Sketches of Neighboring Slaveholders
- Linda gives sketches of three slaveholders in her neighborhood.
- Exhibit A: Mr. Litch tortures his slaves through starvation, physical torture, and, sometimes, murder.
- His brother is no better. When a slave runs away, he lets his bloodhounds loose to tear the flesh from his bones.
- Exhibit B: Mr. Conant punishes a slave by tying him a tree, whipping him, and leaving him to freeze to death in winter.
- Exhibit C: Mrs. Wade beats her slaves all day, from morning to night.
- Sure, some slaveholders are very kind. Like, there was this one female slaveholder who treated her slaves like family.
- Buuut…. she ended up marrying a very mean man who raped the female slaves.
- And you'd better believe all this is true. Linda is speaking from personal experience and twenty-one years of observation.
- The moral of this chapter? The institution of slavery is a curse to whites and blacks alike.