The Lives Of Slave Children

But despite the threat of sale and separation from their children, African and African-American slaves instilled a strong sense of family identity in their children (Mintz, 2004). One way to instill this sense of identity was to name eldest boys after their father or grandfather. Fathers showed their love for their children by purchasing or making gifts for their children, but they also taught them craft skills (Mintz, 2004).
Although enslavement can be said to constitute a form of extreme child cruelty, actually very little is known about the lives of black children who were slaves, except in terms of adult recollections of what life was like. It can be stated, though, that slave children were exposed to terror, loss of freedom, lack of
educational opportunities, and to visions of horror starting at a young age (King, 1995).