Section 3, cont.Punishment

Physical (Corporal) Punishment• Supported in the Bible• Essential to keep the paternalistic character of

slavery– Kept individual slaves under control– Used as an example to other slaves to keep control

• Caused other slaves to work together and protect one another

Louisiana Slave Displays Scars

In this 1863 photograph a former Louisiana slave displays the scars that resulted from repeated whippings. Although this degree of scarring is exceptional, few slaves were able to avoid being whipped at least once in their lives.

Source: National Archives and Records Administration

The Domestic Slave Trade

The Cotton Kingdom expands to the South and West

Upper South sells excess slaves to Lower South– 50% of Upper South slaves traded during

Antebellum Period– Many feared being “sold down river”

• many slaves in Chesapeake Region escaped

A Black Father Being Sold Away from His Family

This woodcut of a black father being sold away from his family appeared in The Child’s Anti-Slavery Book in 1860. Family ruptures, like the one shown, were among the more common and tragic aspects of slavery, especially in the upper South, where masters claimed slavery was “mild.”

Source: Courtesy of the Library of Congress

The Domestic Slave Trade

Traders operated slave prisons or slave pens– Baltimore, Richmond (VA), Charleston (SC),

New Orleans– Washington DC (one of the largest and near

the US Capitol) Slaves were chained or roped together

and then walked on foot in coffles

Slave Pen in Alexandria, VA (1860-1861)

Slave Pen in Alexandria, VA (1860-1861)

A Slave Coffle Before 1850

Washington, D.C. was a major depot in the domestic (or interstate) slave trade. This woodcut portrays a slave coffle—a group of slaves bound together—passing the Capitol Building in about 1815.

Source: Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Slave Block Where Auctioned Off, New Orleans (18)

The Domestic Slave Trade

This business was opposite of the claim that slavery was a benign institution– Description often used by slaveholders

Section 3 Essential Questions

Create an essential question from each of the headings we are studying:

– Punishment

– The Domestic Slave Trade

Section 3 Essential Questions

– Why was physical punishment so widely used by slaveholders?

– What was the domestic slave trade?

Section 4 – Skipping!

Section 5: The Socialization of Slaves

Surviving Slavery– Used folk tales (Brer Rabbit) to teach

children how to conduct themselves– Learned to watch what they said around

whites– Learned not to talk back– Learned to camouflage their feelings– Turned toward religion

Religion

Helped in coping Mid-19th century most slaves Protestant

– Biracial Baptist and Methodist churches• Racially segregated seating• Shared cemeteries and joined together in communion

Plantation churches told slaves “Servants obey your masters”– Preferred semi-secret black church

• Moses and deliverance• Emotional

Plantation Burial

British artist John Antrobus completed this painting in about 1860. It is named Plantation Burial and suggests the importance of religion among enslaved African Americans.

Source: John Antrobus, Plantation Burial, oil painting, The Historical New Orleans Collection. 1960.46

Section 5 Essential Questions

Create an essential question from the headings we are studying:

– Surviving Slavery and Religion

Section 5 Essential Questions

– How did African Americans adapt to life under slavery?