Summary Of Chesapeake And Lowcountry

The study of slavery and race in America highlights the ironic contrast between an Anglo-American and African-American Society. Anglo-Europeans who professed a love for freedom and the importance of virtue deprived African-Americans of humanity and dignity. The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed, Ar’n’t I a Woman: Female Slaves in the Plantation South by Deborah Gray White, and Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake & Lowcountry by Philip D. Morgan examine the systematic removal of power and perceived humanity of enslaved women and contrast the perceived sexual promiscuity of enslaved women with the sexual repression and virtue assigned to white women. Annette Gordon-Reed’s The
There is no way to know Ramsey was accurate when he claimed Hemings was immature and unsuited for her job, but the suggestion that she return to the colonies without a female escort would be scandalous if she was a white girl. Sailors did not have a positive reputation for morality as evidenced by Paul Bentalou who was concerned that if his young male slave would return to the colonies alone he would be “Ill used by a Capitan” or influenced by the “bad example of the sailors.” To send a woman alone was to put her at the mercy of the crew, and even if nothing happened, it would be a scandal. Gordon-Reed states returning along would be “overstepping a boundary” and that such a suggestion would arouse Adam’s worst suspicions. Yet Hemings was not a young white woman, and there appears to be no concern for her virtue. Her return to the colonies is discussed like a business transaction without mention of virtue or reputation. Slaves were not entitled to such constructs. They should serve their purpose and obey
This perception was heightened by the conditions in which slaves worked. Slave women often who worked in plantation fields were often inadequately clothed by their masters and “reefed up” the clothing they did have to keep it out of the way when they worked. This exposed their legs, which was considered “shameless” and indecent. This was a direct contrast with the dress and expectations of white women. White women were expected to be “respectable” and be covered at all times. She wore layers of skirts that hid her legs and sleeves to obscure her shoulders. She was respectable because her sexuality was hidden. Her place was at home raising children and drawing them closer to their Creator through her moral example. She was held in direct contrast to the “Jezebels” who worked on her plantation.
Whites study of slavery and the experience of women show a marked contrast between the restricted femininity of white women and the sexual exploitation and perception of black women. White women were expected to be controlled and preserve their modesty and virtue, but black women were exposed and blamed for the sexual advances and exploits of their white masters. White sums of this contrast best when she