American Antebellum Slavery
Images in contemporary life, mostly from Hollywood, have tended to portray the life in the American south as a natural aristocratic society, however this reflection of slave life could not be wider of the mark. Thankfully, much literature has been written over the years regarding the notorious subject, which has provided a much more accurate reflection of plantation life, representing the slave owners as arrogant, selfish, brutal, and uncaring for human existence. There is a great deal of literature available, explaining the nature of slavery in the antebellum South, however much of it overlooks the relationships between the slaves and the slave owners. Peter Kolchin, in his book, "American Slavery", focuses on this in particular detail; therefore it is a good source of information when examining the slave-slave owner relationships.Southern slaves, as Kolchin observes, "suff
There were very few slaves who escaped the "lash", as it was called, and the whip soon became the image of slavery amongst northern, anti-slavery campaigners. Forms of law exist in all societies, that is undisputable, however in the antebellum South, the laws that were imposed on slaves were worryingly detailed. This guiding took many forms as slave owners interfered with the naming of slave children and limited the contact that slaves had with fellow slaves on neighbouring plantations. Although these forms of intervention shaped the lives of the slaves, there was no more effective measure of interference that a slave owner could adopt than that of punishment. Forced upon by their masters, slaves were denied the smallest of freedoms, including what time they had to get up in the morning, and how often they could visit their neighbours on social visits. ered an extraordinary amount of interference in their daily lives" . Kolchin argues that, "if absolute power proved essential to the paternalist's sense of duty, the loss of that power threatened to turn benevolent paternalists into domineering bullies" . Slaves were regularly referred to as "children", who needed constant guiding to keep them in line. Although many slave owners strove to keep their slave families whole, there were instances where the separation of families "made sense" or was "necessary". The ultimate, and most dreaded form of interference in slave families, however, was the forced separation of family members, which remained, as Kolchin says, "a pervasive feature of the slave South". This again goes to show the stark truth that slaves were regarded as property first, and humans second. These slave owners often adopted additional forms of punishment to exert their authority over the slaves, including public humiliations and the deprivation of privileges. The prevalence of whipping goes a long way to display the barbaric methods that the sometimes psychopathic slave owners adopted to keep their slaves in check. Slaves were regarded by their masters, first and foremost, as property, therefore the slave owners assumed a lot of direct control over their property, and this interference ultimately shaped the everyday lives of the slaves themselves.
Common topics in this essay:
American Slavery,
,
South Slave,
slave owners,
lives slaves,
Peter Kolchin,
antebellum south,
south slave owners,
slave owners adopted,
interference slave,
south slave,
owners adopted,
slaves regarded,
forced separation,
slave families,
|
Acceptance Essays
