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Slave families had a tendency to be unstable, due to the nature of the institution of slavery. Masters could sell members of the family away if they desired, or could separate the family on the plantation, making them work in different areas. Despite this instabil ....

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.... or her. These responsibilities were in some ways a joy to slave women, since they "offered a degree of personal fulfillment." One slave woman, Mary Colquitt, remarked that her grandmother and mother had often stayed up late sewing clothes for the children, saying, "Dey done it 'cause dey wanted to. Dey wuz workin' for deyselves den." (Jones, 29) Ironically, this work caring for themselves and their families also benifitted the slave owners, since healthy slaves meant that the masters could get more work out of them, and thus make more money when the crops were harvested. The family was important to most slave women, and they had ways of making sure t ....