In an encyclopedia the term family is defined as “a fundamental social group in society consisting of one or two parents and their children,” and “all the members of a household under one roof.” Many more definitions have evolved over time through social changes in different societies and have been focused on in cultural studies. In times of slavery in the U.S. blacks had to cope with their living conditions and in that still had the urge to create families. This often was made impossible right from the start because “[l]arge owners often refused to allow marriage[. . .].” Rarely, if ever, the family of slaves could be described as nuclear – father, mother and child. The cause for the lack of a family was easily found. Eugene Genovese explains: “[M]any masters did not respect their slaves’ family feelings and did not hesitate to sell them as individuals.” The physical separation or the fear of such made it difficult to built a loving family. Within the system of slavery, “[. . .] the mother role took on a stronger image,” states Staples. The father figure never withheld great importance within the family structure for various reasons. One of them is that the status of a child always got defined by the status of his or her mother. Children are being influenced during every day of their lives by their parents or the lack thereof. Connected to Alice Randall’s parody “The Wind Done Gone” my analysis will focus on what factors constituted issues in constructing a family for house slaves. I want to point out the difficulties especially women experienced when trying to build a family, and how they influenced the mother-daughter relationship. What mark did they leave on the daughter’s future and how did she cope with the problems of creating a family of her own? Particularly for mulattoes, I am interested in if and how the race itself caused issues that needed to be overcome.
Table of Contents
1. Introdcution
2. The Woman – Her Lives
2.1. Her duties – Concubine, Slave, Servant: Helping or Hindering
2.2. Mammy and Mother – Privilege or Curse
3. The Mulatto Offspring
3.1. Part of the Institution of Slavery or a Family
3.2. Adult Life – The Wish, The Hindrances, Her Color
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliography
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This paper examines the inherent difficulties in constructing and maintaining a family structure under the oppressive system of U.S. slavery, with a specific focus on the experiences of house slaves and mulatto women as depicted in Alice Randall's "The Wind Done Gone." The study investigates how societal constraints, racial status, and the "Mammy" role impacted mother-daughter relationships and the ability of enslaved individuals to claim their own familial identities.
- The impact of slavery on the traditional nuclear family structure for enslaved people.
- The dual role of the "Mammy" and the resulting conflict between professional duty and maternal instinct.
- The psychological and physical obstacles faced by mulatto offspring within the plantation hierarchy.
- The interplay between racial identity, social status, and the aspiration for a personal, loving family life.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1. Part of the Institution of Slavery or a Family
“My father, Planter, was the master of the place; my mother was the Mammy.”(1) Not always did slave children come to know who their fathers were, let alone really get to know or live with them. Genovese explains that “a large majority of mulatto children born to slaveholders lived their lives as slaves, often with no special consideration or privileges,” (RJR 416). Most planters rarely acknowledged them as children with rights similar to their white offspring’s but they might have given them some better treatment as living in the house and enough feeding. It happened, though, that a child of mixed race decent was even able feel loved by his or her father. “Sometimes [. . .], he would call for me to sit at his feet on the broad porch and sing my little songs to him,” (3) Cynara wrote into her diary. But these feelings of some kind of family did not hold for long. The father always kept in mind that he was the master, and the child the slave.
This is a delicate situation, a delicate situation I know you will understand. The girl is no longer a child and she’s getting in the way of our Mammy’s work. A matter of divided loyalties. My eldest daughter adores her Mammy; she’s beginning to find her Mammy’s daughter tiresome. (36)
As soon as his daughter became inconvenient to his family, his system, he would sell her. Sometimes he chose to not do so to the highest bidder but to one he could count on would treat her well. Under these circumstances a child could not count on nor believe in a father figure. This believe was damaged all the more when she had to witness that “[a]t the end of every day Planter counted his money, his acres, and his slaves,” (37) and she was presented like this the fact of her unimportance as a daughter. Through her status as a slave and servant the chances of an intact family were taken from her.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introdcution: Outlines the historical and social definitions of family and introduces the central research focus regarding the challenges of family construction for enslaved women in the U.S.
2. The Woman – Her Lives: Discusses the professional and maternal roles imposed on enslaved women, specifically analyzing the heavy burdens and contradictions of being both a domestic servant and a mother.
2.1. Her duties – Concubine, Slave, Servant: Helping or Hindering: Examines how the forced roles of concubinage and domestic service stripped women of their autonomy and hindered their ability to function as family members.
2.2. Mammy and Mother – Privilege or Curse: Explores the paradoxical position of the "Mammy" figure, who held a specific status within the master's family while often struggling to bond with her own children.
3. The Mulatto Offspring: Analyzes the specific experiences of children of mixed race and the impact of their parentage on their status and self-perception.
3.1. Part of the Institution of Slavery or a Family: Investigates the unstable and often exploitative relationship between the slaveholder father and his mulatto child within the plantation structure.
3.2. Adult Life – The Wish, The Hindrances, Her Color: Discusses the adult struggle of mulatto women to secure a private life and family identity while navigating the constraints of racial categorization and societal expectations.
4. Conclusion: Summarizes the findings on how race and slavery dictated family dynamics and highlights potential avenues for future research regarding the experiences of white families in the same era.
5. Bibliography: Lists the primary and secondary sources used to support the analysis of slavery, literature, and family history.
Keywords
Slavery, Family, Mammy, Mulatto, Identity, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Alice Randall, The Wind Done Gone, Concubinage, Race, Domestic Service, Plantation, Social Status, Intersectionality, Historical Context
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this paper?
The paper explores the structural and emotional challenges faced by enslaved women and their children in establishing and maintaining families within the oppressive environment of the American plantation system.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
Key themes include the institutionalization of slavery, the duality of the "Mammy" archetype, the psychological impact of forced labor on family bonding, and the complexities of being a mulatto woman in a racialized society.
What is the core research question?
The research asks how factors like forced domestic labor and racial status prevented the construction of a typical family life and how these obstacles shaped the identities of the women and their children.
Which scientific approach does the author use?
The author uses a qualitative, literary analysis approach, connecting historical sociological research with close readings of Alice Randall’s parody "The Wind Done Gone."
What does the main body of the paper cover?
The main body investigates the daily duties of house servants, the conflicting responsibilities of the "Mammy" figure, and the specific struggles of mulatto offspring regarding their status, freedom, and personal desires.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
Keywords include Slavery, Family, Mammy, Mulatto, Identity, Race, and Social Status.
How does the "Mammy" role affect the mother-daughter relationship?
The "Mammy" role often forced women to prioritize the care of their master’s children over their own, leading to emotional distance, misunderstandings, and psychological trauma within the biological mother-daughter relationship.
How do mulatto women in this study experience their own identity?
Mulatto women often face an agonizing ambivalence, caught between the hope of potentially passing into a free white society and their forced reality as enslaved individuals identified as black.
- Quote paper
- Franziska Schulze (Author), 2011, Creating and upholding a family in the institution of slavery, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/274188
