Comparison of the narratives - Assignment Example

Cover letter This paper is an essay comparing two slave stories from different s. The aim of the paper is to compare the experiences that the two slaves had. The two states that are chosen are Texas and Florida. These were among the states that were slave states. The essay will compare the similarities and the differences of the experiences, which the two slaves had. The two people focused on being Charlie Smith of Florida and Aunt Harriet Smith of Texas. The narrative of Charlie Smith took place on 1975 and that of Aunt Harriet Smith took place on 1941.

Comparison of the narratives Many slaves in different states had different experiences in their lifetime. This was because they had different handlers who treated them differently. Some slave owners were human to their slaves while others treated their slaves as animals. In some cases, the treatment of slaves was the same. Slaves did not have a voice or any human rights. Their purpose was to serve and obey. John Henry Faulk recorded the interview of Aunt Harriet Smith in 1941. The interview was about her experience of slavery.

She did not know her age and she belonged to J B, the baby boy. They lived in Hays County. She was born in slavery because her mother and grandmother were both slaves. They all used to plough the farm with an ox cook and clean for their master. On the farms, they used to pick cotton the whole day. Harriet said that during the slavery day they used to gather from house to house for prayers (Henry). Going to church in the morning was only for the white folks. Slaves were never allowed to attend church together with white folks.

They would only go to church in the evenings. She said the white folks she lived with never whipped them and that they were good to them. Her mother would go dancing with the white folks and ride their horses to white folk’s churches. The white preachers told the slaves that they be good to their masters and mistress. No slaves knew how to read and write. She could hear her parents talking about the whipping they used to receive from their masters. They used to grease their backs to take the pain away from the whipping they received (Henry).

Elmer sparks did Charlie Smith’s interview in 1975. The interview concentrated on the experience that he had as a slave. He was born in Africa and was brought to the United States during the slavery era. This is when they sold slaves from African countries to the United States. He was one of the slaves that were bought from Africa while he was still a young boy. When he was being brought from Africa, the white folks in possession of him wanted to throw him overboard into the sea. They wanted him to drown or be swallowed by a whale.

All this time he had been handcuffed. The captain of the boat and one of the sailors saved him from the catastrophe that was to befall him. He was sold to the highest bidder from the south. Slaves from the south were mistreated a lot. He remembers that the north freed slaves and bought the state of Louisiana for them to live in it freely. They governed themselves in this state free from mistreatment from their masters (Henry). He says slave traders who put him on the block to be sold to the white folks tricked him to coming with them from Galina, Africa.

The highest bidder that bought him carried him to his farm plantation. One of the slave traders raised him in Texas. He treated him as he treated his other children. The man that raised him had many cattle’s. He was the only black cowboy in the state. He said he used to go to church with the white peoples' children Looking at the two stories there are many similarities. The first one is that both former slaves were treated in a humane way by their owners. They were raised and treated the same as the white folk children.

However, there are also differences in their stories. Smith enjoyed was born in the United State as a slave. Charlie was born in Africa and then brought to the United States. Her parents and owners raised Smith while Jake whom brought him to the United States raised Charlie. Charlie almost died while he was being brought to the United States. Charlie became a cattle herder while smith took care of the farms and the household chore. Both former slaves used to go to church together with their masters.

For Charlie it was a new experience becoming the only black cowboy at the time. Holding a rifle was not a thing that slaves were allowed to do. He was treated like one of the white kids. This was the same for smith for her status in the family that she was born in was good. At the end, all slaves were freed from slavery and some of them continued to stay with their masters until when they died (Henry). Biography Both Charlie and Harriet do not remember their birthdays. They lived all their lives as slaves under their masters.

They were not mistreated as much as other slaves were. In 1975, Charlie was a free man and recorded an interview of what transpired in his life. Harriet Smith did the same in 1941. The interviews were done to shed light on the life of a slave in the United States. Work Cited Henry, John. Voices from the day of slavery. Web. 1941. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/afcesnbib:@FIELD(DOCID+@lit(afcesn000020))