1. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the African American family in the eighteenth
century?
The eighteenth century saw an increase in the demand for labor in plantations, be it in the cotton or rice
plantations in the North or South. With the value of slaves increasing, but masters permitted by law to own
slaves indefinitely, it seemed like a good investment to have chattel slaves than indentured slaves. This
dynamic brought with it consequences that most African American families had to deal with.
Firstly, black slaves were indivisible when they were together. This was a major strength of the African American family. As a result, the African men and women defied their masters, and they frequently refused to work. Often, they could not be persuaded by punishment, and they intended to escape. The support of having one’s family around gave them the strength not to fear their masters. In the case that they escaped, these families became “outliners,” living close to and stealing from their master’s estate.
Secondly, religion was the other strength of the African American family. With most of these slaves having come directly from Africa, or one of their ancestors, religion was the glue binding them together. Even if they could not marry legally, most black marriages were spiritually sanctioned. Music and dance helped keep their culture together which assisted them to adapt to being under new masters and sometimes living under harsh conditions. These people had their own musical instruments, cooking methods and food, and unique folk literature.
One other strength, although stemming from slavery, was the ability of the African Americans to hold skilled occupations. As seen in many of these plantations, the blacks became “carpenters, smiths, carters, coopers, millers, potters, sawyers, tanners, weavers,” and any other skill that was needed in the place. This enabled the African Americans to be able to make their own clothes and furnish their own houses which weren’t always the best. They could now own cloths and utensils made from their own hands.
Finally in strengths, the extended black families, brought by the introduction of last names to preserve kinship dominated almost any other type of family. As kids were often sold when they reached some age, carrying their family name ensured the name would stay forever and that wherever they go they may find relatives making their relocation easier.
However, the African American family didn’t always enjoy their lives as seen through the harsh treatment they received from their masters. The major setback or weakness was that the whites still had authority over them. As a result, most black families were tied to that master. Also, since the amendment of the law that ensured a child would inherit their mother’s condition, be either slave or free if the mother is such, white masters had the freedom to molest and abuse black women since they knew the children would be slaves as well. African American men could not protect her from their masters.
Secondly, most blacks had no personal property or rights that whites had to respect. This led to the harsh treatment and exploitation of the blacks. As these people were not allowed to testify against the white people or seek justice, it enabled the white masters to get away with any crime. This unfairness prompted most blacks to kill their masters to get revenge. Black people could also not bear arms.
Next, blacks could not leave their master’s property without a pass, congregate in groups, enter contract, or even marry. Even converting to Christianity which had been an avenue to gain freedom for most blacks prior was no longer a way for manumission. They worked so much because the masters wanted to get as much as they could from their investment. This resulted in most African American slaves dying because of overwork or disease.
To conclude, I believe the African American family had more weaknesses than strengths because although they could marry, even though illegal, there was a time when the ratio of men to women was so low that “Anthony Johnson’s wife Mary was recorded to be the only women around in their area around 1725”. Also, the working conditions, laws restricting them, and being likened to an animal because they were someone else’s property, all support this claim. However, because they had each other, religion, music, food, and some became skilled crafts people, the African American family did have something in their lives to be delighted for or look forward to. However, the bad outweighs the good.
[Evidence taken from Joseph Brevard, An Alphabetical Digest of the Public Statute Law of South-Carolina (Charleston, SC: John Hoff. 1816), 2:229-31, 233, 238, 240-41, 243.]
References (Hine , Hine, & Harrold, 2018, pp. 64, 68, 72)