Master’s Dependence Upon
Slaves
Slavery in the American south was shaped and
centered on relationships. These
relationships included ones between slaves, between masters, and between slaves
and masters. The relationship between
the slaves and masters was the most important relationship within the slave
trade. Masters often controlled the fate
of slave’s familial relationships. The relationship
between the masters and the slaves is best described in Peter Kolchin’s American
Salvery: “slave-owner paternalism accentuated a dualism already present in
slavery: slaves were both persons and property”[1]. Master’s depended on the slaves in increase
their statuses. However, the master’s
still treated the slaves as property by buying and selling them in the slave
market. This commodification would often
times lead to strain on relationships within the slave’s families. The relationship between master and slave,
created by the slave trade, resulted in separation of slave families,
development of a slave community, and the master’s dependence on the slaves.
Masters had the foremost effect on the
separation of families. Masters didn’t
have a problem with separating families. William Johnson explains in Soul by
Soul that masters are “’not troubled evidently with conscience, for
although he habitually separates parent from child, brother from sister, and
husband from wife, he is yet one of the jolliest dogs alive”’[2].
Masters always did what was in their personal best interest. They were not
bothered by the fact that they were separating families. There were laws that attempted to protect
against this separation “the original Code
Noire forbade the separation by sale of children under the age of ten from
their mothers, and in 1829 the law was explicitly extended to outlaw the
importation of thusly separated slaves”[3].
The slave trade produced many broken families that would most likely never be
reunited. Kolchin explains how sale
affected families “there were numerous occasions, by no means all involving
sale, in which slaves were forcibly removed, either temporarily or permanently,
from their loved ones…Sale, however, produced the most wrenching- and
permanent- disruption of families”[4]. The masters sold and bought slaves in a way
that would better their economic or social status. There was a lack of care toward separating
loved ones. The forced migration across
the country left the slaves with no choice but to leave their families. The relationship between the masters and the
slaves left constant familial strain in the slave community. One was never sure when they would be forced
to leave their families and start a new life.
The master’s decision to buy and sell slaves
left the slaves forced to start new families when they were ripped from their
blood families. Kolchin describes the
trade, “sale of any sort was one of the most dreaded events in the life of a
slave, but sale to the Southwest meant being permanently separated from home,
friends, and often family members, as well as adjusting to a new owner in a new
environment”[5]. The slaves were left with no support system
when they were pulled into that new environment. Therefore, it was common for the slaves to
create new support systems. They would
form new families that composed of the other slaves around them. These families created their own slave
culture as a result of their similar backgrounds. It was almost certain that the slaves could
somehow relate to each other in someway.
Johnson explains the importance and significance of song in their
culture: “ but they were also the substance of the connections that slaves in
the trade made with one another. As they
sang songs they knew in common, slaves in the trade came to know one another”[6].
Slaves would turn to song, and this would aid in the formation of a slave
culture that would become their new family.
Johnson explains, “the formation of community in the slave trade- the
creation of networks of support and sometimes resistance among individuals
previously unknown to one another- began as something quite different: passing
the time, engaging in conversation, offering isolated acts of friendship or
succor”[7]. It is evident that over time slaves learned to
rely on such relationships to carry them when they were down and no longer had
family to turn to in these hard times.
Kolchin reiterates that, “away from the immediate control of white
authorities, slaves developed their own traditions and customs that reflected
shared values”[8]. Shared values, beliefs, and traditions were
common among slaves. Many times
different cultural traditions formed with other cultural traditions- forming
new customs. However, these new families
all had a common background, which was the basis of their formation. The masters forced the slaves to leave their
loved ones, which often resulted in emotional trauma.
In addition to the emotional trauma, the masters
provided physical trauma. Throughout the
slave trade, masters would judge the slaves on their appearance in order to
determine who was best suited for the type of work they would need. Johnson clarifies, “as they passed along the
line of slaves, buyers evaluated field slaves on the basis of their growth and
stature”[9]. The masters did not have a problem with
crossing boundaries in the slave pens in order to retrieve the right
information. It was not unusual that
masters “palpated breasts and abdomens, searching for hernias and prolapsed
organs and trying to massage bodies intro revealing their reproductive history
and capacity”[10]. After all, women were most likely bought by
masters in order to reproduce, thus creating, more slaves. Their masters often raped their female slaves. The masters “dreamed of beating and healing
and sleeping with slaves; sometimes they even dreamed that their slaves would
love them”[11]. Masters often had sexual relations with his
slaves because they were in charge of them and could use the slaves to satisfy
their sexual needs. However, they would
also beat the slaves, which is evident in image 19 of Walter Johnson’s Soul
by Soul. Masters interpreted the
beating scars as an act of misbehavior.
Therefore, they would most likely not choose that particular slave from
the slave pen. Master’s were also
looking for people that would better themselves.
White masters were self-centered, and they were
only concerned with themselves. Their economic
and social standing was what was important to them. Slaves played a large role in both of these
statuses. Johnson explains that “before
they entered the slave market or inspected a slave, many slaveholders had
well-developed ideas about what they would find there. These ideas had less to do with the real
people they would meet in the market, however, than they did with the slave
holders themselves, about the type of people they could become by buying
slaves”[12].
Masters would go to the slave pens on a hunt for the best slave- a slave that
would contribute to the increase in the master’s economic success. A white masculinity was expressed by owning a
slave. The master’s needed the slaves
for honor as well as money. They
master’s depended on the slaves for high economic and social status. Masters would buy and sell slaves in order to
control their status in society and their honor.
The slave trade created a relationship between
masters and slaves in which the masters used the slaves to better their
identity within society. Owning slaves
was a sign of power, honor, and privilege. Therefore, masters would buy and
sell slaves to increase their status. In
addition, economic status was taken seriously within the white community. Therefore, it was common for masters to buy
slaves based on qualities, such as strength, that would have the possibility of
increasing their economic success.
Status of the white masters was a primary goal of the slave trade, but
this buying and selling of slaves resulted in physical and emotional trauma of
the slaves. The slaves were forced to
migrate when they were sold which resulted in separation of families. This separation allowed the creation of slave
communities. These communities were created
as a form of support for the slaves ripped away from their families. They had common cultural practices such as
singing, and could relate to one another.
They were also abused, raped, and forced into labor. All of these traumas were results of the
master’s attempting better their economic and social status in society. Master’s would better their statuses at the
expense of the slaves.
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