Slavery was a change in American history, its shows depression, lonely ness, and both agency and oppression, the slave had as slaves. Fredrick Douglas shows that in his narrative “Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas” that u can overcome any thing; even it was the lowest point in your life and over come it all. Slavery was a very disguising point in American History; it shows how people of their native land our taking against their will to a land they never heard of.
The slaves were treated like animals and were tricked into being slaves were right and that’s what’s god wanted them to be and that it was right. The slaves suffered from a lot of oppression, but had some agency as slaves, they would have agency when their master or overseer wasn’t around, or in different categories. Fredrick Douglass showed agency and how slaves had agency during hard time, and how they communicate with their songs and how they rebelled against there overseers.
Slaves had agency religion the perfect example is the Sarah Fitzpatrick an 90 year old, who was enslaved in Alabama and was an house servant, Sara Fitzpatrick explain how the slaves have to have a pass to go to church. The White would ask you what churches you want go to and they would give you a pass. If the slaves came with their master they didn’t have to have a pass. The slaves would have their own church in the evening. This shows a sign of agency, because the slaves have their own church after their masters have their own church service. This also shows that the slaves could teach the religion the way they want to teach it. The Also shows another reason of agency is that the slaves have stole from their master.
The document “Lynchburg Negro Dance,” an artist’s view of slavery also shows agency that the slaves have in dancing and music because it tells how the slaves would wait till their master’s leaves or go to sleep to do their dances that they learn from the pasts generations. They would also learn how to play musical instruments of both European origins like the fiddle and African origins like the banjo and the bones, that’s shows agency by that the slaves could play instruments. It shows that the slaves didn’t let the master bring them down and they still had their hopes up. This shows that it happen in the night time.
The leaves from a slave’s journal of life (1842) are Lewis Clark’s journal and it tells agency in his journal. It shows how the slaves be stealing from their master, only if they can find it and act nice to with the masters daughters and wives. It shows that the women slaves would have to please their masters, in order to give the slave more agency on the plantation or as a house servant. But is shows oppression that’s of the slaves didn’t obey their overseers. They will get thirty-nine lashes to the back.
The interview of Charity Bowery shows that all master are not cruel and mean. That if one of the overseers would whip one of the slaves. They would get turn away. The interview shows also that Charity Bowery would make his slaves work but does not whip them for any reason. These shows in the book: The Life and narrative Of Fredrick Douglas. Fredrick Douglas also showed that one of his masters was kind and but he did whip his slaves if they was not doing was they supposed to do.