If you were living under slavery, what would you have done?

Some slaves had it much better than others, it really depended who their master was and what their position on the plantation was. Some slaves had it better than the average laborer in the North. Other slaves were literally treated like animals, endured cruel punishments, and were forced to work under inhumane conditions like chattel on what was basically large corporate plantations, where the overseers would try to extract as much profit out of their property as possible.

Those who ran the plantations would often use manipulative methods to keep their slaves tied to the plantation. They would intentionally try to get them to form a family and have offspring. No woman would run away and leave her 3 children. They could threaten to sell one of the little ones away if the woman misbehaved. A male slave could be denied access to his wife for several months as punishment.

But we also read of other instances where masters who had inherited their estates would treat their slaves almost like family. Domestic helpers generally had it better than laborers in the fields. It was a paternalistic form of system, and those on the bottom end often got treated like children.

 

What does "own someone" mean? Do you know what it's like for many people in the prison system?
Some prisoners are still required to do involuntarily labor, to a lesser or greater extent. You might read a little about the injustices of prison labor in America.