Slaveholders as a class Flashcards
Planters lived well
Could afford good, clothes, food etc
Most slaveholders did not
Have large plantations
88% had fewer than 20 slaves
72% had fewer than 10 slaves
50% had fewer than 5 slaves
Few slaveholders had massive amounts of slaves
South Carolina had
The most slaves
Rice and cotton productions
Plantation locations followed the river
Meant goods could easily be transported
Slaveholders tended to live
In large comfortable farmhouses
Neo-classical mansions
Slaveholder diet
Meat
Fresh vegetables and fruit
Cake
Jams
Contrasted diets of the slaves
Plantation house
Home of the slaveholder and their family
Planters
Coordinated the house
Handed out rewards and penalties
Settled disputes between slaves and overseers
Planters attempted to expand production by
Buying more land and slaves
Planters were the
Tope of the economic social ladder
Planters were the master of
Crops
Money
The enslaved
Planters were the
Keystone of southern society
Believed they had the right to plant
Demands of the market
Lead to exploited land at the hands of the planter
Paternalistic master of the plantation view
The mistressof the house
Mistress was
Submissive to the master
In charge of the slaves
Responsibilities of the mistress
Tending to the sick
Tending to poultry
Creating clothes
Food preparation
Supervision of the domestic servants
Idea that the slaves were afraid of the
Monster the mistress could become
E.g Frederick Douglass experience with Mistress Hugh (originally she was kind but corruption of slavery meant she eventually became mean)
Mistresses didn’t challenge
Their duties (though diaries have suggested they disliked it)
Their place
Institution of slavery
Mistresses didn’t like the appearance of
Mixed-race children
Knew they were likely their husband’s children
