April 1, 2014

Taylor Nelson
American History Early 3551
Tuesday /Thursday 9:00AM- 10:15AM Hilary McD. Beckles Feminist Review, No. 59, Rethinking Caribbean Difference (Summer, 1998). Pg. 34-54

My thought over slavery is just plain wrong. I do not believe in slavery or think it was right. I absolutely hate that families were separated and sold. The one thing I hate the most is how the slave owners treated their slaves. Such as, comparing them as equal to mules, horses, horses, hogs, pigs, and dogs. That is just plain awful. I cannot even imagine it. The author stated many different topics over female slavery. I expected to learn what the females jobs were compared to the men and when the slaves hit certain age what happened to them. There were many gender specific differences in slavery. I did learn the differences of the female to men jobs. Such as, they began as early as the middle passage. The women, generally, did not travel in the holds below the deck, but were allowed to walk about the quarterdeck without shackles (Parent, A. S., Wallace, B. S. pg.34). The jobs that were almost exclusively female were: prime and full hands in the fields, nurses, midwives, seamstresses, house cooks, children's cooks, overseer's cooks, overseer's girls, also, there were some duties that were shared by both sexes: half hands, highland hands, house servants, gardeners( Parent, A. S., Wallace, B. S. pg 34). I think it is wrong that women had a lot to do. Women are not slaves and should be made to do such things as, cook, clean everything, and do everything a maid does(Parent, A. S., Wallace, B. S. pg. 36). There were some duties that were shared by both sexes: half hands, highland hands, house servants, gardeners. Thomas Jefferson frankly stated, that he considered "a woman who brings a child every two years as more profitable than the best man on the farm (Parent, A. S., Wallace, B. S. pg.44). Once the woman was past child bearing age she would work like everyone else until the age of 65 70 (Slavery pg. 34).

I feel like the author did not have some clear evidence of his information. He was vague over some information. . In the article Historicizing Slavery, Mrs. Carmichaels reference to black women as masculine was consistent with white mens view about the laboring capacity of female slavery. What she talked about did not make much sense. I wondered, as a child what age they started working. Eugene D. Genovese stated that girls started menarche at approximately age fifteen (Parent & Wallace pg. 364). Girls entered the work force the same time the boys did. They picked up stubble and weeds during growing season and they also picked cotton (Parent, S. A., Wallace, B. S. pg.1). I think this is just wrong. Children should not have to be working at that age. Children should be in school getting an education. I absolutely hate how the white men made the children quit childhood activities and chores and take on the adult work task. Children did not know anything about sex or only knew very little (Wright, G. pg. 365). I believe this is good. Children should not know about sex. They should only be told about sex when it came the time. The way people got married was very interesting. The girl had to ask her mother not her father and the boy had to ask the master and if I boy said anything wrong to a girl, he would get whipped (Parent & Wallace pg. 375). I think this is a good idea. Guys should be threatened if they said anything naughty to a girl. One thing that I find interesting is what the slaves did to have fun. They had social events, which consisted of, corn-shucking, quilting, and dances. Most slaves remember cornshucking at the gatherings. They would ship and hop and dance all over the place. They would dance next to each other with s glass of water on their head. They would have the party at

different houses each week. No one really dresses up but girls came in clean cotton dresses. The older people would just eat supper and not dance. Once they got tired of dancing they would start to play songs. They would make up the song they sang also. I find that very interesting on how they sang songs about their life and no one knew what they were singing about. Slave children were called upon to entertain their selves and their owners. They would put on plays for them. This is so sweet that the owners would like the children to entertain them. I think playing rolls is a great way for children to learn how to communicate since they did not have school. Slavery clothing sounded horrible. Womens dresses were straight, long and super tight. Sometimes they even split them because they were so tight. Girls who started becoming modest said their dresses did not fit. Which sounded true and I feel sorry for them. On Sundays they wore hoops under their dresses and were so long they drug the ground. Men wore jeans Monday thru Sunday. I believe every slave just as much of a person as a white person, and they should have had clothing just like the white people. That is just wrong how they discriminated them and how they dressed. The authors work was very well put together. I understood most of it. I loved all the examples he gave throughout the article. It was a well written article also. It hit all the points to the T. I really enjoyed the article and learning about slavery. It was interesting and sad at the same time. Knowing people had been treated so poorly and had to put up with it. I have not found any exaggeration, distortion, or diminishing of material. Everything is accurate.

Brysk, A. & Fitzpatrick, A. (2012). From Human Trafficking to Human Rights Reframing Contemporary Slavery. University of Pennsylvania Press. Beckles, H. (1998). Feminist Review. Historicizing Slavery in West Indian Feminism. No. 59, pg. 34-56. Parent, S. A. & Wallace, B. S. (1993). Journal of the History of Sexuality. Childhood and Sexual Identity Under Slavery. Vol. 3, No. 3. Pg. 363-401. White, G. Ar'n't I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South. W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY 1985. http://www2.coloradocollege.edu Wright, G. (2003). Slavery and American Agricultural History. Vol. 77, No. 4, pg. 527-552.