Meant By Term Slavery And How Did This Practice Increase A Slaves Likelihood Of Gaining Their Freedom

3. What is meant by "term slavery" or hiring out and how did this practice increase a slaves ' likelihood of gaining their freedom from bondage?

Being a slave for a particular period of time is what "Term Slavery" means. The idea for this was to allow more trained Slaves who were given the opportunity to travel to different parts of the country and/or live away from their plantation for work. Urban masters often let slaves purchase their freedom over a term of years to keep them from leaving. In Baltimore, during the early nineteenth century, this “Term Slavery” was gradually replacing slavery for life (Hine, Hine, and Harrold). Slaves Masters used "Term Slavery" to keep hardworking Slaves from leaving, but most managed to purchase their freedom after performing their required duties after a certain amount of years.
The Likelihood of a Slave earning his freedom was more likely because Slaves were able to make a living without the help of their masters.
Slaves could purchase their own food, clothing, and other essentials and some Slave Masters found it harder to control their Slaves due to the Slaves being able to provide for themselves. "Term Slavery" Slaves were not 100% free, but being able to take care of themselves only fueled their desire to become free Slaves. Industrial slavery overlapped with urban slavery, but southern industries that employed slaves were often in rural areas. By 1860 about 5 percent of southern slaves—approximately 200,000 people worked in industry. Enslaved men, women, and children worked in textile mills in South Carolina and Georgia, sometimes beside white people (Hine, Hine, and Harrold). The Slaves earned their ability to be free through paying a certain amount of monies and/or work
contracts.
Many Slaves took these routes to gain their freedom and many of them worked in very dangerous conditions, but the likelihood of the Slaves gaining their freedom was more likely. Being able to take care of themselves allowed some Slaves to work in neighboring towns and/or if this didn 't happen, then Slaves would flee to the Northern part of the country with the assistance of Free Slaves. "Term Slavery" wasn 't a guarantee to be a free Slave but it provided hope for all Slaves.

Works Cited
Hine, Darlene C, Hine, William C and Stanley Harrold. The African-American Odyssey. Vol. I. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2011.

Responses:
Good evening David,
I really enjoyed your forum post and it made me think about "Term Slavery" as hope for Slaves to be free. Do you think Slave Masters could be concerned about a Slaves not being loyal for allowing their Slave to work under the "Term Slavery" Conditions? I would think that if a Slave can now take care of himself, would that make a Slave Master uneasy. "Term Slavery" offered an opportunity for Slaves to be free after a certain period of time and I think this practice gave them a sense of purpose and the hope of being a Free Slave. Although the work was a bit more dangerous, the work was better paying and it provided Slaves with a great opportunity.
Again, great post!
-Winfred

Good afternoon Joshua,
Great forum post and I think you selected a great question. After reading about what "Term Slavery" meant, I actually thought it gave Slaves a chance to be free even more. Having a term limited allowed Slaves to see what their future holds and it also showed them the importance of independence. I have a question for you, do you think Slave Owners should be more concerned about Slaves not being loyal after allowing their Slaves to work under the "Term Slavery" Conditions? I would think if a Slave can now take care of himself, why would he feel the need to get help from somewhere else. "Term Slavery" Slaves performed very challenging tasks in order to receive their freedom, but at the end the overall goal was to be free.
Great job!
-Winfred
Good afternoon Kortnie,
I idea behind "Term Slavery" was a way for Slaves to earn their freedom in a certain amount of time. This practice actually allowed Slaves to see a brighter future because there was now a term limit on their services. The one question that comes to mind, by allowing Slaves to work under "Term Slavery," do you think the Slave Masters lost control of their slaves? Many Slaves made their own money and took care of themselves without the help of their Slave Masters and I could see this being a problem because they may feel threatened. What do you think were some disadvantages of "Term Slavery?" The work conditions were a little bit harder under "Term Slavery," but the overall objective for the Slaves was to be free!
-Winfred

Good evening Dr. Nicol,
Although there were advantages to "Term Slavery," there were also some disadvantages to it as well. One of the disadvantages I saw was Slave Masters loosing there Slaves after the contract term. By losing a hardworking Slave, the Slave Master could eventually lose much needed labor needed to work in areas where Slave Masters made money, i.e, Cotton and Tobacco Fields. Another disadvantage was being away from their families for a long period time. Even though the Slaves had ending times, there was still the possibility of the Slave not coming home due to the horrific conditions they were in during their work assignment. "Term Slavery" could also have a negative impact on the abolition movement because Slaves working under "Term Slavery" were willingly agreeing to work under such conditions.
-Winfred