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Thursday, December 21, 2017

Info Post
By Roger Wagner


With the onset of yet another era in what appears a major issue with racial equality, it is more important than ever to understand the past when it comes to this issue. While personal experience remains limited, there are some publications which were written by actual slaves. One of these publications reflects the slavery biography of a Slave which describes the experience of the Reverend Charles Thompson as a child during slavery in the American south.

There are not many biographies written by actual slaves though some personal letters have been discovered and published. Although, there is one biography in which many professors, teachers and scholars agree shows an accurate account of the times. The biography, written by Reverend Charles Thompson describes in detail the experiences the man had has a young boy and young adult in the slave trade. In fact, many compare the book to a front row seat when it comes to learning and viewing the history of the slave trade.

Born into slavery, Charles has a great number of stories to tell. In most cases, the stories refer to experiences the boy had with an owner. The slave master and owner, Mr. Kirkwood owned multiple slaves and plantations. As such, when the owner passed away, the slaves were separated in an attempt to avoid escape and rebellion.

The mother of the author died at the early age of 37. After which, an uncle hid from the slave owners and blood hounds because of fear of being separated from a loving wife. At which time, Charles was hired out to a number of different plantations as a both a young boy and an adult. Eventually, the uncle surrounded after learning that one owner would allow the couple to work on the same plantation.

In order to gain insight into the life of Ben and Charles, there are two films which have purported to show slavery in a true light. These are the mini-series known as Roots by Alex Hailey, and the film Django Unchained. In both cases, there is a great deal of graphic violence as was the case during the time. As such, the films can often be difficult, especially for viewers under the age of 12, though do show some of the most important history related to slavery.

When it comes to this period in history, it is a true and very sad tale of torture, violence, rape, ownership and abuse on a regular basis. In almost all cases, slaves were considered personal property such as that of a house or car which could be bought and sold as desired. In some cases, entire families were sold off to plantation owners and slave masters.

Many young mothers at the time had babies taken from their arms so the mothers could be sold to work on plantations and cotton picking farms. In almost all cases, those mothers never saw the babies again. For, most often, the babies were sold to wives of plantation owners whom either wanted and could not have children, or to work as servants once old enough to do so.

It is sad to think that many individuals living today, Black, White or otherwise may have been the descendants of slaves whom were raped and tortured by slave owners and masters. While this is the case, many are learning of these connections through current DNA testing. In many cases, the individuals and families can handle the news while it can tear others apart.




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