Difference between revisions of "HIST 131--Week 11 Questions/Comments"
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(→Frederick Law Olmsted, 1861, Cotton Kingdom) |
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Even though I’m sure Bennet Barrow claimed that his rules were expressions of his concerns and what not, it seems to me that he is merely trying to maintain control over his slaves. He says “The very security of the plantation requires that a general and uniform control over the people of it should be exercised.” Perhaps he is trying to make himself feel better by twisting it to sound like he is concerned about security. But in my opinion, many slave masters desired a constant sense of control. Having hundreds of slaves I’m sure induced a stressful lifestyle, so continuous power and rules probably had to be of utmost importance I would think. In this aspect, it makes sense why a sense of control was so important. But I think, as a psychology major, it goes deeper than that. I think that many slave holders genuinely knew that what they were doing was wrong, and that they incessantly tried to justify their actions through distortion and denial…(in this case, Bennet Barrow claiming that he has to make up rules because he is “worried” about the safety of his slaves). ~Megan Tisdelle~ | Even though I’m sure Bennet Barrow claimed that his rules were expressions of his concerns and what not, it seems to me that he is merely trying to maintain control over his slaves. He says “The very security of the plantation requires that a general and uniform control over the people of it should be exercised.” Perhaps he is trying to make himself feel better by twisting it to sound like he is concerned about security. But in my opinion, many slave masters desired a constant sense of control. Having hundreds of slaves I’m sure induced a stressful lifestyle, so continuous power and rules probably had to be of utmost importance I would think. In this aspect, it makes sense why a sense of control was so important. But I think, as a psychology major, it goes deeper than that. I think that many slave holders genuinely knew that what they were doing was wrong, and that they incessantly tried to justify their actions through distortion and denial…(in this case, Bennet Barrow claiming that he has to make up rules because he is “worried” about the safety of his slaves). ~Megan Tisdelle~ | ||
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| + | Barrow said that you should try to make slaves feel as if they were at home and provide them with essential needs to make them happy but Barrow seems to do the opposite of this. He limits their social activities when they are done with their work and even controls their marriage issues. He said he gives his slaves good meat and clothes twice a year, and other iteams as allowance. It seems as if he believes that he is very generous. So, I guess other masters didnt give their slaves much. He also said they you should make a slave feel dependent on you but it seems as if it is the opposite. The white people seems more dependent on the slaves. He sees a plantation as a piece of machinary and slaves are the parts that make the machine run smoothly. Therefore they are dependent on the use of slaves. ---Eun Yi | ||
== Nat Turner – from ''Confessions of Nat Turner'', 1831 == | == Nat Turner – from ''Confessions of Nat Turner'', 1831 == | ||
