THEWHITEINVADERS
were derived from widely different cultures and divided in small groups
among many owners, they were too atomized to form a community with a
collective identity, 'such as existed in North America. Consequently, they
contend, although male slaves greatly outnumbered male burghers in the
rural areas, there were no opportunities for them to mobilize and rebel, and
their only alternative to acquiescence was to abscond. That may be too
clear-cut an interpretation. Robert Shellstresses the effectsof the "psycho-
logical bonds which in many-but
not all-cases
bound the slave to his
master and vice versa." He continues: "Although the slavewas incorporat-
ed into the stem family, that incorporation was deliberately limited. The
owners attempted to infantilize their slaves with dress, naming patterns,
and ordinary language. All these measures combined to form what may be
called the family means of control.t'<' John Mason points out that by the
nineteenth century, in spite of their disparate backgrounds, the slaves did
form a self-conscious community in Cape Town and its neighborhood,
where most of them lived. Escapees created organized groups on Cape
Hanglip and maintained relations with slaves who remained, and many