Ever since I have been old enough to think for myself, I have
entertained the idea that, notwithstanding the cruel wrongs inflicted
upon us, the black man got nearly as much out of slavery as the white
man did. The hurtful influences of the institution were not by any
means confined to the Negro. This was fully illustrated by the life
upon our own plantation. The whole machinery of slavery was so
constructed as to cause labour, as a rule, to be looked upon as a
badge of degradation, of inferiority. Hence labour was something that
both races on the slave plantation sought to escape. The slave system
on our place, in a large measure, took the spirit of self-reliance and
self-help out of the white people. My old master had many boys and
girls, but not one, so far as I know, ever mastered a single trade or
special line of productive industry. The girls were not taught to
cook, sew, or to take care of the house. All of this was left to the
saves. The slaves, of course, had little personal interest in the
life of the plantation, and their ignorance prevented them from
learning how to do things in the most improved and thorough manner.
As a result of the system, fences were out of repair, gates were
hanging half off the hinges, doors creaked, window-panes were out,
plastering had fallen but was not replaced, weeds grew in the yard.
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