Runaway Slave Courtship

Improved Essays
The slaves developed deep individual and institutional resources that helped them manage the harsh and brutal regime of slavery imposed upon them by the slave owners. They lived in families in spite of the fact that any relationships could easily be broken at any time by their masters, if discovered. They developed and implemented religious beliefs and formed communities that provided mutual support and sustenance in the face of brutal conditions even though according to the logic of slavery they were supposed to rely solely on the master for support and not to each other. Sometimes runaway slave mothers would kill their own children to prevent enslavement. The slaves would deploy extreme measures risking their own lives at every turn to …show more content…
If a romance or marriage was discovered the spouse of the slave was sold immediately. The slaves were considered as property like the horses and pigs. Breeding was the term used when a slaveowner wanted the young girls to reproduce. The master would choose a mate for the young girl based on the kind of child he thought would be produced. The object was to reproduce quality slaves. Slaves never had much of a choice in the matter of reproduction, but due to the fact that they were placed together, the opportunity to get to talk to each other sometimes presented the chance of a relationship that they formed and considered a marriage. The offspring of the union pleased the slaveowners and the children were born into slavery and the cycle of slavery continued. If separated, the slaves would appeal to their masters to buy their families from other slave owners and sometime write letters to their families. Most of the letters never arrived. The bonds of matrimony were strong in the African American slave community because when the slaves ran away they often retrieved their spouses and their families and all ran away together. The journey to freedom, not matter how temporary was long and treacherous. Some slaves joined the war to gain their freedom and when the war ended they went in search of their families and maneuvered their escape. Some succeeded, many did not. Others were …show more content…
They developed folk tales that told of how they had outsmarted the slave owners and gained fictitious freedoms. Through song and poetry a reprieve was allowed because in reality the conditions were so harsh and so cruel that no amount of swindling and undermining would last long enough to overshadow the reality of slavery. Through spiritual songs, hope was maintained that one day their divine being, who reigned supreme above all things and people including the slaveowner would make thing s right again for the slave. The slaves viewed the world as a big mean place where they were displaced but always under the watchful eye of God. They were given little room to form families and communities that existed without the white man’s approval so public displays of affection were not shown unless the master approved and if he or she approved of the relationship, the husband of the female slave had to endure the knowledge that his wife would also be subjected to the master’s lustful desires as well as to the rape and possible torture of the overseer and disdain by the master’s wife because she was shown favor by the master (Holt & Brown,

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