The Lives of Men and Women During The Slavery Era

Hot gasps, calloused hands, and sore backs- every step becomes more excruciating for innocent children with no shoes that attempt to walk to freedom. Peeled away from loved ones by the evil men themselves, filled with heartache and tears in their eyes sent to do work in a field owned by a man they did not know. Men, women, children, and vulnerable elderlies working against their will, courageously fighting to stay alive in these horrific conditions. The most disastrous and horrifying crime against humanity, racism is the root of every enslaved system. For black men and women, slavery was an equally devastating experience. However, gender shaped the work of the slaves. Men occupied most of all the occupations that either they or their owners considered a skill. Men’s lives were significantly different from women’s and vice versa. Such as family, work, clothing, health etc.

“Crack”, a sound that seemed to never go unidentified. The crack of the whip followed by the agonizing shout of a slave in torment. The unforgiving discipline was an enormous portion of slavery. Men and women would get whipped and get lashes on their backs. These lashes scarred the slaves physically, mentally, and emotionally. Men and women alike were physically mishandled by their masters. Not as it were did women endure unforgiving physical abuse, they were moreover sexually manhandled. Numerous of the experts had relations with their female servants. Slaves were not only workers for the slave owners, but outlets for sexual frustration. Women did not only endure sexual abuse by their masters, they too had the duty of bearing children to increase their masters' riches. These women were treated as creatures, being bought for child bearing.

During the vigorous course of slavery, millions of families were disconnected. Slaves were separated from mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, and they were torn from the extensive kinship network. Some men and women produced families while being a slave, the mother would birth the child into a world of slavery. The child would not have a chance and would instantly become the property of the slave owner that the mother and father belonged to. The mother and father of the child had to take care of their family and make sure their family was living to the best of their ability with the little resources they had. The task that men and women perform for their family differs. Normally, the men would handle the more demanding task for their family. Typically, women cook, clean, sew, and wash for their families. While men provide the food that the women prepare and repair the sparse furniture that they possessed.

Clothing makes the man, lady and the slave. Grown-up male and female slaves more often than not dressed in clothing considered gender suitable by white society. Hence, men were given pants, ladies dresses. In the winter, masters for the most part dispersed additional clothing to their slaves. These supplemental things, and others developed by the slaves themselves, were moreover distinctive for men and ladies. For instance, beneath their skirts ladies frequently made and wore pantalets, pant-like things that reached over the knee. Whereas men were given knee-length coats to wear during the colder seasons, ladies received overwhelming wraps, which they wore as shawls.

Slaves were neither physically, mentally, nor emotionally healthy. Physically slaves were denied of nourishment required for their bodies. The diets of enslaved individuals were scarcely satisfactory to meet the demands of their overwhelming workload. Anyone body that is enslaved and forced to do things against their will is not going to be mentally healthy, particularly the women. The women were being utilized as objects for sexual pleasure. There were no shields to ensure them from being sexually stalked, irritated, or assaulted, or to be utilized as long-term concubines by masters and overseers. The women slaves were constrained to keep babies that belonged to their slave owners. The abuse was far reaching, as the men with authority took advantage of their circumstances. Even in the event that a woman appeared agreeable to the situation, in reality she had no choice. Slave men, for their portion, were frequently powerless to secure the women they adored.

As seen from the essay, men and women had a hard time during the slavery era. They were mistreated, beaten, and sexually assaulted. Both genders were stressing the same thing, freedom. All every enslaved person ever wanted was to be free and live their own life without anyone controlling their every move. Even though men and women did have some of the same wishes and issue, gender defined several things within slavery. Their problems varied as their gender came into play.