Writing assignment: 500 words on this topic: “What were Washington’s arguments against the slave system?”
Booker T. Washington had many reasons as to why the slave system was flawed. But the main reason he found it flawed was the immorality of it. Buying and bidding on the slaves was so inhuman and wrong; he hated it. The way that they were treated was extremely barbaric. Being whipped and starved is very harmful for the slaves but also any human. This is just one of the reasons why Washington was against the slave system.
Washington was born into slavery and found it very brutal to see how hard enslaved people worked. Washington witnessed how hard they worked and how they got nothing in return other than beatings. He noticed that enslaved people also had very limited freedom or choice. He realized that they didn’t have the same rights as everyone else but rather had way below what they should have.
A few more things Washington had against the slave system were that families often struggled to get enough food to survive. Another thing he saw quite a bit was that children had to grow up quickly because of what they saw and went through. One more big reason he hated slavery was that it kept them poor and uneducated. He often saw that grown men had very little to no access to education. They were very uneducated and poor because of the slave system.
Throughout reading the book, Washington writes about and explains the faults and problems with the slave system. From the auction itself to the condition of the slaves, the whole system is corrupt, immoral, and faulty. Everything he writes about helps the reader understand the flaws of slavery and the effects that it left on its victims. Washington viewed the slave system as dehumanizing all because they treated people like property instead of humans. The slave system stripped them of their dignity, family, and basic rights.
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