Fredrick_Douglass

Peter-Blair Mackinnon Nicholson S1A-G English Halifax Grammar School November 3, 2009 (1221 words) The reactions of the recipients of this cruelty are also very similar. Many if not most slaves honestly do believe that their lives are far better living as a slave then that of a free man. They will not fight for their freedom they just do their best to enjoy what they have. This mindset is caused by the previously mentioned tactics for ridding slaves of the hope that life will be better as a free man. These beliefs even go so far as to have slaves proud and even brag about their masters “Indeed it is not uncommon for slaves even to fall out and quarrel among themselves about the relative goodness of their masters” (Douglass 24). The men and women of the Salem witch trials thought in a similar way. Many of them believed that because they were innocent that once in heaven god would judge them truly and honestly. Amazingly ones with this much faith did not fear death they welcomed it as didGiles when “Great stones were lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay… they say he did not give but two words ‘more weight,’ he says” said Elizabeth (Miller 118). Of course there are exceptions to this fact, many many slaves questioned how happy they are and how happy they could be as a free man and in turn escaped from their bondage. Also in the Crucible many characters run away to Barbados in the hopes of eluding their capture and death. In some ways you could compare the rule of the slave owners to the divine rule of God in the terms of how it is viewed by its subjects, but that is a topic for another paper. The mindset of slave owners of the 1840’s was remarkably similar to the judges of the 1962 Salem witch trials in the many ways I have given you above. The victims of these incidents of cruelty and in justice saw their masters or judges in much the same way, as a force with the power to ruin or greatly increase their happiness. They saw the slave owners or judges as gods, someone you could not question and if you tried you would be met with a great degree of severity. The men and women of 1692 Salem and the southern United States of the 1940’s were constantly ill treated to build up the fear of constant supervision and the constant threat of punishment. They were punished in such a way that they believe their lives were for the better living in this life other than a life that went against their masters wishes. Finally their reactions to this cruelty were also the same, with few escaping and many just accepting their fate. It truly was a hopeless situation for the victims of these villains. Works Cited