Property Owning Property Philip Morgan Summary

Restrained and limited by their skin color, Africans and African Americans alike were unable to act and even think in par to their paramount white counterparts. Often denied access to proper education, goods, property and freedom, colored people were continuously exploited as property themselves and unwillingly later became slaves to the elite classes. As a result, the notion of a slave owning property, of property owning property, quickly became rejected as plausible. Afterall, slaves were constantly “working from sunup to sundown” (234) and lacked the funds and skills necessary to acquire property. However, author Philip D. Morgan dismisses this stereotypical outlook on a supposed ignorant slave society and instead argues that slaves under
For example, in continuation to working forcibly for a master, slaves were also hired and paid as additional laborers to cultivate crops, raise livestock and even practice various industrial skills as woodworkers, hunters, fishers and tradesmen. As many field hands and slaves recall in Morgan’s essay, “I was allowed to go and produce for myself in laborments” (241) given he has completed his slave work. In a similar manner to hired labor, slaves also harvested and raised their own crops and livestock to sell and draw money in order to acquire their own individual property. Lastly, “slave property was not only being produced and exchanged but also inherited” (242) from previous generations further portraying and highlighting a slave’s freedom during
For instance, as previously mentioned, constant physical effort and commitment was absolutely necessary on the slave’s part. If he did not complete his task by midday or did not use his time wisely, this process of obtaining property proved much more difficult. Generally, young, elderly and sick slaves had trouble abusing the benefits of the task system. Other slaves were simply unwilling to continue working preferring instead to “sleep and slumber the time away.” (243) Likewise, the slave owner and master had complete discretion concerning a slave’s life and property. By law, a slave’s property was his master’s, but rarely was it forcibly taken. As former slave Toney Elliott recalls, “our masters had nothing to do with or property any more than I had to do with theirs” (239), yet, like racist stereotypes, there was always a risk of punishment and