There are many factors which account for the massive diversity among slaves’ reactions to slavery. Some of these factors are gender, location, and fear to name a few.
Gender seems to have played a part in this diversity, as in general men were more likely to attempt to flee and gain freedom. It can be surmised this is, at least partially, due to women having children. This could be that it is to hard or dangerous to run with children, or an unwillingness to separate, but in many cases females seem to have more family bonds, making it harder to flee. Another aspect of this is that in some locations men and women were assigned separate tasks.This sex stratification is an aspect of some slave societies as theorised by Deborah White in her 1983 …show more content…
Slaveholders attempted many forms of control, both mental and physical, to prevent those enslaved from running away or fighting back. Some of the methods of control utilized were starving, whipping, burning, sleep deprivation, and other acts of subterfuge. One example of this recorded in the 1845 autobiography of Frederick Douglass is Edward Covey who routinely snuck up on his slaves so they would be too afraid to stop as they never knew if he was watching (Gates 258). This is one form of mental abuse used by slave owners to undermine slaves into being too afraid to attempt to run or fight. Another common ploy was whites asking slaves leading questions then punishing the slaves who answer. Overtime this compelled many slaves to blindly answer positively to anyone unknown in fear they could be a spy. This seems to be a method of oppressing gatherings by weakening slaves trust in others, thus any groups would have a harder time accumulating members or taking action due to …show more content…
Treatment of slaves differed depending on the owner. Slaveholders could allow or withhold a variety of necessities and/or liberties from slaves at a moment's notice. This means that with any mixture of a slave's circumstance and personality there could be multiple reactions. Even when two or more slaves receive the same treatment there is a good possibility there will be diversity among the opinions due to an individual's personality and the circumstances they have experienced which will differ from person to
Gender seems to have played a part in this diversity, as in general men were more likely to attempt to flee and gain freedom. It can be surmised this is, at least partially, due to women having children. This could be that it is to hard or dangerous to run with children, or an unwillingness to separate, but in many cases females seem to have more family bonds, making it harder to flee. Another aspect of this is that in some locations men and women were assigned separate tasks.This sex stratification is an aspect of some slave societies as theorised by Deborah White in her 1983 …show more content…
Slaveholders attempted many forms of control, both mental and physical, to prevent those enslaved from running away or fighting back. Some of the methods of control utilized were starving, whipping, burning, sleep deprivation, and other acts of subterfuge. One example of this recorded in the 1845 autobiography of Frederick Douglass is Edward Covey who routinely snuck up on his slaves so they would be too afraid to stop as they never knew if he was watching (Gates 258). This is one form of mental abuse used by slave owners to undermine slaves into being too afraid to attempt to run or fight. Another common ploy was whites asking slaves leading questions then punishing the slaves who answer. Overtime this compelled many slaves to blindly answer positively to anyone unknown in fear they could be a spy. This seems to be a method of oppressing gatherings by weakening slaves trust in others, thus any groups would have a harder time accumulating members or taking action due to …show more content…
Treatment of slaves differed depending on the owner. Slaveholders could allow or withhold a variety of necessities and/or liberties from slaves at a moment's notice. This means that with any mixture of a slave's circumstance and personality there could be multiple reactions. Even when two or more slaves receive the same treatment there is a good possibility there will be diversity among the opinions due to an individual's personality and the circumstances they have experienced which will differ from person to