Women In The Plantation

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History 034 17 April 2013 The World That is Against Them The hardest, under-appreciated workers on the plantation fields of the antebellum south were the females that remained vulnerable under their masters. Slave women in the antebellum south were forced to protect themselves against the forceful will of their masters and mistresses. They received zero help from the silent black males that were present amongst the plantation. The males were silent because the males located on the plantation were incapable of providing help and afraid to go against the rule of the master. Through the pains of bearing a child, working in the fields, and supporting their family, it is understood that the female role amongst the plantation never failed to provide…show more content…
Women worked similar jobs as the males within the plantations. Males were not the breadwinners of the families; therefore, the females and males both together had to provide food and shelter for their families. Gender roles were somewhat disregarded until the pregnancy of the woman came into the picture. “Gender norms in the quarters, therefore, tended to recognize black men and women as equal partners with similar abilities”. White plantation owners placed this equality amongst females and males because it allowed for a faster and greater production rate on the plantation. Beyond working in the fields for success of the plantation, females would also have to harvest and cook food for their families. Their families became second to the master’s task. To provide to both their families and their masters’ was an issue that many females’ slaves struggled with. Females wanted to please the master, but also wanted to make sure their family had the necessary tools to be content. As you can see females did not take much of a break throughout their maturing process. By continuing to exert the amount of energy they did, it is said that this construct inherently made black females enduring than most. It was then allowed to create a prominent, tenacious figure amongst whites and blacks to be the icon for the congregation of black…show more content…
The one positive that did come out of being a female in the antebellum south, was the deception of illness and pregnancy utilized by many females amongst the plantation. Females would say they were sick because of pregnancy; that would allow females to receive less work because masters cared about the new incoming beings that these slaves were going to reproduce. The masters cared greatly for the pregnant women, and female slaves understood that. Some masters became intelligent to the extent of how women were abusing the illness excuse, as a reason to lay off work. Masters gained methods that contained the facts of females would not be able to lay off unless their illness was accompanied by a fever (Ibid., 82). Females attempted to abuse this part of the master’s mind because it was the subtlest way of rebellion amongst the plantation. “Perhaps the most important difference between male and female slave resistance was the greater propensity of women to feign illness in order to gain a respite from their work or to change the nature of their work altogether” (Ibid., 79). Rebelling in this fashion allows for the females slaves to not endanger their children, and it would be safer than if the female slaves ran away or tried one of the more dangerous
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