1. Master / Slave Partnerships in the Ante-Bellum Period
A New Paradigm
of Interpersonal Relationships
by: Dennis Kubicki

2. Slavery was overwhelmingly a brutal and dehumanizing institution
Forced expulsion
Deadly passage
Family separation
Marginal existence
Oppressive oversight
Hopelessness

3. The institution was diverse in scope
Plantations
Sugar
Tobacco
Industry
Mining
Forestry
City Trades
Small Farms

4. Small farms were a unique subculture
50,000 slaveholders owned 5 or fewer slaves
One family owned another
Common labor
Common recreation
Intimate settings

5. My thesis
The intimacy of small farm existence suggests a different interpersonal dynamic
Daily life for slaves on small farms was more benign than elsewhere
Master and slaves worked toward common goals…this effort termed a “partnership”
These partnerships can be characterized by friendship, shared values and affection

6. The life of slaves on large plantations was generally harsh
Long work days
Primitive housing
Limited clothing
Restricted diet
Uncertain future

7. House slaves offer a contrast
Less grueling labor
Variable housing
More diverse diet
Better clothing
Intimate contact with the master’s family …leading often to close interpersonal bonds

8. Can we interpret the contradiction?

9. What made small farms unique?
“Up in our country deh white folks hev no real big plantations like deh has heah. Some of dem has five or six n____s and deh lives and talks wid em and dey treats em most as if dem was dar own chile.”
Frederick Law Olmsted
“The Cotton Kingdom”

10. Mealtime activities stimulated close relationships

11. The experiences of children help explain future partnerships
Care for infants of both master and slave
Young children
Adolescents

12. The care of the sick and the aged strengthened relationships

13. Social events and religious observances strengthened bonds

14. Surplus labor offered mutual benefits to both master and slave

15. Excess capital could result in improvement to the lives of both families

16. The American Civil War manifested the master / slave partnership
80% of white southerners served in the military
Slaves underpinned the CSA wartime economy
Bondsmen contributed to the South’s defenses

17. My conclusions Institutionalized slavery was omnipresent
Unique conditions prevailed on small farms
These conditions led to an intimate and cooperative relationship between master and slave

18. My Principal Sources
Berlin, Ira. Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves.
Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Ante-Bellum South.
Franklin, John Hope, and Alfred A. Moss. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans.
Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made.
Horton, James Oliver, and Horton, Lois E. Hard Road to Freedom: The Story of African Americans.

19. My Principal Sources
Olmsted, Frederick Law. The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveler’s Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States.
Raywick, George P. American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology (Database on-line); available from:
Stampp, Kenneth M. The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.
Yetman, Norman R. Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writer’s Project, (Database on-line); available from: