'Slaves loved their masters': GOP women's club president defends lawmaker's pro-slavery comments

[raging moderate]

10. Slaves were FORCED to PRETEND to love their "masters."

Last edited Tue May 4, 2021, 09:14 AM - Edit history (1)

The so-called "masters" forced the slaves to pretend to be stupid, adoring, mesmerized subhumans while somehow performing much better than the so-called "masters" did. Solomon Northrup documented this horror in his book about being kidnapped into slavery: "Twelve Years a Slave." This was obvious to visitors who came to the slave plantations from outside the delusional shell inhabited by this woman's ancestors. The deliberate torture, starvation, and brutalization were also obvious, and that is why the Abolitionists increased in fervor and influence. In fact, Ulysses S. Grant and other writers mentioned how they tended to identify more with the slaves because, back where they had grown up, in a region with NO slaves, EVERYBODY PROUDLY did physical labor unless they were extremely little, sickly, or crippled. One man wrote that he got thinner during his plantation visit because he could hardly choke down any food in the presence of the obviously starved, beaten, disfigured people who were bringing the food to the table. When he got back to his home state, he launched a series of lectures at many churches about the evils of slavery. Abe Lincoln had a similar background, and he seems to have had a similar reaction, once he learned how brutally the slaves were mistreated. It should be mentioned here that these self-styled southern "Bible Believers" VIOLATED the directions for slave-owners laid out in the Hebrew scriptures which they PRETENDED to revere. There actually were a few people with decent reading comprehension skills who tried to combine Biblical principles with slave "ownership," but following actual Bible directives made for unusual outcomes. There were the so-called "owners" of Elizabeth Keckley, who became an independent seamstress and dressmaker employed by Abraham Lincoln and others, and she later wrote a great book about her life. Mrs. Keckley had a brutal childhood with her first "owners," but finally wound up in the home of a decent family where she slept in a bed, ate at the table, and was helped to develop her skills in readng, writing, math, and fine sewing. They treated her like a young relative who simply pitched in with the chores. (Which, when you think it over, is actually what she was.) A few years later, when she fell in love, they threw a wedding for her with a minister and a wedding reception. Elizabeth Keckley seized her chance to repay their kindness when they all fell terribly ill for awhile. She got neighboring families to pay her for fine sewing, and she used the money to buy food and medicine for everyone. When they were well, they helped her to get her emancipation papers. After the war, Mrs. Keckley went back to stay with them for a long visit. She stayed with them as their guest, and THEY waited on HER, as was right and proper. THIS WAS NOT THE TREATMENT GIVEN TO 99.99% of the people enslaved in the United States!