Slavery: The Differences Between Slaves And Children

One of the most dreaded possibilities for slave on the market was to be sold to plantation owners in the Deep South. Some destinations, particularly on Louisiana farms harvesting sugar, had especially repulsive reputations. These slaves were often put on display in wealthy slave merchants’ homes to be examined by prospective owners, sometimes wearing as little clothing as loin clothes. But what made the slave trade so alarming was how destructive it was towards families. Generally, mothers and children were separated due to their difference in maturity and overall physical strength. Most severed families never reconnected, Prices of slaves varied widely over time depending on factors like supply and changes in prices of slave-cultivated food and products. Slavery was …show more content…
They believed that is would be advantageous to allow their slaves to be married because if these two slaves were to have children, the child, born to slave parents, would be considered a slave as well, therefore increasing the slave owner's property and wealth. According to the law, a child was seen in the government with its mother's legal status; a child born of a mother in bondage would be brought up as a slave, even if the father of the child were free. Sadly, it was not uncommon for slave owners to strike up affairs with their female slaves and have them result in the pregnancy of an illegitimate baby. This baby would sometimes be sold to a neighboring plantation or immediately put to work. Slaves were forcibly at the mercy of their owners. Secretly, slaves were always talking about the possibility of escape, but only few would muster up the courage to try. Some escaped slaves chose to return back to their masters as they underestimated the challenges that they would face traveling North. But, to the slave’s advantage, the Underground Railroad provided a system of safer travel, usually under the cover of