| Summary |
Traditionally historians have treated slave hiring as a subtopic. This oversight is unfortunate since slave hiring had a direct effect on the economic and social fabric of the institution of slavery in the South. Slaves were hired out all throughout the South during the colonial and antebellum periods. The practice varied in each region according to the geography, the climate, the culture, and the economy of each state. This thesis strictly focuses on the North Carolina counties east of Raleigh. The varied nature of both rural and urban slavery in the region makes eastern North Carolina an excellent case study on slave hiring. This thesis explores how, at the same time, slave hiring both strengthened and threatened the institution of slavery in eastern North Carolina throughout the colonial and antebellum periods. Slave hiring became a flexible source of labor for many eastern North Carolinians as slave owners were able to rent out extra slaves they were not utilizing while poor whites and other slave owners hired slaves for a day, week, month, year, or several years. The benefits of the flexible nature of slave hiring also assisted hired slaves as they sought ways to influence the slave system. At the same time, this advantage threatened the slave system as slaves sought ways to manipulate the practice of slave hiring for their own benefit. This study also discusses the importance of slaves hired out in the region's maritime community. Finally, slave hiring in the region was complex and multifaceted thus the practice demonstrates that the institution of slavery in the region was never simply black and white, but operated more like shades of gray. |
