The Willie Lynch Letter and the Making of a Slave

About this book

Mostly probably a hoax, this letter to slave owners in the ante-bellum American South purports to advise on how to manage a slave population. The writer, himself a slaveowner from the Caribbean, advises other slave masters on his method for controlling black slaves. The document has been in print since at least 1970, but first gained widespread notice in the 1990s, when it appeared on the Internet. Since then, it has often been promoted as an authentic account of slavery during the 18th century, though its inaccuracies and anachronisms have led historians to conclude that it is a hoax. Still an interesting view of slavery from the psychological perspective of "breaking" human beings into acceptance of their captivity. Lynch draws comparisons between the "breaking" of slaves and the breaking of horses, suggesting that processes are similar in several ways. Illustrated with contemporary engravings of slave life.