In contrast, the slave in South America could own property, could engage in buying and selling, and was guaranteed Sundays, holidays, and other times which to work for his own advancement.
In short, the law implied that while the master could own a man's labor, he could not own the man as a person.
It is not easy to make a final comparison between these two slave systems.

South American masters often evaded the law and would be exceedingly brutal, and North American masters were often much more lenient than the law required.

Conditions moreover, were usually more severe in South America, and this fact may have worsened the actual material situation of South American slave.

Nevertheless, in North America the slave was consistently treated as a "thing." In South America there was some attempt to treat him as a man.

This fact made a profound difference in the way in which the two systems affected the slave as an individual, and in the way in which they impinged upon the development of his personality.
Slavery and the Formation of Character The study of American slavery, frequently consisting of a heated debate concerning the institution's merits, has, in recent years, branched into new directions.