Southern Slavery As It Was
By Steven Wilkins and Douglas Wilson
Page Fifteen
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Furthermore, slave families were not matriarchal as is commonly assumed. "For better or worse, the dominant role in slave society was played by men, not women. It was men who occupied virtually all of the managerial slots available to slaves .... Men occupied nearly all the artisan crafts...."34 "It was the male who initiated the period of courtship. And it was the man who secured the permission of the planter to marry." The husband was the head of the house and there was a strong familial bond between family members. This kind of bond is not the product of widespread promiscuity. One could argue that the black family has never been stronger than it was under slavery. It was certainly stronger under the southern slave system that it is today under our modern destructive welfare state. Living
Conditions The belief that the typical slave was poorly fed is without foundation in fact. There was no deficiency in the amount of meat allotted to slaves. On average, they consumed six ounces of meat per day, just an ounce less than the average quantity of meat consumed by the free population. The high consumption of meat, sweet potatoes, and peas made the slave diet not only adequate, but it actually exceeded modern recommended daily levels of the chief nutrients. The clothing of slaves, though not lavish, was fairly standard for what the average free white man would have had. Many slaves had far better clothes than poor whites. On the question of shelter, the most systematic housing information comes from the census of 1860, which included a count of slave houses. These data show that on average there were 5.2 slaves per house on large plantations. The number of persons per free household was 5.3. The single-family household was the rule. The quality of housing varied. Comments of observers suggest that the most typical slave houses of the late ante bellum period were cabins about eighteen by twenty feet. They usually had one or two rooms. Lofts, where the children slept, were also quite common. Windows were not glazed, but closed by wooden shutters. Chimneys were of brick or stone. Building material was either logs or wood. Floors were usually planked and raised off the ground. Such
housing may sound mean by modern standards but actually compared well with
the homes of free workers in the ante bellum era. The typical slave
cabin probably contained more sleeping space per person than was available
to most of The
medical care was good. Generally, the slaves received the same medical
care the family received. The doctor attending to the slaves was usually
the same doctor who ministered to the planter's family. Good medical care
is reflected in the statistics for life expectancy. The Problems of Slavery |