Master-Slave Relationships In Richard Ligon's A True And Exact History

Chad Blenz
Thomas Barton
HIST 108-02
08 December 2014

In 1627 the first Englishmen landed on the uninhabited Caribbean island of Barbados. Twenty years later, Richard Ligon, a royalist fleeing political turmoil during the English Revolution of 1647-1649, arrived on the island and purchased half of a functioning sugar plantation with several colleagues. He remained on the island for three years, writing A True & Exact History after his return to
England. In separate sections he describes the masters, servants, and slaves of the island. In addition to Ligon’s interpretations of the physical and cultural characteristics of the “Negroes,” he offers personal experiences to illustrate the master-slave relationships that had evolved on Barbados

Ligon writes, “… and so quite gave over his questions, and desired me, that he might be made a Christian; for, he thought to be a Christian was to endure with all those knowledges he desired” (50). This passage is referring to when Ligon is speaking about how a negro that is struck in awe by the compass moving on its own, going so far as to believe that the needle was alive. With this supernatural encounter, the negro wanted to convert to Christianity in order to harness such powers. However in order to do so, he had to comply with the masters’ demands, for not anyone could gain conversion. Ligon suggested that by slaves converting to Christianity, they gain several opportunities. “…the substance of this, in such language that they had, they delivered, and poor Sambo was the orator; by whose example the others were led both the discovery of the plot and the refusal of the gratuity” (54). In this passage, Ligon talked about how a negro told the master about the other slaves’ plot to rebel. This slave did so out of love for his Christian brother, the master. It is in the slaves’ best interest to convert, for doing so gives them abnormal opportunities; not only can the gain the master’s favor by converting to the true religion, but they are able to be educated and

Impressed by their ability to manage such a large number of slaves at once, especially during such hectic times, Ligon saw the plantation masters to be very skilled. The plantation owners may have controlled the work and physical well being of enslaved people, but they could never control their minds. The enslaved people resisted at every opportunity and in many different ways. There was always the constant threat of uprising and keeping those enslaved under control was a priority of all plantation owners. The laws created to control enslaved populations were severe and illustrated the tensions that existed. Any enslaved person found guilty of committing or plotting serious offences, such as violence against the plantation owner or destruction of property, was put to death. Beatings and whippings were a common punishment, as well as the use of neck collars or leg irons for less serious offences, such as failure to work hard enough or insubordination, which covered many