1. Do slaves still exist in America?
Slavery was legally abolished in the United States with the passage of the 13th amendment in December, 1865. Despite this, slavery still exists throughout the United States and the world, though different in form from what one would expect to see in the 1800s. For example, today we hear a great deal about sex-trafficking. Much of this is akin to slavery. Also, as recently as the early 2000s, there was a North Carolina farmer accused of violating the 13th amendment when he kept migrant workers on his farm and would not allow them to leave.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2009/01/03/opinion/1194837193498/the-face-of-slavery.html?smid=pl-share
2. Did anyone protest slavery?
Yes, but broaden the word protest to include more activities than running away, rebelling, or generally expressing disagreement. When historians discuss slave resistance, they focus on the obvious forms of fighting back (those mentioned above), but also on the more subtle techniques. For example, one theory historians have refuted is that slavery was so dire and harsh that all remants of African culture were lost when slaves arrived in the New World. This is simply not true. Think of all of the "African survivals," things like food, language, dance, music, and storytelling. These cultural survivals, and many more, provided slaves with agency, or self-determination. Slaves, even though in bondage to someone else, could still cook, dance, play and share as they wished from their knowledge of life in Africa. For masters, this type of activity often looked benign, or quaint. But for slaves, this represented an assertion of self, of their cultural identity. Stepping it up a notch, actions such as feigning illness, breaking work tools, or working slowly, also allowed slaves to attempt to control their own destiny and life, if only for brief periods of time. Examination of documents from the 18th and 19th century reveal that masters struggled vigorously with ways to control their slaves. This signals that slaves were always resisting, in one fashion or another.
For a sample of African cultural survivals, see these clips of a "ring shout." The second clip is shorter, a news clip from Georgia, and the McIntosh County Shouters. The first clip a bit longer, but allows you to see the more intricate footwork and rhythmic clapping.
3. Were African females treated worse than African males?
My response here, once again, goes back to a comment by a former professor. He said it was important to distinguish between the "conditions" (i.e. - the treatment) of slaves, and their "position" (or legal standing). Even today when we visit various historic sites, some of which contain the "slave quarters," we may be saddened, or amazed, at our perceptions of how bad or how good their conditions may have been. For example, a slave on a wealthy plantation may have lived in a cabin with furniture, decent clothing, and decent food. On other plantations the "conditions" could have been deplorable (poor food, inadequate clothing, harsh physical punishments, and sexual expoitation). In Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she recalls how her master offered to build her a separate cabin and provide luxurious clothing if she would become his full-time mistress. Ultimately, while "conditions" do matter to people who are living through them, it is more important to discuss the "positon" of slaves - that is, they are OWNED by someone else. Therefore, slaves have no rights and no say in their own lives. So, in addition to considering how masters treated their slaves, we must first recognize that they owned them, and legally could do with them what they willed. Ultimately, this ownership of other people not only degrades the slave, but also ultimately degrades the owner, thus the evil of slavery - there is nothing uplifting about it for anyone.
4. How many free Blacks were slaveholders?
Good question, I do not have exact figures at my fingertips, but I think I read a recent figure that in the 1860 census there were several thousand African Americans who owned slaves up through the Civil War. This is a tiny percentage of total slaveowners. Some people are surprised that any Blacks owned slaves. How could this be? Some explanations suggest that free Blacks purchased family members or other relatives to prevent them from being sold, and to help them be as close to free as possible. In some states the law made it difficult to free a slave. Nevertheless, we must also consider that a few free Blacks held slaves for the same reasons whites held slaves - they made money. Keep in mind our class discussion of how our human nature slides to paths of least resistance, especially when faced with economic choices. We sometimes make decisions based on economics now (even when it compromises our moral standards). People in earlier time periods most likely responded in similar ways.
Midterm Exam Hint. There will undoubtedly be a essay possibility where you will have to compare the early settlement of Virginia with Massachusetts. You will be asked to consider such factors as: reasons for settlement, make up of early colonists, how they established their towns or settlements, problems faced by each colony, and how each colony resolved its problems. Ultimately, which colony do you think was most successful?
5. Where did slaves sleep?
This question gets at the conditions of slave life. We will discuss this more when we get to the antbellum period, 1830-1860. However, here are two examples. The first photograph comes from Stagville Plantation outside of Durham, North Carolina (http://www.stagville.org). The original slave house is a bit unusual compared to most other southern plantations. It is a two-story, four-room house. While this may not look so harsh, context is important. This is NOT a two-story, four-room house for a slave family of five or six. No, each room in this house was home to anywhere from five to seven slaves.
My other example is from Somerset Plantation, located on Lake Phelps in northeastern North Carolina. The very large plantation once had twenty-three slave cabins. The one below is a reconstructed cabin for a slave family. (http://www.nchistoricsites.org/somerset)
Keep in mind that these two examples are from two of North Carolina's largest antebellum plantations. Most slaves lived in conditions much worse than depicted here.
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