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Each day began long before sunrise and stretched until nightfall, defined by relentless labor that left no room for rest or recovery. Exhaustion was constant, yet concern from slave owners was nonexistent. These were not merely workers but human beings whose dignity and comfort were stripped away by a system that valued profit over humanity.
At day's end, enslaved people returned not to homes but to small, crowded shacks with dirt floors that turned muddy and damp with each rain. Walls and roofs offered little security against the elements. When winter arrived, clothing remained scarce and basic—no shoes, no jackets, only a thin blanket for warmth. Home became merely a place of survival rather than true rest.
The slave markets that sustained this system operated with chilling efficiency. Auction houses functioned like any other marketplace, with auctioneers calling out bids while families stood together for what might be the last time. The highest bidder determined entire futures, routinely separating parents from children and spouses from one another. This commodification of human life underscored the complete denial of autonomy and the trauma of forced separation.
Yet even within these harsh realities, enslaved people persevered. They maintained connections with family however possible, resisted in both small and large ways, and kept hope alive. Their stories remind us that humanity endures even in the darkest circumstances, and that dignity cannot be fully extinguished by oppression
AI Disclosure: After taking notes, I used Claude to smooth the text and format it in a readable way. I then edited the AI generated text. I added photos. I expanded on what the AI-generated text by adding some of my personal thoughts and opinions.
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