Slave treatment

(noun)

The treatment of slaves in the United States varied by time and place, but was generally brutal and degrading. Whipping, execution and rape were common.

Related Terms

  • Kitchen garden economy
  • slave culture

Examples of Slave treatment in the following topics:

  • Treatment of Slaves in the United States

    • Treatment of slaves was characterized by degradation, rape, brutality, and the lack of basic freedoms.
    • The treatment of slaves in the United States varied widely depending on conditions, time, and place. 
    • Treatment was generally characterized by brutality, degradation, and inhumanity.
    • Treatment of slaves tended to be harsher on larger plantations, which were often managed by overseers and owned by absentee slaveholders.
    • Others conclude that medical care was poor for slaves, and others suggest that while care provided by slaveholders was neglectful, slaves often provided adequate treatment for one another.
  • African-American Culture

    • Influenced by restrictive laws and brutal treatment, slaves combined African and Christian customs to form a relatively homogeneous culture.
    • Although the treatment of slaves varied depending on plantation norms, overseers, and masters, more often than not it was characterized by brutality.
    • Some slaves were treated differently according to their value or skill sets; for example, artisans, medical practitioners, skilled laborers, or technical experts were usually given preferential treatment and more liberties than field hands.
    • In most states, slaves were forbidden to read or write.
    • To regulate the relationship between slave and owner, including legal support for keeping slaves as property, state legislatures adopted various slave codes to reinforce white legal sanctions over the enslaved black population.
  • Slave Culture

    • Influenced by restrictive laws and brutal treatment, slaves combined African and Christian customs to form a culture of survival and resistance.
    • In many respects, American slave culture was a culture of survival and defiance against the American slave system.
    • Although the treatment of slaves varied depending on the plantation, more often than not it was characterized by brutality.
    • Some slaves were treated differently according to their value or skill sets; for example, artisans, medical practitioners, skilled laborers, or technical experts were usually given preferential treatment and more liberties than field hands.
    • Literate slaves taught illiterates how to read and write, despite state laws that forbid slaves from literacy.
  • The Middle Passage

    • Typical slave ships contained several hundred slaves with approximately thirty crew members.
    • While the treatment of slaves on the Middle Passage varied by ship and voyage, it was often horrific because captive Africans were considered less than human: they were cargo or goods, to be transported as cheaply and quickly as possible for trade.
    • For example, in 1781 the Zong, a British slave ship, took on too many slaves on its voyage to the Americas.
    • Aside from the overcrowded, dangerous conditions in the slave ships, most slaves suffered from malnutrition and starvation when ship food and water supplies ran low.
    • In turn, crews and slave traders often force fed or tortured slaves and put nets on the sides of ships to keep slaves from attempting suicide.
  • Gabriel's Rebellion

    • It also had a massive impact on the treatment of slaves in the American South.
    • From 1780 to 1810, the number of slaves freed in the Upper South had grown markedly.
    • This prompted an influx of both zealous slave owners and free African Americans, and the very existence of free African Americans in Richmond challenged the condition of Virginia as a slave state.
    • After plans for the rebellion were quelled, many slave holders greatly restricted the slaves' rights of travel.
    • For many southern white slave owners, Gabriel's Rebellion proved that slaves would tend toward rebellion and resistance if not kept forcibly contained and controlled.
  • Slavery in the Antebellum Period

    • Census, the slave population in the United States had grown to four million.
    • Slaves were of African descent and children of slaves became slaves themselves.
    • Freedom was only possible via granting of manumission by a slave’s owner, a practice that was frequently regulated and sometimes prohibited by law, or by the slave running away, which was both dangerous and illegal.
    • The treatment of slaves in the United States varied depending on conditions, time, and place, but was generally characterized by brutality, degradation, and inhumanity.
    • Many slaves fought back and some died resisting this sort of treatment, though some managed to escape to non-slave states and Canada, aided by the Underground Railroad.
  • Conclusion: The State of Slavery before the War

    • Many proponents of slavery argued that the system protected slaves, their masters, and society as a whole.
    • Some free blacks chose to work within the institution of slavery: Many were hired by rural governments as police forces tasked with maintaining order among slave populations and chasing runaway slaves.
    • Darker-skinned slaves tended to engage in manual labor in the fields, whereas lighter-skinned slaves tended to work in the house on less labor-intensive jobs.
    • The laws in slaveholding states, including slaves codes that were established for the purpose of defining the status of slaves and the rights of their owners, left slaves who were treated unfairly without defense or recourse.
    • One estimate suggests that by 1850, 100,000 slaves had escaped via the Railroad.
  • The Triangular Trade

    • It is estimated that more than half of the slave trade took place during the 18th century, with the British as the biggest transporters of slaves across the Atlantic.
    • Typical slave ships contained several hundred slaves with approximately 30 crew members.
    • While the treatment of slaves on the Middle Passage varied by ship and voyage, it was often horrific.
    • In turn, crews and slave traders often force fed or tortured slaves and put nets on the sides of ships to keep slaves from attempting suicide.
    • Diagram of a slave ship from the Atlantic slave trade.
  • Women and Slavery

    • The sexual abuse of slaves was a common occurrence in the antebellum South.
    • Children, free women, indentured servants, and black men also endured similar treatment from their masters, or even their masters' children or relatives.
    • "Slave breeding" refers to those practices of slave ownership that aimed to influence the reproduction of slaves in order to increase the profit and wealth of slaveholders.
    • Slave breeding involved coerced sexual relations between male and female slaves, as well as sexual relations between a master and his female slaves, with the intention of producing slave children.
    • Concubine slaves were the only class of female slaves who sold for higher prices than skilled male slaves.
  • Slave Codes

    • Slave codes were laws that were established in each state to define the status of slaves and the rights of their owners.
    • In practice, these codes placed harsh restrictions on slaves' already limited freedoms and gave slave owners absolute power over their slaves.
    • Occasionally slave codes provided slaves with legal protection in the event of a legal dispute, but only at the discretion of the slave’s owner.
    • Owners refusing to abide by the slave code were fined and forfeited ownership of their slaves.
    • Slaves were kept tightly in control through the establishment of slave codes, or laws dictating their status and rights.
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.