Forms of Control of slaves

12 years a slave touches on many aspects of slavery throughout its course, but none more brutally than the way they were controlled. The film is based on the story of Solomon Northup and portrays his story with gritty realism, especially with regards to the control over the slaves the masters had. There were many methods used by whites to subjugate blacks before the abolition of slavery. The film 12 Years a Slave conveys the horrors of slavery and pays attention to many aspects of it.

The first form of control shown in the film is just after Solomon is kidnapped in Washington DC. When Solomon protests that he is a free man he is brutally beaten down with a piece of wood. This asserts the white kidnappers dominance over Solomon as he starts to break him down into submission.

When on the boat to New Orleans a slave is shown to be wearing an iron bit in his mouth, when it is removed the slaver says “now keep your mouth shut” which implies that the device was used as a punishment for the slave protesting or being too loud. The device, which is pictured below, stops the slave from being able to speak as there is a large piece of metal in their mouth.

Fear was also a large part of the control the masters had over the slaves. This is shown when Solomon suggests that he and two other slaves try and overthrow the crew of the ship they are travelling on but one of the slaves, Clemens, talks him out of it basically saying that there is no hope. The hopelessness that is shown by many slaves throughout the film is also a large factor in how they were controlled. The slaves felt that there was no point in fighting back as they would only make it worse for themselves.

When Eliza, who was separated from her children early on in the film, is shown being dragged away by two men and crying out to Solomon for help, he does nothing. This is because Solomon has started to realise that there is no point in fighting back because he will just be killed. This hopelessness and fear of punishment keeps growing as a slave, and this is a major reason why the slaves just accept their fate in the film. Another part of the film which shows fear is when Solomon is lynched after fighting one of the masters. He is left hanging all day and the other slaves don’t let him down, they just go on with their daily routines, either too scared to let him down or too numbed to the violence which is faced by slaves to see it as something which is horribly brutal and inhumane.

Early on in the film when Solomon is first sold, he is bought by a man named William Ford. Ford was a preacher and plantation owner and seemed to show no incompatibility between being a preacher and a slave owner. Ford reads passages of the bible to the slaves, familiarising them with the Christian faith. There is a scene which portrays Ford as a hypocrite, when he is reading a sermon about children whilst Eliza, who he has separated from her children, cries in the background. Faith helped the slaves in some ways, but was a huge part of how they were controlled which is shown after Solomon is sold to Epps.

In a scene later on in the film Epps is also shown to use religion as a form of control of the slaves. He does this by reading a passage from the bible, Luke 12:47 which says “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.” After he has finished reading the passage he says to the slaves “Now that’s scripture”, implying that the bible says that they should be slaves and whipped when they do not fulfil the needs of him, their master. Epps uses religion to indoctrinate the slaves into believing that God wants them to do their masters will. As most slaves had no education so could not read or write, this form of control through religion could be a very powerful tool for slave owners. Epps also uses this passage of the bible to try and legitimise the brutal whipping of slaves who do not pick enough cotton to fulfil their daily quotas. Even though Epps uses terrible cruelty and brutal methods to control his slaves, he is able to use the bible to try and support his claim to authority.

The use of daily quotas goes back to the point on fear. The slaves want to work hard so that they do not get whipped at the end of the day. They are also controlled whilst working, with overseers on horseback cracking their whips shouting at the slaves to pick the cotton. Those who do not pick enough cotton in a day are picked out and whipped out in the open, in front of all of the other slaves. This shows the slaves the consequences of not working hard enough for their masters and drives them to work harder.

Question: Fear is obviously a huge factor in how the slaves were controlled throughout the film but does anyone think that there is a more significant factor in the control?

The control Epps has over his slaves is so severe that he rapes Patsy, a slave girl who works on his plantation, multiple times. At one point he asserts his control over Solomon and makes him whip her and then when he takes over he whips her so hard that the skin on her back is flayed. Solomon and the other slaves are so scared of Epps that they will do anything he says as they are terrified of the repercussions of disobeying him. Epps has a reputation as a “breaker” of slaves according to Ford and prides himself on it. This shows that Epps is significantly crueler to his slaves than other slave owners. Epps takes the forms of control shown by Ford and his overseers to a new extreme, making the slaves constantly fear his wrath and always keep on their toes. Epps does not just control his slaves though as in one scene he tells his wife that he will send her back to the “hogs trough” that he found her in before he sells Patsy.

Epps is most controlling towards Patsy, he works her so hard that she picks five times the amount of cotton of any of the other slaves and is the cruelest to her. As his wife is jealous of her she is also treats Patsy very badly, throwing a decanter at her head in one scene and encouraging Epps to whip her in the scene where her back is flayed. Epps was not just torturing patsy physically, but he was damaging her mental health aswell. She had lost all hope of ever being free, so much so that she asks Solomon to kill her at one point in the film in order to end her suffering at the hands of Epps.

The slaves in the film are treated so badly and controlled through these terrible methods because they aren’t seen as people by the masters. The slaves were property by law and this is arguably one of the most significant ways in which they were controlled. Because they were regarded as property their owners could use whichever punishments and ways of controlling them they wished. The fact that slavery was legal also meant that slaves could not run away because there was nowhere to run, they would either be sent back and punished, taken in and sold again or killed for running away. This adds to the hopelessness of the slaves as they basically did not have any chance of escaping captivity. There is a scene when Solomon decides to run but he immediately runs into some white men hanging two slaves. This shows Solomon that there is no point in running as he will just end up like the two men who he sees get hanged. Hope is the most powerful tool for a slave who wishes to be free but many slaves did not have any at all as they were born into slavery and knew nothing different.

In conclusion, the slaves were controlled by many factors throughout the film, many of them obscenely cruel. The psychological strain which the slaves endured must have taken a terrible toll on them. I find it odd that in a country built on ideas of freedom there was slavery. I also find it odd that the Eighth Amendment which was adopted in 1791 bans 'cruel and unusual punishments' but not when it comes to black people.

http://usslave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/slave-tortures-mask-scolds-bridle-or.html
http://biblehub.com/luke/12-47.htm