The Slave Community Essay

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John. W. Blessingame, The Slave Community: The Plantation Life in The Antebellum South (Oxford University Press, Inc: 1972, 1979). John Wesley Blassingame was a scholar, historian, educator, writer, and leading pioneer in the study of American slavery. He received a bachelor's degree at Fort Balley State College in 1969, a master's degree at Howard University in 1961, and a doctorate at Yale University in 1971. He then became a history professor at his alma mater in 1974 at Yale University. He was a professor of history, African-American studes, and American Studies for 29 years. His repatoir of books that he has written and published include: The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South, Black New Orleans 1860-1880, …show more content…
The next chapter, chapter five, discusses the runaways and rebel slaves. The author talks about different rebellions that occurred on ships and on the plantations. He discusses that the slaves did have hopes of escaping but some were unwilling to leave their families or fearful of the consequences of being caught. Blassingame shows many examples of successful rebellions and runaways but points out that it was never easy and there was always a high price to be paid. Chapter six about the predictions that the slave owners had about the behavior of the slaves, in other words stereotypical slaves. There were three basic stereotypes: Sambo, Jack, and Nat. Jack was the faithful slave as long as he was well treated, Nat was the rebel slave who was vengeful and savage, and lastly Sambo, the faithful and loyal slave. In closing the chapter, the author points out that the characterization of these types of slaves shows more about the slave owner's personality, rather than the slave. The seventh chapter discusses the plantation and the everyday life of the slave. The author discusses the different roles of the slaves and the varying degrees of labor upon each slave. The slaves were flogged into submission and from an early age their mastered indoctrinated them with the "power of whiteness". The reality of every day life on the plantation for slaves was a harsh and cruel one. The last chapter discusses the variety of personalities of the
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