Slaves were legally property or chattel without legal standing. Slaves can wield power through exercising the rights and freedom they get entitled to, though the power has limits. The slaves can yield a lot of power especially when it comes to politics. Slaves formed trade unions, which were extremely vital when it comes to elections. They formed movements which campaigned and pushed for the election of a leader of their choice. These slaves’ trade and work unions had a lot of influence on the political aspects of a place. Majorly they pushed for election of a leader who can fight and address their rights and freedoms. This political power got limited in the sense that some of them got denied the right to vote by their masters. The power also got limited by the fact that their masters were still in charge of the whole election process, and they can change the figures to their favor.
The slaves also had the chance to exercise power of expression where they made this effective through the mass movements. The slaves had the power to give their opinions and suggestions through demonstrations and strikes. They communicated to their masters through their representatives. Most of the slaves exercised the power of speech through songs and posters and demanded their rights. This earned a number of them freedom as some of the slaves got their freedom by talking their way out with their masters. They were able to get their masters attention through the power of speech. However, this power has limits, for example, when the language used was obscene. People were also not supposed to incite others. This was the main reason why the power of speech got limited among the slaves as they used it as an opportunity to incite each other into strikes and strikes. The power of speech is also subject to other limitations such as on slander and libel. This power of expression enabled the slaves to seek and receive information and ideas either orally, print or through writing.
The slaves also wielded power through the freedom of religion. The slaves utilized the church movement to push for their rights and freedoms. They took advantage of the church meetings to form trade unions and plan for strikes. The church had an immense influence on the slaves as they used it as an opportunity to become united and fight for their grievances. The power of religion had a significant influence since the church had many followers hence it attracted the attention slaves were seeking. The slaves took advantage of church gatherings to plan and organize for counter movements against their masters. They planned for strikes and boycotts while in church and this played a crucial role in earning them their freedom. The power of religion gets limited if one uses the opportunity to offend other peoples’ religion. It also gets limited if one uses his religion to despise other religions and cultures. The slaves’ right to religion got limited and even inhibited in most cases as it got used as a platform for resistance against their masters.
Slaves used their social rights to wield power. The slaves used their freedom of conscience and freedom of thought to fight for their grievances. The women had affairs with their masters so that they could gain power and avoid getting enslaved. Some women had sexual affairs with the masters so that they could gain their favors in return. This helped a lot of women as they never got mistreated when they had affairs with their bosses. Some got married to the men, and this gave the women a lot of power and authority. The slaves used their freedom of thought to come up with new ideas and schemes which helped them overcome the enslavers. Harriet Jacob had an affair with the neighbor so that he could protect her in case trouble arose. This was a wise decision as later she got married to him and that is how she came out of the slavery life. This power got limited by the fact that the masters take advantage of the illiterate slaves, and they get the sexual favors from them and they offer nothing in return. The freedom of thought by the slaves got hindered by the harsh rules that got put in place. The slaves never got allowed to think they were supposed to do what they got told.
The slaves used their power of movement to advocate and fight for their rights. They formed groups which moved around informing the illiterate slaves of their freedoms and rights. They moved around planning, organizing for boycotts and strikes. They gained power because with the freedom of movement they were hard to be controlled. It became difficult for the masters to control them fully because they were mobile. This power of movement has limitations like when one trespasses another person’s land without supervision. The masters had also limited this power by putting curfews in place which prevented the movement of slaves.
Example Of Essay On Slave
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Example Of Essay On Slave. Free Essay Examples - WowEssays.com. https://www.wowessays.com/free-samples/example-of-essay-on-slave/. Published Jan 04, 2020. Accessed November 21, 2024.
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