The Household Slave
The class of slaves who occupied positions near the pinnacle of the slave labor system were the domestics. Theirs was the proud position, according to one Virginia planter, to which proper slaves might aspire. Domestics were the "aristocrats" of bondage, a title they wore with varying degrees of pride. 1 In their jobs they usually wore laundered dresses and pants, at least on larger plantations, in contrast to the tattered garments worn by many field hands. "Upon every Estate," wrote John Cocke of Virginia, "the young heir, or heirs finds a number of old domestic servants who have been raised about the persons & in the confidential service of the former owners . . . [and] by a long course of faithful service have established their claim to the character of humble Friends of the Family." 2
Popular lore has sometimes labeled house servants "Uncle Toms," pawns of the slaveholders and betrayers of their slave brothers. 3 Such descriptions derive in part from two sources. First, it is claimed that domestics serving directly under a master's tutelage became nominal members of white families, generally received milder treatment, and thus were reluctant to relinquish the "good" life. John Cocke observed that domestics
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