Slavery+Point+of+View

Being a salve during the 1800’s was hard especially for families. When being taken to fill the job as slave families rarely went together, children and parents would be send away to different farms.

Ohafa was a twelve year old who was sent to work on a cotton farm when she was nine. Her mother was sent away to a different farm, but her father came along with her. A year after being at the farm the father and daughter were then transferred to a different farm.

Ohafa and her father walked along the coast until they were transferred on o a boat that would lead them to their new work place. Her father had been brutally beaten for no reason at all, and was becoming very weak. Ohafa knew that her father wouldn’t make it through the journey, and tried to comfort him with her presence during the time he still had left.

The slaves had become filthy; their masters would wear masks over their faces to protect themselves from the diseases they would otherwise receive. The food that was scooped into their hands was nothing but left over trash, which is exactly what it tastes like. “Father come, I have received an extra scoop I would like to share with you. Come father.” When hearing this the salves fought to get to the girl to get the extra, while going they trampled over her father.

Her father had been weak from the beatings and could handle the pressure that was placed on his body from all the people on top of him. He tried hard to pull himself up; he knew Ohafa needed him, he tried yelling but all that came out was a whisper “Ohafa take care of yourself, you will make it to freedom I know it. I love you.” Them within minutes he had been taken and thrown off the deck in to the water.

A woman named Jahyo had been a close family friend before being sent to be a slave. She was among the boat with Ohafa and knew her father would have wanted Jahyo to take care of her. Jahyo comforted her, and told her things would be ok. A paper that Ohafa sneaked a peek had said there was a debate of withier slaver was going to be allowed.

Jahyo and Ohafa had been released off the boat and were sent to the farm where they would work. They had been able to share a room in the small barn. Every morning the slaves would be woken up just before dawn and were sent to do their jobs. Jobs were given to each person, some having to feed and pick up the animals droppings, others to cut the wood which would be used to make their fire, while others were sent to plant tobacco.

Those jobs were more like chores to the slaves; each slave would pick cotton and pile it into a basket. At the end of the day when going to the master if the amount of cotton you picked was under the limit you would be kept aside and would later be beaten. However if bringing in more than you had to your master would look at the next days assignment carefully.

Ohafa was a child with no family besides Jahyo on the farm with her; most of the older people were quick at their jobs and would help Ohafa with hers. The elder slaves that had helped her saved her from death, without their help she wouldn’t have brought in enough cotton on most days and would have been beaten. As known by the older slaves they knew that she wouldn’t be able to handle the pain, people are beat until they can barely walk, and children’s bodies cant handle the pain as well as adults.

Weeks had passed and still the law that slavery was not allowed hadn’t been passed. Ohafa and Jahyo had realized that people they knew were disappearing and new slaves were being brought in. April 17, 1863 was the day that the two ladies decided it was time to leave. There were becoming weak, and if not out soon both would die. It was their last chance!

“Dusk will be the time we will leave. The masters will be asleep, and no one will see us.” The two had heard from people who had tried an escape but failed that night was the best time to leave. They would save the food they received in the next two days so they wouldn’t die of hunger along their journey. “Promise.” Ohafa had made a promise to Jahyo that she wouldn’t tell anyone about their planned escape because someone was bound to tell. The journey would be dangerous, and if not succeeded they would be in a great deal of trouble. The motto the two had agreed on was never trust anyone, and never turn back.

April 29, 1863 Today the two women had left. They were through the woods across the lot when they heard footsteps. Not the masters ground shaking ones, but calm careful ones. The footsteps were from a man crawling into under the brush of a tree, Jahyo walked over and introduced the two of them and hid quietly along side the man. The mans was a Bobbydan, he had been a slave on the same farm and had escaped just a day before. He remained in hiding because of his fear he would be found.

Weeks had passed and the three had become great friends and were still traveling together. Men had come looking but they managed to hide themselves. They had found food to survive on and places to sleep that were safe and deeply hidden in the long grasses. The three had talked about what they would do when they reached free land. After hours of talking the they agreed that they would buy a small cottage and live together, they were already like family!

It was then only days later Ohafa, Jahyo, and Bobbydan had come to a state where they would no longer be ordered around as a slave and where they would live in freedom. As they had said they bout a small house, and even after years they still remained living together. Eventually Jahyo, and Bobbydan died, but Ohafa told the story proudly of how the three had escaped freedom; to her grandchildren. Not a day passes when she didn’t think about her life as a salve, but she was one of the very few that had actually escaped, and in her family that will go down in history!