escaped slaves were dealt with. I was surprised after reading the second narrative from the perspective of the slave hunter because of the barbaric and uncaring attitude towards the runaway slave’s well being. The hunters would rather have the slave be shot than run away to free land. When the narrator described the incident, which triggered the chain of events leading up to the present, he said that after his vacation was up, he became unruly for not wanting to return to the bondage of slavery. I was taken back, yet not surprised to the ignorance of the slaveholders to the quiet plight of the slaves whom they tortured and worked long hours. At times when slaves would rest, especially out in a field, they faced harsh lashing by their Masters, even without having done anything but be an example. The slave owner’s view of African Americans in the PowerPoint is that slaves enjoy being put to work, just like simple work animals. This viewpoint on slaves is reinforced with the postings to find escaped slaves, written in a similar fashion as a report to look for a lost pet. The views that were held by slave owners in the time period are dehumanizing to slaves by treating the sale and capture of slaves as a simple business transaction. I was surprised that the tone that some of the articles were written in was of indifference to the slave being captured or shot. The presentation depicted a very cruel world that was created by the institution of slavery.
The runaway slave PowerPoint gave many materials of slaves that have gone missing and or ran away from newspaper articles and flyers. When the articles were published, they even put a cash reward for whoever found their slave, which tells us that slaves were seen as property, not human beings. As I looked at all the newspaper articles, they all have something in common, and that is the symbol of a dark printed figure, supposedly a slave, carrying a knapsack over their shoulder. All of the articles give a description of the African American slave and their name they call themselves. I respect that their slave owner is concerned for their slave that ran away, but that fact that they put a price on human being’s is disgusting. I understand that during this time period, slaves were white folk’s property, but I don’t like the way they were treated by their masters. The slaves that ran away most likely had a crucial reasoning as to why they fled their master’s land, yet society looked passed enslaved African American’s well-being. To me, the article postings were inhumane because of the way they perceived African American’s to be to the white society. The one article that negatively stood out was the “Negroes for Sale” article. The newspaper makes it seem like they’re selling cattle, but truly are selling human beings. The African American’s are basically being auctioned off, which is horrifying to think about because they are made of matter and contain a soul, just like every other human being. There are classified against by the pigment of their skin and are used for their physique on how their body is built because they can withstand long periods of hard work and torture. Overall the PowerPoint instituted a negative tone towards African American’s and conveyed a world that was on the brink of exploitation.
The PowerPoint on runaway slaves gave insight to how different types of people thought about slaves and runaways. The first source was a slave narrative which helped me realize how people thought during the time period when the only hope of freedom slaves had was to run away from their owners. People were scared because they thought that the runaway slaves were dangerous and would cause pain and suffering, but they were really the ones that were suffering and in pain. The flyer that showed that people had slaves to sell really showed the culture and beliefs of the time. White people would attain slaves from African countries and would proceed to sell them in America to potential slave owners. It is horrible to think that people back then truly thought that they were auctioning off something that had the likes of cattle. The fact that it was really human beings with a soul that were being auctioned off makes me sick. The other documents, which were flyers from slave owners rewarding people in capturing their runaway slaves, showed that white Americans honestly thought that African slaves were property, not people. That mindframe is what makes most Americans nowadays sick to their stomachs when they think about the horrors of slavery. The slave owners appear to be concerned with the safety and well being of their slaves, but they are only concerned with the loss of property and income. It is so unfortunate that the slaves had to run away in order to even think they had a chance of freedom. The PowerPoint showed how corrupt and dysfunctional American society was before the Civil War. It is sickening to think that some people truly thought that owning slaves was a practice that was morally and legally okay, when it never should have been.
My reactions to this PowerPoint about runaway slaves was that many slaves attempted to run away and that there was even rewards for finding them. This concept shows that the slave owners would do anything to have their slaves be found. Some slaves went to jail when they were found or were put up for sale. This is very cruel treatment and showed that the slaves didn’t care about their punishment of running away because they wanted to get away from they way they were being treating with their owners. I also saw that the slaves were very short and skinny. This makes sense because they didn’t have a lot of nutrition to help them grow. The slaves were not treated very well and the power point did a good job explaining them. The runaway slaves had signs made for their disappearance which showed that owners really wanted to find slaves like lost pets. Also in this PowerPoint, it showed that people were selling slaves like food. This is wrong because they should not be treated like an item, but a human person. Also this information revealed that slave owners thought of their slaves as property instead of a person. This is unfair and cruel because they did not even give respect to them as a human. People in modern day give rewards for finding a lost dog of a lost person but when they are found they are given to their loved ones. The slaves had to be brought back to their owners and back to being treated unfairly. The posters for a lost slave gave information about their physical appearances to increase the chance of finding their slave. Since so many slaves ran away, it seems that they did not care if they were caught and put to jail because they didn't want to stay with their owners. My reactions to this PowerPoint is that it put into perspective how many slaves tried to runaway from their enslaved lives.
These documents show how relentless slaveholders were to return their runaway slaves. The large sums they would reward to those that found them displays the importance that slaves played in society. If a slavemaster’s slaves left he had no way to make money. The whole economy of the south depended on slave labor. Therefore slave masters would do anything to have their slaves back. the slaveholders created signs with detailed descriptions of the slaves and offering huge sums of money. these money rewards may not seem like much to us, but they were worth a whole lot more back then. As displayed in The Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass slaveholders took many precautions to prevent slaves from escaping and were always suspicious that slaves may be planning on escaping. Mr. Covey shows this as he was always sneaking around and watching his slaves, making sure they work and they don’t try to escape. Douglass’ masters in boston were also suspicious that he would use his money he earned at the shipyard to try and escape. All slaveholders knew that slaves hated their position and would do anything to get out of it, therefore they were always ready for a slave to try and escape. These signs and posters show that blacks were just treated as objects, not real people. On the first poster it says “Negroes for sale”, treating them as objects rather than people. This is disgusting and shows that whites in the south had no respect for blacks and didn’t even view them as people. They thought of them as animals and had no respect for them. it can’t believe that such a small difference as skin color was enough to label blacks as animals. It is cruel that whites would take advantage of them like this and use them as slaves.
This source on runaway slaves is very descriptive and gives a lot of information about the runaway slaves and what was happening during the slaves life as the were escaping or experiencing someone escape as another slave or the slave owner. There were money awards that the slave owners would put in to the newspaper saying that there was a fifty dollar reward to whoever found his slave and brought him back. Some owners did not understand why slaves wanted to run away because they go through more trouble running away rather than just staying and being at peace. The slaves had a different view because they felt more free once the escaped instead of just staying as a slave and being locked up and have no freedom. There was a writing by another slave that has witnessed a slave run away and he saw how they did it so he got the idea of running away in his mind and began to prepare to run away from slavery to be free. I could tell that he was a slave because of his speaking and he did not speak correctly or write correctly if he wrote the short story about himself eventually running away and describing what it was like. I really liked this source about runaway slaves because it gave me an insight of how slavery was when people were escaping in the views of the slave, another bystanding slave, or the slave owner. Slave owners that figured out that one of their slaves has escaped were desperate to find them again, and the put out incentives in the newspapers for the community people to find the slave and bring them back to the slave plantation. A common reward was money, mostly fifty dollars to one hundred if the slave was special to the owner. Overall this source was great on giving me an understanding on runaway slaves.
The runaway slave powerpoint gave me an insight on what type of living conditions and treatment African Americans were given. They were not treated with respect, and in this powerpoint it showed how they were sold and also how their owners paid people off just to find them. It was horrifying to see the way people were bought and sold. This showed that white people had no respect towards African Americans, and it was all because they thought that slaves were their property. On these flyers and posters of the runaway slaves, the owners would describe the slave’s stature and his/her name they go by. It was like they were looking for a lost puppy dog, which is something that the owners would probably be more caring towards if it were missing. They did not have respect for any African Americans. They did not only treat them like property, but they treated them like animals who did not belong anywhere. Also, on every single poster, they showed a small man with a knapsack over their shoulder, representing a slave. They dehumanized African Americans by first, making them run away by beating them and treating them unfairly, and second, buying and selling them like they were some kind of item you buy at the store. I realize that their slave owners just want to know where they are, but it is not for the good of the slave, it is for the good of their owners plantation. This makes me wonder why slavery was ever legal? The buying and selling of humans was never put into our constitution and the fact that it was happening during this time. This powerpoint showed that African Americans were only running for the freedom they deserved. The idea that people were rewarded for finding a human being just like them, made me realize how awfully African Americans were treated during this time. This powerpoint showed readers the negative way white folk's look at African Americans. It seemed to be their only way to be okay with themselves by dehumanizing the African American race.
I was surprised, while reading these old articles, at how well they describe the situation of slavery. They showed that the slaves were valued because of the work that they do at the farms or houses of their masters because they wanted to get the slaves back as soon as possible. The owners published notices that their slaves had run away so that they could get the word out that they had lost their property. Some of these articles even offered a reward for their capture and return. I think that the only reason the masters were so concerned with losing a slave was because they would be losing money and would have to find someone else to do the work, which might cost them. I thought that it was peculiar that the slaves were so short in the descriptions of what they looked like. This could be because of their lack of nutrition while growing up as a slave, so they never grew very tall. I noticed that the people who wrote the articles notifying people of their missing slave tried to make the slave sound at fault for running away. They did not want to place the blame on themselves for their slave running away because of poor treatment, but instead they made it sound like they would take care of them if they came home. I noticed that the slave owners valued the slaves for the work that they did because they had a high cash reward for their return. Back in these times, twenty-five to fifty dollars, and sometimes even one hundred dollars, was a lot of money, especially for someone who the masters regularly whipped and did not have any respect for. Since there are so many primary sources to show the harsh reality of slavery for people to see in modern times, it is something that we should learn from.
This powerpoint on runaway slaves showed the reader a more in depth look at not just the view of the slave, but how the slave owners and hunters handled the situation. The powerpoint showed a few slides of wanted and missing posters, there descriptions were each pretty similar. All the slaves were called dark skinned and were around five foot five to five foot nine. It would have been very difficult for a slave hunter to be able to first of all find the slave and then pick which description the slave matches the best. There must have been at least twenty with similar descriptions and they could easily bring the slave to the wrong owner. The powerpoint also showed how the whites were afraid of runaway slaves because they sometimes go out and be captured and told never to talk about what they saw so that the slaves would be able to keep going without being caught. When slave hunters went out looking for the slaves it wasn’t an easy job for them either. Some of the slaves were intelligent and knew how to fight back like the one in the second slide. He kicked the hunter down and when his dog came after him the slave had a dog of his own that could fight back or at the least buy the slave some time. The slaves that ended up running for the most place where the smart ones who knew more than just farm work, they were the ones who knew there was more out there in the world than a abusive plantation to stay prisoner on. These slaves were also usually the ones that ended up getting away because they had a plan and didn’t just end up taking a run at it or winging it. They knew they only had one shot and took it well.
The powerpoint on the runaway slaves was very interesting, it had a very in depth response and description to what was going on with runaway slaves at this time. I was very surprised that the articles had views from opposing parts; it had the view of the slaves, the owners who were missing their slaves, and the people who were hunting the runaways down. I also found it interesting how the owners and hunters looked for the runaways; they did not use any description at all. It made me question if they really knew which slave they were looking for, they posted missing posters but none were descriptive. I noticed that the slaves had a high value, and it made me wonder why the cash reward was so great for the slaves that ran away. I liked how this powerpoint added how the slaves were being treated in the beginning and showed why they would want to run away. The suffered through such harsh conditions that even a shot of being free was enough to risk their lives. It was very helpful and gave me an insight of how risky it was to run away, it also showed how important the people of the Underground Railroad were to the success of many slaves. I think one of the main purposes of this information was to really get at why the slaves would want to leave. It really went into depth on how the slaves were treated as objects and property, nothing more. They were beaten, housed in places that were awful, and forced to do labor for someone who was superior to them always. This article shows why the slaves would want to go and get out. I liked reading this because it gave me a better idea of what was happening and just how brutal the white slave owners were, it was very informative.
This Runaway Slaves power point really gave me a more in-depth look on the type of lives these African American slaves were living. Along with the description of the everyday life of a slave, I gained information on how it connected to the slave owners and the slave escapee hunters. This power point was so descriptive, that it gave a point of view from each of the three types of people. These slaves were treated with no respect when they were working on slave owner's farms. These slaves when purchased were bought as if they were an item, and they usually went for very cheap since there was so many of them. When slaves did escape, their owners who spent very little on purchasing them, used the extra money not spent to hire hunters to track down and retrieve those slaves who escaped. If the slave owners did not hire someone to find the run away slaves, they would put out a cash reward for anyone who could find them and bring them back. The whole situation for the African American slave was in a horrible position. The owners were curious as to why the slaves would run away from a situation where they had somewhere to live and eat, rather than go through the trouble of running away and avoiding all the obstacles that went along with it. But these slaves were so desperate for just a little taste of freedom, that most of them would do almost anything to get there. Even if that meant running into the risk of getting caught and eventually getting severely punished. It was a risk most African American slave were willing to take.
My first reaction to the powerpoint about the runaway slaves is one of desperation. I sense that when these certain articles were written the writers of said articles were in a little bit of panic about losing their ‘property’. The owners wanted to have their workforce back so they could get things done on their property. The owners of the slaves depended on them to do most of the work around there house and the owners probably couldn’t do much without them. The owners needed their slaves back to continue on working. The owners were so desperate that they would offer $50 dollars, which is a lot of money at this time, or the finding of the runaway slaves. Not only were the owners desperate to get their slaves back, the slaves were desperate to keep on going to find freedom. As the powerpoint said, some slaves ran away in shackles and in chains. Some of the slaves were even smart enough to steal a shotgun. One of the slaves also had a dog with him to protect him. The runaway slaves had all they could get to runaway and become free. The slaves didn’t have time for the perfect opportunity. They didn’t care if they were in chains when they ran away, as long as they could get away from slavery. The powerpoint also says that some of the runaway slaves had the ability to read and write. I think that is interesting that almost all of the educated slaves ran away. This proves Mr. Auld’s theory in Frederick Douglass’ narrative that if you educate a slave it will increase their want to run away. I think that this is the case because the educated slaves could learn about freedom and they could also start in a better position when they become free rather than starting a bad position when they become free because they cannot read.
After looking at the powerpoint that was shown about runaway slaves, it is pretty shocking to say the least on how badly the slave owners wanted to get the slaves back and what methods that the owners went through to achieve their terrible goal. The powerpoint as a whole was an excellent source with many different primary sources, all of which are all quite interesting and informative. I thought that the most interesting out of all the primary sources were the newspaper articles, and it wasn’t even close to for any of the other articles to compare with how interesting they were. The other writings were not really all that different from a standard book that one could read about slavery while the newspaper articles were just really odd. Those articles were basically just people offering money so others can find the owners basically “property”. The way that the slaves were treated, like property, was something that I found to be one of the worst things in the articles. It showed how the owners pretty much didn’t care in the slightest and only wanted the slaves to do the work. That explains quite simply why the slaves wanted to run away so bad. The owners showed absolutely no remorse for their slaves and the pain and misery that they went through and wanted to keep their slaves so bad that they would offer up large sums of money as a reward for their slaves to be brought back to them. All in all, the powerpoint that I had looked at was something that I found to be very interesting. It showed how the slaves had great intuition while running away from their owners and also how badly they wanted freedom, by showing the lengths and struggles they went through. It also gave an owner's point of view with showing how they felt when a slave ran away.
The runaway slaves power point was very help in understanding what slaves went through. What makes it so help is that the narratives were written by former slaves. They are true accounts that were witnessed or experienced first hand. Reading about what would happen to the slaves if they got caught was very unsettling. Runaway slaves being shot at and chased by dogs, and if you ended up being caught it was almost certain death or at least very close to it. The newspaper article were very interesting. In the articles, slave almost seem as if they are not even human, they are more like an object or possession to slave owners. Slaves were very important to owners because they needed a full work force. Some slaves were more valuable than others depending on their skill. A slaveholder would be more likely to give up more money in order to get back his slave. In the very first slide on the power point the slave is describing how scared he was when running away. The slave also says that another runaway slave got caught and killed after he killed his owners wife. It was a very dangerous decision, to try and escape from a plantation and get to free territory. One thing that I did learn from this power point was that some slaves in the more southern parts of south states escaped to Mexico. I never thought that slave would escape to Mexico. I have always thought they stayed in America. Overall this power point shows that it was a very rough life as a slave. You were never safe and at any moment you life could be on the line. If you were a slave that tried to escaped but was not able to, there was a good chance you going to die. If you succeeded in escaping you could enjoy freedom.
The powerpoint of old newspaper articles regarding runaway slaves was extremely intriguing and quite surprising. It is interesting to look back and see how society is different from now but it is troubling to see how poorly the slaves were treated. These documents surprised me because of how concerned slaveholders were for their slaves but the slaves were viewed as valuable property and slave owners would lose money if they didn’t have slaves to do their jobs. Some of the slave owners were even willing to pay other slaves for helping capture a runaway slave. I was also surprised when I read that there was a season for selling slaves. I have never heard of a slave selling season before. Within these documents I can tell that slaves were treated as property. An example of this would be how slaves would be bought in large groups and sold off. It is apparent within these excerpts that whites truly believed the slaves would just be happier if they listened and did their work. Another example of how slaves were treated as property is how people would have jobs catching and hunting runaway slaves. People spoken of in the articles also had dogs trained to find slaves that they would rent out. A third example from the articles that shows me that slaves were treated like property is that people finding or catching runaway slaves would put an ad in the newspaper like the slave was a lost dog or cat that had been found. From these articles I learned that slaves would often run away to Mexico. Every time I've read about runaway slaves I've assumed that the slaves ran away to the northern states.
I thought that the first slide that was from the Texas library was cool because it showed an account of a slave talking about the runaway slaves and it shows the grammar he used. I am still a little confused about the article on women and “The Yellow Wallpaper”. That just did not seem to fit into anything that we have been talking about really, but it was kind of interesting I guess. Also the biography on Willa Cather seemed a little out of place. Maybe that is just because I just finished my Frederick Douglass quotes so i still have slavery on the mind. However, it was cool to read about her life and see how important she was in the literary world as well as get an excerpt from one of her pieces. Overall I’m a little confused with this slideshow and how it relates to anything we have talked about. It started with an excerpt from something that was written about slaves and how it talks about famous writers so honestly I do not fully understand what the overall main idea of this is. But the criticism written by Eudora Wheatley was actually very interesting and was cool to show her thoughts on her own story. Overall, I’m very confused with this slideshow thing, but I really liked the recount at the beginning that was actually written by a slave back in the day. It shows the authenticity of it and how educated they were. Instead of “the” they used “da”. Oh wait, I just figured out you can scroll down on this. Turns out there are a lot of accounts from old slaves which is very, interesting and it is cool to see how they are in picture form which makes it show the realness of it.
In the powerpoint titled “Runaway Slaves”, there are many copies of old articles, search advertisements, selling advertisements, and primary sources of runaway slaves. These old articles, search advertisements, selling advertisements and primary sources are about the story of a runaway slaves, the search for runaway slaves, the advertisements of slaves that are for sale, and what different people believed about how slaves should be treated (there is nothing that comes out and says “slaves should be beaten frequently because they aren’t even humans”, but one can infer that by the strong urge to sell and capture slaves, that they were typically harshly treated on plantations by their owner if they attempted to escape or if the did escape and were caught). From the second excerpt called A Journey through Texas, written by Frederick Law Olmsted, it is described how a slave escaped from the slave masters point of view. The slave mater shoots at the escaping slave three times and has his dog chase the slave through the woods. These actions by the slave owner eventually cause the slave to lose his jacket, boots, and gun (all items of high value to a man on the run). This piece shows how eager the slave owner was to not have this slave escape, and it also shows that the slave was highly willing to suffer through what it took to become a free man. If any normal person now in this day and age were put in a situation like this, I believe that there would be a lower chance of that person escaping. I believe this because we (in this society) do not have as strong of an urge to live and be free, mostly due to the fact that freedom is handed to us, and we do not realize what it is like to live in such harsh conditions.
The power point on runaway slaves delivered to me very insightful and interesting information on the lives of slaves and the lifestyle of slavery. This presentation consisted of articles, advertisements, and other slave related literature of the times which show very important literary clues into the lives of people during the times of slavery in the United States. This material included a lot of primary information on the lives of slaves and how they lived as well as many sources relating to the slave holders themselves and slave hunters which i have not read much about in the past. There were shown old newspaper articles of the time which startles me to see the differences between life them=n and life in the present day. This material does an excellent job at informing and provoking interest in the subject of slavery in the united states, raising many questions in my mind as well as answering those which had left my mind unanswered many times in the past.
The PowerPoint on runaway slaves was very insightful into the common way of thinking in that time period as well as a description of a story about a slave escaping from the former slave’s perspective. I found the personal slave narrative to be informative because it described the conditions that slaves lived in and the way that escaped slaves were dealt with. I was surprised after reading the second narrative from the perspective of the slave hunter because of the barbaric and uncaring attitude towards the runaway slave’s well being. The hunters would rather have the slave be shot than run away to free land. When the narrator described the incident, which triggered the chain of events leading up to the present, he said that after his vacation was up, he became unruly for not wanting to return to the bondage of slavery. I was taken back, yet not surprised to the ignorance of the slaveholders to the quiet plight of the slaves whom they tortured and worked long hours. At times when slaves would rest, especially out in a field, they faced harsh lashing by their Masters, even without having done anything but be an example. The slave owner’s view of African Americans in the PowerPoint is that slaves enjoy being put to work, just like simple work animals. This viewpoint on slaves is reinforced with the postings to find escaped slaves, written in a similar fashion as a report to look for a lost pet. The views that were held by slave owners in the time period are dehumanizing to slaves by treating the sale and capture of slaves as a simple business transaction. I was surprised that the tone that some of the articles were written in was of indifference to the slave being captured or shot. The presentation depicted a very cruel world that was created by the institution of slavery.
ReplyDeleteThe runaway slave PowerPoint gave many materials of slaves that have gone missing and or ran away from newspaper articles and flyers. When the articles were published, they even put a cash reward for whoever found their slave, which tells us that slaves were seen as property, not human beings. As I looked at all the newspaper articles, they all have something in common, and that is the symbol of a dark printed figure, supposedly a slave, carrying a knapsack over their shoulder. All of the articles give a description of the African American slave and their name they call themselves. I respect that their slave owner is concerned for their slave that ran away, but that fact that they put a price on human being’s is disgusting. I understand that during this time period, slaves were white folk’s property, but I don’t like the way they were treated by their masters. The slaves that ran away most likely had a crucial reasoning as to why they fled their master’s land, yet society looked passed enslaved African American’s well-being. To me, the article postings were inhumane because of the way they perceived African American’s to be to the white society. The one article that negatively stood out was the “Negroes for Sale” article. The newspaper makes it seem like they’re selling cattle, but truly are selling human beings. The African American’s are basically being auctioned off, which is horrifying to think about because they are made of matter and contain a soul, just like every other human being. There are classified against by the pigment of their skin and are used for their physique on how their body is built because they can withstand long periods of hard work and torture. Overall the PowerPoint instituted a negative tone towards African American’s and conveyed a world that was on the brink of exploitation.
ReplyDeleteThe PowerPoint on runaway slaves gave insight to how different types of people thought about slaves and runaways. The first source was a slave narrative which helped me realize how people thought during the time period when the only hope of freedom slaves had was to run away from their owners. People were scared because they thought that the runaway slaves were dangerous and would cause pain and suffering, but they were really the ones that were suffering and in pain. The flyer that showed that people had slaves to sell really showed the culture and beliefs of the time. White people would attain slaves from African countries and would proceed to sell them in America to potential slave owners. It is horrible to think that people back then truly thought that they were auctioning off something that had the likes of cattle. The fact that it was really human beings with a soul that were being auctioned off makes me sick. The other documents, which were flyers from slave owners rewarding people in capturing their runaway slaves, showed that white Americans honestly thought that African slaves were property, not people. That mindframe is what makes most Americans nowadays sick to their stomachs when they think about the horrors of slavery. The slave owners appear to be concerned with the safety and well being of their slaves, but they are only concerned with the loss of property and income. It is so unfortunate that the slaves had to run away in order to even think they had a chance of freedom. The PowerPoint showed how corrupt and dysfunctional American society was before the Civil War. It is sickening to think that some people truly thought that owning slaves was a practice that was morally and legally okay, when it never should have been.
ReplyDeleteMy reactions to this PowerPoint about runaway slaves was that many slaves attempted to run away and that there was even rewards for finding them. This concept shows that the slave owners would do anything to have their slaves be found. Some slaves went to jail when they were found or were put up for sale. This is very cruel treatment and showed that the slaves didn’t care about their punishment of running away because they wanted to get away from they way they were being treating with their owners. I also saw that the slaves were very short and skinny. This makes sense because they didn’t have a lot of nutrition to help them grow. The slaves were not treated very well and the power point did a good job explaining them. The runaway slaves had signs made for their disappearance which showed that owners really wanted to find slaves like lost pets. Also in this PowerPoint, it showed that people were selling slaves like food. This is wrong because they should not be treated like an item, but a human person. Also this information revealed that slave owners thought of their slaves as property instead of a person. This is unfair and cruel because they did not even give respect to them as a human. People in modern day give rewards for finding a lost dog of a lost person but when they are found they are given to their loved ones. The slaves had to be brought back to their owners and back to being treated unfairly. The posters for a lost slave gave information about their physical appearances to increase the chance of finding their slave. Since so many slaves ran away, it seems that they did not care if they were caught and put to jail because they didn't want to stay with their owners. My reactions to this PowerPoint is that it put into perspective how many slaves tried to runaway from their enslaved lives.
ReplyDeleteThese documents show how relentless slaveholders were to return their runaway slaves. The large sums they would reward to those that found them displays the importance that slaves played in society. If a slavemaster’s slaves left he had no way to make money. The whole economy of the south depended on slave labor. Therefore slave masters would do anything to have their slaves back. the slaveholders created signs with detailed descriptions of the slaves and offering huge sums of money. these money rewards may not seem like much to us, but they were worth a whole lot more back then. As displayed in The Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass slaveholders took many precautions to prevent slaves from escaping and were always suspicious that slaves may be planning on escaping. Mr. Covey shows this as he was always sneaking around and watching his slaves, making sure they work and they don’t try to escape. Douglass’ masters in boston were also suspicious that he would use his money he earned at the shipyard to try and escape. All slaveholders knew that slaves hated their position and would do anything to get out of it, therefore they were always ready for a slave to try and escape. These signs and posters show that blacks were just treated as objects, not real people. On the first poster it says “Negroes for sale”, treating them as objects rather than people. This is disgusting and shows that whites in the south had no respect for blacks and didn’t even view them as people. They thought of them as animals and had no respect for them. it can’t believe that such a small difference as skin color was enough to label blacks as animals. It is cruel that whites would take advantage of them like this and use them as slaves.
ReplyDeleteThis source on runaway slaves is very descriptive and gives a lot of information about the runaway slaves and what was happening during the slaves life as the were escaping or experiencing someone escape as another slave or the slave owner. There were money awards that the slave owners would put in to the newspaper saying that there was a fifty dollar reward to whoever found his slave and brought him back. Some owners did not understand why slaves wanted to run away because they go through more trouble running away rather than just staying and being at peace. The slaves had a different view because they felt more free once the escaped instead of just staying as a slave and being locked up and have no freedom. There was a writing by another slave that has witnessed a slave run away and he saw how they did it so he got the idea of running away in his mind and began to prepare to run away from slavery to be free. I could tell that he was a slave because of his speaking and he did not speak correctly or write correctly if he wrote the short story about himself eventually running away and describing what it was like. I really liked this source about runaway slaves because it gave me an insight of how slavery was when people were escaping in the views of the slave, another bystanding slave, or the slave owner. Slave owners that figured out that one of their slaves has escaped were desperate to find them again, and the put out incentives in the newspapers for the community people to find the slave and bring them back to the slave plantation. A common reward was money, mostly fifty dollars to one hundred if the slave was special to the owner. Overall this source was great on giving me an understanding on runaway slaves.
ReplyDeleteThe runaway slave powerpoint gave me an insight on what type of living conditions and treatment African Americans were given. They were not treated with respect, and in this powerpoint it showed how they were sold and also how their owners paid people off just to find them. It was horrifying to see the way people were bought and sold. This showed that white people had no respect towards African Americans, and it was all because they thought that slaves were their property. On these flyers and posters of the runaway slaves, the owners would describe the slave’s stature and his/her name they go by. It was like they were looking for a lost puppy dog, which is something that the owners would probably be more caring towards if it were missing. They did not have respect for any African Americans. They did not only treat them like property, but they treated them like animals who did not belong anywhere. Also, on every single poster, they showed a small man with a knapsack over their shoulder, representing a slave. They dehumanized African Americans by first, making them run away by beating them and treating them unfairly, and second, buying and selling them like they were some kind of item you buy at the store. I realize that their slave owners just want to know where they are, but it is not for the good of the slave, it is for the good of their owners plantation. This makes me wonder why slavery was ever legal? The buying and selling of humans was never put into our constitution and the fact that it was happening during this time. This powerpoint showed that African Americans were only running for the freedom they deserved. The idea that people were rewarded for finding a human being just like them, made me realize how awfully African Americans were treated during this time. This powerpoint showed readers the negative way white folk's look at African Americans. It seemed to be their only way to be okay with themselves by dehumanizing the African American race.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised, while reading these old articles, at how well they describe the situation of slavery. They showed that the slaves were valued because of the work that they do at the farms or houses of their masters because they wanted to get the slaves back as soon as possible. The owners published notices that their slaves had run away so that they could get the word out that they had lost their property. Some of these articles even offered a reward for their capture and return. I think that the only reason the masters were so concerned with losing a slave was because they would be losing money and would have to find someone else to do the work, which might cost them. I thought that it was peculiar that the slaves were so short in the descriptions of what they looked like. This could be because of their lack of nutrition while growing up as a slave, so they never grew very tall. I noticed that the people who wrote the articles notifying people of their missing slave tried to make the slave sound at fault for running away. They did not want to place the blame on themselves for their slave running away because of poor treatment, but instead they made it sound like they would take care of them if they came home. I noticed that the slave owners valued the slaves for the work that they did because they had a high cash reward for their return. Back in these times, twenty-five to fifty dollars, and sometimes even one hundred dollars, was a lot of money, especially for someone who the masters regularly whipped and did not have any respect for. Since there are so many primary sources to show the harsh reality of slavery for people to see in modern times, it is something that we should learn from.
ReplyDeleteThis powerpoint on runaway slaves showed the reader a more in depth look at not just the view of the slave, but how the slave owners and hunters handled the situation. The powerpoint showed a few slides of wanted and missing posters, there descriptions were each pretty similar. All the slaves were called dark skinned and were around five foot five to five foot nine. It would have been very difficult for a slave hunter to be able to first of all find the slave and then pick which description the slave matches the best. There must have been at least twenty with similar descriptions and they could easily bring the slave to the wrong owner. The powerpoint also showed how the whites were afraid of runaway slaves because they sometimes go out and be captured and told never to talk about what they saw so that the slaves would be able to keep going without being caught. When slave hunters went out looking for the slaves it wasn’t an easy job for them either. Some of the slaves were intelligent and knew how to fight back like the one in the second slide. He kicked the hunter down and when his dog came after him the slave had a dog of his own that could fight back or at the least buy the slave some time. The slaves that ended up running for the most place where the smart ones who knew more than just farm work, they were the ones who knew there was more out there in the world than a abusive plantation to stay prisoner on. These slaves were also usually the ones that ended up getting away because they had a plan and didn’t just end up taking a run at it or winging it. They knew they only had one shot and took it well.
ReplyDeleteThe powerpoint on the runaway slaves was very interesting, it had a very in depth response and description to what was going on with runaway slaves at this time. I was very surprised that the articles had views from opposing parts; it had the view of the slaves, the owners who were missing their slaves, and the people who were hunting the runaways down. I also found it interesting how the owners and hunters looked for the runaways; they did not use any description at all. It made me question if they really knew which slave they were looking for, they posted missing posters but none were descriptive. I noticed that the slaves had a high value, and it made me wonder why the cash reward was so great for the slaves that ran away. I liked how this powerpoint added how the slaves were being treated in the beginning and showed why they would want to run away. The suffered through such harsh conditions that even a shot of being free was enough to risk their lives. It was very helpful and gave me an insight of how risky it was to run away, it also showed how important the people of the Underground Railroad were to the success of many slaves. I think one of the main purposes of this information was to really get at why the slaves would want to leave. It really went into depth on how the slaves were treated as objects and property, nothing more. They were beaten, housed in places that were awful, and forced to do labor for someone who was superior to them always. This article shows why the slaves would want to go and get out. I liked reading this because it gave me a better idea of what was happening and just how brutal the white slave owners were, it was very informative.
ReplyDeleteThis Runaway Slaves power point really gave me a more in-depth look on the type of lives these African American slaves were living. Along with the description of the everyday life of a slave, I gained information on how it connected to the slave owners and the slave escapee hunters. This power point was so descriptive, that it gave a point of view from each of the three types of people. These slaves were treated with no respect when they were working on slave owner's farms. These slaves when purchased were bought as if they were an item, and they usually went for very cheap since there was so many of them. When slaves did escape, their owners who spent very little on purchasing them, used the extra money not spent to hire hunters to track down and retrieve those slaves who escaped. If the slave owners did not hire someone to find the run away slaves, they would put out a cash reward for anyone who could find them and bring them back. The whole situation for the African American slave was in a horrible position. The owners were curious as to why the slaves would run away from a situation where they had somewhere to live and eat, rather than go through the trouble of running away and avoiding all the obstacles that went along with it. But these slaves were so desperate for just a little taste of freedom, that most of them would do almost anything to get there. Even if that meant running into the risk of getting caught and eventually getting severely punished. It was a risk most African American slave were willing to take.
ReplyDeleteMy first reaction to the powerpoint about the runaway slaves is one of desperation. I sense that when these certain articles were written the writers of said articles were in a little bit of panic about losing their ‘property’. The owners wanted to have their workforce back so they could get things done on their property. The owners of the slaves depended on them to do most of the work around there house and the owners probably couldn’t do much without them. The owners needed their slaves back to continue on working. The owners were so desperate that they would offer $50 dollars, which is a lot of money at this time, or the finding of the runaway slaves. Not only were the owners desperate to get their slaves back, the slaves were desperate to keep on going to find freedom. As the powerpoint said, some slaves ran away in shackles and in chains. Some of the slaves were even smart enough to steal a shotgun. One of the slaves also had a dog with him to protect him. The runaway slaves had all they could get to runaway and become free. The slaves didn’t have time for the perfect opportunity. They didn’t care if they were in chains when they ran away, as long as they could get away from slavery. The powerpoint also says that some of the runaway slaves had the ability to read and write. I think that is interesting that almost all of the educated slaves ran away. This proves Mr. Auld’s theory in Frederick Douglass’ narrative that if you educate a slave it will increase their want to run away. I think that this is the case because the educated slaves could learn about freedom and they could also start in a better position when they become free rather than starting a bad position when they become free because they cannot read.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at the powerpoint that was shown about runaway slaves, it is pretty shocking to say the least on how badly the slave owners wanted to get the slaves back and what methods that the owners went through to achieve their terrible goal. The powerpoint as a whole was an excellent source with many different primary sources, all of which are all quite interesting and informative. I thought that the most interesting out of all the primary sources were the newspaper articles, and it wasn’t even close to for any of the other articles to compare with how interesting they were. The other writings were not really all that different from a standard book that one could read about slavery while the newspaper articles were just really odd. Those articles were basically just people offering money so others can find the owners basically “property”. The way that the slaves were treated, like property, was something that I found to be one of the worst things in the articles. It showed how the owners pretty much didn’t care in the slightest and only wanted the slaves to do the work. That explains quite simply why the slaves wanted to run away so bad. The owners showed absolutely no remorse for their slaves and the pain and misery that they went through and wanted to keep their slaves so bad that they would offer up large sums of money as a reward for their slaves to be brought back to them. All in all, the powerpoint that I had looked at was something that I found to be very interesting. It showed how the slaves had great intuition while running away from their owners and also how badly they wanted freedom, by showing the lengths and struggles they went through. It also gave an owner's point of view with showing how they felt when a slave ran away.
ReplyDeleteThe runaway slaves power point was very help in understanding what slaves went through. What makes it so help is that the narratives were written by former slaves. They are true accounts that were witnessed or experienced first hand. Reading about what would happen to the slaves if they got caught was very unsettling. Runaway slaves being shot at and chased by dogs, and if you ended up being caught it was almost certain death or at least very close to it. The newspaper article were very interesting. In the articles, slave almost seem as if they are not even human, they are more like an object or possession to slave owners. Slaves were very important to owners because they needed a full work force. Some slaves were more valuable than others depending on their skill. A slaveholder would be more likely to give up more money in order to get back his slave. In the very first slide on the power point the slave is describing how scared he was when running away. The slave also says that another runaway slave got caught and killed after he killed his owners wife. It was a very dangerous decision, to try and escape from a plantation and get to free territory. One thing that I did learn from this power point was that some slaves in the more southern parts of south states escaped to Mexico. I never thought that slave would escape to Mexico. I have always thought they stayed in America. Overall this power point shows that it was a very rough life as a slave. You were never safe and at any moment you life could be on the line. If you were a slave that tried to escaped but was not able to, there was a good chance you going to die. If you succeeded in escaping you could enjoy freedom.
ReplyDeleteThe powerpoint of old newspaper articles regarding runaway slaves was extremely intriguing and quite surprising. It is interesting to look back and see how society is different from now but it is troubling to see how poorly the slaves were treated. These documents surprised me because of how concerned slaveholders were for their slaves but the slaves were viewed as valuable property and slave owners would lose money if they didn’t have slaves to do their jobs. Some of the slave owners were even willing to pay other slaves for helping capture a runaway slave. I was also surprised when I read that there was a season for selling slaves. I have never heard of a slave selling season before. Within these documents I can tell that slaves were treated as property. An example of this would be how slaves would be bought in large groups and sold off.
ReplyDeleteIt is apparent within these excerpts that whites truly believed the slaves would just be happier if they listened and did their work. Another example of how slaves were treated as property is how people would have jobs catching and hunting runaway slaves. People spoken of in the articles also had dogs trained to find slaves that they would rent out. A third example from the articles that shows me that slaves were treated like property is that people finding or catching runaway slaves would put an ad in the newspaper like the slave was a lost dog or cat that had been found. From these articles I learned that slaves would often run away to Mexico. Every time I've read about runaway slaves I've assumed that the slaves ran away to the northern states.
I thought that the first slide that was from the Texas library was cool because it showed an account of a slave talking about the runaway slaves and it shows the grammar he used. I am still a little confused about the article on women and “The Yellow Wallpaper”. That just did not seem to fit into anything that we have been talking about really, but it was kind of interesting I guess. Also the biography on Willa Cather seemed a little out of place. Maybe that is just because I just finished my Frederick Douglass quotes so i still have slavery on the mind. However, it was cool to read about her life and see how important she was in the literary world as well as get an excerpt from one of her pieces. Overall I’m a little confused with this slideshow and how it relates to anything we have talked about. It started with an excerpt from something that was written about slaves and how it talks about famous writers so honestly I do not fully understand what the overall main idea of this is. But the criticism written by Eudora Wheatley was actually very interesting and was cool to show her thoughts on her own story. Overall, I’m very confused with this slideshow thing, but I really liked the recount at the beginning that was actually written by a slave back in the day. It shows the authenticity of it and how educated they were. Instead of “the” they used “da”. Oh wait, I just figured out you can scroll down on this. Turns out there are a lot of accounts from old slaves which is very, interesting and it is cool to see how they are in picture form which makes it show the realness of it.
ReplyDeleteIn the powerpoint titled “Runaway Slaves”, there are many copies of old articles, search advertisements, selling advertisements, and primary sources of runaway slaves. These old articles, search advertisements, selling advertisements and primary sources are about the story of a runaway slaves, the search for runaway slaves, the advertisements of slaves that are for sale, and what different people believed about how slaves should be treated (there is nothing that comes out and says “slaves should be beaten frequently because they aren’t even humans”, but one can infer that by the strong urge to sell and capture slaves, that they were typically harshly treated on plantations by their owner if they attempted to escape or if the did escape and were caught). From the second excerpt called A Journey through Texas, written by Frederick Law Olmsted, it is described how a slave escaped from the slave masters point of view. The slave mater shoots at the escaping slave three times and has his dog chase the slave through the woods. These actions by the slave owner eventually cause the slave to lose his jacket, boots, and gun (all items of high value to a man on the run). This piece shows how eager the slave owner was to not have this slave escape, and it also shows that the slave was highly willing to suffer through what it took to become a free man. If any normal person now in this day and age were put in a situation like this, I believe that there would be a lower chance of that person escaping. I believe this because we (in this society) do not have as strong of an urge to live and be free, mostly due to the fact that freedom is handed to us, and we do not realize what it is like to live in such harsh conditions.
ReplyDeleteThe power point on runaway slaves delivered to me very insightful and interesting information on the lives of slaves and the lifestyle of slavery. This presentation consisted of articles, advertisements, and other slave related literature of the times which show very important literary clues into the lives of people during the times of slavery in the United States. This material included a lot of primary information on the lives of slaves and how they lived as well as many sources relating to the slave holders themselves and slave hunters which i have not read much about in the past. There were shown old newspaper articles of the time which startles me to see the differences between life them=n and life in the present day. This material does an excellent job at informing and provoking interest in the subject of slavery in the united states, raising many questions in my mind as well as answering those which had left my mind unanswered many times in the past.
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