In the article, Slavery Without Submission, Zinn explains why the United States supported slavery. Zinn explains why they supported it and the reason was the profit they made off of it. The cotton industry grew because of slaves and millions of slaves were producing cotton. In the article, Zinn says, “By 1860, it was a million tons. In the same period, 500,000 slaves grew to 4 million.” I found this crazy because it just kept growing and growing and they were making money off their labor.
On page 172 in the article, John Little who was a slave explained how people say slaves are happy because they would laugh and smile. They put on a face to keep out of trouble. Even though they are experiencing very harsh conditions they put on a smile to help others and themselves. He says, “We did it to keep down trouble, and to keep our hearts from being completely broken: that is as true as the gospel!” This really struck me because it really is heartbreaking what they had to go through.
The same idea comes up when you talk about mental health. Just because people are smiling doesn’t mean they’re happy and I think that people have to keep that in mind. Just because people seem happy on the outside, doesn’t mean they’re not going through something whether that be internal or external like slavery. Sometimes smiling is a way to survive and try to be strong.
I also thought that part of the article when Little explains why slaves sometimes still smiled was interesting and striking. It is tragic what slaves went through but amazing to know that a race could still have the sense of community and family through laughing and smiling in such harsh conditions.
I also find it alarming how the amount of slaves that people were making a profit off of were growing exponentially. I like how you bring up the fact that the slaves had to put on a “brave face” just so that they could remain safe.
I also thought that it was shocking that slaves could find happiness in such a horrific situation. The way that religion and music were able to bring people together is amazing, and the fact over 4 million people suffered this brutal oppression is heartbreaking.