Women and Children Slaves in Africa and New World

Women and Children Slaves  in Africa and New World: The women was the man focus for African slaves due to a women’s ability to carry children, housework, cook and take care of men sexual needs.  In the New World, the focus was men due to the labor that men provided, but usually they focused on boys about to turn into men because they could be bought cheaper.

When looking into slavery in women and children, I think the two things that surprised me most is that slave owners in Africa, some were women and married slave men, the men continued to be slaves and work and the woman had additional slaves for other purposes, but she would use the women slaves to gain favor, pay off debts and etc. with exchange of sexual trades. She ran it like a business.

The other, thing that surprised me was that the most sought after slave more than women was a man that had his genitals removes. The survival rate after the removal was only 5% post-surgery, they could manage the house, but the man didn’t have to worry about the slave using himself as means to reproduce, seduce or other means with women in the man’s house.

Where and When  did the property of slaves change from African slaves to African Cattle (Human) for profit? Some history facts I found,  my previous post discussed the Swahili.  While the Swahili, changed and started to did treat their slaves like cattle, and it carried over to the new world. The resulted in a different stigma of slavery in the New World than what was in Africa. The Stigma that remains today it from the treatment that the citizens during that time took part in with slavery, slaves where less than human.  The dehumanization that took place here is far worse than slavery in any other country. Slavery might have been banned and outlawed, but the weight of what happened here still affect how we see, view, treat, and interact with people that are different than our own race. Even if you are a person that has multiple races, you face being separated from groups that are within your own race; even called half-breed; comparing you to still not being fully human. Being an activist for equal treatment, you really have to look outside your own perspective to understand inequality, racial separation, stereotypes, and white privilege. While Africa’s slavery was not race related, ours was and the stigma is still here. Unless we confront the past honestly, we can never move forward honestly. At this point, I hope and dream that instead of having 5 boxes to check your race when filling out applications, registration, and other forms; we just have one: Human Race.  Instead of additional boxes to say we are European-American, African-American, Latino American, Native Indian, and Pacific Islander American: We just replace that with American(US Citizenship)  or Visa (Non-US Citizenship).  Ido not see an end to Slavery or as you say, Human trafficking. The Atlantic Slave Trade was not the only human trafficking in history and in the future. In 2008, the United Nations estimated nearly 2.5 million people from 127 different countries are being trafficked into 137 countries around the world. Do you see an end to 2.5 million people and over a 31.6 billion dollar industry? Did you know that Human trafficking is the number one fastest growing criminal activity, and the second highest to drug trafficking?

Women to Men ratio of who they desired for genders was 2:1, is only in Africa. It was not the same in the New World. Men out weighed Women as the desired slave gender to have.

Now what about the children in the New World, that same from Slave Masters? This was the most information I could find without additional history repots that are hard to come by.  So what happened to the children? Where they sold, kept or killed?  In dealing with children, that would depend. Children of Slave owners had to deal with state slave codes, but basically any one of even 1/16 African blood was considered black and thus could legally be enslaved. My knowledge and experience in studying different backgrounds are contracted. Once again, Men outweighed women in the United States. But, women were sexually assaulted and that resulted in having children. The slave master could do and did several different things. He sold the children, not wanting to be reminded of his behavior and most men did have wives that would lash out at the women and children that the master had his inappropriate behaviors with. Women were beating, locked up and treated by the wives horrible,

The following passages sketch the nature of the master-slave relations, and their consequences:

"Maria was a thirteen-year-old house servant. One day, receiving no response to her call, the mistress began searching the house for her. Finally, she opened the parlor door, and there was the child with her master. The master ran out of the room, mounted his horse and rode off to escape, 'though well he knew that [his wife's] full fury would fall upon the young head of his victim.' The mistress beat the child and locked her up in a smokehouse. For two weeks the girl was constantly whipped. Some of the elderly servants attempted to plead with the mistress on Maria's behalf, and even hinted that 'it was mass'r that was to blame.' The mistress's reply was typical: 'She'll know better in the future. After I've done with her, she'll never do the like again, through ignorance'" (Stanley Felstein, Once a Slave: The Slaves' View of Slavery, p.132).

But, that is just one example. Some master would have the children work in the house not in the field, and in some situations the children were sent north (mostly boys) to live free. Boys were sent north to live as free due to it was inappropriate for girls to fend for themselves. Children were slaves, and often treated, kept and sold as so. The value of a child would depend on size, weight, health, and how fast or slow you need to get or get rid of it. Sadly, like livestock.

But, if you were born into slavery regardless of who your father was, you were a slave until your master (sometimes your father) set you free.  So the life of a slave owner, who was the father, depends on what he chooses to do.

There are some rare cases, like Great Grandma Anna, who is said that after the master wife died, and he sought her out. She was an attractive young girl, and the master was smitten by her, she was his housemaid. After the wife was gone, she got pregnant by him. She went on to father 11 children by her master. She lives inside the house with the children. Inside the house, she was the women of the house. She ran the house. Outside the house, she was just the housemaid, no power or say so. It is said that, they loved each other and live together for years until he passed away. But, like I stated before this is a rare case, but it is tracked and written down in the family history book to be passed down to future generations.

Most slave family’s history show some trace of having white master’s children in the blood line. It was wrote somewhere, can’t remember the exact spot, but min 10% of the slave population by the civil war was bi-racial children from relationships from Slave masters and slave women. I would cite this, but like I said, I can’t remember the exact source this is from; so it should be noted that I can’t prove this for a fact just sharing an opinion.

Slavery in Africa Different than Slavery in New World

What was the nature of slavery in Africa? How was the stigma of slavery in Africa sometimes different in African societies than in the New World?
The nature of Slavery would depend on the period in time frame that you looked at in African History. Slavery had existed in Africa before it came to the New World. To relate it to our studies, Baqt was unique to the Muslim world because it recognized that Christian Nubia was sovereign and exempt from the land of faith and land of the ememy. The Baqt bought peace and stability to the Christian Kingdoms of Nubia. But, it came with a price. Each year, Nubia was to deliver 360 slaves, men or women no children or old to the Baqt.  This ended, due to Islam and the Nile River limited access affected the contract. 300 yrs. Christian fought off Muslim seeking control.
Slavery had been exported from East Africa for 2,000 years. Slaves were part of trade; considered merchandise to be traded for money or to satisfy debts owed or Labor.  Salt production was in the Sudan, and was managed by the demand of Salt consumption. Slavery was a natural part of agriculture, iron, trade, religion, and ethnicity.  Kings controlled the sale of slaves, as he did ivory and gold.
Slavery took flight to new heights when the Indian and Atlantic Ocean worlds evolved by the nature of the oceanic trade into city-states not smaller patches of land.  Trade and Commerce kept the lifestyle of these city-states inhabitants being a dominated form of life; being supplied goods and slaves; left profits. Swahili Society was a big producer to support the ocean trading of slaves.
Swahili’s had profited hugely by slave trading. They had a system. Slaves shipped overseas were treated as chattel and thought of use like animals. Slaves kept on the coast, were divided into recognized categories of servitude from labors to trusted retainer.  Females were used as concubines, field hands, and domestic use for owners.  Former Slaves could never become full members of society.
This was the stigma that I think impacted the attitude that affected what people of outside cultures came to look or view the slaves that were traded oversees; this is my personal opinion not fact.
The stigma in Africa was that societies and cultures recognized slaves merely as property, but others saw them as dependents that might be integrated into the families of slave owners. In Africa, when you had slave owners and slaves mostly were black, even though they were from different ethnic groups. They were thought of as means to enhance the status of the slave owner. Many African societies believed and practiced those children of slave owners by their slaves could not be sold or killed. The outlawing of slavery did not erase the pain and stigma of having been a slave. That being people traded for good or service among people of Africa. Not being a full part of that society. Many descendants of slaves were affected by this stigma for generations after slavery was abolished
In the New World, the stigma coming from two groups Arab Muslims and Europeans; was different.  Slaves were considered property but not similar to that of Africa; dehumanization and cruel treatment was different than slavery in Africa. The furthered dehumanizing effects of chattel slavery in two ways, made people view Africans slaves less than a complete person. Also, it allowed slaveholders more influence in Congress while still alienating black people throughout the United States. This stigmas has continued to affect the divided of Arab, Europeans, Africa ancestry in current and future generations, even though we are all American born; we are still divided.
George Washington with His Family and Personal Valet, 1796 Domestic Servants & Free People of Color
 
One feature of slavery in the New World was the fact that slavery became "racialized," that slavery played a role in how people understood white and black, slave and free. Why would slavery in the New World be racialized while slavery in Africa would not? The "racialization" of slavery and the way that slavery played a role in how people understood white and black, slave and free.

New World; Virgina (New World Agriculture & Plantation Labor)
My personal opinion is that when we looked at the way the Swahili’s had profited hugely by slave trading and there system of how they treated Slaves shipped overseas as chattel; I think this carried over into the New World and started the first treatments of Slavery in dividing people by color of skin.
Chattel is Property; Personal property, movable or immovable, which is less than a freehold; for example, a book, a coat, a pencil, growing corn, a lease. But, the New World took it as a form as not a book or coat but animals; In fact, animals were treated better than slaves. America, slaves were not treated equal. Unlike Africa, children and old could be sold, murdered or dehumanized in various forms of cruelty. They didn’t have the rights to marry and faced separation from family. The had not rights as a citizen or could move to obtain that status after rights were revoked in Jameson; stating that after 7 years slaves would be considered free.
In The Negro, African American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois discussed the devastating effects of slavery on family and community life: "The greatest social effect of American slavery was to substitute for the polygamous Negro home a new polygamy less guarded, less effective, and less civilized."
Handbill offering cash to "all persons that have slaves to dispose of... (Slave Sales & Auctions: African Coast & the Americas)
Another difference, is in Africa women were the main focus of slave ownership; outweighing the men in a ratio of 2:1; where in the a New World men were the main focus of slave ownership due to strength and ability to heavy intense labor. The slave labor in the New World was crucial to the economic life of that on the colonies. The treatment of Slaves in the New World transformed Africans practices of slavery. Slavery in Africa became a more central, organizational component of African life.

Shows the reaping of the sugar cane; black fieldworkers, white oversee Plantation Scenes, Slave Settlements & Houses