10344776 A Sly Paternalism In the antebellum South, the institution of slavery saw many changes from its 18 th century

predecessor. Conditions improved, rations increased, relationships changed, and many new quirks found their way into the parameters of slavery in the South. Peter Kolchin notes, as Southern whites grew increasingly committed to their peculiar institution and took measures to defend it, they also sought to demonstrate, both to themselves and to outside critics, its basic humaneness (and hence its defensibility).1 Slaveholders came in many shapes and sizes, which produced a plethora of tendencies and management strategies on the part of the master. Almost universally, though, there was a deep sense of obligation to and responsibility for a slaveholder's property, which included at its core his slave population. While one can easily interpret such attitudes as a caring, paternalistic temperament of owners toward their slaves, on a deeper level these attitudes were a purely capitalistic approach; slaveholders were in the business of maximizing productivity and profit, and an active interest in slave well-being often yielded the most profitable results. Simultaneously, such an approach provided slaveholders with an apt defense of their institution to its critics as well as a carefully crafted, meticulously executed facade of care and paternalism toward the slave, a facade which did much to sustain the institution of slavery while it faced heavy national criticism. Slaveholders went to great lengths to differentiate themselves from other figures in the slave trade. For instance the slave trader, one who makes his living through the purchase and sale of slaves to proprietors, held a far more brutish reputation than the proprietors themselves. In Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave, he says concerning the well-known slave dealer James H. Burch, He was about five feet ten inches high, of full habit, and, without prejudice, I must be allowed to say, was a man whose whole appearance was sinister and repugnant.2 Soon after his description, Northup recalls his

1 Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, 1619-1877 (New York: Hill and Wang, 1993), 94. 2 Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave (Dover Publications, Inc., 2000) 41.

animalistic torture at the hands of Burch, caused by his refusal to accept his position as a slave. Here is a man who beats and lashes Northup nearly to death, cruelly dealing in human property and propelling the institution of slavery forward from the inside, as the gears of a clock invisibly churn to accomplish their final, time-keeping result. This figure of the slave trade stands in stark contrast to the slaveholder himself, the father of the field and everything in it. When Northup describes a slaveholder examining he and his counterparts in a New Orleans slave pen, his tone is much different. He says of the man, There was nothing repulsive in his presence; but on the other hand, there was something cheerful and attractive in his face, and in his tone of voice. 3 The slaveholders accomplished a reputation of a much lighter, more paternalistic tone, and they did so by means of an elaborate, slow-playing deception of the American people and themselves, a deception Northup's contrasts in description clearly identifies. To the nation, slaveholders held that the institution provided ample care and protection to slaves, which made it justifiable to proprietors. However, the institution was a purely economic endeavor, and care (or reported care) for the slave simply encouraged and often increased productivity and profit. When James Henry Hammond wrote to his overseer, much of his instructions included language that provided and often demanded for slave care, respect, and protection. He remarks, There should be an increase in number, & improvement in condition and value of negroes.4 Hammond strongly encourages marriage among his slaves, as well as churchgoing behavior. To further paint the fatherly picture, Hammond spells out at great length slave rations (which constitute nearly a healthy diet) as well as apportioning gardening plots for additional food; he provides for rest periods for the sick; he wanes work hours for the elderly, pregnant, and young (placed into his Sucklers category); and he provides for holiday breaks and feasts for his slaves. Hammond even offers financial rewards to his slaves in leadership positions on Christmas day. 5 Such long, embellished language paints a warm picture for the American public, shining the best light 3 Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, 84. 4 From Manual of Rules, ms. [c. 1840/50], James Henry Hammond Papers, Library of Congress. 5 From Manual of Rules, ms. [c. 1840/50], James Henry Hammond Papers, Library of Congress.

possible on an obviously cruel institution, and is a polar opposite of the horrors of slavery's inside men. Proprietors were also very careful to differentiate themselves from Overseers, if indeed they employed one. Much was expected of the Overseer; Hammond's instructions are extremely intricate, requiring the Overseer to maintain and balance multiple schedules, constant tasks and activities, and endless guidelines for their task of managing and respecting the slave. Kolchin writes, Being an overseer could be a thankless task, for he was likely to be blamed for any of the countless things that could go wrong on a plantation.6 In an almost predictable fashion, proprietors across the South found problems with their Overseers. Perhaps the slaveholder subconsciously used his overseer as a failsafe, spelling out in his instructions how an ideal plantation might run, but leaving much of the dirty work management, protection, enforcement, punishmentto his overseer. In this manner, the slaveholder publicly absolved himself of any direct cruelty to the slave, allowing for his hired hands to practice it instead. Another gear within our clock of paternalistic slaveholding, the overseer was the short temper to whom the slaves had to mind. In fact, Northup's account of the overseer is one who regards almost no instruction similar to Hammond's: The requisite qualifications in an overseer are utter heartlessness, brutality and cruelty. It is his business to produce large crops, and if that is accomplished, no matter what amount of suffering it may have cost. 7 Through embellishment, feigned paternalism, and respected public reputation, Southern slaveholders did their best to shine a positive light on the institution of slavery, and such efforts helped to sustain the institution as it faced severe scrutiny from other parts of the country. However, slavery's mass production of agiculture was a capitalist's utopia as free labor produced pure profit. The facade of paternalistic propriety was as cool and polished as the suits of its slaveholders, but it was a facade built by ruthless capitalism, blind eyes turned, and hired hands who traversed and enforced the internal horrors of an inherently evil institution.

6 Kolchin, American Slavery, 103. 7 Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, 224.

Bibliography of Sources Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, 1619-1877 (New York: Hill and Wang, 1993). Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave (Dover Publications, Inc., 2000). From Manual of Rules, ms. [c. 1840/50], James Henry Hammond Papers, Library of Congress.