Slave Children In Slavery

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56%. This is the amount of child slaves accounted for by 1860. This was made possible because, the Transatlantic Slave Trade depended on the constant importation of native Africans to replenish the population. In contrast in the United States slave population quickly began to sustain itself through natural reproduction. The child slaves were viewed by their masters and society as valuable assets with a monetary value of their own and an investment for the future. It would seem obvious that such assets would be protected and nurtured if only for economic reasons. However, the living standards experienced were determined by the benevolence of the masters and the resourcefulness of slave parents. In the novel Kindred, this left many slaves traumatized …show more content…
According to the Life for slave children in 1861 article, “Infant and child mortality rates were twice as high among slave children as among southern white children. A major contributor to the high infant and child death rate was chronic undernourishment.” (Reeder, -Carolyn. Pg. 1) This was so because, slave owners showed surprisingly little concern for slave mothers' health or diet during pregnancy, providing pregnant women with no extra rations and employing them in intensive field work even in the last week before they gave birth. If they did survive birth they had to now fight the lack of nutrients and vitamins needed to stay healthy and in their case grow as well. According to Life for slave children in 1861 “Their average height at age three was shorter than 99 percent of 20th-century American three year olds. At age 17, slave men were shorter than 96 percent of present day 17-year-old men and slave women were shorter than 80 percent of contemporary women.” (Reeder, -Carolyn. Pg. 1) When everything is put into retrospect slavery succeeded in "stealing" a childhood. Despite slavery's hardships and brutalities, many slave children were able to experience something that we would consider a childhood. Children played with homemade toys, including improvised marbles and hobby horses. According to the 10 Games and Toys That Black Slave Children Used When Growing Up, enslaved children invented many sports we play today such as, racing, throwing, swimming, weightlifting and jumping. They also played “shinny,” which serves as the origin of modern-day
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