Bond of Iron: Master and Slave at Buffalo Forge

This book provides an amazing window into the use of African American Salves in the iron industry in Virginia in the 19th century. One surprising thing is that these enslaved iron workers were sometimes given a cash bonus if they worked extra hard and produced more than the expected amount of pig iron. Nevertheless this kind of bonus was completely in the control of the slave holder. Here I live right where this went on.

Very good book better than I expected, in excellent condition like new condition. So glad I found this book I needed it.

Very detailed study of industrial slavery.

A completely different look at slavery.

Excellent information for anyone interested in our history.

Important contribution to the literature of slavery, showing how empty stereotypes can be.

Charles B. Dew describes the relationship between master and slave in a manufacturing setting. His 1994 book Bond of Iron, Master and Slave at Buffalo Forge, as the title suggests, is the story of industrial slavery but in a plantation setting. Under a pragmatic master, slave ironworkers, because of their special skills, were able to exert a degree control over their lives. Specialized knowledge, so essential for the operation, effectively gave them a measure of power over their master. Dew's thesis is that coercion had its limits in the setting of industrial slavery at Buffalo Forge and that slave laborers were able to use the system to affect a degree of control over their own lives. Dividing his book into three parts, Dew writes first about the master William Weaver, a Pennsylvanian investor. Contrary to his antislavery Dunker and northern origins, Weaver embraced slavery in his adopted home in western Virginia to become an enduring and wealthy iron master. Even though he came from an antislavery family and was a realistic self-seeking master, his real feelings about slavery are known by what he in fact did: he owned, used, and profited from slaves. Without resorting to physical violence, Weaver nonetheless maintained control by selling slaves who proved recalcitrant. Daniel Brady, his nephew, succeeded William Weaver when he died in 1863. Dew next describes the lives of six of Weaver's more skilled slaves and how they were able to use the task and overwork system to improve their lot in life. The task and overwork system was an incentive and reward system for certain skilled slaves. Weaver credited them for work completed over and above a certain minimum. One of these slaves, Sam Williams, even had his own savings account. Sam, one of Weaver's master refiners, was able to earn extra money for production above his weekly task and had it deposited in a local bank. Another was Henry Towles a skilled forge man. Another, Tooler, used the system to his advantage and, once his quota was met, would do over-work only as he saw fit. His skill as the "best chaffery forgeman William Weaver had" (197) gave him a degree of control over his life. Harry Hunt, Jr. was one of the most versatile slaves filling in for other slaves as necessary. Henry Mathews, another capable slave, could do work at the forge or on the plantation with equal aplomb. He was "the ultimate jack-of-all-trades." (204) Dew reconstructs the Garland Thomson family history through forge records and present-day descendants. It is a story of "pride and the image of strength." (211) In the third part Dew discusses the effects of the Civil War on Buffalo Forge and how the bond between master and slave evolved after emancipation. The forge was uncompetitive in the new economic order and soon was forced to close down. Former slaves, unable to afford land of their own, turned to sharecropping to eke out a living on the plantation or dispersed. Dew uses a large body of records fortuitously discovered by dogged research to describe as completely as possible slave life in one location leading up to the Civil War, during the war and the early antebellum years. Important evidence in Dew's analysis is the information about slave payments and purchases gleaned from the "Negro Books" dating from 1830-1861. These were the overwork ledgers at Buffalo Forge. Dew uses them to show how much extra work was done and how earnings were spent. Slaves were allowed to take payment in cash or kind in the company store. The accounts show when purchases were made and what items were bought. Individual slave ledgers demonstrate personal priorities and values. Between master and slave this was an important benefit for slaves. By their own choice they took advantage of the task and overwork system to earn money. Other than in agriculture, who were the workers in the slave South and were they able to improve their conditions within the slave system? One fundamental precept evident at Buffalo Forge and continuing into reconstruction is the plantation mentality of Southern industrialists. Dew shows that at Buffalo Forge at least slave labor was extremely valuable in Virginia iron making. Weaver rewarded skilled slaves who were able to thus improve their lives. The master, William Weaver, actually preferred slaves to white workers. White workers, transient in nature and prone to drunkenness, were in his opinion unsatisfactory. Cheap labor was seen as a Southern advantage in competition with Northern industry. However because of the ready availability of poorly motivated, cheap, and unskilled labor, contemporary industrialists, unlike Weaver, neglected incentives to improve social conditions. What was the effect of Weaver's system? Weaver's operation was set up on a plantation to take advantage of local resources, i.e. water, iron, and charcoal. Sloss Furnace, in Birmingham, AL, was similarly located on the site of available resources. Weaver was willing to invest in order to set up his operation and keep it running, but once it was established, he was content. If the market was not quite right for iron, he had his agricultural plantation to hold him over. He would hold back sales of bar iron until the price rose. His slaves were multi-tasked and able to work at the forge or in agriculture. His emphasis was on stability and not innovation. Weaver was unwilling to shift from the tilt-hammer method rather than investing in a modern rolling mill such as at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. Similarly at Sloss, innovation was selectively applied to husband capital where cheap labor could be used, even if it was less efficient. Dew describes an industrial operation in the predominantly agricultural antebellum South. The relationship between the forge master and his slave is most striking. The records Dew researched are unique and valuable and they permit a greater understanding of slavery as a whole. Dew's effort has resulted in a remarkable and valuable treatise on slavery in an industrial setting.

Best book I have ever read about slavery and free slaves, plantations, etc.