On the Movie, "12 Years a Slave"

While this story may have merit, to say that it is an accurate depiction of Southern slavery is full-bore slander and propaganda. a) Every Southern state had strict laws against the mistreatment of slaves and b) slaves actually had as much legal protection as many free black of that era (these included the right to own property, the right to marry, the right to sue and to give evidence in court, the right to have days off, the right to hire themselves out to others, the right to write up and sign their own work contracts, the right to practice religion, and the right to be supported by their owners from birth to death).........................................................................................................And, no, I'm not in any way implying that it was a just system, just that Southern slavery in America was probably the least virulent form of the institution in all of human history and that the court historians have gone out of their way to make it just the opposite. In the words of a male slave by the name of Francisco (extracted from "Harper's Weekly" circa 1860), "I was a slave in Africa, and do not wish to return there. I'd rather be a slave to the white man in this country than be a slave to the black man in my country (the fact that slaves in Africa were treated with unbelievable cruelty and so you'd have to be an absolute moron to want to go back there).".....................................................................................................Sources - "Without Consent or Contract" by Robert W. Fogel, "The Old South" by Mark M. Smith, and "The Afro-American Experience" by James H. Dormon and Robert R. Jones.