African American Slavery In The South Summary

In the reading, we can learn that African American slaves were treated very badly in the south but the author seems to downplay the abuse. They were given a very small space to live in and were treated in a despicable way. Jones states, “The Negroes live in small cottages called quarters, in about six in a gang, under the direction of an overseer or bailiff; who takes care that they tend such land as the owner allots and orders, upon which they raise hogs and cattle, and plant Indian corn (or maize) and tobacco for the use of their master”. It’s clear that slaves were not in proper living conditions and were forced to live in tight spaces but the author seems to downplay it and even says “this with several privileges is his salary, and is an ample recompence for his pains, and encouragement of his industrious care, as to the labour, health, and provision of the Negroes.” According to Jones, slaves had no freedom but they were compensated for their work and taken care of. The …show more content…
This is obviously mistreatment of any human being and it’s horrible that people would force slaves to work and make money for their masters. They were also described as great slaves because they did the “hardest and most part of the work; the most laborious of which is the felling of trees and the like, to which kind of slavery (if it must be so called) our woodcutters in England are exposed”. It’s clear that they performed difficult and physically draining work without much compensation and no freedom. It is also clear to see from the article about runaways that slaves were treated like property. They were in the same category as missing farm animals so it’s obvious that slaves were not treated how a human being should be treated. This article helps to show the horrible abuse of African American slaves by showing a real article that was printed during that