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Assignment #4

In the works of Morgan and Davis, there seems to be a tremendous amount of importance in the concept of labor. Davis explains that first and foremost, slaves were viewed as economic property. Slave women particularly, were not considered wives and mothers. This idea is reiterated in Morgan’s work when she mentions that many Africans were enslaved and brought to the Americas to do forced labor through the the Transatlantic slave trade. Both women touched upon the fact that women were valuable because not only could they perform manual labor, but they were also useful for reproductive labor.
With respect to manual labor, the slave system knew no gender. In her work, Davis explains that women toiled in the same field alongside men from sunup to sundown. They were not subjected to preferential treatment even if they were pregnant or had a young child. They still had to work in the field while caring for their infants. In respect to their reproductive labor, slave owners sought out to guarantee that their “breeders” would produce children quite often (Davis, 1981:12). Morgan speaks on the common misconception made by European settlers that Africans and Native people were made to do manual labor. Race and the “monstrous nature of the African and Native females body played a big role in this conclusion of white superiority. In their writings, a few of the European explorers Morgan mentions talks about how African females had long sagging breasts and that would hang down to the ground and that was the reason they were nothing but laborer and reproducers.
Another point that bridges the works of Morgan and Davis is that they describe how Europeans and Slave owners alike tried to justify forced labor. More specifically with reference to the female body, they both described the common view of the masculine features of the African female and how that equated to physical labor. They also elaborated that in contrast, the white female body was viewed as dainty and feminine, therefore, they were not equipped to do manual labor. Morgan and Davis focuses on the concept of labor and its role in the lives of enslaved people.