Blog Post #3

Sexual Abuse of Slaves 

Many slaves were sexually abused by their masters, and often in more ways than one would expect. Not men selected by the master in order to produce offspring which could be sold at a high price point. When the women were impregnated by the master his wife may become angry and seek revenge on this slave, potentially leading to physical harm, separation from family members or even death as punishment. Not only were these women raped directly by the master they were also forced to comply to breeding to create designer babies who could be sold with a price tag much higher than babies who perhaps had 1 or both parent being average. Following a series of interviews in 1927 with survivors of slavery the interviewer made this statement “On this plantation were more than 100 slaves who were mated indiscriminately and without any regard for family unions. If their master thought that a certain man and woman might have strong, healthy offspring, he forced them to have sexual relation, even though they were married to other slaves,”(On Slavesholders’). Similar to how prevalent sexual abuse of slaves was in reality during this time period, this theme also had a major role in The Book of Negroes. In fact, the protagonist herself was sexually assaulted, and had to face the psychological trauma that followed this experience. Other minor characters were also forced to submit to the sexual advances of men throughout the novel. 

Works Cited 

"On Slaveholders' Sexual Abuse of Slaves." National Humanities Centre 1: 1. National Humanities Centre. Web. 14 June 2015. .