Voices of the Enslaved

• Chapter 3 discusses adolescence, young adulthood, and soul values in the context of enslaved people in the United States

Average Appraised Values

• Average appraised values for enslaved females was $517
• Average appraised values for enslaved males was $610

Average Sale Prices

• Average sale prices for enslaved females was $515
• Average sale prices for enslaved males was $662

Abolition of the External Slave Trade

• Effect of abolishing the external, African slave trade in 1808 gave impetus to slave breeding and trading among enslavers
• Some enslavers purposefully protected their slave breeders and traders

Auction Practices Described

• Enslaved people were lined up for buyers to examine their "good points"
• After negotiation and payment, buyers would take them home as property

Joseph's Auction Described

• An abolitionist witnessed the auction of 149 enslaved people in New Orleans
• The lot included Joseph, a 17-year-old field hand
• The bid caller praised him as a "young blood" who was a dancer, prayer, and potential minister
• Opening bid for Joseph was $1,000, but the caller suggested he was worth more
• The price increased to $1,400 as interested parties made eye contact with caller
• Despite the caller's attempts to raise the price, the enslaved Joseph was sold in five minutes

Perspective on the Auction

• No direct testimony exists as to Joseph's response to being sold with 148 others from the same Louisiana plantation
• The enslaver, in this case, retired from planting to pursue a political career
• Witnesses said the enslaved stood "upon a platform, similar to a funeral pile erected for martyrs," holding on to their last embrace

Study of Valuations

• Examining the valuation of the enslaved during puberty and young adulthood, (ages eleven to twenty-two)
• Significant changes in the lives of girls and boys during this period

Maturation

• Girls became women after the onset of their menstrual cycles
• Defining moment of maturation as harbingers of additional sources of labor
• The process of maturing led to an increase commanded high prices in the market
• Enslaved women were valuable because they could be sexually exploited and forced to reproduce

Realization

• Enslaved children experienced the separation they had feared all their lives, as daughters and sons were often taken from their parents
• The external value of their bodies increased, and market scenes made sense and haunted those enslaved
• Enslavers could not commodify the spiritual value of their immortal selves, as kin reminded the enslaved of their self-worth
• Enslaved youth developed "soul values" which were reinforced by loved ones
• Inner spiritual centering provided spirit, voice, vision, premonition, sermon, ancestor or (a) God that facilitated survival
• Puberty saw maturation of a "freedom of the soul"

External vs Internal View

• Edward Walker expressed feeling ground down by working for another, feelings that were not encouraged by parents but came from within
• Walker learned to read/write, and developed a "big taste for arithmetic"
• Walker's inherent yearning, and belief in his incalculable soul value led to his successful escape years later

Religion

• Some believed in a Christian or Muslim God, others relied on African/Caribbean/Brazilian philosophies such as Vodun, Santeria, & Candomblé
• Some enslaved people appeared to have no faith or did not comment on it
• Enslaved people's religion can be traced through testimony and behavior

The Afterlife

• Notion of an afterlife was extremely important for some
• There was a place beyond the here and now for redemption from captivity
• Some dreamed that place was Africa, or heaven

Value of Adulthood

• Adolescents reached sexual maturity and [became] capable of reproduction
• Puberty brought forth the importance of their increased commodification
• Their bodies garnered outsiders' interest, especially of enslavers & medical who sought to maximize profits.
• Puberty sometimes meant more challenging health issues
• Enslaved people confronted death during these years
• Young women died giving birth, while young men experienced shame/lack of arousal from forced sex

Familial Bonds

• A father and 12 year old son were once auctioned
• A lasting stare occurred that both knew might be their last
• A valuable paternity was immersed in father son tears and silence
• Some enslaved children have memories of fathers fighting to keep their families by using what little funds they had to keep their familial unit together

Purchase

• It was extremely difficult to purchase themselves
• Some were successful in gaining freedom
• The people were considered to have multiple values and interests and were often premature

Manipulation

• Bowery lived with her young daughter & twelve-year-old son Richard and grew worried for him in the maturation
• Approaching realization and a sense of their place in the world, Bowery brought all of her money to Mistress McKinley
• McKinley would not let her "have my boy."
• She would then one day return with daughter crying saying "Richard's Money" ,she pointing to money on the lap
• Perhaps she could not fully process where Richard had gone or why he had left, but certainly she recognized that her brother's absence meant McKinley's cash -McKinley looked Bowery in the face and said "Yes charity and i got a great price for him!" Bowerys young daughter knew money represented her broother

Valuation for Life

• Ages between between eleven and twenty-two were the prime fiscal and reproductive years of an enslaved person's life
• During the years of eleven to twenty-two, slaves knew they were both people and property
• Johnson writes, "They were taught to see themselves as commodities
• Johnson says they viewed their own bodies with "two different lenses"
• Former Slave stated they were the "chattel principal" and others underscored this idea
• Teenagers were slaves in the South
• The enslaved clearly had their own values and beliefs.
• People were made to work for their benefit until they reached full power

Internal Ideations

As soon as a slaves reached intellectual fulfillment, the person felt it unfair to not be a salve, people looked to take their liberty if they given the chance.

• The story is told that they made their way to Canada and found safety and a true life
• The story also says that the abolitionists collected the stories of people to fight back
• Enslaved people rejected their status for running away and other violent crimes
• After 15 , they could not be free because the could not be free.

Term

• "I had started from my den that morning for ""liberty or fo death
• After they arrived in free places, they could work, acquire land, and gain time with the families
• Letters allowed people to see how people wanted freedom and that it moved people to fight for the "slave

Slavery and Grades

• Enslaved humans were graded and the conditon of their healt was determined
• Grades ranged from A1 prime and other grades
• The grading was that of usda meats today
• Abraham started the usda after meatpackaging

Terms and Paperwork for Selling to Enslavment

• Even In the high end of commodification, young adults would hold internal value
• When enslaved they valued love
• As their values disrupted there transactions " ""Her menses are irregular and ortherwise fully guaranteed""
• Many conditions that have led to this were not able to let the slaves have a normal life

Doctors and Enslavement as correlated

It wa often asked questions such as does climate impact the onsent of puberty

• warmer climates would lead to peroids
• People were often described as bareen because they could not have children

Harriett Vs The Boys

Boys like what she saw , after she had seen all The sexual value of the boys got higher Slavery was reinforced and then that was that Women and men had the hands of men and women of every rank

Medical

Doctors classified what made someone "unsound" And there was always questions What did you mean by soundness and unsounded and what about there reproduction

Mentstruation

Women were taught private development, and older women were more protected They have kept population and sustained it during they have a baby The gygycnology went out and worked good When the doctor was working in that condition they all were there

Womens Rights

Her people made many postitions to test if they could have kids, and would always test their hormones. Now her peole knew after every action and that was that. At the end, some people would just make their own choice.