ABSTRACT
The Act of Emancipation abolishing slavery was passed in 1834. Women were enslaved primarily to work. European women were not allowed to work in the fields during slavery. The consequences of these measures were severe for the mental health of women and children. The American Frederick Douglass, who escaped from slavery in Maryland, tells us of this terror and of the destruction of relationships. An interesting statistical fact is that African Caribbean populations increased dramatically as soon as slavery was abolished. It is hard to think of love flourishing anywhere in the slavery environment. For migrants and their children, stuck more than others in paranoid schizoid positions, the old horrors of slavery were waiting around the bend ready to pounce. The external world contains cruelty and stupidity just as before, but nothing can be as bad as slavery. For women, slavery's chief benefit has been to appreciate freedom and independence and the possibility of both.
