I was using “Simon Legree” figuratively. The majority of slaves were held by the big planters, who were a tiny minority of the slaveholders, who were themselves a minority of white southerners. From the black perspective, slavery was typified by large slave gangs, extensive slave quarters, overseers, a divergent slave culture, and generally impersonal relations with their owners. The arrangement may not have been brutal, though it sometimes was, but it was NOT the small scale, often paternalistic “domestic servitude” that typified the institution for the great majority of white slave owners. 150 years later, white people and black people both look back and see slavery, but they tend to see very different impressions of it. And both are correct.
Large Industrialized farms, who now do similar things with massive amounts of machinery and huge acreages. They are not at all like the Average farmer, and indeed are more upper 1% types.
150 years later, white people and black people both look back and see slavery, but they tend to see very different impressions of it. And both are correct.