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Slavery and the African-American Male
By Jerrold W. Roy, Ed.D.
ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT ASPECTS OF SLAVERY was the role of the African-American male. As husband and father, he was virtually emasculated by the slave masters. Many slave owners refused to acknowledge the union of slave couples as legitimate marriages. In Chapter 10, verse 9, of the Gospel of Mark, it reads, “What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Although a number of owners allowed their slaves to marry as Christians, they did not always recognize the sanctity of such as marriage.
The threat of separation was an ever present one for slave families. Slaves were considered property, and were bought and sold as such. Many slave owners would use the threat of sell to keep slaves in line. Slave couples were often sold away from each other to punish one of them, or simply to make an example of them; to let other couples know that it could happen to them. Children were often used as a pawn, to prevent parents from rebelling. It was not unusual for a child to be sold as punishment for something her mother may have done. Slave fathers tried to keep their families together, but for the most part, it was out of their hands.
The husbands and fathers seldom had any control over their own families. They were often not in a position to provide for their wives and children, with most provisions coming from the owner. The role of protector was also difficult for them to assume. An untold number of these men were forced to stand by helplessly as their wives and daughters were raped by countless white men. When the overseer decided to use the whip on one of his children, there was little the slave father could do to stop him.
“They made the most of the
time they had together . . . they didn’t know if or when one of them would be sold away.”
Realizing the precarious nature of slave unions, many slaves decided not to marry, rather than risk separation. If they opted to marry, the men would often prefer a woman on another plantation. This way he would not have to watch as she was sexually abused, or otherwise mistreated. In his autobiography, Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibby, An American Slave, Bibby writes,
“If my wife must be exposed to the insults and licentious passions of wicked slave drivers and overseers; if she must bear the stripes of the lash laid on by an unmerciful tyrant; if this is to be done with impunity, which is frequently done by slaveholders and their abettors, Heaven forbid that I should be compelled to witness the sight.”
Oftentimes slaves had little or no control over if or when they could marry. Some masters even selected the mates for their slaves. It didn’t matter whether or not the couple was in love, or if they even like each other. In Herbert Gutman’s, The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom: 1750-1925, Rose Williams describes her master’s reaction when she refused the advances of the slave he was trying to mate her with,
“Women, I’s pay big money for you and I’s done dat for de cause I wants you to raise me chillens. I’s put yous to live with Rufus for dat purpose. Now, if you doesn’t want whippin' at de stake yous do what I wants.”
Gutman also gives an account of a planter in Nelson County, Virginia, which offered a slave twenty dollars to give up his wife on another plantation and take a wife on his place. The child’s status was generally determined by that of the mother. So, whoever owned the mother owned the child. For this reason, most slave owners wanted their slaves to marry someone on their property so they would own any children created by such a union.
It should be noted that a number of slaves attempted to protect their wives and children. W.H. Robinson writes in, From Log Cabin to the Pulpit, that his father said he “lay in woods eleven months from trying to prevent your mother from being whipped.” There were instances where whites were killed by slaves for sexually assaulting their women, but they were few and far between. The woman usually had no choice except to give in to white men. They realized their husbands were likely to be killed trying to protect them, so they tried to keep it from them whenever possible.
This inability to provide for and protect his family was extremely difficult for the African American male during the institution of slavery. In spite of the obstacles, they were able to maintain a semblance of family. There was a division of labor within the slave household, with the woman being responsible for cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children, and the man providing whatever he could to supplement what the slaveholder has given them, in addition to doing any repair work around the quarters. Although he was not in a position to protect his family, they still respected him as husband and father. They realized the position he was in, and did not want him to do anything that might cause him to be sold, beaten, or killed. Although the slave family was often fragmented, it was nonetheless a strong family. They made the most of the time they had together because they didn’t know if or when one of them would be sold away. They willingly assumed the responsibility of raising the children of slaves who either died or were sold. In spite of the ever-present threat of separation, these African-Americans were often able to instill a strong sense of family among the slave.
Dr. Jerrold W. Roy is the Associate Dean of the School of Education at Norfolk State University.