Slavery in Colonial America

Typing slavery Virginia "eighteenth century" into Google books turns up lots of good leads. This one in particular may be the kind of thing you're looking for.

Keep in mind that mammy characters have a long and uncomfortable history in literature and film. One way or another, you're going to have to grapple with that stereotype.

Ariella hit on what was making me a bit wary with this question. Be very careful to research the time period carefully, and from different perspectives. Don't rely on anyone on a message board or forum to tell you what is and is not realistic. You need to do that research yourself so that you make sure you get it right.

I have to say, that just adding in a mammy character, as you described, is hardly showing all the sides or even really showing what it was like to be a slave in that time. So, I'd caution against trying to "encompass all view points during the Revolutionary War." it's nearly impossible. Instead, think long and hard about the story and showing the realities of the time, for different people.

But I'd be a little nervous if the primary face of the slaves was a lovable and loved mammy character. If you are going to try to incorporate a view of the times from the perspective of the enslaved, I'd try to show several, but to be true to their perspective, not what we wish their persepctive could have been or choosing a palatable one.

Do your research. A lot.

~suki

History Gal, there is a ton of material available about slavery in the antebellum period--later than your time period for sure, but plantations often continued to function in similar ways from the Revolutionary War right up to the Civil War.

It sounds as if you've read Gone with the Wind, and if not, then do so; the book is quite different from the movie, and though Ms Mitchell had a major social agenda going, she did a lot of research and she created a wonderful society filled with many of the things you can't avoid when you talk about slavery: pride, greed, racism, honor.

Also, I would recommend Uncle Tom's Cabin if you haven't read it already. Keep in mind that Mrs Stowe, too, had a major agenda and that she was accused of being innacurate, having never lived in the South.

Some slave narratives you might want to look up:
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs [very interesting telling of the plight of an enslaved woman and all it entailed]
Incidents in the Life [Frederick Douglass]
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano [brought over on a ship from Africa, closer to your time of reference]

I would also suggest Fanny Kemble's Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation. Fanny was a British actress who married into a slave-holding family. She visited Georgia for a short period in the 1830's and wrote her reactions. Georgia's Sea Islands are quite different from Virginia, but some of her reactions to slavery and some of the incidents she records might be of use to you in constructing the world of Virginia c. 1770-1780.

Also, you might want to search out some tracts from the 1850's or so that defend slavery. You want to understand some of the arguments they made, especially if you're going to write about slave owners. BUT (and it's a big but) keep in mind that attitudes in the 1840's and 1850's were much more entrenched than in the 1700's. In the late 1700's, it looked likely that slavery might die out naturally, and most were in favor of that. By the 1850's or so, slavery was defended as a positive good. Slavery was essential to the Cotton Kingdom, which grew up in the early 1800's, and abolitionists were beginning to threaten that. Ergo, attitudes became more radical.

Slavery is a VERY complex issue. You need to look at it from several perspectives: that of the slave, the slave owner, and opponents of slavery. Remember, slave owners had their motivations, too. Many thought they were actually doing their slaves a favor .

I'm trying to grapple with the slavery issue in the 1850's in my own WIP. That's why I've got so many sources on the top of my head!

Specifically about mammies: a lot of children were handed over to slave nurses. Their parents of course would have ultimate supervision over the children, and the mammy might have been little more than someone to keep the kids from falling into the fire or drowning. But many slaves developed real affection for the families they served, and vice versa.

I'm seeing a few basic issues with your premise, starting with the Tory vs. Patriot loyalties within the family. You can't handle this lightly, or have anyone "sort of" on a side. It was like the Civil War, opinions ran very deep and often ripped families apart. Tories in Colonial Virginia were in very real danger--there are accounts of people being tarred and feathered for refusing to sign an oath declaring their loyalty to the Patriots. Remember, Virginia was the heart of the Revolution...what's going to happen to your Tory? He might do okay if he keeps his mouth shut and turns spy, or if he flees to a more Loyalist state such as New York, or retreats to England. But if he stays in Virginia and is outspoken, he's going to bring wrath down on his home and family.

Meanwhile, what about the Patriot stepmother and brother? There were a lot of women's issues during the period, as they were forced to make tough decisions between supporting their husbands and doing what they thought was right. How much of a Patriot is the brother? Will he leave the family to join the Revolution? Will he stay home and try to protect the family from the wrath of the Patriots, even if he fundamentally agrees with the Patriot sentiment?

On the topic of slavery and mammies: I agree that the "mammy" like you're thinking of simply didn't exist. Slaves were not people, they were property. Certainly a master could become fond of a slave and vice versa, but there were lines that people simply didn't cross. A slave would be far outside a) her knowledge and expertise and b) her "place" giving advice about boys or friends or fashion. Slave relationships were extremely different from upper class white relationships. The "mammy" would not have any knowledge of the intricate workings of the social world in which the girl lived, and if she did, she would never dream of letting on. Likewise, no matter how fond your mc is of the slave, she is going to fundamentally see her as "different."

Remember the scene in Pirates of the Caribbean when Elizabeth's servant commented that Will Turner was a fine man? Elizabeth rebuked her with "That was too bold," and the servant girl immediately apologized, stating that she realized it wasn't her place to comment. Different time and place, but same general idea. No matter how "close" they might be, the slave would never become a mother figure.

Have you been to Colonial Williamsburg? I spent the summer there doing some research. I strongly recommend that you pay them a visit and talk to the reenactors. They've done a ton of primary research to make everything historically accurate and, while you'll want to do your own primary research, I found the reenactors and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to be a gold mine of resources and useful tidbits. Good luck! It sounds like an interesting story, if you can get the nuances right.

I wouldn't disagree with any of that, but, in reference to allegiances that were "sort of" one side or another, some people's alignments were quite malleable. Although many Tories and Patriots fought for idealistic reasons based on the type of government they supported and their opinion of British policies, others just went along with whichever side seemed most likely to benefit them financially, socially, etc. And, of course, some number switched sides, sometimes repeatedly.

This may have been more true in places closely divided between the two factions like in NY City or some frontier regions of NY, PA and the South (including the region providing the setting for my WIP). I'm not sure but my impression is that VA's Tory minority was much smaller than that in those areas. But just thought I'd throw out another angle.

The range of possibilities is so broad in a lot of historical topics that a novelist has only to adhere to the credibly plausible in designing their story, not necessarily to what was likely. So, in my opinion, if someone somewhere was doing what your characters are doing in the same time and place (or reasonably could have been), it's fair game!

Also remember that during the period of the Revolution (and earlier), there were indentured servants as well as the "usual" slaves. These were white people who, for whatever reason, were sold as servants for a certain amount of time (7 years sticks in my head) and were treated no differently than slaves. IIRC, it wasn't an uncommon place for an Irish peasant to find themselves in.

It's one of those bits of our history that gets ignored, IMHO.

I agree completely that many people's positions were driven by financial and social gains, absolutely. And it is, of course, true that some switched sides more than once. But my impression is that in VA specifically, due to the small size of the Tory minority and the fervor of the Patriots in that state, everyone sort of got caught up in the hoopla. Lines were drawn in the sand, and it wasn't too easy to remain in the middle...so even if you were going along to get along with a particular faction, you were instantly tarred with the same brush applied to the most fervent members of that faction.

That said, MTP makes a very good point...surely even in Virginia some people were, or could have been, playing both sides, trying to stay uninvolved or selling their loyalties to the highest bidder. It could certainly make for some very interesting storytelling... just be aware that the furor going on outside the walls of the home would have a very real effect on the entire family, regardless of where their sympathies ultimately lie.

Oohh, great point about the indentured servants. From what I understand, they had the most difficult status of all. Slave society was fairly well structured and, while entirely unacceptable by modern standards, it did provide a certain amount of community support. But indentured servants didn't really have a structure or support network of their own. They were treated like slaves, yet expected to go out and fend for themselves when their indenture was up, but didn't really have a whole lot of resources to make that happen.

You'll also need to do year by year research on who was considered a slave. Slave status was passed down by the father at some points and by the mother at other times, and it changed pretty rapidly back and forth. So if you have any mixed-race children, their status was constantly in flux.

Making all of this even more complicated is the fact that there was a reasonably large population of low-income and working class whites and free people of color. And slaves were sometimes allowed to get a side job for some spending cash. So you had a great deal of mixing between the races and classes, much more so than in the later antebellum period. When you're showing varying perspectives, don't forget about the common shopkeeper or the free black man who is barely eking out a living...where do their loyalties lie, and why?

Did white families have a woman slave that cared for the children? I just thought that the mistress of the plantation was always busy.

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I don't have the time to look this up right now, but I believe younger slaves (about 10) cared/watched over small children. Older/stronger slaves would be used for more productive work. Yet, as always, every situation was different.

Also, I agree with this comment:

BUT (and it's a big but) keep in mind that attitudes in the 1840's and 1850's were much more entrenched than in the 1700's.

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While writing in this time period--revolution--you should be very aware that laws, perceptions, slave value, etc...were very different than pre-civil war.

Day O' said:

I don't have the time to look this up right now, but I believe younger slaves (about 10) cared/watched over small children. Older/stronger slaves would be used for more productive work. Yet, as always, every situation was different.

Also, I agree with this comment:



While writing in this time period--revolution--you should be very aware that laws, perceptions, slave value, etc...were very different than pre-civil war.

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I'm agreeing with myself I guess, but this is very important to remember. A lot of the changes had to do with the rise of King Cotton. In the late 1700's, the cotton gin had yet to make the production of cotton especially by slaves as profitable as it would be in the antebellum period.

Also, you might want to consider George Washington's Mount Vernon. I don't know where you are, but it might be worth it to visit, and if not I'm sure you can contact the people there about slavery on the estate. Actually, Mount Vernon is gorgeous and is worth a visit no matter what, but you might get a lot out of it research-wise, too.

I would also recommend reading Marcus Rediker's The Slave Ship for background information. Sounds like a fun project!

I apologize for seeming contrarian, but if you want historical accuracy, you should avoid anything from the 1800s when discussing slavery in the 1700s. The early 1800s included some major changes to the nature of slavery in response to slave uprisings, changing social attitudes, and the like. Also, during the 1800s, the plantation structure itself changed somewhat, as did the regional concentration of slavery. Stowe and Douglass are talking about mid-1800s slavery.

I'd suggest reading Landon Carter's Uneasy Kingdom for a more 1700s view. He was a patriarchal Virginian slaveowner who was born in 1710 and died fairly close to the revolutionary period. I'm not an expert on the Revolutionary War itself, but I know there are plenty of works about slaves during that period. (Oh, and many slaves fought for the British against the colonists in exchange for their freedom, so that might be an angle you could explore.)

oops. i thot Slave Ship was 18th century. My bad.

I'm also working on a historical fiction novel set in Virginia in late 18th century. I grappled with the same issue and have been cautioned to avoid the stereotypes many have mentioned here. One book (oddly enough) I found dealt very realistically with the slave issue and gave a diverse viewpoint was "An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves and the Creation of America" by Henry Wiencek. Although it deals mostly with the Washington family slaves, it also touches on the divergent views of how 18th c. slaves were treated in a very realistic way and sites historical documentation to back all claims. It was not all sweetness and light as in Gone with the Wind nor was it all hardship and brutality as in Roots. In my novel I'm striving for the balance that realistically shows what it actually was and called by in its own day - a PECULIAR institution. I applaud your effort to do the same and glad to hear I have a like minded history buff out there.

History_gal said:

I mean I know it's not like in Gone with the Wind, but I do feel like people must have had some sort of relation with the slaves, mainly the ones that lived inside of the house. I have heard of the white children playing with the slave children, and slave nurses caring for the owner's children. I mean you LIVED with these people, surely you would have some sort of feelings for them.

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My advice, again, is to do your own research - painstaking research, using credible sources - so that you can defend your characterizations, whatever they are.

~suki

I do feel like people must have had some sort of relation with the slaves, mainly the ones that lived inside of the house.

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Absolutely, check out the Washington book I mentioned before. There is a case sited in the Parke-Custis family (Martha Washington's first husband) where a man actually wanted to disinherit his biological white son in favor of the half negro son born from his slave mistress. It caused quite a scandal then, but now is a little known historic fact. There were many dichotomies involved with slavery and yes, sometimes the children were raised alongside each other in a very bizarre type of family. People were as individual and different then as now and in an intimate family situation, I don't think any of us can judge from our perspective what actually went on.

In my novel (which is also based on historic people) slave owners find a way to keep slaves in the free state of Illinois in the early 19th c. under the guise of "indentured servants." This also is a little known fact. Do your research, you will be surprised at what you find. Search out primary sources such as runaway slave ads in historic newspapers too. They are very enlightening and give detailed descriptions of slaves and what they wore, indicating many dressed far better than what you'd expect.

History_gal said:

The opinions I wanted to get from this time period were: Loyalist, Patriot, and slave.

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Slave? What about the many free African-Americans who fought on both sides. What about the free African-Americans who actually owned African-American slaves? As this was the last era when indentured servitude figured prominently, what about the immigrant population reduced to voluntary servitude for the sake of a passage to North America?

From what I remember slavery during the Rev wasn't as entrenched as it was after. So I agree with everyone else that beliefs towards it would be different. Prices of slaves were not has high, there were indentured servants to do the work, slaves could be freed by their master and some even bought their freedom(though not many)

Plantation mistresses were busy, but they did work alongside their slaves. They weren't up in their bedrooms sipping mint juleps and complaining about the heat. I think thats why I am so fascinated by the plantation mistress/ female slave relationship. They worked together. They lived on the same plantation, miles away and isolated from other plantations. Slaves were raped by their masters..the mistress' husband. Sometimes they bore his children. The mistress knew this. Both women were trapped. Both were suppose to hate each other. Both needed each other to survive.

As for your mammy question, I have no answer. The biographies I have read were house slaves and the life of field hands. I cannot recall any "mammy" bios(that doesnt mean they aren't out there).

I would do what a few others have suggested and focus on plantation mistresses lives. That is the best way to learn what was going on. Although I wonder, would a plantation mistress allow a slave to take care of her child when an educated, perhaps poor gentlewoman could be the nanny?

Although I wonder, would a plantation mistress allow a slave to take care of her child when an educated, perhaps poor gentlewoman could be the nanny?

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Slaves were often entrusted with the care of the plantation owner's children. Case in point, when Thomas Jefferson went abroad to France as an ambassador after the Rev War, he sent for his youngest daughter, Mary, who was accompanied across the ocean by the slave girl, Sally Hemmings. Sally was only a teenage girl herself at the time but was a last minute substitute for another slave woman who was originally supposed to accompany Mary. Sally is the girl who later becomes Jefferson's mistress and, allegedly, bears him several children. I've not seen a lot of evidence that the "mammy" of the later period existed in the colonial days, but at various times, trusted slave women were indeed put in charge of the children.

Another historic example would be Tituba of Salem, Mass in the late 17th c. She was a Caribbean slave who taught the Paris girls and their friends how to tell fortunes which sparked the notorious Salem Witch Hunts. A peek into these two incidents indicates prior to the 19th c deep south, slave women were sometimes an integral part of the raising of white children.

Slave? What about the many free African-Americans who fought on both sides. What about the free African-Americans who actually owned African-American slaves? As this was the last era when indentured servitude figured prominently, what about the immigrant population reduced to voluntary servitude for the sake of a passage to North America?

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Exactly! this was a transitional time period, so many viewpoints and lifestyles abounded. Though no matter how characters are portrayed, someone will shake their head and say, "It never happened like that" or roll their eyes and say, "This is all so cliche." You can't win so ultimately do your research and just write the best story you can.