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Slave Families

In essence a female black slave was more important to a slave owner typically more then a male was because the female could create babies which would equal more slaves to the slave owner in years to come, meaning the female slave was a bigger asset then a male slave typically was. .
             Unfortunately in that time period the slave owner was usually in control what happened in a slave marriage. According to White, "Marital relationships were also multifaceted, but still very much dependent upon the compatibility of the personalities involved. What made slave male-female relationships unusual was the influence and power of the slave owner" (142.) The slave owner power was so powerful among a slave marriage, the slave owner could send the slave male far away from his wife in order for him to work. This practice of marriage was called marrying abroad. According to White, "if a man married abroad it meant the he wouldn't see his wife [but] only about once a week. The frequency of her husband's visits, however, was entirely dependent on the distance between plantations and on the disposition of masters" (154.) As stated above a big factor of a matriarchal marriage is when the husband is rarely present. The husband is obviously not present enough when he's married abroad. Surprisingly many of the slaves preferred marrying abroad. White stated in his book that it was easier for the spouses to deal marrying abroad due to the fact that they didn't have to watch their spouse being abused, and the husbands didn't witness their wives giving themselves up to the slave owners. White also stated, "abroad marriages usually contributed to the independence of women from their husbands. If men were not always present to fall back on, women were compelled to develop methods of dealing with domestic responsibilities and crises" (154.) Because women had to deal with all the responsibilities and crises that usually entitled them on taking almost full control on their children.


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