Female Slave Experiences

Female Slaves and Their Experiences For both African men and women, slavery was a devastating event. Many were taken away their families and were forced into labor. Both sexes were subjected to degradation; both physical and psychological, and were denied basic rights. Slaves were beaten and whipped, separated from their families and were viewed as property in the eyes of the law. However despite the similarities between the two sexes, there were many differences. Women were treated far more worse than their male counterparts. The male slave was considered to be more valuable. They were stronger and this was what a slave owner looked for in a slave. “The first slaves to be brought to the British colonies of North America were disproportionately

Since most of the robust men were on sugar plantations in the West Indies, many American plantation owners resorted to buying female slaves as they were cheaper and more readily available. In Georgia, “Since planters reserved artisan positions for male slaves, the majority of the field hands were female,” (Georgia Encyclopedia). More than half over the work force on the plantations were women. On plantations women would do jobs that less masculine. If there was a fence to be built, male slaves would cut the wood while female slaves would construct. Both being equally difficult. However on small farms, women and did the same jobs. These jobs were harder for females since they weren’t as strong as their male counterparts. And because of this, females would be punished for what was considered slacking off in the eyes of their masters. Female slaves did not just work on plantations and farms. “The diversity of labor in which female engaged, from working on rich plantations in South Carolina to hiring out as seamstresses in Atlanta,” (Catherine M. Lewis, J. Richard Lewis) Female slaves were put to work very often to do jobs that would only benefit their masters. Many female slaves had to work alongside of the threat of

For example, many argue that since male slaves had harder jobs than female slaves that means that they suffered more. This is not true since female slaves were weaker than male slaves as it is biology. And in many cases female and male slaves did the same or very similar jobs on their plantations. Others may argue that male slaves were also sexually assaulted by their mistresses. “there is considerable documentation of white women coercing black men into having sex ,”(Allian). However considerable is not regular as “Slave women were forced to comply with sexual advances by their masters on a very regular basis,”(Bowdoin). Although there were male slaves that were sexually assaulted by their mistresses; female slaves were sexually exploited more often than men as it and many complied hoping that this