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Slavery has been a hot discussion topic for years just because of its bad impacts on different aspects of life as compared to the goods it ever did. Slavery benefited only the white collar people of the society and brought lack of identity, lack of socialization, hunger, illiteracy, poverty, and racial prejudice in the coloured population of the society. This part of the population has not only faced physical and mental torture, but has also experienced discrimination in many ways such as economics, health and medicine, technology, comfort, and respect. Unfortunately, there still a group subsist on the surface that support slavery by arguing that slavery is the cause of several benefits to the mankind and society. Slavery could have had good impact on the economy, technology, and on the development of other industries, however, slavery has never showed all positive consequences for a significant part of the society as well as it has introduced the society to brutality, racism, discrimination, injustice, and poverty.

Slaves have benefited the world in many fields like health, medicine, economics, science, technology, and in many other fields but just like animals even worse than animals because in return they just received a counted amount of food, and shelter.

Fredrick Douglass stated that “The men and women slaves received, as their monthly allowance of food, eight pounds of pork, or its equivalent in fish, and one bushel of corn meal. Their yearly clothing consisted of two coarse linen shirts, one pair of linen trousers, like the shirts, one jacket, one pair of trousers for winter, made of coarse Negro cloth, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes; the whole of which could not have cost more than seven dollars. The allowance of the slave children was given to their mothers, or the old women having the responsibility of their look after. The children unable to work in the field were not entitled to shoes, stockings, jackets, and trousers; their clothing consisted of two coarse linen shirts per year. When these failed them, they went naked until the next allowance-day. Children from seven to ten years old, of both sexes, almost naked, might be seen at all seasons of the year” (Douglass, Chapter 2, Para, 3).

Most of the time, slaves had to experience hunger, destitution, harshness of weather, and racial/social prejudice.

Moreover, the benefits were just of a specific community and it is thought that the responsibility of introducing such a brutal and destroying technique of slavery lies on that specific community. Slavery has actually destroyed humanity. Just like animals, slaves have no knowledge about their birth dates, their parents, and the motive of their life. Fredrick Douglass wrote in his book “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves knows as little of their ages as horses know of theirs”. He further stated that “I never saw my mother, to know her as such, my mother and I were separated when I was but an infant—before I knew her as my mother” (Douglass, Chapter 1, Para 1,2).

Slavery is against humanity and ethics because slaves were treated like mounts or riding animals that were meant for work only. In case of doing wrong or any error, slaves were punished brutally because for their masters they were third degree humans who had no right on their own life, and body. Masters were free in treating their slaves brutally and cruelly because no one was able to question them for their actions. Such brutal and cruel actions were not only physically painful and hurting for the victim and for the others but at the same time such actions had great impact over the psychology and mental health of the victims as well as the spectaculars.

Fredrick Douglass narrated the story of his aunt Hester who disobeyed her master. He stated “Before he commenced whipping Aunt Hester, he took her into the kitchen, and stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back, entirely naked. He then told her to cross her hands, calling her at the same time a d——d b—-h. After crossing her hands, he tied them with a strong rope, and led her to a stool under a large hook in the joist, put in for the purpose. He made her get upon the stool, and tied her hands to the hook. She now stood fair for his infernal purpose. Her arms were stretched up at their full length, so that she stood upon the ends of her toes. He then said to her, "Now, you d——d b—-h, I'll learn you how to disobey my orders!" and after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay on the heavy cow skin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor” (Douglass, Chapter 1, Para 9).

Masters were allowed to even murder their slaves because slaves had no identity, no self respect, no legal and moral rights, and no freedom, all the slaves were strangers for each other as it was a custom to separate families at a very early age in order to save them from forming love and affection. There was no resistance to the master from the slaves at the time of punishment because they were not allowed to refute.

Slavery improved economic wealth for the white community mostly not for the entire world. More than 450 million people in African region are poor just because of the injust distribution of wealth and poor treatment of slaves in the past. History is evident that slaves were mostly black people and white people were their masters, therefore, still many black communities are the victims of discrimination in education, workplace, and societies. Still they are struggling hard to make their living because they are highly exposed to racism, hate attacks, and discrimination in all aspects of life.

Slaves were like the property of the masters. Masters had the power to decide their duties, their food, their punishment, and other matters of their lives. Slaves were kept illiterate in order to avoid any sort of future issue that they could raise after getting awareness of their rights. They were breeded like animals to increase their population to strengthen their financial position and to own more slaves. As a result, slaves had no understanding to their rights, they had no emotions and sentiments for their fellow slaves, and the majority of them concluded that their masters were their fathers and the only motive of their life was to serve their master till death.

Slaves were not allowed to disobey their masters or to complaint about his behaviour and treatment, however, masters were empowered to punish or sell their slaves to others if they disobey them or complained about their treatment to anyone. Mr. Douglass shared a story of a master named Colonel Lloyd, who was very rich and had more than 1,000 slaves, even many slaves had never seen him and Colonel Lloyd also did not know all of them.

According to Douglass, “while riding along the road one day, Colonel met a colored man, and addressed him in the usual manner of speaking to colored people on the public highways of the south: "Well, boy, whom do you belong to?" "To Colonel Lloyd," replied the slave. "Well, does the colonel treat you well?" "No, sir," was the ready reply. "What, does he work you too hard?" "Yes, sir." "Well, doesn’t he give you enough to eat?" "Yes, sir, he gives me enough, such as it is." The poor man was then informed by his overseer that, for having found fault with his master, he was now to be sold to a Georgia trader. He was immediately chained and handcuffed; and thus, without a moment's warning, he was snatched away, and forever sundered, from his family and friends, by a hand more unrelenting than death. This is the penalty of telling the truth, of telling the simple truth, in answer to a series of plain questions.”( Douglass, Chapter 3, Para, 5).

The story is telling the truth that what slavery has actually given to the world: the racial prejudice that still exists in the society. Even though, coloured people are no more slaves to whites, but still they are assumed as the most meagre creature on the surface. Just like Douglass, many coloured people consider white men as their enemies and same is the case of whites who remain afraid of blacks. Black people struggled hard and were involved in several fights and law breakings to gain freedom and to get their rights, however, that struggle was perceived negatively by the whites, therefore, they usually stay away from them.

From the above discussion and the narrative of Fredrick Douglass, it is concluded that the economic and social benefits of slavery were very scarce compared to the harms it created in the society. The benefits were limited to that time mostly and for a single community, but its harms do exist even in 21st century and is affecting the entire world. The poverty, racism, racial prejudice, and immorality that are common in the United States and nearby countries are the product of slavery that is hard to demolish.

Work Cited

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass. Boston: THE ANTI-SLAVERY OFFICE, NO. 25 CORNHILL, 1845. Print.