At the beginning of slavery, slave owners used Africans as a tool to help in the creation of the different colonies. However, as slavery progressed over time, numerous slave owners in the South began to view slavery as a social status symbol, believing that “enslaving blacks was necessary and appropriate” (As 1). For this reason, many slave owners encouraged the idea of ​​marriage among slaves. Therefore, by creating a false sense of justification for the enslavement of Africans, white Southerners were also able to maintain a clear conscience while participating in such heinous acts. One example that exemplifies this point is Solomon Northup's personal account of slavery in his bibliography Twelve Years A Slave: “Marriage is often contracted during holidays, if such an institution can be said to exist.