The SlaveholderBy Micky Cook

The Eternal fate of the

Slaveholder

The system of slavery left slaves broken down and robbed of their freedom. For the slaveholder, it left them with blood stained souls and often robbed them of their humanity.

The environment made the slaveholder a violator of freedom, a criminal of humanity that history will forever condemn. They functioned this way in ignorance of the great moral infection that sprouted within them, it blinded them. If color is completely removed from the circumstance of slavery, what is left? Who is to blame? Is it the people or is it the system? A binary system that demanded obedience from not only slaves, but slaveholders. Like a binary star system, each feeding off and destroying the other as gravity takes its toll.

Of the two sides, who was worse off in the end? Who’s condition was more negatively affected? Which side left without their soul? The slaves were robbed of their freedom and life, but maybe what the slaveholders lost was much worse. They were afflicted with a much more sinister force. A force so subtle that with a shallow analysis of Slavery, and a quick judgment upon Slaveholders as just bad and cruel men, it would remain, dormant and veiled behind over simplifications and the illusion of time, waiting to strike again.

The Foundation

As mathematician Edward Lorentz first discovered, any system is sensitively

dependent on its initial conditions. The initial conditions of slavery trace back to

a study in Sociology, the concept is known as In/Out group dynamics. An

ingroup is a social group to which the dominant culture psychologically

identifies as being a member. The outgroup is the social group in which the

dominant culture does not identify with. The dominant white culture was in

need for labor due to colonization of new territory. The solution was to enslave

Africans and various other out group members. This led to a dependence on

slave labor, an addiction. What resulted was an Economy that needed this

labor to sustain. This system promoted the dehumanization of the slaves in

order to satisfy the morals of the people trading in human chattel. In this way

racism is born.

Legislation Of Slavery

Legislation of slavery was carried out through various “Slave Codes” that gave

legal grounds and guidelines for the enslavement and ownership of slaves.

Among these was the South Carolina Slave Code of 1740. The document

provides a legal definition of who can and can’t be considered a slave. The

transcription of the document states that “the people commonly called

Negroes, Indians, Muattoes and Mustizoes, have been deemed absolute

slaves, and the subjects of property in the hands of the particular persons”.

This is the legal foundation of the slave system. This legal document uses

symbolic keywords that are the elements that make up the theoretical chains of

slavery.

South Carolina Slave Codes

of 1740 Important Keywords:

Absolute Slave-Legally subject to being enslaved for the term of their life.

Negroe-Eligible to be enslaved, bought and sold.

Person- Not a slave. Eligible to be the owner of a slave. This term is never used to refer to a slave in the document, only the slave owner or other persons involved. The legal diction of the document implies slaves are not considered to be “persons”. (This was determined by analyzing the keyword in its relative context by plugging the document into voyant.com.)

Offspring- Legal basis for breeding slaves. Affective in dehumanizing slaves through law. “and all their issue and offspring, born or to be born, shall be, and they are hereby declared to be, and remain forever hereafter, absolute slaves, and shall follow the condition of the mother, and shall be deemed, held, taken, reputed and abjudged in law, to be chattels personal”

Implications of the Slave

Codes

The Slave codes became the fabric of the slave

trade. All legislative slave ownership and trade can

be traced back to this form of legislation.

This can be seen in an analysis of the Bills of Sale of

slaves.

The Deed: 10 different Bills of Sale plugged

into voyant.com and analyzed. All Bills of sale were transcribed by this class and accessed through http://transatlanticwriting.com.

Bill of Sale 20 slaves

Bill of Sale for Susan

Bill of Sale to S. M. Hagerty November 5, 1847

Slave purchase receipt dated August 1, 1836

Bill of Sale, October 30, 1843

Bill of Sale S. M. Hagerty, August 1, 1836

Bill of Sale, November 18, 1837

Bill of Sale, November 10 1834

Bill of Sale, September 30, 1831

Bill of Sale, November 23, 1841

Bill of Sale Keywords via

Voyant

0 5 10 15

Life

Hand

Present(s)

Person(s)

Assigns

Named

Column1

Word Count

Legal diction of the

Contracts

Life/forever- Period of time the slave is to be bound to the purchaser.

My- First person representation of authority needed to render the contract valid.

Hand- Establishes the buyer/seller’s free will upon entering into the terms of the contract. Also symbolizes the possession of authority.

Negro- Establishes that the person being bought/sold is eligible for enslavement in accordance with the definition of an “Absolute Slave” as stated in the Slave Code.

Present(s)- Solidifies the validity of the contract through evidence of witnesses.

Hereby/date- Designates when the contract is to be understood as valid.

Named- Identifies specifically the slave(s) to be transacted.

*Heirs*- Transforms the Bill of Sale into 2 simultaneous legal documents. Has the purpose of making the contract an extension of the buyers will. It ensures the purchased slave(s) will remain a part of the buyers estate even if he or she should die.

Determining the Validity of a

Contract

Based on the S. C. Slave Codes, each contract must contain 7 pieces of evidence to be fully supported by law:

1. Establish the individual(s) being purchased as an Absolute Slave.

2. Establish that the buyer/seller has the authority to make the transaction.

3. Establish the length time the contract will be valid.

4. Designate when the contract is to become valid.

5. Witnesses to evidence the authenticity of the contract.

6. Identify specifically the slave to be transacted.

7. Establish that the buyer/seller are completing the transaction of their own free will.

How the Law upholds the Slave Contracts:Contracts completely blue contain all 7 pieces of the needed information to establish validity. Bill of Sale of Susan and

Bill of sale Nov. 18, 1837 both fail to establish the individuals being purchased as Absolute Slaves in accordance with

the South Caroline Slave Codes. The individuals are named but never classified to be any of the following:

Negroes, Indians, Muattoes and Mustizoes.

Thecontracts that contain an extension to the buyer’s will are signified with the term “Heirs Clause”

0123456789

Heirs clause

Weakness in Contract

Strength in Contract

The Eternal Contract

After a brief study of the system and the type of environment the slaveholder was born into, maybe a better understanding of them can be attained. These legal documents are remnants of a horrific system. They were written in a language designed to make the sale of a slave as legally binding as possible. Each contract meant the enslavement of a person or persons, condemned to a lifetime of forced servitude. Some of the contracts contain the word “forever”, what the slaveholder failed to realize is that the person he was purchasing would not be bound forever. Death freed the slaves from these contracts. But not even death can free the slaveholders from these documents. At the time, the bills of sale bound the slave, but today they serve a different purpose. From over 170 years ago, these contracts make the trip across time and space to be viewed by anyone anywhere with internet access. They remain digitally preserved indefinitely. Today society can view the slaveholder in his error and ignorance, he is condemned, and history may forever see him as a black mark on humanity. These witnessed promoters of human chattel could never have imagined that their names would one day be available for all to see and remembered as criminals of humanity. To be the shame of their own descendants. The slaveholder’s name, pride, and legacy destroyed by his own hand. If there was ever any doubt of this take on current society’s view of racism and by default slaveholder’s, Los Angeles Clippers owner David Sterling has recently facilitated a convincing survey in support of this opinion.

The Slaveholder through the lense of

Frederick Douglass in his Autobiography My

Bondage, My Freedom

“The Slaveholder, as well as the slave, is the victim of the slave system. A man’s character greatly takes its hue and shape from the form and color of things about him. Under the whole heavens there is no relation more unfavorable to the development of honorable character, than that sustained by the slaveholder to the slave.” (72) This quote from Douglass is an excellent foothold in which to begin to understand the nature of the slaveholder. It presents the notion that maybe the slaveholder was a type of unconscious slave. That the system enslaved all its participants. Just in a different way. For example Douglass goes on to say “this treatment is part of a system, rather than part of the man.” (74). This is in the context of slaveholders cruelty. Additionally, Douglass’s great ability to understand is invaluable for the study of Slaveholders. “this exemption from toil; this life of ease; this sea of plenty; aye what of it all? Are the pearly gates of happiness and sweet content flung open to such suitors? Far form it!” This unease is exhibited throughout the text and others in the course in many different ways such as: violence, general unhappiness, jealousy, and many more. This could be evidence of an unconscious or possibly conscious inner turmoil within slaveholders. That maybe they retained a little of their humanity, and some part of them rebelled at the system they were in. These are signs of hope for the Slaveholder’s soul.

Warning: Scenes from the past

are more alive than they appear

Although it is easy to judge each and all slaveholders, they too suffered. A slave’s solace lay in his mind. Slavery robbed him of his freedom, but his mind and soul could never be chained. Many a slaveholder found their limbs free but could take no peace or solace in their mind. Slaves lived in a eternal night, but this allowed the light of their minds to shine bright. Slaveholders lived in eternal daylight, that suppressed and poisoned their soul, like too much radiation exposure from the sun. All that was left of them was a material man, powering a material system. It’s ironic that this metaphor corresponds with skin color. The clash between light and dark is prominent throughout mother nature, hopefully it has finally been resolved to human nature. The condemnation of Slaveholders is easy, but unfair and unwise. The goal of these ideas is not to suggest that the Slaveholder was innocent of wrong. The point is to avoid judgment by understanding his environment and the forces that conspired to create the scene he was unfortunate enough to be born into. To avoid systems like slavery now and in the future, this type of analysis is mandatory, or else humanity risks repeating the mistakes of their ancestors. Weather or not people can understand, it could have been anyone alive today born into that system, being bought or being the buyer. The Slave System should not be viewed as an error that was made in the past but an error to avoid in the future. The human race has evolved so well in part because of the unique ability for pattern recognition. History should always serve to reveal and eliminate negative patterns. It should serve the purpose of examining and elevating human morality higher, and as a result, extend empathy and understanding to all. No matter how undeserving they seem at their surface.