Post by Lady Sin Ra on Apr 16, 2007 12:20:58 GMT -5
Southern slaveholders took an active role in managing their property. Viewing themselves as the slaves' guardians, they stressed the degree to which they cared for them. The character of such cared varied, but in purely material terms such as food, clothing, housing and medical attention, it was generally better in the pre-Civil War period than in the colonial period. Judging by measurable criteria such as slave height and life expectancy, material conditions also were better in the South than in the Caribbean or Brazil.
Although young children were often malnourished, most working slaves received a steady supply of pork and corn, which if lacking in nutrional balance (about which American of the era knew nothing) provided sufficient calories to fuel their labor. Slaves often supplemented their rations with produce that they raised on garden plots allotted to them. Clothing and housing were crude but functional: slaves typically received four coarse suits (pants and shirts for men, dresses for women, long shirts for children) and lived in small wooden cabins, one to a family. Wealthy slaveowners often sent for physicians to treat slaves who became ill; given the state of medical knowledge however, suh treatment- which could range from providing various concotions to "bleeding" a patient- often did as much harm as good.
Maters intervened continually in the lives of their slaves, from direction their labor to approving or disapproing marriages. Some masters made elaborate written rules, and most engaged in constant meddling, directing, nagging, threatening and punishing. Many took advantage of their position to exploit slave women sexually.
What slaves hated most about slavery was not the hard work to which they were subjected, but their lack of control over their lives, their lack of freedom. Masters may have prided themselves on the care they provided, but the slaves had a different idea of that care. They resented the constant interference in their lives and tried to achieve whatever autonomy they could. In the slave quarters, the collection of slave cabins that on large plantations resembled a miniture village, slaves developed their own way of life and struggled to increase their independence while their masters strove to limit it. the character and resolution of this struggle depended on a host of factors, from size of holdings and organization of production to residence and disposition of masters. Masters rarely were able, however, to shape the lives of their slaves as fully as they wanted.
Although young children were often malnourished, most working slaves received a steady supply of pork and corn, which if lacking in nutrional balance (about which American of the era knew nothing) provided sufficient calories to fuel their labor. Slaves often supplemented their rations with produce that they raised on garden plots allotted to them. Clothing and housing were crude but functional: slaves typically received four coarse suits (pants and shirts for men, dresses for women, long shirts for children) and lived in small wooden cabins, one to a family. Wealthy slaveowners often sent for physicians to treat slaves who became ill; given the state of medical knowledge however, suh treatment- which could range from providing various concotions to "bleeding" a patient- often did as much harm as good.
Maters intervened continually in the lives of their slaves, from direction their labor to approving or disapproing marriages. Some masters made elaborate written rules, and most engaged in constant meddling, directing, nagging, threatening and punishing. Many took advantage of their position to exploit slave women sexually.
What slaves hated most about slavery was not the hard work to which they were subjected, but their lack of control over their lives, their lack of freedom. Masters may have prided themselves on the care they provided, but the slaves had a different idea of that care. They resented the constant interference in their lives and tried to achieve whatever autonomy they could. In the slave quarters, the collection of slave cabins that on large plantations resembled a miniture village, slaves developed their own way of life and struggled to increase their independence while their masters strove to limit it. the character and resolution of this struggle depended on a host of factors, from size of holdings and organization of production to residence and disposition of masters. Masters rarely were able, however, to shape the lives of their slaves as fully as they wanted.