The attitude this independence produced was suggested in one freedman’s passing comment that, when he was a slave he used to work in his “own field” after completing his task (Morgan 415). This could have felt like a resistance to the slaves because they were finishing early on their master’s field but they were still able to be free and have their own crop and possibly create a profit from it. Another example would be of Paris James, who was a former slave driver, who was described as a “substantial man before the war and was more like a free man than any slave” (Morgan 411). James owned eight cows, a horse, sixteen sheep, a wagon, and twenty-six hogs. Mentioned by another slave driver James had all the credit as a white man’s because he had property to back his items up. Although, the credit of owning these items did nothing in law when the items were stolen or lost because yet again they were lower down in
The attitude this independence produced was suggested in one freedman’s passing comment that, when he was a slave he used to work in his “own field” after completing his task (Morgan 415). This could have felt like a resistance to the slaves because they were finishing early on their master’s field but they were still able to be free and have their own crop and possibly create a profit from it. Another example would be of Paris James, who was a former slave driver, who was described as a “substantial man before the war and was more like a free man than any slave” (Morgan 411). James owned eight cows, a horse, sixteen sheep, a wagon, and twenty-six hogs. Mentioned by another slave driver James had all the credit as a white man’s because he had property to back his items up. Although, the credit of owning these items did nothing in law when the items were stolen or lost because yet again they were lower down in