Family Life for Slaves Slaves marriages and families were not recognised officially by American Law. The owner was free to sell the husbands, wives, children, or siblings of any slave family. Families were often not kept together as large slaveholders had numerous plantations and would shift slaves frequently, which split up families.
10 - 20% of slave marriages were destroyed by the sale. Over a third of all slave children grew up in a household from which one or both parents were absent.
If the family lived on the same plantation, the man could only visit his family if his master let him.
Despite the frequent breakup of families due to the sales, they managed to form strong and durable family/kin ties within the institution. Most slaves married (unofficially) and lived with the same spouse until death. To keep a sense of family identity, children were named after parents, grandparents, or great grandparents etc. as it kept the family strong and together.
Family destruction and dispersal created kinship networks across the country.
