African Americans resisted the practice of slavery and the trade of slavery from its inception in the United Stated in the early 1600s to its end in the middle 1800s. They resisted it in the fields and in the big house; they resisted by organized rebellions; and they resisted by direct, spontaneous acts of courage. For their freedom slaves killed and were killed. They ran away, and their masters ran after them. They fought and died, but they also survived. The conditions of slaves that survived varied. How well were they treated depended on their owner and the type of work they did. However, in my paper I will discuss the life of slave women and their relationships with their white masters. Since the beginning of slavery gender and social relations shaped the lives of slave in such a way that slave women experiences were different from slave men.

Did gender make a difference in how slave women were treated by their masters? Yes. Gender was like a major force in shaping slave society. Slave men experiences were different from slave women, who were exploited both for reproductive and productive reasons. Throughout the long years of slavery women were abused by their

children women were less able to leave their people behing.

The rates of fertility skyrocketed during the nineteenth century time period. Slave master felt that if they could no longer buy slaves they could produce them at any cost. Slave women endured very bad conditions while pregnant, because they were poorly cared for. In a statement by Gaspar, " In any case, it was unrealistic for slave women to expect any consideration from the white men who impregnated them. It was possible, however, for the slave mother to enjoy attention from the slave father if both belonged to the same owner and lived together or if they belonged to different owners but were partners in "abroad" marriages" (148).

The most memorable slave and master relationship were between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Sally hemings was owned by Jefferson, to whom she bore many children. However, The affair between the two sparked a controversy because Jefferson was also an owner of slaves. These kinds of relationships were quite common for the time period. It is known for some slave women to be willing to have children by their masters, hoping that it would give them privileges not given to other slaves on the plantation. "While some black women may have regarded sexual unions with whites as advantageous, providing privileges and possible manumissions, such relations also represented a natural extension of the power of white over black" (Gaspar and Hine 194). Although Jefferson eventually gave Sally Hemings her freedom after years of being oppressed, and took care of her children. Jefferson still was still condoning the exploitation of women when he said, "I consider the labor of a breeding wom!

I would also like to discuss the differences in fertility between the slave women in the United States and slave women in the Caribbean. Slave women in the Caribbean had very low birth percentages to that of the United States during the eighteenth century. According to Morrissey, "Caribbean slave women have been variously described as frequent contraceptive users, skilled practitioners of abortion, and sexual abstainers" (112). In addition, "Slave men during the eighteenth century thought of slave women to promiscuous and more likely to contract venereal diseases and thus become more sterile, " (Morrissey 113).

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sexual abuse and sale as "fancy girl" for illicit purposes" (Gaspar and Hine 158).

Some common words found in the essay are:
Gaspar Hine, Yes Gender, United Caribbean, United Stated, According White, According Jones, Hemings Sally, Morrissey Caribbean, Sally Hemings, According Lyerly, slave women, female slaves, gaspar hine, slave owners, slave slave, sexual abuse, eighteenth century, sexual harassment, sexual relationships, black women, caribbean slave women, gaspar hine 25, slave women endure, slave women caribbean, sexual harassment slave,
Approximate Word count = 1753
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)