The US constitution and the Declaration of Independence are among the documents that capture the essence of the United States. A review of these documents indicates that implicitly, they sanctioned slavery are regarded slaves as inferior and undeserving of the liberties granted to the American people. Clause 3 of Section 2 of Article 1 of the Thirteenth Amendment of the original constitution indicated that the slaves had less political authority. Referred to as the Three-Fifths compromise, this clause stipulated that when establishing the population for the purpose of assigning political power, a slave was to be counted as 3/5 th of a white individual (Berry, 1995). Essentially, this stipulation robbed the slaves of their status as complete human beings. The Declaration of Independence made it clear that all men were born equal and had the right to pursue happiness, experience liberty and have their right to life respected. However, this proclamation did not apply explicitly to slaves, indicating that the Declaration of Independence implicitly condoned slavery (Berry, 1995). Clause 1 of section 9 of Article 1 of the constitution that the US originally adopted prohibited Congress against passing any law that would effectively abolish slavery. This means that the original constitution did not acknowledge the equality of the slaves.
Mary Frances Berry is among the scholars who have shed light on race relations. Among the issues that she explored are the different perspectives that the northern and southern delegates held regarding slaves and the use of the national militia. According to Berry, the nature of the debate among the delegates concerned whether slaves could be enlisted in the national militia (Berry, 1995). Those from the south felt that slavery tainted blacks and disqualified them from joining the militia.
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Thurgood Marshall and Leon Higginbotham shared their views on the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Marshall felt that the Constitution failed to recognize the equality of blacks. He blamed such provisions as the Fourteenth Amendment for the hardships that the black community was facing when presenting arguments in Brown v. Board of Education. On the other hand, Higginbotham also agreed that the US Constitution endorsed slavery. He argued that despite its assertions, the Constitution did not explicitly prohibit slavery, exposing blacks to abuse.
Myths and Dispositions about African Captives
There are various myths that have been used to define the dispositions and desires of African captives. One of the myths was that the captives were of an inferior race. Another myth was that the captives were docile and uncivilized. Furthermore, the captives were regarded as obedient, cheerful and strong (Bauer & Bauer, 1942). These myths informed the belief that the captives did not desire freedom and were content with their servitude. In their article, Bauer and Bauer (1942) challenge these myths. They argue that contrary to the belief that they were docile and content, the captives organized revolts to protest their enslavement. Lester (1998) also challenged the myth. The focus of his article is suicidal behavior among the captives. He observed that there were a high number of suicide cases among the captives. These cases indicate that the captives chose death over servitude, contradicting the myth that they were content and docile. In addition to challenging the stereotypes, Bauer and Bauer, and Lester also identify the tools that the captives used to defy slavery. According to Bauer and Bauer, the captive resorted to frequent revolts, and milder forms of resistance such as refusing to comply with commands. Lester identified suicide as the main technique that the captives used to express their displeasure with their conditions.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs is another piece that shows how the captives defied and resisted. There are various sections in the autobiography where Jacobs highlights the defiant spirits of the captives. For example, she describes how as a young girl, she rejected the sexual advances of her master (Jacobs, 1861). There is another scene where she talks about how she entered into a relationship with another white man so as to protect herself from her former master. Jacobs also describes how she fled to the North (Jacobs, 1861). These three instances confirm that the captives desired freedom and were not content with their state of slavery. It can be argued that the information on how the captives resisted and revolted has been difficult to find because of the myths that these individuals were obedient and content. The film Ethnic Notions, sheds further light on the stereotypes of Africans. This film presents Africans as lazy, obedient, fat, and buffoonish. These images were important as they reinforced the perceived inferiority of Africans. Over time, the portrayals of the Africans changed. Thanks to the emergence of racial consciousness and the effort of the Civil Rights movement, the depiction of Africans recognized their dignity and equality.
Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott decision is regarded as one of the worst rulings issued by the Supreme Court. In the ruling, the justices declared that slaves could not attain American citizenship and denied Dred Scott freedom. What made this decision unpopular include the fact that it went against precedent, contravened provisions of the constitution and attempted to solve a political problem using a judicial approach. Before the Supreme Court were a number of issues. These issues included the citizenship status of freed slaves and whether slaves who had resided in free states could be granted freedom. Scott, the defendant, argued that his masters had violated various laws. The main law is that which provided that residing in a free state should secure a slave’s freedom. The Supreme Court disagreed with this law, declaring it unconstitutional. In challenging his master in Missouri State Courts, Scott received support from antislavery lawyers. This support must have imbued him with the confidence and audacity to take on his master. Scott also called for his daughter, Eliza to be granted freedom. To support this demand, he argued that Eliza was born in a free territory and this fact should grant her freedom. By finding that slaves could not become citizens, the Supreme Court essentially condemned them to the lowest end of the legal and social hierarchy. This court found the slaves to be unworthy of citizenship and disregarded laws that guaranteed the slaves freedom. Going into the future, the blacks would acquire such rights as citizenship and voting.
Sexual Violence against African Slaves
Partus sequitur ventrem was a doctrine which formed part of English common law. This doctrine provided that a child inherited the status of the mother. For example, the child of a slave woman would also become a slave. This doctrine was adopted as part of efforts to shield white captors against responsibility for fathering children. The main implication of the introduction of the doctrine is that it condemned slaved women and the children fathered by captors to a life of slavery. Slave girls and women who were raped were unable to pursue cases against male captors because the legal system was built by and for the white captors.
Celia, A Slave by Gordon-Reed and Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl capture the experiences of enslaved women and girls. There are similarities and some differences between the two texts. One of the differences lies in how they were acquired. On the one hand, Jacobs was born into slavery. Since her mother was a slave, she also automatically become a slave as well. On the other hand, Celia was purchased by her master. Jacobs had a positive relationship with her family. She describes how her mother protected her and the extreme lengths she went to secure freedom for her children. On the other hand, Celia had no close family, other than her children, some of whom are believed to have been fathered by her abusive captor. Both Celia and Jacobs resisted their assumed status as sexual slaves. In fact, Celia killed her captor for attempting to rape her. Jacobs entered into a relationship with another man in the hope of being insulated against further abuse by her captor.
The excerpt indeed echoes he experiences of Celia and Jacobs. Their captors followed the procedure stipulated in the excerpt. For example, Celia’s captor used force to persuade her to succumb to his advances. Jacobs’ captors also used violence, threats and force to subdue her. However, the captors were unable to completely render Celia and Jacobs dependent, frightened or defenseless. These women were still able to fight and resist despite the violence and abuse they suffered.
Free Blacks as Threats
Freed blacks were generally regarded as a serious threat to slavery. These blacks were able to acquire property, wield some level of political influence acquired through the wealth they had amassed, and were able to work in such industries as the railroad (Quarles, 1996). Through these three approaches, the freed blacks were able to gain economic empowerment, posing a serious threat to slavery, an institution whose stability relied on the poverty and lack of political power among the blacks. There were a number of avenues through which slaves could become free. These include purchasing their own freedom, fleeing from their masters, completing their indentured servitude, serving in the military and leveraging laws that abolished slavery (Quarles, 1996).
In 1850, the proportion of mixed race individuals within the freed population was greater than that within the slave population. This dynamic can be explained through the power and status that the freed slaves enjoyed. They were able to enter into relationships with whites. These relationships yielded the mixed race individuals. Even while free, former slaves had to contend with various restrictions. The restrictions included having to comply with curfews, they could not use firearms and were unable to testify in court against whites (Quarles, 1996). One would expect that after gaining freedom, former slaves would strive to dismantle slavery. This was not the case as there were some freed slaves who owned slaves themselves. A desire to enhance their economic status is one of the reasons why the freed slaves become slave owners. It is also believed that some of the freed slaves held slaves as part of their efforts to protect them against exploitation by white slave owners.
During the antebellum period, there were numerous cultural ideas concerning the capabilities of free blacks. Among these ideas was the belief that the free blacks possessed the perseverance and courage needed to participate in the militia. Another idea concerned the ability of the free blacks to create wealth and to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits (Quarles, 1996). The nation began to recognize the role that the free blacks could play in driving the economy. Parallels can be drawn between the cultural ideas and the life of Denmark Vessey. Vessey is recognized for the role that he played in leading slave revolts. His life made it clear that contrary to beliefs held in the past, blacks could take charge of their own destiny.
References
Bauer, R. A., & Bauer, A. H. (1942). Day to day resistance to slavery. The Journal of Negro History, 27 (4), 388-419.
Berry, M. F. (1995). Black resistance/White law: a history of constitutional racism in America. Penguin Books
Jacobs, H. A. (1861). Incidents in the life of a slave girl.
Lester, D. (1998). Suicidal behavior in African-American slaves. Journal of Death and Dying, 37 (1), 1-13.
Quarles, B. (1996). Negro in the making of America. Third Edition. Simon and Schuster.
