Master Slave Relationships

Master and Slave Relationships

     Master and slave relationships can vary from a kind master to a brutal master.  For example, an unnamed run away slave said that he would be punished for not smiling or joking like the other slaves would because he looked like he was plotting something.  However, there were slave owners like William Ford, who was kind and felt pity for slaves, but felt that he could do nothing because of the world that he lived in.  Now, from a slaves point of view, all slave owners were bad except in a few rare cases.  However, some slaves judged there slaves from either their experiences of other masters, or witnessing the cruelty or kindness of other slave owners from a far.  Slaves were never allowed to show their hatred for their master, because they would be brutally punished if they did so.  Relationships between slaves were almost always for survival, such as if a slave were to talk about freedom, other slaves would get mad.  This is because they would think 'Why me? Why did I have to become a slave and not them?'  Slave owners would lie to free black people and slaves saying that this person ran away from their master and are now asking to go back because they are dying of starvation.  This was to scare the slaves into not even thinking about the idea of running away.  What was the reason for telling a free black person that runaways would suffer if they left?  Where would a slave owner learn the idea of feeling sorry slaves? And would there sympathy extend farther then words?

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/enslavement/text6/masterslaverelationship.pdf