What do textbooks suggest about the black population who survived under the lash of slavery during the Age of Reform?

During the nineteenth century, the nation heatedly debated on
the issue of slavery white authors generated pamphlets, and published slave biographies and
anti-slavery literature. Well-known authors include Herman Melville, and Harriet Beecher
Stowe.

This literature detailed inhumane conditions for contemporary
slaves and described an unrealistic view held by some slave masters that the slave was ignorant
and therefore happy in his subjugated lifestyle.

Modern textbooks
reveal that the living conditions of a southern slave relied upon the temperament of his master,
as well as the type of home he lived in. In general, domestic slaves received better treatment
than plantation slaves, who worked in the field from sun up until dark. Although some states
passed laws meant to keep black families together, these laws proved difficult to enforce because
the black population remained unable to testify in court.