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The Myth of the Happy Slave

The myth of the happy slave is a myth which states that some slaves were happy with their status as a slave and did not wish for freedom. The myth is a way of justifying to oneself that slavery may not have been as bad as it is portrayed. Slave masters often argued slaves preferred to be enslaved over having freedom because it gave slaves opportunities however simply put, slavery was cruel. As put by Lincoln Anthony Blades, “To be enslaved in the United States was not to be a volunteer, a worker, or a social-ladder-climbing immigrant attempting to realize the American Dream. It was a cruel, dehumanizing reality from which countless enslaved people died while attempting to escape” . Being an American slave included nothing other than dehumanizing treatment, suffering, and sadness. The myth of the happy slave is a myth which attempts to lighten the burden and justify slavery for slave owners when in reality there was no such thing as a happy slave. In America and across the world slaves were beaten, tortured, and raped all simply just because they existed. The most common slave who fell victim to this myth was a housemaid or slaves which worked in homes. One famous slave who helps put this myth to rest is Mary Prince. Mary Prince was a slave who worked in the home for her masters in the Spanish Caribbean Colonies. Mary Prince was eventually moved to a sugar plantation in Antigua. In her narrative Prince recalls being beaten, flogged, and imprisoned for minor offenses of disobedience. When Prince became ill with Rheumatism her master did little to help her get well and instead forced her to continue working. When her master brought her to England she had the chance to run away because Slavery was illegal there and of course she did it. Furthermore she refused to return to her Husband fearing being re taken as a slave. Mary Prince makes it clear that being a house slave was still horrible and refutes any argument that house slaves had good lives and preferred slavery to freedom.

How the Myth Exists

The myth of the happy slave formed during the time of slavery and was created by slave owners in an attempt to make slavery seem less cruel to the public eye. If the public thought slaves were happy it would be a lot easier for slave owners to justify slavery. Today the myth of the happy slave starts from the classroom. The idea that house slaves were happy slaves starts from a young age where in the classroom students are taught about the harsh working conditions but are too young to learn about more mature topics such as rape. It continues today in schools as school systems teach curriculum which supports the myth. For example, in Florida the teaching guidelines for the history curriculum “suggest that American slavery was not all bad because enslaved people developed skills that could be applied for their personal benefit.”

These skills the slaves were supposedly developing were skills which non-slaves learned through apprenticeship and by watching others perform tasks. Suggesting the slaves were learning valuable life skills without mentioning the mistreatment and suffering of the slaves contributes to the continuation of the myth in modern society. Thomas Jefferson is another example of a way we continue the myth of the Happy Slave today. While it is common knowledge that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, people often justify glorifying him by saying he treated his slaves equally, after all, he did write that all men are created equal. However, Jefferson was not such an Angel. Records show that Jefferson whipped and beat his slaves when working on his Tobacco Plantation in Monticello

Continuation of The Myth in Pop Culture

A Birthday Cake For George Washington is a children's book which tells the story of a slave who must make a cake for George Washington on his birthday. The story manages to glorify slavery making it appear that Papa, Washington's chief chef Hercules, enjoys the task of baking for his master. Book shows pictures of Papa dressed in a chef outfit with a smile on his face. When Papa must go out to pick up supplies he is dressed nicely. It explains how Papa is given many gifts and when he goes out with Washington he is permitted to be with all the free people. In the end, the book shows how happy Hercules is to be with the Washingtons implying it is better than freedom. The book was followed by heavy controversy. Many people claimed the book supported the myth of the happy slave and fought to have it taken off shelves. This resulted in the scholastic taking the book off shelves in January of 2016. The author of the book, Ramin Ganeshram, defended the book claiming it was a historical record that slaves who had status, such as Hercules, were proud of their position. While this is true, this does not mean they were happy as slaves and did not wish to be free. In fact, Hercules did escape showing how even though his life may have been better than some slaves, the ultimate desire for even slaves who appeared to be well treated was freedom.