University:
Arizona State University
Course:
HST 200 | Historical Themes
Academic year:

2024
Views:

193

Pages:

1
Author:

Thuyoul US

Robert Beverley on Slaves and Servants Robert Beverley was a rich planter and slave owner from Jamestown. This passage from his 1705 publication History and Present State of Virginia amply demonstrates the difference between Black slaves and White servants. "They identify their servants by calling them Slaves for Life and Servants for a While." Black people are considered slaves, and the maxim partus sequitur ventrem states that a person's position follows their womb in posterity, based on the mother's circumstance. Because their servitude is for life, they are referred to be slaves at that period. Those who serve as servants often do so for a short period of time, as determined by the terms of their indenture or national customs. The national custom is for those who don't have any indentures. According to the law in this instance, servants under the age of nineteen must be taken before the court to have their age determined. Once their age is determined, they must serve until they are between the ages of four and twenty. However, they will only remain Servants for a period of five years if their verdict is higher than nineteen. Together, the male servants and the female slaves till and manure the land, sow and plant tobacco, corn, and other crops. While there are some differences between them in terms of their attire and food, the work that each of them does is identical to that of the Overseers, Freemen, and Planters. Adequate differentiation is also established between Female-Servants and Slaves; a White Woman is seldom or never employed in the Ground, provided she is suitable for any other role: And in order to deter any planters from using any women in this way, their law penalizes female servants who labor in the ground the most while completely exempting all other White women: However, it is usual practice to labor a woman slave out of doors, and the law does not differentiate between taxes paid by a woman who works at home or abroad. What distinctions exist, in Robert Beverley's opinion, between enslaved people and servants? What rights did servants possess that those under slavery did not?