As with any group, there were differing personalities, some deciding on work motivations for one reason, some for another. Resignation, or knowing which side their bread was buttered on [trying to be practical], a subservient personality, a generous personality determined to rise above their circumstances in a moral sense, or one who resisted with every last fiber of their being. Many overseers, tho, seemed to have been especially brutal men who, it is my guess, had deeper issues they took out on their captive charges. The type still exists today [see: Abu Ghraib, rogue cops, the rape of the Iraqi girl and murder of her and her entire family]. Nancy ------- I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. --Daniel Boone On Mar 1, 2007, at 10:21 AM, Basil Forest wrote: > 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. > <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now > offers free > email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at > http://www.aol.com. > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html