In the 18th century, the United States was the centre of African American slavery. Primarily, most of the slaves were from African and worked in the large plantations. The majority of blacks living in the United States during the 18th century were treated as slaves. It was nearly impossible to find a black person who was not a slave. In fact, African-American slavery was legalized in some states such as Maryland and Virginia. This was intended to provide an opportunity for the whites to enslave more Africans to work in their large plantations. Essentially, slaves were harshly treated by their masters, but they had to persevere with pain. Some of the punitive forms of treatment included executions, whippings, raping, degradation and brutality. However, there were some slaves who received fair treatment. These were mostly domestic workers who worked in the houses of the slaveholders or who treated the white patients.
The most common cruel treatment during the African-American slavery period was punishments. All the slaves were harshly treated when they disobeyed their slaveholders. Moreover, the overseer or slaveholders punished the slaves in order to assert their dominance on the slaves. In both situations, the slaves were always on the received end. One of the most common form of punishments was whipping. Any slave who tried to object to instructions given by the overseer was whipped in front of his/her fellow slaves. This was meant to scare the other slaves from going against the authority. In some of the circumstances, the overseer could opt to beat up the slave instead of whipping him/her. For example, the slave could end up with broken jaws. Even though, the other slaves felt that their workmate was harshly treated, they could do nothing to save him/her. Furthermore, when a slave disobeyed or attempted to question their authority, they could mutilate or burn the slave. The slaveholders used to heat up hot iron and burn the slaves. Indeed, this was the worst form of punishment received by the slaves; thus, all slaves feared receiving such punishment. Clearly, the form of punishments slaves received definitely show that they were harshly treated by their masters.
The slaveholders greatly exploited their slaves. They made them work like machines with minimal breaks. On average, a slave could only be allowed to rest for about 6 hours every day. They were supposed to work for 6 days a week. In most of the cases, slaves started working before dawn and could only leave the plantations after sunset. During the day, they could be allowed a break of approximately 2 hours. This was supposed to give them time to take meals. However, some slaves had to do without food for most of the days. Primarily, the slaveholders either refused to give them food or gave them food that was unsuitable for human consumption. The slaveholders usually regarded the slaves as animals; therefore, gave them unsuitable food. In essence, the lives of slaves on the plantations was miserable.
Slaves were also denied access to education. This was meant to restrict their access to information; thus, the slaves could continue being ‘dumb’. Slaveholders were well aware of the danger posed by educated and informed slaves; hence, they could not risk educating the slaves. They made sure that the slaves were not exposed to life outside their places of work. This restriction had a great impact on the lives of many slaves. Despite the dreams and aspirations that they had, slaves slowly lost hope of ever achieving their aspirations. Notably, denying slaves access to information was a vital strategy for the slaveholders. It benefited them greatly because they mitigated the risk of slaves being rebellious. On the other hand, the slaves felt harshly treated. Fundamentally, they had a right to access information and education, but their masters could hear none of that. Moreover, some states went ahead to illegalize educating of slaves. For example, in Virginia, any teacher who attempted to teach a slave was fined $100 while a similar offence in North Carolina could attract a hefty fine of $250. This was meant to discourage any teacher from attempting to educate the slaves. In both states, the accused slave was whipped by the law enforcers. This measure had a great impact as most people refrained from educating the slaves. However, there are some slaveholders who were slightly humane. For example, slaves in Missouri were allowed by their slaveholders to educate each other.
Another form of cruel treatment was sexual abuses. In most of the states, women slaves were sexually assaulted by their overseers or slaveholders. It was considered a normal thing; thus, no slaveholder could be punished for sexually assaulting his slave. The most common form of sexual assault was through rape. In the south, most women slaves were raped by their masters. The southern societies treated rape as part of their culture. This allowed them to rape the slaves without any fear. Primarily, these societies treated African slaves as their property; thus, they did not have any right. Unlike the whites who enjoyed numerous rights, African slaves did not have any right. Primarily, rape is considered as a violent act as it is against the wishes of the victim. In some of these circumstances, the victim resists attempts by the rapist. There were some courageous slaves who fought attempts by their overseers to rape them. However, most of them died when they resisted the actions of their masters. For example, if one resisted a rape attempt by the slaveholder, she could be hacked to death. This was very painful for the other slaves. They could not imagine how another human being could be such inhumane. Even though, some slaves were weak and could do nothing to resist the rape attempts by their slaveholders, they did not have a channel to seek justice. This was primarily because rape was legal in most of the states in America. The authorities treated rape as legal; as a result, slaves were treated as property. This shows how African slaves were harshly treated by their masters. The psychological effects of the rape incidents had a great impact on the lives of the victims. When they remember the incident, they felt there was no need to continue living. Moreover, if a slave trespassed on the master’s property, he could rape her without second thoughts. If the white man was a well-known person in the locality, there was always a cover-up mechanism to ensure that the case did not go far.
The slaves were denied the right to fair judicial treatment. For example, if a slave was found guilty of raping a white woman or arson, he was immediately executed. It was considered a grave mistake to rape a white woman. Any slave, who attempted to make sexual advancements on a white woman, was quickly noted and warned with severe punishments. However, there were those slaves who did not fear anything. They viewed the act for raping a white woman as an accomplishment; thus, they could do anything possible just to rape a white woman. When they were caught in the act or accused of doing such a heinous act, they were immediately sent to the gallons. Nevertheless, there were few cases where the accused person were not culpable of committing such an act. For example, if a white woman made sexual advancements on a well-built slave, and he refused, the white woman would wrongly accuse of him of attempting to rape her. Despite the pleas of the slave that he did not rape the white woman, all slaveholders would not hear her pleas; but executed him. This was a very harsh form of treatment as the slaves could be killed for insubstantial reasons.
When a slave felt sick, they did not receive quality medical care. Their overseer did not care if the slave died or not, he was only concerned with the other slaves in the plantations. Primarily, the medical care offered to the slaves was extremely poor. In most of the circumstances, a sick slave received treatment from fellow slaves. Due to their African origins, many slaves were well equipped with medical skills; thus, they could treat their fellow slaves. For example, they could use folk remedies to cure particular medical conditions. Unfortunately, they could only treat their fellow sick slave when the overseer was not around.
In addition, pregnant slaves did not receive fair treatment. Despite the pain they underwent through during the pregnancy period, they were not given adequate time to rest before delivery. In most of the cases, they were only allowed to take light tasks during the last days of their pregnancy. When a pregnant slave was found sitting down, the overseer could beat her up. They did not care if she were a human being, but saw here as a workhorse. Besides, the slaveholders did not see any value in the baby; hence, their intention of beating up the pregnant woman was for her to miscarry. Notably, if the father of the child was the master, the pregnant woman was in for a rude shock. After birth, her child could be sold off to the highest bidder. This was meant to ensure that there was no reminder that the slaveholder did have a child with one of his slaves. In such circumstances, the pregnant slave was not pregnant because of having a secret relationship with her master, but she was unfortunately raped by him.
Slaves were prohibited from holding gatherings. Regardless of the objective of holding any meeting, slaves were strictly cautioned against any attempt to assemble at any location. Primarily, it was a crime to be seen in groups; thus, no slave could want to be seen together with other slaves. The main concern of the slaveholders was that the gatherings could be used to facilitate communication that would provide an effective channel for development of a rebellion movement. Previously, only religious groups were allowed to gather for a short period of time. However, after several rebellions in the 1820s such as that of Nat Turner, slaveholders realized the potential threat of the groups. Thus, all states enacted legislation that prohibited all slaves from holding any type of gatherings.
As a result of the harsh treatment, the slaveholders played a key part in destructing the culture and religion of the slaves. Most states prohibited slaves from holding gatherings. Essentially, preservation of culture is enhanced through communication between groups of people. Therefore, by denying the slaves the right to communicate with each other in groups led them to forget about aspects of their culture. Despite the white people enjoying benefits of the African culture such as traditional remedies, they did not appreciate their cultural background. They did everything possible to ensure that they forgot about their culture. Furthermore, by denying them the right to assemble, they primarily restricted them from practicing their religious faiths. Additionally, if one was found practicing any form of religious practices, he/she was severely punished by the masters. This kind of treatment negatively affected the culture and religious practices of the African-American slaves.
Some forms of these harsh treatments were meant to scare away the slaves from running away or holding a revolution. In this regard, each master had his unique tactic of handling his/her slaves. For example, some masters used to torture their subjects with hot rods in order to ensure that they bleed out. This form of treatment instilled fear in many slaves; thus, they could not even think of running away. The fear of being tortured by their masters discouraged them from attempting to do something trivial such as escaping. Moreover, some masters used ingenious ways to instill fear in their slaves. Mostly, this was through manipulating the emotional feelings of their slaves. Such masters opted to be so nice to their subjects, and promised them some rewards. Therefore, the slaves did not find any reason to revolt or run away. As a result, they continued staying with their masters. Even though, this tactic did not physically abuse the slaves, it was very unpleasant of the slaveholders.
Notably, the most ruthless slaveholders had devised their own ways of maintaining dominance over their slaves. The main purpose was to ensure that all slaves were under control and could not object to the authority of their masters. These included instilling fear in the minds of the slaves, and making them feel inferior. In addition, some slaveholders ensured that their slaves were financially dependent on them, and were not educated. This made most slaves see themselves as weakened; thus, they could do nothing. These were very effective methods of maintaining control of the slaves. Furthermore, some southern states had already set up laws that ensured that slaves were always under the control of their masters. For example, the slaves were restricted against leaving their workplaces without authority from their masters, they could not gather in large groups or go outside during the night. Besides, slaves in these American states could not learn how to read and write, and had not power to own any kind of weapon. Clearly, these forms of treatment ensured that slaves always felt helpless.
Despite the many cases of harsh treatments, there were few slaveholders who treated their slaves well. There were very few cases where African American slaves received fair treatment, but these were isolated cases in the northern part of the United States. For example, domestic slaves were fairly treated. The responsibilities of the domestic slaves primarily involved cooking for their masters, and cleaning the compounds. In this respect, the slaveholders realized the incredible potential of the slaves to kill them through food poisoning. Therefore, in order to counter this potential threat, they resorted to treat their slaves with respect. In most of the cases, the domestic slaves were treated as a part of the family. Even though, they could not enjoy certain rights, they still felt free. They enjoyed restricted freedom, but they still appreciated it.
African American slaves who treated the slaveholders and overseers were also treated fairly well. During that time, most of the whites were not able to cure treatable diseases. Therefore, the white people used to rely on the knowledge of the African-American slaves. In Africa, most slaves had learned a lot about traditional herbs. Therefore, they were able to use African remedies to treat sick slaveholders and overseers. Those slaves, who treated their masters, received fair treatment. For example, they were given a day off after treating their slaveholders.
In addition, some slaveholders rewarded their slaves for a job well done. Such slaveholders appreciated the efforts of their slaves; thus, they saw it reasonable to reward them. Some of the hardworking slaves were given gifts and money as rewards. Notably, they were very happy after receiving the rewards and knowing that their masters cared for them. Besides, this motivated the slaves to increase their productiveness in the plantations. Undoubtedly, these slaves were fairly treated.
Furthermore, the domestic slaves enjoyed much freedom as compared to the field slaves. They could easily talk to their master’s about everything that concerned their lives. In most of the cases, the slaveholders were ready to assist them. For example, if they fell sick, their masters would arrange for them to receive quality healthcare services. In addition, domestic slaves were well fed. One of the main reasons that they ate well is because they are the ones who were tasked with all the cooking responsibilities. They were supposed to go shopping at the nearby marketplace to purchase groceries for the family. Nonetheless, some slaves used this opportunity to discuss the well-being of their family members and friends.
In conclusion, the African-American slavery has greatly changed the map of the world. It mainly occurred due to insufficient workforce in most plantations in the United States. The slaves were imported from different regions in Africa and were forced to work in large plantations. Fundamentally, the slaveholders purchased their slaves; thus, treated them as their property. In this regard, they treated the slaves harshly. It has been established that some of the harsh forms of treatments received by the African slaves included punishments, sexual abuse, mistreatments, beating, and execution. However, there is also some evidence that some of the African slaves were fairly treated. Primarily, domestic slaves received fair treatment as compared to the field slaves. Notably, the African American slavery has greatly influenced history. For example, it provided a good foundation for the blacks to revolt against the white rule, and demand that their rights be respected. Even though, it took them many years, the benefits of their rebellion can be seen today. Currently, African Americans are able to vote, and exercise their right to gather, and demand quality healthcare services. To sum up, during the African-American slavery, slaves were unfairly treated.
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