Introduction
The institution of slavery arose in order to legalize the practice of using slave labor. It is essential to note that “a slave is a representative of the exploited class, a person who was deprived of any rights and means of production and was fully owned by his slave owner” (Parish 18). Thus, it is important to consider the history of the former slave and provide my impressions.
Discussion
My chosen person is Erra Adams, and now the man can no longer care for himself; therefore, his niece cares about him. From the stories of the man, one can learn more about his slave experience; he explained how his parents came to Master Lawrence Adams. He was the owner of a large plantation where enslaved people worked. Erra Adams indicates that he was the oldest of the children and his task was to plow the land. Moreover, when the slaves were declared free, the man was ten or eleven years old, and he remembers that “the enslaved people still did not stop working for their master” (Black 8). Erra Adams indicates that slaves did not want freedom because their masters cared for them, fed them, and gave them clothes; in general, Master Lawrence Adams treated slaves well. The formerly enslaved person noted that the death of the master was a real grief for him and that the slaves mourned for a long time. Besides, Erra Adams explained that he also worked on the farm when he married. The man enjoyed the land and, after gaining freedom, continued to work on it; he does not regret that he did not get an education.
Conclusion
Therefore, the Erra Adams experience surprised me because I used to think that all slaves were unhappy with their situation. Moreover, I thought that “enslavers insulted and abused enslaved people”, which is why Erra Adams’s experience was new to me (Cohen and Greene 19). Meanwhile, I knew from the course that slavery was created for the benefit of enslavers, but the story convinced me that slaves also benefited.
Works Cited
Black, Maggie. “Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project.” Vol, 14, South Carolina, Part 1, Abrams-Durant. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1936.
Cohen, David W., and Jack P. Greene. Neither Slave Nor Free: The Freedman of African Descent in the Slave Societies of The New World. JHU Press, 2020.
Parish, Peter. Slavery: History and Historians. Routledge, 2018.