SLAVERY IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH

SLAVERY IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH

            By the year 1830, there was slavery largely dwelling in the south. It occurred in several forms like African Americans were being confined in both large and small farmsteads, large capitals and towns, inside households and out in the fields.

Despite of slavery having a range of faces, the basic image remained just the same. Slaves were seen as property, property since they were black. This property eminence was enforced via violence, both actual and threatened. There before, people, both black and white existed unruffled within these parameters although their lives had different forms (Kenneth, Virginia & Kiple).

The confined African Americans could never forget their eminence as property no matter how they were treated by their masters. In simple terms, there was such an extended hatred between the slaves and their masters. Although some masters and slaves liked each other, this notion was restricted by the rate by which the power imbalance propagated. Within these constricted confines of slavery, their relationship ran the scope from sympathetic to supercilious and still the slaves and masters could not approach equity (Kenneth, Virginia & Kiple).

The basic image of Antebellum South slavery is the large plantations full of slaves. Such conditions were rare and approximately ¾ of whites from southern region did not own slaves and who did most of them had just fewer. The whites who did not have slaves were basically the yeoman farmers. Sincerely speaking, the organizations of slavery did not assist those slaves. Yet the whites who did not have slaves identified with and defended those slavery organizations. This was because many of them resented the wealth and the power from the prominent slaveholders, they desired to join the privileged ranks and have slaves too (Buzzard, Stephanie & Renae).

In addition, the slavery practice gave the agrarians a group of people to dictate and although they were seen as poor, there were at least not slaves and not black. This instilled a sense of power on them by simply being white (Buzzard, Stephanie & Renae).

In the subordinate south part, many of the slaves stayed and worked on the large cotton farms. Many of those plantations had just fifty or less slaves, even though the largest ones could have hundreds of them. Cotton at the time was the top cash crop but slaves also grew sugarcane, tobacco, rice and corns. Many of these farmsteads raised different crops (Buzzard, Stephanie & Renae).

Apart from planting and ingathering, there were several other types of labor needed on the farms and plantations. The slaves could clear new lands, make repairs to old buildings and tools, dig ditches, cut and haul wood and slaughter livestock. In many cases they could work as drivers, mechanics, carpenters, blacksmiths and any other skilled fields. Black women took the affliction of their masters by taking care of their families through cooking and nurturing children as well as sewing, weaving and spinning (Sinha & Manisha).

Some slaves were designated as house servants and could work as domestics by providing services for the masters. Although their work could appear easy compared to field slaves to some extent that was not always the case, they were always under inspection of their masters and mistresses and could be called for service at any time. They also had less privacy compared to the field slaves (Sinha & Manisha)..

One of the nastiest conditions the slaves have to live under was the warning to be sold. They knew that any personal crisis or financial loss could easily lead them to the auction block. They could also be sold as a way of punishment. The norms of keeping immediate families were not always followed and relatives could find themselves forcibly scattered and never to see each other again (Sinha & Manisha).

African women endured the threat and the sexual exploitation practice. This was because there were no guidelines to protect them from being stalked sexually, raped, harassed or even being used as by the masters as long-term concubines. Men with authority took advantage of the situation. Although women could seem agreeable, the fact remained that they had no option and slave men had no authority to protect their women (Sinha & Manisha).

In addition to the practiced authority in the plantations, slaves had to live under some set of guidelines referred to as Slave Codes. Although the rules changed from one state to another, the basic idea was central: slaves are property and not people so they were supposed to be treated as such. They were not supposed to present any case in the court against the white, own firearms, leave the plantation without permission, buy and sell goods, strike a white, own any anti-slavery writings or visit the houses of the whites. Killing of a slave was not seen as a murder and raping a slave woman was termed as a type of encroaching (Buzzard, Stephanie & Renae).

In case of a slave revolt or even the rumor, laws hardened, patrols were to be set up all through to enforce codes. Similar to militias, these patrols were obliged to oblige for a set time period. They apprehended the slaves outside the farms and raided their homes in search of any possible cause of the insurrection. During these times the whites could form some vigilance committees that tortured terrorized and even killed blacks (Buzzard, Stephanie & Renae).

The slaves at last became resistant to the treatments. They resisted in numerous ways: Slowed down their work pace, feigned sickness, disabled machinery and even destroyed crops. They gained the courage to even fight with their masters and overseers. Burning of the buildings and other valuables became the orders of the day. Others could even went to an extend of killing their masters through food poisoning and weapons. This marked the beginning of liberation.

Work cited

Buzzard, Stephanie, and Ms Renae Newhouse. “Slavery in the Antebellum South.” The journal    of southern history (2014): 234-265

Kenneth, F., and Virginia H. Kiple. “Black tongue and black men: pellagra and slavery in the        Antebellum South.” The Journal of southern history (2012): 411-428.

Sinha, Manisha. The Counterrevolution of Slavery: Politics and Ideology in Antebellum South        Carolina. Univ of North Carolina Press, 2013.