ally. This procedure also made the slaves delighted to see cooked food. This was the way that slaves were supposed to be treated, but not all plantations were conducted in this fashion.The masters of the plantation had many ways of harassing their slaves. They didn't want to hurt them too much because they were their property. One young girl told her story of being harassed by her owner(Out Of Many 11-8). She was about 15 years old when her master began to harass her. She was his property so she really had nothing to do. He would whisper unclean words into her ear and sometimes forced her to do sexual favors for him, in time she became his mistress. This was one way that the master could take advantage of this 'property'. The master knew that it would be difficult for a race to change from barbarism to civilization in a short period of time. This knowledge caused even more trouble for the 'Negroes'. The masters let their slaves know that it would be impossible for the 'Negroes' to live on their own and to obtain land in America. This put a picture in the slave's mind that life outside the plantation was hell and kept thoughts of leaving out of their mind. Some slaves did not believe their master and tried to leave anyway. This gave the idea to other slaves to escape as well. The masters had people who were paid to retrieve slaves that escaped. They were paid ten dollars per slave that is captured and brought back to the plantation. For the slaves that remained on the plantation they reverted to singing and prayer to pass the time of hard labor. The slaves songs were both religious and also telling of their stories of human torture(Out Of Many 11-4). Among the songs that they sang were Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen which combines Jesus with all the low times that they have felt over the years. Deep River speaks directly about the slaves leaving the plantation and going to a better place, either somewhere else in America or even he...
