Slavery

Slavery

a.     When and how did slavery begin in the southern state?

Ans: Around 1600, Africans began to be shipped to South America as slaves. Slaves did most of the work where they lived. Most of them worked in mines or on plantations, while some became servants. Some people thought that slavery was wrong, while the majority of people thought that slavery was acceptable. Few slaves could marry, have a family, testify in court, or own property legally.  Some slaves were able to make money to free them. People were getting more slaves in the South where large plantations grew cotton and other crops.

b.     Which countries were the slaves brought from?

Ans: The slaves were brought from African countries.

c.      Who traditionally bought and owned the slaves?

Ans:  Enslaved people from some African states were exported to other states in Africa, Europe and Asia prior to the European colonization of the Americas.  The African slave trade provided a large number of slaves to Europeans.

d.     In 1682 the slave code of Virginia received additions. It was enacted that runaways who refused to be arrested might be lawfully killed. Slaves were forbidden to carry arms, offensive or defensive, or to go off the plantations of their masters without a written pass, or to lift a hand against a Christian, even in self-defense. The condition of slavery was imposed upon all servants, whether " Negroes, Moors, mulattoes, or Indians, brought into the colony by sea or land, whether converted to Christianity or not, provided they were not of Christian parentage or country, or, if Turks or Moors, in amity with his Majesty.

e.      How does the notion of slavery relate to the novel?  Does the study of slavery help you understand the novel?

Ans: There are some characters in the novel that are related to the topic ‘slavery’ such as Calpurnia and Tom Robinson. The study does helps me understand the novel better as I have understood the topic on slavery so I can understand the message in the novel better too.