'Plantation Management in the Old South Essay\r'

'William Scarborough’s, The superintendent, examines the grandness and the daily duties of the grove superintendent and how they influenced and contributed to the turnout and talent of break ones backs in the â€Å" octogenarian South”. This congeal was unarguably, the nigh important position in the southern plantation agreement as they determined the success or failure of a plantation. In well-nigh minute plantations, but more or lessly larger ones, the overseer was in charge of the supervision of en buckle crushd Africans, care of the land, planting, farm tools, and harvesting. The overseer has been especially known in history as the handler of harsh disciplinary actions against slaves for breaking thick or mild molds. The emergence of parentage advertize stormed through the south with higher number of man-to-mans owning slaves. Over time leading up to the well-mannered War, the position of overseer has been proized with several(prenominal) pl anters make up requiring letters of recommendations from their applicants. The name and address of the pen is to gather facts and accurate evidence that process how overseers effectively completed their labor movement set forwards by plantation owners and were less concerned intimately the torture and harsh beating of the enslaved Africans. The writer focuses more on the profession itself as opposed to examining the individual’s social s constantlyalise or moral philosophy in society. He as well attempts to provide a valuable interpretation of one of legion(predicate) groups that do up the light middle class of the Old South.\r\nThe book is divided into three sections with the first concerning the history and role of the overseer in the plantation establishment. It also gives key details on contract negotiations amidst the overseer and the plantation owner. Lastly, this section shows the view of the overseer by the general public. The second section examines t he managerial duties and responsibilities and some of the disagreements betwixt the plantation master and the overseer. The terminal section shows the occupation and the importance of the plantation supervisor during the Civil War and how the loss or step-down in available overseers stirred the surviving plantations after the war ended.\r\nThe overseer system was first introduced in the join States by the Virginia Company of England with the primary quill craft function of upholding gained territory. When Africans were shipped to the Louisiana Territory as slaves, this rattling system was implemented. The vast majority of overseers during the colonial catch were indentured servants whose terms of service had expired. One major reason for the increase in overseers in the nonmodern south, during the 18th century were the pagan change that demanded plantation owners to indulge in the arts and other cultural pursuits. The profile of many of the men that went into this prof ession were nearly likely either the son of a planter, white lower class men, and men who actually axiom the economic benefits of being an overseer. One distinctive frolic of the overseer system during the colonial period was the radiation pattern of leasing developed plantations with slaves as stock. With this agreement the overseer was in charge for maintenance of the slave force, and in leave received one-third of the net proceeds from the change of the crops. This profession would soon become highly productive when cotton became the forefront of agriculture in the United States although to some had a negative view of the position. Although most of the overseers were originally poor and uneducated, they still gained abundant wonder by their employers to be acknowledged as a semi-elite professional with a real profitable position. any(prenominal) may pick out been the view of the planter class regarding the step on the â€Å"social ladder” meshed by slave manage rs, the overseer himself had no opinion of class inferiority and showed little resentment toward the copyrighted group.\r\nOne of the major duties of the overseer was the welfare and correction of the slaves, the care of livestock and other agriculture implements, and the production of staple and subsistence crops. The overseer assigned certain task to specific slave groups and supervised the labor of slaves in the field. The overseer was expected to have basic medical checkup under(a)standing to be able to examine the slaves and scram note of any who actually needed professional treatment to treat certain physical hinders. The slave manager was obliged to make periodic inspections of slave cabins and was responsible for the distribution of clothing for the slaves. Lastly, and most importantly, the overseer was expected to ensure the security of the whites\r\nagainst uprisings of slaves, which was to some, inevitable. Depending of the plantation, there were also a second set o f rules that were handed down from the planter to the overseer to instruct to the slaves. Some plantations had very harsh working conditions and required long hours, heedless of age or gender, while other were more or less mild with less work demanded from pregnant women and children under the age of seven. Some planters enounced that â€Å"a apt slave is a productive slave” and the overseer had to abide by the wishes of the planter although they may have had different views on the use and managing of the slaves. The relationship between the overseer and the planter became pivotal leading up to the Civil War in 1861.\r\nAs the Civil War began to run its course, the production of agriculture (with slave labor) was extremely important in the surviving and perseverance of the south. The role of the overseer became even greater than ever with the departure of healthy white men sledding to join the Confederate Army. In many areas in the south, the only remaining security aga inst insurgencies from the slaves was the overseers. It was no awe that the drafting of plantation managers to the Confederate Army, angered many planters knowing that there would not be enough qualified managers to keep the slaves productive and fearful. There were even laws put into place in states such as Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana that limited the number of overseers that could be drafted into the army. The south also made a rule stating that any wounded soldier who is able moldiness return and oversee a plantation in order to contribute to the production of goods in the south. With this reduction in overseers, many slaves were able to escape and a number of large plantations fell due to the absence of the â€Å"slave Manager”.\r\nScarborough’s The Overseer, examines the life and tinct of the plantation overseer and how it shaped the working system of slavery and production in the United States. The author’s uses key fact s to back his thesis on the importance and professionalism of the overseer. Scarborough did extensive research by exploring primary sources such as the memoirs of planters, public records, legal documents, and advertize posters. He incorporates a number of different utilization contracts between planters and overseers and\r\ncompared them based on the size of the plantation, state and region, and number of slaves. The author seemed to look at this job description from a professional standpoint as opposed to the ills and negative view that society and some historians have placed on the managers of plantations. He mentions that some overseers who were uneducated or inexperienced greatly affected the outlook for this profession and shadowed the somewhat interlocking job of managing an entire plantation.\r\n'