Nice slave owners?

Question

I would like to know of anyone who has concrete references to prove that there were some, albeit few, slave owners that actually treated their slaves with kindness? Desperately need to know to win a bet!

I thank you all for your responses. I never stated that I felt slavery was right or nice. I had just heard that some slave owners treated their slaves with kindness. Not necessarily for altruistic reasons, but as some said to help enable the profitabilty of their plantation. Even nowadays, we know their are mean bosses and nice bosses, and the nicer bosses have less turnover and better morale. I would be very pleased to hear more opinions.

Answer 1

read a U.S history book that talks about slavery

that's the only proof i can think of
and there were nice slave owners

Answer 2

I have read accounts of slave owners who treated their slaves with kindness. But, this was a misguided type of kindness. These slave owners still thought of their slaves as child-like beings who must be told what to do. They still had very few personal rights and were not free to make their own decisions about anything. Families could still be separated arbitrarily as the owner saw fit. The slaves were still considered chattel by these owners. I guess you could call these owners the best of the worst. There were some owners who even granted freedom to their slaves when it became apparent that the south would not win the war. Not because they felt it was right, but because it was inevitable.

Answer 3

Try checking info on Robert Carter III of Virginia.

He freed his slaves, or had them freed after his death. This was started 72 years before the Emancipation Proclamation. I think that constitutes treating them with kindness.

The following quote from the website below:

"But Carter, deeply influenced by the new anti-slavery ideas of the Baptist Church, became convinced that slavery was "contrary to the principles of religion and justice," court records say.

At that time the Abolitionists Movement was beginning to emerge, and in 1782, Virginia passed a law allowing slave owners to free slaves under certain conditions.

"He acted at the only possible moment he could have," said John Barden, a Duke University historian. "He probably could not have done this 10 years before or 10 years later."

Carter arranged that no more than 30 of his slaves would be freed in any one year. The youngest would be freed when they reached 21, those over 45 were freed immediately. Under these terms, slaves were freed annually up to 1812, eight years after Carter's death.

These individual emancipations were recorded in county courthouses near his plantations, but Carter's act essentially was a private one. And it was not popular with other slave owners who feared unrest.

"He was viewed as a traitor to his class," said University of Maryland historian Ira Berlin."

Answer 4

I suppose kindness is an odd way to answer this, but for the time the slaves that were taught to read and write and small freedoms was considered a great kindness for the time. Even more of a brutal answer is that a lot of slave owner never abused their slaves for they were the workers that brought the money to the plantations, etc. If the slaves were brutalized they physically wouldn't be able to earn their owners money.

Answer 5

Spend teh money wisely.

Quoted from http://www.cstnews.com/Code/Slavery4.html

It is also true that slavery was wrong even when the slave owner was kind, thoughtful, and benevolent. All slave owners were not haters or sadistic tyrants. Most of them were average businessmen who needed workers. It was not good business to mistreat a worker. Dead slaves couldn't work! In fact, some slave owners were thoughtful and kind.

Some slave owners saw the wisdom in taking care of their slaves, even encouraging marriage to the extent of giving them a house, a plot of ground, and household goods. A slave with a family, home, garden, and some farm animals would be less inclined to rebellion than others. Slaves were not worked from daybreak to sundown. The January 1979 issue of Natural History reported that "Slaves spent their hours away from the field doing household chores, making handicrafts, hunting, and fishing, cultivating their own food, and entertaining themselves with dancing." Archeological research at slave cabins in Georgia and Florida reveal that some slaves even had firearms!

Answer 6

Try the slave narratives. There probably were a few who were kind, who thought of slavery as a necessary evil; after all, manpower and hand tools were all they had to produce a crop. I've often thought that slavery would have become unprofitable with the advent of the industrial revolution and invention of mechanized farming equipment. however, as "kind" as a slave owner might be, the basic inhumanity negated any kindness, in my opinion.

Answer 7

well i don't have concrete references but there has to be some! i mean come on not everyone has a heart of stone lol.

o here you go!!

There were nice slave owners who did not hurt their slaves,so many slaves did not run away. The nice slave owners knew that if they were mean, the slaves would run away and the work would not be done on the plantation.

that was from this site...http://library.thinkquest.org/5643/sppe.htm

Answer 8

General Robert E . Lee and General Jackson

look up the civil war and the lives of these two generals who were slave owners with lee letting his go free and he did treat them with kindness

Answer 9

usually smaller slave owner (poorer than the minute elite) who had less than ten slaves treated them better than on the plantations. not sure if it was pure kindness, as much of the south believed in the idea of white supremacy during the time, but the were nicer

Answer 10

Any working parent knows that their children are just slaves until 18. If you never got an allowance but had to do chores around the house that would qualify as slavery. And considering that most parents are good to their kids, this qualifies.