I am surprised that many historians writing on the slave period in America
fail to acknowledge the existence of these narratives as evidence of the other
side of slavery. I will have to reread John Hope Franklin's work to see if
he mentions it.
Let us not forget the possibility that slaves were conscientious and worked
hard out of a sense of duty and gratitude rather than fear. I get this sense
from Ira Berlin's Generations of Captivity. Moreover, three squares and a
place to live is some incentive as well. The true story is obviously
somewhere between Heaven and Hell.
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