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Life of Anthony Johnson and Sons
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Court Case C
Anthony, a negro, won a court case against a white male. He sees his "indentured servant" he set free, working for a white man. He petitions for his slave back and wins. This shows that then, you were not judged by the color of your skin, but your status in society. You could have been red, orange, black, purple, brown, white, and even polka dot or rainbow! You would have judged just by if you were a slave, free black, white, land owner or Indian. It This is the top of diminishing progress. -
Act III
Act III states that even if you are baptized Christian, you are still in bondage for life. That is because they are trying to spread their religion, but they don't want to baptize slaves because then they will lose their cheap labor. If the slaves can't become free, then more people will baptize their slaves. This is diminishing progress because if you ever had the chance of being free, it is gone now. This is cruel to slaves because now you have no chance of being free. -
Act III (continued)
You have destroyed all their hopes and dreams of being free. This is the first step down in diminishing progress. -
Act I
Act I states that killing a slave is the only way to punish him/her because they can't work for you any longer. You don't even have to go to court. Just kill him in front of all your other slaves to show them what will happen if they disobey you. This is diminishing progress because now you can murder a slave and nothing will happen to you. The slave could have just screwed up something and you can now kill him without a trial. This might make slaves rebel because they feel they can't have -
Act I (continued)
a say in anything and they are being treated like animals or pets. If you kill a dog or bear, then it is not murder. That is what they are being treated like. This is the second step in diminishing progress. -
Act VI
Act VI states that if a slave steals your hog once, you can give him 39 lashes. If he survives and steals your hog again, you can nail him by his ears to a pole for 2 hours, and then cut his ears off. This is really dangerous because there was not good medical treatment for people back then, especially slaves. That is really inhumane because they could just be trying to feed their family and you cut of their ears. -
Act VI (continued)
I think they are very brave and noble to steal a pig to feed their families, even when they know the consequences. I don't think I would have the courage to steal a hog and possibly have my ears cut off. Then again, to some slaves, having their ears cut off and maybe dying is a small price to pay to see or have their family fed and happy. This law also might have scared the Africans a little bit because they know now the masters mean business.This is the fourth step down in diminishing progress. -
Act XXII
Act XXII states that all slaves are now to be considered real estate. This is bad because now slaves are equated with animals, land, or umbrellas. They can't own land, win at court, or even have some basic rights. Runaway slaves are considered stolen property and must be returned. If I were a slave I would be very, very mad. I am now just property, not a person. They can do whatever they want to me. This is not fair and slaves would be very upset with the whites. This is diminishing progress- -
Act XXII
from person to real estate.
