Henry,

You are not misundertanding anything. You are quite correct. The "myth" I
refer to is mainly from patrons to the Mary Ball Washington Museum &
Library. A good portion of our patrons are of African-American descent. One
of our recent patrons is a Ph. D and it was his opinion that slaves were
fed nothing but cattle fodder for food and slept on the ground. I had to
disabuse him of this notion and idea.

Slaves were a very valuable commodity. And the fact they were human beings
with salvable souls did not go ignored. This is why they went to church
with the whites, albeit they sat in the balcony. I am not about to
apologize for slavery. What I will do is talk about how it existed at the
time frame in question (1835-1865).

The human condition is in continual flux. But if  I have learned one thing
over time, it is this: people are people and behave accordingly. The only
thing I have reported upon is the records in Lancaster County from
1835-1865. That is an admittedly limited area and time frame. I do not
profess to be an expert on any other area or time frame. I can only report
what the records from this county in that time frame telll us.

Craig Kilby

C 

> [Original Message]
> From: Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 7/31/2009 10:27:16 AM
> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] slaves
>
> Craig Kilby writes that "Contrary to some popular myths about slavery: the
> accounts of  estates are replete with expenses for clothing, food, medical
> care and burial expenses for slaves. . . . The picture this project has
> painted is one of relative harmony. . . "
>
> But there is no myth-puncturing here. It was routine for owners to pay for
> their slaves' clothing, food, and medical care.  To me this doesn't
suggest
> unusual harmony but routine maintenance. 
>
> Perhaps I misunderstand the posting.
>
> Henry Wiencek
>
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