Justice for Slaves Was Different Than Justice for Whites

Justice for Slaves was different than justice for Whites

Today if you look at the American seal of Justice today it says "Equal Justice for All". But it was not always like that. There was not any justice 150 years ago for helpless slaves, like Frederick Douglass. But Douglass defied the odds, no matter whom or what tried to hinder him he kept his faith and learned how to read and write. In fact in his novel many people thought that the author was a white man due to his great wide vernacular, his lawyer, a white lawyer at that wrote in the front that Douglass was in fact an African American, and former slave. But justice for slaves and all men of color was different from whites. Masters committed acts like unjustified beatings, violent mobs, and last but not least murder.

The way that masters beat their slaves were unjustified. When the Masters got done beating their slaves, they were barely alive and hardly could work, but they were forced to do so any ways. In Douglass's biography he speaks of how bad his beatings were. In his writings he explains how a master of his named Mr. Severe, whipped a woman, causing the blood to run half an hour at the time; and he took pleasure in seeing her children begging for her release and he just kept lashing and lashing at this woman's poor back (7). He also speaks of how their horrid crimes were never even submitted to judicial investigation (14). While I talk about how slaves were treated, my family in fact owned a slave plantation that in fact was one of the largest slave plantations in the state of Alabama. We have physical documentation and journals that my great great great grandfather kept and spoke of his slaves, as well as how he treated them. In his Journal he explains that beating his slaves was a waste of time (Green Journal 6). He felt that if he beat them they would turn on him because he owned about 540 slaves. Also that if you beat them until they can barely stand how they are going to work affectively. All my grandfather was worried about was productivity of his cotton and tobacco.

Violent mobs were very effective against slaves. Douglass explains in his book of how he was treated and beat to the brink of death by a group of people at the ship yards of Master Butler. "One man held me in the back, and the others on both sides of me, and one came up and struck me in the back of the head with a hand spike" (57) explained Douglass. He also said one of them took their heavy boot and struck me in the eye. He felt as if his eye had burst (57). The men kept repeating "kill him", luckily Douglass was able to escape and run home. In my grandfather's journal he also speaks of a violent mob attacking one of his slaves. He spoke of how they claimed that the black had hit a man for hitting him, so he retaliated on the white man. By the time the slave got back his eyes were swollen shut and his arms were broke (Green Journal