Slave Packet Responses

The times of a slave were unbelievably unbearable, yet some people still found happiness in such a perilous period of time. The vioces of those people had to be heard, because many want to know how did a people rise up from such a depressing period. Both Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and the Autobiography of Fredrick Douglass are very powerful influences on us as a people. They both are written for those who care or can bear hearing the hardships of a slave as well as the pathos to go with it. The many things mentioned in Ch. 1 and 7 of Slave Girl and Ch. 1 of Fredrick Douglass add an impulse in one's mind. Fredrick's loss of a mother and the inability to see her or even know of her death can pierce any individual's mind, not to mention the witness of the beating of his aunt which was so oppressive to him, "I wish I could commit to paper the feelings with which I beheld it," (Douglass 8). Harriet Jacobs had a similar mental experience with the conflicts of her master and her owner. She was never allowed to marry the free man she loved because she was a slave; he master would not allow it. Imagine how you would feel if you constantly had to see and think about the one you love only to face the reality that you can never be together. Does this not take a toll on your heart? This goes along with the weight of being a slave, which was so unbearable to Harriet that she yelled at her master, a crime possibly punishable by death! Even as cruel as he was he soon felt remorse for her; a slave owner felt remorse for his slave for what he did to her. If it hurt him, then you know it was an unimaginable pain!

These pangs of slaves are also told by whites. Now why would the very culture who enslaves Africans vouge for their suffering? These suffereing are inhumane and wrong to any person. These people are writing to those who favored slavery as well as all who endured it. They told of the wrongs done to black people. Slavery was known as a bad thing and especially bad to those who took advantage of their slaves to show their vulgar side. These people are human beings that were reduced to being worth less than a human. Their families, their lives were torn apart at the hands of slavery. Those who write for them tell those supporters of slavery that it was abominable and the sufferers of slavery that all caucasians do not support it. They are telling their story and defending them, giving them renewed hope, a blessing that is needed and, at least, earned by the slaves.

Those who suffered deserve to have their stories told to the world. They deserve that since their lives were ruined by such a curse. These people endured so much and still came out strong. They tell their stories and they let everyone know that they survived and kept going, and those who didn't deserve to be commended because they were captors of such a time. They are also told that they are not alone. The brothers of the slave owners themselves will help tell the stories, because they need to be told so that all will know the stories of the slaves.