Regardless of how skilled a slave might have been or how much money  
they made, until they were free they were just property like a cow or  
a plow. Never said that it did.

James Brothers, RPA
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On Jun 24, 2007, at 17:27, Paul Finkelman wrote:

> in many places slaves were allowed (by their owners) to sell  
> produce and
> small farm animals (pigs, chickens) they raised themselves or fish  
> that
> they caught.  Masters also sometimes gave slaves money for extra tasks
> -- masters understood the notion of incentives.  But, none of this
> affected the reality that the slaves -- and everything they owned and
> earned -- ultimately belonged to the master.
>
> Paul Finkelman
> President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
>      and Public Policy
> Albany Law School
> 80 New Scotland Avenue
> Albany, New York   12208-3494
>
> 518-445-3386
> [log in to unmask]
>>>> [log in to unmask] 06/24/07 1:05 PM >>>
> I do not have a reference, but I remember being told during a visit
> to Williamsburg a few years ago that slaves provided many of the eggs
> and vegetables eaten in the town. And were paid for them. In the iron
> industry it was common at least in the mid 1800s for skilled slaves
> (as at Buffalo Forge or Tredegar) to be assigned a quota. After they
> fulfilled this quota they were paid at the same piece rate as the
> White employees.
>
> James Brothers, RPA
> [log in to unmask]