They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South

Chapter 7 delves into the beginning days of the Civil War and the impact of this tumultuous time on white slave-owning women. Jones-Rogers begins this chapter with the testimony of one white slave-owning woman’s cruelty as she describes Union forces discovering a tortured young, enslaved woman trapped in an enclosed space who was “almost insensible from emaciation, and immersion in the foul air of her dungeon” (151). Suspected of Union sympathies, the woman was locked away by her mistress who aimed to keep her hidden until the Confederates could take back the city. Through this example, Jones-Rogers illustrates the determination of white women during the changing times before and during the Civil War to hold on to their property and identity as slave owners.

Even as the U.S. Civil War approached, slave-owning women did not deter from their business of buying, selling, and hiring enslaved people. Jones-Rogers provides an overview of the historical events of this time period, including President Abraham Lincoln’s 1861 proclamation for Union troops to suppress the rebellion of Southern Confederate states. Many enslaved people took this opportunity to rebel against slave-owners by cautiously seeking the aid of Union officers (152). Their caution was not unwarranted, as “Union soldiers and officers stole from enslaved people, raped and brutalized them, sold them and pocketed the profits, and kept enslaved people for themselves” (153).