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Introduction
Chapter 7 of the book presents the slave culture from the perspective of the negroes. The life of the negroes who were slaves revolved around their family and their master’s family. On more occasion than one, their own personal family life was sacrificed for the cause of their master and his family or even, country. The resistance to slavery seem to have been evolved from the culture and the way the communities interpreted the incidents happening around them. Naturally, the happening around them in terms of the slave culture which involved their own family life; their own love life and the rest of the social and cultural involvements, altered the way the slaves looked at life. And the way these people were enslaved made them to look forward to a place that had equality amongst them.
And this formed the roots of resistance in the hearts of the people.
Family Life
The family life of the slaves was a restricted existence controlled by the masters as the incidence killing of a boy by his mother reflects. The desperate nature of their own family life, is very well exposed. The family structure was grossly undermined when the slave owners chastised the slave in front of the slave children, says Berlin and Rowland (1997). The slave children were ‘reared’ by the slave owners rather than by their parents. The rules that governed the children were all brought about by the slave owners and this meant that the parents had little or no control in how the children grew up. The extent to which the children were educated or groomed depended on the attitude of the slave owners.
The legal structures in the society and power of the authority were all in favor of the slave owners. This is amply reflected by the incident on the death of the boy and later in the two runaway outlaws. The owners were interested in ensuring that they had their share of the people protected and their own interest taken care of, in the first place rather than any thing else. Since the masters played a very important role in the growth of the child and therefore, the family, the life of the slaves depended not only on their own parents but also on the mentality of their masters.
This made them to runaway from their ‘homes’ whenever they could find an opportunity. ‘Living in the woods’ as they called it, was something that every one had tried. But after seeing the tough life in the woods, they naturally had to come back home. Secondly, people who were not under a master were sure to get sold to another person. As the letter of Sargry Brown indicates, people try to save themselves from getting sold to a random person who could be pretty troublesome. Families try to live close by or with the same family. This is not something that is always possible. And obviously families had to live separate.
As the story of the Louisa and Archer Alexander show, they do have a close kinship that works for years. The family commitment and attachment is very clear and the kinship maintained among them is also shown by the letters inquiring about the various relatives. This is also reflected in the essay by Berlin and Rowland.
The family ties were existing closely. But they were being broken by the law and by the slave masters and owners. Naturally, such happenings were generating a great deal of ill will and a seed to fight against the injustice rendered to them.
Gender Identity
Though the earlier studies had claimed that the slave families are female centered, later studies and work have proved that the families are, as elsewhere, male centered. Males in the slave families found other means to ensure that their importance in the family is maintained. This is reflected in the essay by Deborah White. A closer analysis of the letters and the incidents presented in the Chapter 7 of the book also reflects the same idea. For instance, the letter from Sargry Brown indicates that she had been writing three letters requesting her husband to take care of her requirements. Obviously, this has been the practice in her household. The husband had to take the lead and take care of the wife and the children to as great an extent as possible.
Due to force of the situation that they are in, this was not always possible. The law of the land and the high handedness of the owners had a very important role to play in the lives of the males. As White points out, the masters also looked at the males of the slave households as the leaders and instructed them accordingly. All this indicates that the gender roles and identity were very well held by the slave families. This was also reflected during the civil war when the husbands took upon themselves the need to protect their families. This was seen in a number of places during the war, according to White.
Protecting their own families is a priority to every man. As White points out, the male in the family led the family to sow seeds or to plough the land. There was no question of who was the leader in the family. Though due to the domination of the slave owners in the way the family lived, it was still a problem for the male in the family to ascertain his position. This also led to a large scale differences and sowed the seeds of resistance. Certainly cultural changes and the community both black and the white, has an impact on the rise of the resistance.
The World-View
The slave families did have stories to tell their children. As Lawrence Levine points out, though their tales were not very focused, they were small and reflected the person’s view of the world. In most cases, it was found that there was a attack on the weak but the weak withstood by playing a trick on the stronger animal or person. On most occasions, the stories centered around the animals. This reflects the original concept of the researchers that most of the stories of the Afro-Americans could traced back or connected to African main land. There were similarities in their stories even though generations have passed through after their migration to Europe or America.
The nature of the stories seem to inform the listeners, even if you are weak you can over come the toughest and the strongest with your wits. This is reinforced by every story that is told over. In addition, it also indicates that the tough or the strong men always tried to subjugate and make use of the weak. The Lion would try to kill a goat, while the fox would try to pounce on a rooster. These are all natural occurrences of the strong against the weak. The stories reflect their world view and indirectly their own lives. However, at the end of the story they are indicating a positive opening for their lives too.
While the stories reflect the world view of the story teller, his own understanding on how and what is happening in the world, it is also morale booster for the people who are listening as well as to the person who is telling it. It is an indirect way of letting out his own thoughts and how one can get out of the impasse that they are in. It is only natural for the listener to believe that by using wit and appropriate timing, they could overcome their weakness and win over even the stronger opponent.
Conclusion
Hampered family life, weakened gender role and an understanding of what is happening around a person, would all ensure that the person would rise against it once the opportunity arises. It is important to note that seeds of any resistance movement are not just in one single person or one single incident. There could be a proximate cause to a movement. But then, the overall need of any large movement will be the involvement of a community. The black communities in the Americas were enslaved and the lives of the slaves were miserable enough. The community lived through this modifying and evolving to suit the situation.
They had acclimatized themselves to the family life that was existing because of a hostile legal system. They also evolved their own gender roles that got altered by the slave masters. This became the new slave culture. All this added to their woes. It was only natural, that they try to resist the subjugation that they are being put to. Apart from this, the community discussed between themselves in the form of stories. Stories reflected the thoughts of the community about the way they are being used. This also had a growing impact on the thoughts of the community as a whole.
Culture gets altered because of the changes in the community and the legal bindings that happen in them. Society responds to such changes. Those communities that find themselves in a losing position, generally try to rise and fight for their rights. This happens when the community slowly realizes its position and also tries to disseminate their thoughts across the community. This has happened in the Afro-American community resulting in their rising.
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