"Calling in sick"

“Resenting the unfair appropriation of their labor, many slaves feigned illness and lied in order to avoid work” (Takaki  pg.117).  Basically, the slaves were finding ways around working; they were out smarting their owners.  One thing that really stuck out when I looked a little deeper into this subject is that many of the slaves were actually smarter than their owners.  Many of the slaves could find ways to avoid going to upcoming slave auctions just because their owners were ignorant or blind to the fact that their slave knew English or knew how to communicate with one another.  Some of the things that the slaves would do to avoid an auction were ruining the equipment, ruining the supplies for the equipment, and slowing down or stopping their own production/work (http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/movements-and-campaigns/movements-and-campaigns-summaries?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=22).  I also found in my research a story about a woman who actually hid her entire family in the woods when it came time for an auction so that the slave owner couldn’t separate her family.  How did that slave owner not realize where those slaves went?  I understand that there were many slaves on a plantation, but how did that slave owner not realize that the same family would go missing every time a slave auction would come up?  That brings up another question, how could someone that oblivious to what he had, even own slaves?  That shocks me. 

            If you think about it today, people call in sick to work all the time whether it be to just plainly get out of it or to not go because they have made other plans.  They don’t have any real merit to call in or not show up to work.  The slaves were actually finding ways to get out of work in order to keep their families together and to save their lives or the lives of their families.  How easy was it to fake an illness back in that time period.  Think about that.