ves did not feel like people for they were treated as animals. They were beaten regularly, and most of the time unjustly accused. Henderson describes how one of his master’s four sons remained at home to be a driver. “He would often come to the field and accuse the slave of having taken so and so. If we denied it, he would whip the grown-up ones to make them own it” (Drew 51). Though the son would often punish them for idleness, under the harsh conditions, idleness is obviously an excusable act. “If any had been idle, the young master would visit him with blows” (51). And perhaps the most cruel and unmanly act that this master’s son committed was his mistreatment of women. Henderson relates that, “I have known him to kick my aunt, an old woman who had raised and nursed him, and I have seen him punish my sisters awfully with hickories from the woods” (52). Perhaps the most blatantly cruel and most obvious element of slavery is the fact that the slave loses his/her freedom. Slavery is the possession of another person as one’s own property, thereby relieving them of their basic liberties and freedoms. This total disrespect for humanity was shown in a variety of ways. The slave had no rights whatsoever. Henderson tells about the situation with the poor white patrols that would pay the slaves for goods they (the slaves) stole, and encourage them to steal whatever they could. Henderson says, “It's all speculation- - all a matter of self- interest, and when the slaves run away, these same traders catch them if they can, to get the reward. If the slave threatens to expose his traffic, he does not care- - for the slave's word is good for nothing- - it would not be taken” (Drew 56). White southerners did not regard slaves as people, and thus did not treat them as such. Former slave Josiah Henson wrote an autobiography in which he explains the lack of rights afforded to slaves. He d...
