¶ … Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America, by Ira Berlin. Specifically it will contain a brief discussion of pages 93 to 194 of the book.

This section of the book discusses Slave Societies, particularly the Plantation Generations. It discusses the first blacks to arrive in America, who eventually assimilated into society, for the most part, and follows with the slaves that began to arrive. One of the most important aspects of this section is that it establishes the very peculiar social order in place on the plantations, including the violence that helped maintain that social order and keep the white masters safe.

This section also illustrates how the slave societies evolved over time, and how religion, family, and social conditions helped make many slaves at least a bit more comfortable in their servitude. It was also interesting to learn that many slaves, as artisans or other professionals, gained status over the others, and enjoyed some privileges that others did not. Often, when studying the slave hierarchy, the reader assumes all slaves worked in the fields or in the plantation house, but this history delves deeper and indicates there were even levels of society among the slaves, in their own version of plantation society.

Perhaps the most startling but understandable part of this section was the information on Indian slaves in the region of the Chesapeake, captured from the Tuscaroras, Yamasees, and others. That is a portion of U.S. history that is largely unknown, and it seems that more study and awareness of this issue would be extremely important and desirable. This is a portion of the country's history largely unexplored, and the people have a right to know this occurred and what the conditions were that Natives labored under.

References

Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press, 1998.